Adventures By Guy

I did a thing…
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
It seems no matter what I try to do I always get out around 8 to 9 am. Woke up at 0630. Got up and started packing by 0730. Then the guy who parked his Harley almost on top of my bike comes out. I looked at him and said… looks like the parking lot must have been crowded last night. (I was right across from the front door)
Yeah, it was… and I have to admit I was feeling lazy and didn’t want to park way down on the other end. Let me move it for you. Thanks… it hadn’t been in my way yet but I was going to that side next and there was no way I could walk between the bikes. Then he started talking. All interesting but I wanted to get on the road… after about 7 minutes I said I have to go and get more stuff. Ok, Bye. Done packing and I look at the breakfast… The price was right for a good night’s sleep but if you want a breakfast better get some other hotel in Red Lodge other than the Lupine Inn. Cereal, toast, butter and Jelly and some small muffins. Several people talked with me while eating… I know it’s hard to believe but I am not starting these conversations as I wanted to get on the road. So, 9 am… on the road. 63°F and sunny. I go past the hotels that the beautiful river that flows through Red Lodge had ruined when it overflowed its banks this past spring and washed the foundations out. You can tell it also wrecked the main road in Red Lodge as it is all new concrete and pavement with a new walk along the river… then you come to the hotel that sits on the curve of the river… yeah, big rocks/smaller boulders and plenty of river rock are strewn around the grounds and the foundations are exposed and half the building is collapsing! The power of flowing water is amazing. I pass that and then cross the river and soon the road starts climbing out of the river bottoms and I probably climbed 800 feet and I am now looking down on a picturesque view of Red Lodge, the river and the hills as the river flows on downstream. Then the road turned and I was out on some high plains with hazy hills in the distance. Soon I start descending through winding hills and it opens up to a big hill or mountain and I stopped for pictures. There were tiny dots moving around so cattle were on the hills. Soon I am through those and in 15 miles the temperature went from 63 to 82. Time to stop and peel off my sweater. Such is life riding out west as temperatures change rapidly. I decided not to put the GoPro on today and I was at peace with that as I zoomed along flat valleys with crops and cattle. There were some things I wished I had it on so I could record, but not enough to stop and get it out. 80 miles later I pass through Lovell, Wyoming and head towards the Bighorn Mountains on Alternate 14A. Take this road if on a bike or a car. If you have a trailer or RV make sure you have good brakes or a low gear to go up and down the mountains with as the ascent and descent are steep and winding. You have some wonderful views out over the Basin although it was hazy from fires. I was gazing out on the distance and then walked over to a sign talking about the basin I was looking over. I read that the Medicine wheel was close by. Now I had been wanting to see that since I was a young teenager as I had read about it in a book. I Google it and I was only 2.5 miles from it! I had to go see it. I pull up and there is someone on a mid 90’s Kawasaki concours. We talked a bit then we started walking to the Medicine Wheel. It’s at around 9,650’ elevation. Walk is 1.2 miles one way. We took our time as we walked along a fairly smooth gravel road and you were looking down at the surrounding areas. Only part of the mountain was above you for a bit. Then you walk up an incline for a bit and the wheel is on a flat topped ridge. I thought it would be made of larger rocks but it isn’t. It is made out of stones easily moved by one man. Native Americans treat this as a special place… although it predates any known tribe in America as far as I know. They have ceremonies there and leave small offerings. We then looked over the country and Jeff read a poem that he had written. Jeff is an arborist out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and he is 10 years older than me but he likes his work and keeps working.
He left a bit before me as I was finishing off my Pistachios as I was hungry. He wanted to eat too and he said the Bear Lodge up ahead was a good place. I told him I’d be along in 5 minutes. Soon I headed out but 5 to 10 miles down the road I
almost missed the Lodge. It was good food. Get the tator tots! Lots of them and cooked to crispy golden perfection. Only the place in Coldfoot, Alaska was as good and had as large amount. Yum! Burger was good too.
We headed out and were riding in high up meadows with patches of pine trees. Weather was nice. Around high 70’s. I knew it couldn’t last forever as a lot of people were telling me that the plains were very hot. I’d been dawdling in the mountains for two days seeing things I’d wanted to see for a long time as the hot weather was supposed to moderate on the plains by Saturday. It was time to descend…
Jeff had decided over lunch that once we came out of the mountains he was going to make time on I90 and get over to Gillette, Wyoming. I was still undecided. Soon we came to the Eastern edge of the Bighorn mountains and there didn’t seem to be a lot of foothills. You were overlooking the vast plains from way up and then you started going down, down, down on a wonderful curvy road that had a lot of switchback curves but they had a nice radius so you could take them at some speed. Nice views but I was just getting quick glimpses of it as I was enjoying the road. There was just a sense of vast space just off the road… But with that descent up, up, up went the temperature. Soon we were in Dayton and Ranchester and the Temp was 90°F. That was enough for me and I decided I-90 to Gillette was good for me too. By the time we got to Sheridan it was 94. Screw this, I am going to travel into the night as it will be cooler and tomorrow was supposed to be 93° again. I decided to head for Albert Lea, MN… 750 miles away. It was 4:30 pm and I would go until I was tired. I put the cruise control at 84 (limit was 80) and gas mileage dropped to 24 mpg but I didn’t care. I had 2 gallons extra on board and that should get me to a gas station if I ran low out on the sparsely populated plain states. Jeff and I talked at the next gas stop. He was going to camp somewhere around Spearfish. We said our goodbyes and later on down the road we waved goodbye and I continued East. It was now getting dark and the Temps were comfortable. I had put on a sweater at the last gas stop even though it was 72. I knew temps would be dropping. From here on out it was just gas and go and watching for deer and telltale signs of animals ahead… such as moving reflectors which means animal!! Their eyes reflect quite well. Only thing I saw through the night were 2 coyotes and a bright shooting star. My big aux lights were paying for themselves now. After midnight traffic was sparse so they were on a lot. I was a bit worried about gas but there were enough bigger cities spaced correctly so I never had to use my gas can. About the time I was halfway across South Dakota I figured I might as well head for home.. it would only add 5 hrs to the trip. I was feeling pretty good so I got to Sioux Falls and turned south to go to Sioux City and get on 20. GPS said it would save me 10 minutes. That means I would get home just after church started. Hah, I will try and get there and surprise Loraine. Then it became a game of minutes. I’d gain time but lose at gas stops. But slowly ticked off minutes overall. Around 0430 I started to see evidence of morning’s approach as the darkness thinned to a lite purple.. Around 0530 I started getting tired but I was ¾ of the way through Iowa and didn’t want to stop for the night. I stopped for gas and walked around a bit then hopped on the bike. The sun was now about to peek over the horizon and that gave me something to watch. So cool to watch it. After that I was awake. Crossed the Mississippi River at Dubuque and as I gassed up just prior to Dubuque I thought I had enough gas to make it to church. If so then I would gain enough time to be only 10 minutes late. I was on reserve and going through fuel fast but I made it. Was taking my gear off as my daughter pulled up to attend. I helped her bring in the babies in car seats. My wife didn’t seem surprised. She said… you always pull an all nighter when heading home so I half-way expect it. Went home after church. Next day took the bike into town and ran out of gas 1 mile from my house. No problem as I had to empty my gas can sometime. 5 minutes later I was on my way.
The first video of the trip is posted on YouTube. Search for “Adventures By Guy”
Next on October 13th I will be headed out to Eastern Pennsylvania to embark on the back gravel/dirt back country route across PA. CPAAT. Hopefully the trees will be turning colors. See you then.