Rapid City, SD to Corvalllis, OR

We put in some serious time on the trike and logged some serious miles since my last post. We left Rapid City on the morning of June 17. We stopped to see Mt. Rushmore and got some pics of that. We didn’t stay long as it was very dog un-friendly. The parking fee was ten bucks to get into a four story parking structure and we were told Bentley would have to stay in his kennel on the trike the entire time we were there. Technically he couldn’t even get out to take a leak, although we ignored that and let him off for a minute to take care of his business.

It was cool to be there though.

We then headed east to Wind Cave National Park. Then to the Devil’s Tower National Monument in Wyoming. So we got three Passport stamps in two different states in one day. That was also cool. We stayed the night of the 17th at the campground at the foot of the tower. (This is the tower seen in the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.)

We got a few rain sprinkles that evening and again in the morning while we were packing up but nothing bad. But then we got on the bike and within 15 minutes it began to rain in earnest for the next 30 miles. We stopped for gas and a break and thankfully the rain cleared up, for 75 miles on I-90. And then we got back under a dark cloud and it began to pour. Our route took us off the freeway at Buffalo, WY onto Highway 16, “Sweet 16″ as the local Chambers of Commerce of the various small towns along the way call it. They have posted many billboards on I-90 encouraging this route as the safer, more scenic entry to Yellowstone NP.

But for us it was miserable, at least that morning. We arrived in Buffalo at a little before noon. Bentley was still dry in his kennel but we had to let him out and he got just soaked. I gassed up and asked the clerk for a recommendation for a hotel. She suggested the Best Western, for which we have a Harley affiliation card with earning points as rewards, so I called them. Yes, they took pets. (always my first question when dealing with motels.) Yes we could get an early check in. Yes, the price was way too much for my pocket book but we took the room any way.

While we stood outside the convenience store we watched the rain pour and Bentley hide behind the ice machine we were leaning on. He was soaked to the bone and we had to get him back in the kennel, telling him it would only be a minute but knowing he just couldn’t understand that. He got in to the kennel without a fight though. When we got checked into the motel room you have never seen a happier dog in your life. His tail went up and started wagging and he started in with running in circles around the room and yipping with glee!

The short day really put a crimp in our plans though. I had talked with my son, Andrew, and committed to getting to Corvallis by the following Monday or Tuesday and we had way too many windy roads ahead so it was looking bad, I really was thinking how nice it would be to be with our kids on Fathers Day as well. It was 1500 miles to go and it was already Friday. The morning was pretty nice though with quite a lot of sun showing through the clouds. We took advantage of the full breakfast buffet offered by the motel included in the price, had sausage, bacon, eggs, and pancakes. Tried to get my money’s worth.

Then onto Sweet 16. And it is a wonderful ride the next 80 miles through the mountains up to an elevation of 8500 feet and back down to 4000 feet elevation. At the bottom grade of the east side of this pass we dropped 2000 feet in 5 miles with 3 or 4 large switch backs to the river at the bottom and then through a canyon to the floor of the Wyoming plains, which we really don’t find a way to much appreciate.

The Wyoming highways are in great condition though, even the back roads we were on were well maintained so we made good time all the way to Cody, WY and then on to Yellowstone and back up to 8500 feet again. That was at about 15 miles into the park after the fee station. It was cold, windy, and spitting rain that I was afraid would turn to snow. But we dropped down to 6000 feet and the Visitor Center. Problem was that all the campgrounds in the park were full!

By now it was getting on to 6 PM or so, no rain but still a bit nippy. There are a couple more campsites on our route south but they are both full as well even though we were hoping for a break. We left the park proper and encountered some of the worst driving of the trip (the worst so far would happen the next day) when we got to a construction zone where the paved road become dirt, gravel and huge potholes. Here the trike has an advantage and a disadvantage. The advantage is that it ain’t gonna go over in the gravel and dirt. The disadvantage is that there is no way to avoid all the potholes with the center front wheel and the outboard rear wheels. I am slowed to 5 mph or less, rocking back and forth, being jarred by the holes and once or twice dragging the bottom over the edges of the potholes. There were 12 miles of this and we were dragging our butts as well as the bike by now.

We had entered Grand Teton NP somewhere here. Just as I was wondering if we would have to drive the 60 miles into Jackson for another motel night we came upon Lizard Lake Campground, pulled in, it had vacancies! So we got to stop, it was around 7:30 and we had done over 350 miles. We were in bear country which made the unpacking and set up more of a pain since everything with any odor to it at all, including toiletries, has to be put in a bear proof box when not actually being used.

I made the mistake of buying a box of the firewood the camp host offered. It was so green and wet it would not start, even with the aid of a bit of gasoline. So we wound up wasting six bucks for fire.

Saturday morning now. We get packed up and on the road by 9. It turns out the road returned to good pavement a half mile further down the road so I was done with gravel and dirt and potholes, or so I thought.

The Tetons are a spectacular mountain range, as everyone knows. I think they are made even more dramatic by the fact that the base of them is Jackson lake so you have an unobstructed view all the way around them. Great stuff!

We stopped at the visitor center and got another Passport stamp and headed out. The map I am using highly recommended a side trip to leave the park so we got on the back road. Beautiful, narrow, narrow winding road at the base of the mountains. Except 5 miles of it was the worst road possible. Slow going but we made it into Wilson, WY at the foot of the Teton Pass and had a bite of food for lunch then back up to 8000 feet of elevation into Idaho Falls.

We got a little lucky then, we got light rain as we were descending into the basin floor but were found out later that it really poured after we got through.

At Idaho Falls our mapped route headed north though what I am sure is another incredible motorcycle road but we made the decision to jump onto I-15 south to I-94 and I-84 to Boise, then Ontario. Once to Ontario we pushed through to Baker City. Not much to say about that part of the trip except we didn’t get any serious rain, just a few sprinkles. We did 565 miles, our most yet and hopefully our most ever for the remainder of this trip. We have been on the road for 105 days.

Sunday we finished off the Fathers Day weekend run to Corvallis, fighting major headwinds for 150 miles through the gorge and got here in time to have dinner with Jen, Drew and their friend James. Over a thousand miles in two days.

I guess those friends of ours in the Valley will be disappointed, and I know I am, but we are only going to stay in the Valley a couple of days with the kids taking all our time and then we head up to Camp Sherman for a week camping with them being there for part of the time.

I have to get going after this verbose posting and am not going to proofread any of it so it will be rife with errors. Bob, feel free to fix the more egregious spelling and grammar if you feel like it.