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| Day 1 - Santa Clara, CA Day 2 - Eureka, CA Day 3 - Florence, OR Day 4 - Poulsbo, WA Day 5 - Poulsbo, WA Day 6 - Sandpoint, ID Day 7 - Kalispel, MT Day 8 - Sulfer Springs, MT Day 9 - Jackson, WY Day 10 - Orem, UT Day 11- Estes Park, CO Day 12 - High. Ranch, CO Day 13 - High. Ranch, CO Day 14 - Richland, UT Day 15 - Lee Vining, CA EPILOGUE |
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Today I’ll be riding through several canyons and valleys. I leave Jackson Hole and the beautiful Grand Tetons behind (photos 1 & 2). Not long after leaving Jackson, WY, I came into a pretty little canyon with the ever-present stream running alongside the road. Riding in the early morning just has to be the best time to ride. When you add the quiet roads, the morning sunlight and shadows, then throw in fantastic scenery for a touch of spice, you have the makings of a perfect ride. The more narrow canyons gave way to broad pasturelands and eventually opened into the “Star Valley” that is maybe five miles wide. There was more development here than I’ve seen for a while, but nothing “major” like a city. Development out here in this sparse land is a relative term.
I stop for breakfast at the Star Valley Restaurant and consume a mediocre omelet with jack cheese. It seems that some meals are just refueling stops for me. I’m starting to believe that I am more critical of food than I think. It must be because I live in a place that has so many really good places to eat that I’ve become spoiled, God forbid. The “average” there is turning out to be better than the “average” here. While I was eating, a busload of seniors came in and all of a sudden the place was filled with white hair. For some reason the girl at the counter, taking money from these free spending seniors at the gift shop looked like someone had just stepped on her foot. I thought, “Man, in a little town like this, your lucky to have a job. Would it kill you to act pleasant?” If I owned the place, that young lady would either work in the back out of sight, learn to smile, or work for someone else. Damn, I’m getting to be a hardass in my old age. As I start out again, I get stopped at another one of the many road construction projects that have to be done during the long summer days. What an annoyance. They grade the road for five to eight miles, wet it to keep the dust down, and then lead you through at a pace designed for people with four wheels. Screw ‘um. I take my time. I have no desire to drop the Beemer in the dirt. Maybe I should get a GS dual purpose bike the next time around? Back on paved road again, I amble back into Idaho (photo 3) for a short while before entering Utah. Along the way, I pass Bear Lake, a large lake out in the middle of nowhere which straddles the two states, with a small town, a marina, and some vacation homes built along on side of the lake (photos 4,5,& 6). It’s funny, but no matter where you are people love to be around water. There were some small boats out on the lake but not as many as one might think for such a warm day. After stopping to take a few pictures, I’m soon entering Utah and halfway to this days final destination (photo 7).
Hwy. 89 runs through Logan Canyon before reaching Logan, Utah. What a great little canyon with ever changing rock formations worrying over a sun painted river, surrounded and comforted by a soft blanket of green. As I entered the tree-lined streets of Logan, Utah, I came to a vista overlooking the huge Salt Lake basin. What a wonderful sight! What a wonderful town! I want to live here. Wait a minute. I’m not a Mormon. There’s no ocean here. Never mind. I didn’t know it yet, but the best of the ride would soon be over. As Highway 89 wound down into Ogden, I stopped at a fruit stand to have some locally grown cherries. This is lunch and I suspect is much better for me than the McDonalds I have been frequenting. I fall in behind a Harley ridden by a young couple going in my direction. This is Utah, which has no helmet laws. She wears one, he doesn’t. I can’t but wonder how that happened. Was it his idea or hers? If it was his, what does he say? “I don’t mind if I smash my ugly mellon dear, but I don’t want you to bust that pretty little head of yours.” If it was her idea, what did she say? “I don’t care how you ride, buster, but I’m not going to kill myself. Now give me that damn helmet.” I would love to hear those conversations. On the one hand I like the fact that people are free to make decisions that my not be in their best interests. That’s America! I don’t believe in helmet or seatbelt laws because those are decisions that don’t hurt other people. You decide if you want to take the chance and live with the results. On the other hand, I seem to see a lot of riders on motorcycles in Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado, which have no helmet laws, not wearing them. With the data so overwhelming about the chances of dying from head injuries should you go down, I don’t understand that decision, but then again, to each his own. I need to stop for some gas at a station in Ogden and an off duty sheriff tells me that I can’t get to Orem without getting on the I-15 interstate, heading south. I jump up on the freeway at the beginning of the commuter rush hour. God, I hate congested freeways. As I grit my teeth and try to dodge trucks with three trailers, the thirty-five minutes it takes me to get to Orem seems like an hour. I take the 800 North Exit and, bingo! I’m within three blocks of Jo Ann and Bernie’s place. Well, maybe this is my lucky day after all. I find Bernie and JoAnne (photo 8) at home in their new apartment with a view of the Wasatch mountains. We talk about the fact that when we got married 35 years ago, our first apartments looked nothing like these wonderful new units he and Jo Ann are now renting. Yet we were happy and proud of our what we had, and thought they were just fine, which they were. You spend what you make I guess. Bernie and Jo Ann take me out to dinner at a local Black Angus restaurant where I have a nice piece of halibut. We then pile into Bernie’s new truck and drive over to see John and Renee, their son and daughter-in-law, and my nephew and niece. John and Renee have four children and one on the way so, as the favorite uncle, I get to play “Shark Attack” with the kids (photo 9). This entails lots of grabbing, tickling, laughing, yelling, and tends to create a general feeling of pandemonium.
We then go over to see John and Renee’s new home that they are having built. Their new home is about 2000 sq./ft. with another 1000 sq./ft in an unfinished basement (photos 10, 11 & 12). It has four bedrooms and a great location at the foot of that mountain range you can see from Jo Ann and Bernie’s. It’s getting late so we say our good-byes and I go home with Jo Ann and Bernie. It’s nice having family to stay with, it sue beats staying in a motel room. We have an enjoyable evening talking and remembering and it’s after midnight before we go to bed. This has been a memorable day of riding and visiting family members. Miles traveled – 299. |
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