Harley Vacation

We survived our Harley vacation. The first thing I had to learn was how to pack light and I mean very light. We both had to share one small bag with all of our stuff. I managed to get all of that done. Not much room left before all the necessities like helmets, rain gear, leather coats. Our trunks actually hold quite a bit. We left on Saturday morning for our first stop in Gardiner. It was a nice day for riding, we ran into road construction just before Gardiner. It wasn't that bad, had to follow a pilot car for 12 miles. The road was chip sealed but it was pretty well packed down when we went through. By this time there was some very dark rain clouds overhead and we beat them to Gardiner. The storm hit about 2 hours later. We had just parked the bike and got inside the restaurant when the storm hit. We got hail and heavy rain. We stayed inside until the storm blew over, but it sure was a wet and cold ride back to the motel. Fortunately we didn't have to go very far. It had rained all through the night.

Woke up the next morning and it was pretty cloudy and gloomy. We put on our rain gear because the bike was all wet and needed the extra layers for warmth. Good thing we put the gear on inside, it took us about 15 minutes to get it on. If a storm came through we would just get all wet before we got all of this gear on. We headed on to Yellowstone Park. Even though the speed limit in the park is 45, it was very cold. We stopped in Mammoth to check out the map and decide where we want to go. Our first stop was the Upper Terrace at Mammoth. We sure liked walking around to get warmed up. From Mammoth we made our way to Canyon. By this time it was warming up pretty good, so at Canyon we peeled off our rain gear and put on the leather coats. My goal at Canyon was to see the lower falls, but not to be. The road was closed for construction, so we drove the South Rim. We went to Artist's Point to see the falls. I have never been to Artist Point and it sure was a very pretty view. From here we did stop to see the view of the Upper Falls, then we made our way around to the Brink of the Upper Falls. From here, you are just above the falls. Walking around in riding boots is quite a work out. It feels like I literally have 5 pound weights on my feet. From Canyon we made our way up to Tower. The road started out pretty good, but soon we ran into switch back curves. Gary has been avoiding going on any switch backs because steering the bike is alot different than the 2 wheelers. He did a fantastic job. He was glad to get to Tower to have a break. We went to the falls overlook and then had our ice cream. From Tower we went to see the petrified tree. The few miles it took was the worst roads ever. The stretch had holes, ruts and everything you could think of. We reached the petrified tree and then from there we made our way back to Gardiner. Gary was tired from all of that driving.

The next morning we had to pack up and head on our way to West Yellowstone. Today was a short drive. Made our way, but first we stopped at Norris, went throught the Ranger Museum and then walked the Porcelain Basin loop at Norris. From Norris made our way to West Yellowstone. We were a bit early so we ate lunch and walked around town a bit. Gary's bike was a hit with the foreign visitors. Our pictures were taken alot. I told Gary that he could stand on a corner and make money to pay for our vacation. He could even charge to give rides. We went to the hotel and was told in no certain terms could we check in until after 3:00 pm. It was 2:30 when we went to check in. After we checked in, we went to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center. It was very interesting and I got alot of good photos of the bears and wolves. We stayed at the Days Inn because we like the hotel and the breakfasts are usually pretty good, except at this one. There is a restaurant attached to the motel and guests are supposed to get a free breakfast. When you check in, you receive your coupons for the breakfast. They only give out 2 coupons per room. For us it didn't matter, but for people with more than 2 that would be a problem.

Tuesday morning we headed down for our free breakfast. You don't get a choice for breakfast, it is only one, eggs, hashbrowns, choice of bacon, sausage or ham and toast. The breakfast was horrible. First everything was cold. The toast was so cold that it wouldn't melt the butter. We even had to pay for our tea and coffee. We ordered a side of pancakes and had to pay for that too. After breakfast we left to see Old Faithful. No more rain, but the mornings are cold enough to wear our leather coats. Our first stop was the Fountain Paint Pot and then Old Faithful. We knew we were going to be at Old Faithful for a while. We had just missed the eruption so had to wait for about 90 minutes. We walked around Geyser Hill first then made our way to see Old Faithful. We had about a 30 minute wait but it was starting to get full of visitors. After the eruption, we made our way to Morning Glory. This was a 3 mile walk round trip. Not the easiest walk wearing riding boots. Those boots were not made for walking. My feet hurt so bad after the walk that all I wanted to do was take them off. The only wildlife we saw this time was one buffalo and one coyote. Just before leaving the park, we did see a herd of cow elk.

After eating our cold breakfast, we checked out of the motel and got ready for the ride to Cody. This time we went to Fishing Bridge by way of Canyon. We hit Hayden Valley and a ton of buffalo. We got caught in a buffalo jam for about 15 minutes. Got a ton of pictures of all the buffalo, but being on a bike with the buffalo right there is pretty nerve racking. I was more worried about what the idiot visitors were going to do. There were some baby calves in the heard, and of course that was the picture the visitors wanted. A few were even inching their way close to the babies. We did manage to make our way through the jam. One buffalo was so close the road road that I could have reached out and petted him. Not too sure how the buffalo are going to react with the noise of the bike. We figure that by this time of year the buffalo are so tired of people that they don't care. Made our way to Fishing Bridge and it was a good time for a break before heading off to Cody.

Left the park, but the ride to Cody was pretty smoky with the fire in the Shoshone National Forest. There were alot of signs warning motorists of fire activity, but we got through just fine. You can see where the fire got close to the highway, but we were fortunate to just have smoke. No smoke in the park, but very smoky in Cody. We checked into our hotel, relaxed a bit before dinner. After eating BBQ made our way back to the motel.

Got up early because the weather forecast didn't sound good. It was very windy and cold on the way home, we managed to miss the rain storms. We were just behind them. It was good to get home.

It was a nice vacation and ended too fast as usual. Riding through the park on a motorcycle is a very pleasing experience. You get to see the park in a whole new way. I think you see more than you would in a car. I got to enjoy the views very well, but Gary had to drive and pay attention. I did get alot of great photos and working on getting those sorted and ready to post on my flickr sight.