This was our third year of participating in the Nation of Patriots. It is a fund raiser for veterans groups. This is where motorcyclists escort the American flag through the lower 48 states. The Billings group escorts the flag from Billings to Cody to Jackson.
We met our friends Dale & Kitty Butterfield at their house on Friday night, went out to eat pizza and visit. They always have us stay with them as we leave at 8:00 am from Billings Saturday morning to get to Jackson.
There were 13 people and 8 bikes who traveled from Billings to Cody. It was raining in Billings when we left at 8:00 am but as we got to Bridger we got out of it. The road from Bridger to Belfry is done with the road construction, however the turnoff has been moved about 300 feet. I bet that causes confusion with GPS systems. It is a nice road now.
We got into Cody around 9:30 am to beautiful weather, made a quick stop at the gas station and got the flags ready for an impromptu parade through town. The townspeople had no idea what was going on, just a bunch of people with flags. We stopped at the Cody dealership and took a group photo. The first year we did this we had news coverage, now nothing. The girls inside the dealership said that they had called the paper but was told that this event is not news worthy. As we were taking a short break in Cody, we were told by other bikers that the entrance into the park was closed because of a mud slide. I had called the road number and got a recording that all roads in the park were open. Two guys who rode with us then made their way back to Billings.
We ate lunch at Pahaska Teepee, which was a good thing. We could see road equipment up the road and by the time we got done with lunch they were gone. All that was left was debris on the side of the road from the slide. The slide was just before the gate entrance. Rode through the park and the only animal life we saw were two birds.
We got into Jackson around 4:00 pm, got checked in to our motel. We stay at the Rawhide which is perfect for us. A liquor store in front of the motel and the Harley dealership across the street. The Rawhide caters to bikers and it is also one of the cheaper motels in Jackson at $150 per night. We don't get anything extra here.
Sunday morning after breakfast we met the guy who escorts the flag from Jackson to Rock Springs at 9:00 am. Usually the guy is by himself to take possession of the flags, but this year he had a group with him. Visited with them for a while, then on the road we went.
Going home we always go through Idaho then to West Yellowstone and into Bozeman. This year a couple of the guys didn't want to go through West Yellowstone as there is a 20 mile section where the speed limit is 55, also they didn't want to have to slow down for rv's. We went to Ennis then over to Bozeman. It really doesn't make a time difference, it is longer by about 20 miles. Ate lunch in Ennis, which is a cute little town.
Stopped one more time in Big Timber to say our goodbyes. We got home around 6:30 pm.
1 comment:
Hmmm. Wonder if I could get Tracie Fernandez to do a story for you. She writes Meeteetse articles for the Cody paper, but you aren't really affiliated with Mtse, so don't know if we could swing it or not. I'll have to talk to her and maybe we can figure something out since you have Gma and me as Mtse connections. Then again, if she does write a story its hard to say if Cody will print it.
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