This past weekend was the HOG Chapter's annual Yellowstone Park Ride with an over night stay in Chico Hot Springs. This is always a fun ride and we thoroughly enjoy ourselves.
This year we spent Friday night in Billings, we met our friends Marty & Vickie Davis in Billings for breakfast at 7:00 am. This meant that we would have to leave Hardin bright and early, getting an extra hour of sleep won. Besides we didn't have that cool ride to Billings.
We ate a good breakfast, not knowing what route we would be taking as it can change from year to year. We met everyone at the dealership around 8:00 am. We milled around and visited. The host for this ride is Gary & Dawn Squires and they said we were leaving at 9:00 am sharp.
Had a good turnout for this ride this year, I counted 20 bikes and about 34 people. This year we went to Cody for a brunch this way we could spend more time riding in the Park. Looking forward to next year when Gary will get his Senior's Pass for the National Parks.
We had brunch at Grannies in Cody. They do a real good job about getting our large group in and out fast. Not everyone will get to sit together but we are usually in groups of 4. Since we had a big breakfast in Billings, we just shared a caramel roll. Good thing because they are huge, it was all I could do just to eat half.
Had a very nice ride to the East Gate at the Park. The ranger had all of us get into one line, then she took our money and passes, as we rode through the gate she then gave us all our receipts and maps. We pulled over in a small parking lot to regroup and take a break.
From the East Gate we then make our way to Old Faithful, it seems to take forever to get to Old Faithful with the speed limit of 45 and traffic. Traffic is usually not a problem this time of year in the Park. We got to Old Faithful and had about a 25 minute wait for the eruption. We remembered the mess up from last year when we got separated, so we stayed with the main group this year.
We went into the Old Faithful Inn and got a drink from the cafeteria then we sat out on the porch to watch the geyser erupt. It was very nice. I wonder if this is the same cafeteria where Mom & Dad worked in the Park.
As we were leaving Old Faithful, we saw the storm clouds south of us and it didn't look good, those clouds followed us all the way to Chico, we didn't get wet but it sure threatened to.
About Gibson Meadows there were buffalo on the side of the road, no problem as long as they stay on the side. One old buffalo was lumbering along the road. Naturally traffic was stopped for pictures. It didn't take long before the buffalo decided he wanted on the other side of the road, he split our group in half. We were the second bike stopped. Things went well until some jackass from California decided he didn't want to get caught in a buffalo jam. The jackass drove on and when he did, he herded that buffalo right into our path. The rider in front of us had to get off his bike, that buffalo sure was close, almost on top of his bike. It could have been a disaster if that old buffalo turned his head, would have knocked that rider down. We all managed to get around the buffalo and the rider in front of us was safe and able to get back on the road. Our friends were the last bike and couldn't figure out why the motorists were taking pictures of us.
A bit further up the road there was more buffalo and one was lumbering on the road straight towards us, Gary was able to get around and we all got by without any problems.
We stopped in Mammoth for a short break, then in Gardiner for gas. The storm clouds were right over us and it didn't look good. I put my rain gear on to guarantee no rain. It worked we didn't get wet, but it sure did get cold. We could see the huge storm clouds by Livingston. We arrived at Chico dry around 6:00 pm.
We got checked in and settled in our room, met everyone for supper in the bar. Every weekend Chico has live music and this weekend was a band from Cody called Honky Tonk Heroes. They were good. We drank a lot, ate good ribs(not as good as Big Jim's), played shuffleboard. We didn't get into the pool as our friends Marty & Vickie don't do the water thing. It was in the bar when we heard about the bad storm that hit Billings. Gary called Jennifer and all Hardin got was some wind and rain, nothing like what hit Billings.
On Sunday morning we left around 8:30 and ate breakfast in Livingston. The original plan was to eat at Chico for their Sunday brunch, then ride back into the Park and over Beartooth into Red Lodge. With the storm and road construction Gary and Marty were not going to ride this way. Marty & Vickie were worried and wanted to get home to see if there was any damage to their home. They live by a creek and was worried about flooding.
The price for the Sunday brunch at Chico was $16 per person, there is no way that we can eat that much. Marty & Vickie really wanted to get home and check on their house. Fortunately they didn't have any damage at all, just some tree limbs in their yard.
1 comment:
Yep, all Hdn got was wind. I didn't get wet that weekend either. The cafeteria you were in isn't the same one we worked in. Ours no longer exists. They tore it down and built a parking lot there. However the Inn is the same one we slid down the roof in the snow on cardboard boxes, and built a snow lady up there on the roof. I have pics of that. We didn't have much to do with the Inn side, we spent our time on the Lodge side. Even the Lodge is different. They've remodeled it and there is nothing the same as when we hung out there.
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