I have a lot of new posts today because this is the first time we have had wifi in several days. All of the posts are new from day 6 on, so you will have to click on older posts at the bottom of the page to see all the new stuff.
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Monday, June 28, 2010
Day 9
Day 9: 6/27/10
Start: Glacier National Park
End: Missoula, MT
Today's miles: 218
Total miles: 1,940
Marriage status: Pretty good, except one small tiff when we were tired at the end of the day.
Passed through: Going to The sun Road in Glacier National Park, and Flathead Lake
Today's notes:
Today was just sort of a work horse day. We packed up our campsite in Glacier, ate breakfast, and headed south for the first time on the trip. Once again we were lucky with the weather and did not need our rain gear.
The first part of the drive took us down Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park. This road takes you the entire width of the park, and we crossed it from east to west. We were lucky we could even take this road because they just opened it for the season last Wednesday. This road is beautiful. Glacier lakes, snowcapped mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, green forest, the whole deal.
After that our drive took us along Flathead Lake, and that lake is huge. It seemed like we were by it forever. But before we even got passed the lake we pulled over because we were both fighting feeling pretty tired. We got a fair amount sleep the night before, but we think we were tired because of the hiking we did the two days before. So we pulled over, drank some caffeine and continued on our way. We made it to Missoula, MT around 6:00 and found a KOA campground and got a cabin for the night. Then we ordered pizza, did some laundry, and watched a hilarious episode of South Park about Harley riders. It's called "The F Word", and if you don't care for really loud motorcycles you will love it (It's downloadable on iTunes).
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Start: Glacier National Park
End: Missoula, MT
Today's miles: 218
Total miles: 1,940
Marriage status: Pretty good, except one small tiff when we were tired at the end of the day.
Passed through: Going to The sun Road in Glacier National Park, and Flathead Lake
Today's notes:
Today was just sort of a work horse day. We packed up our campsite in Glacier, ate breakfast, and headed south for the first time on the trip. Once again we were lucky with the weather and did not need our rain gear.
The first part of the drive took us down Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park. This road takes you the entire width of the park, and we crossed it from east to west. We were lucky we could even take this road because they just opened it for the season last Wednesday. This road is beautiful. Glacier lakes, snowcapped mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, green forest, the whole deal.
After that our drive took us along Flathead Lake, and that lake is huge. It seemed like we were by it forever. But before we even got passed the lake we pulled over because we were both fighting feeling pretty tired. We got a fair amount sleep the night before, but we think we were tired because of the hiking we did the two days before. So we pulled over, drank some caffeine and continued on our way. We made it to Missoula, MT around 6:00 and found a KOA campground and got a cabin for the night. Then we ordered pizza, did some laundry, and watched a hilarious episode of South Park about Harley riders. It's called "The F Word", and if you don't care for really loud motorcycles you will love it (It's downloadable on iTunes).
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Day 8
Day 8: 6/26/10
Start and end in Glacier National Park
Today's miles: 0
Total miles: 1,722
Miles hiked: 12
Total miles hiked: 30.75
Marriage status: Actually really good!
Today's notes:
Today was an awesome but tiring day. We got up this morning and made a quick breakfast and got our day packs and walked down to the Grinnell Galcier trailhead. That trail took us along a beautiful emerald lake and then a steady climb towards the glacier. We passed multiple waterfalls along the way and had a lot of great views of the glacier as well as Grinnell Lake. Then we got about a mile and a half away from the glacier and the trial became "a little harry". We got to a place nobody else had crossed yet that day (we know because there were no fresh footprints in the snow), and we kept going. It was pretty high adventure but still safe as long as you took your time and didn't take another step until your polls and at least one foot were firmly set in the snow. Finally we got to a point on the trail that really would not have been safe for us to proceed without real mountaineering gear. There was a group of mountaineers with the right equipment that went further, but even they paused and shoveled a path in the snow at the point where we stopped. I'm not really saying this because it's cool, more like this was stupid, don't do it. But I did feel like we stopped at the point where you could not minimize the risk enough just by being careful. So then we turned around and headed back down the trail.
On our way down we were informed by other hikers that once again we narrowly missed a bear on the trail, so once again I was pissed. After getting back down to the lake we took a little side trail that connected to the CDT (Continental Divide Trail) and went down that for a few miles. Up until this point the hike was very pleasant, challenging, and fun, but this section of the CDT sucked. Not because it was difficult, but because it was also used a a "horse highway" for tourists staying at the park's hotel at the end of the lake. The trail was completely torn up by the horses, and all the shit left behind attracted a ton of bugs. This was a miserable couple of miles, but luckily toward the end of our hike we got to finish the day out on a much nicer trail that followed along the other side of the lake.
At that point we headed back to the campsite and immedialty took off our boots covered in horse crap and rested for a bit in our hammocks. Then we took some well deserved showers and ate some well deserved dinner. After dinner we planned to go to a program the park rangers were having an our campground about wolverines, but on our way there we saw a campsite of this other motorcyclists we noticed taking off this morning and coming back tonight. So of course we stopped to talk to him. We noticed he had a Pikes Peak sticker on his bike and found out he was from Colorado Springs too. He was riding a Sasuki VStrom which is in a similar class as Tomme 's bike. So we sat there and talked about bikes with him for the next two hours and missed the program the rangers were having, but it was well worth it.
After visiting with him we went back to our campsite, started a fire, and sipped wine while we rested in our hammocks. It was a very good day.
Wildlife siting: Big horn sheep and mountain goats, but still no bear.
Mediocre tip: Try to avoid trails used frequently by horses at all costs. They suck.
Mediocre tip: if you think something might be beyond your ability, it is. Stop, turn around, and live another day to try again.
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Start and end in Glacier National Park
Today's miles: 0
Total miles: 1,722
Miles hiked: 12
Total miles hiked: 30.75
Marriage status: Actually really good!
Today's notes:
Today was an awesome but tiring day. We got up this morning and made a quick breakfast and got our day packs and walked down to the Grinnell Galcier trailhead. That trail took us along a beautiful emerald lake and then a steady climb towards the glacier. We passed multiple waterfalls along the way and had a lot of great views of the glacier as well as Grinnell Lake. Then we got about a mile and a half away from the glacier and the trial became "a little harry". We got to a place nobody else had crossed yet that day (we know because there were no fresh footprints in the snow), and we kept going. It was pretty high adventure but still safe as long as you took your time and didn't take another step until your polls and at least one foot were firmly set in the snow. Finally we got to a point on the trail that really would not have been safe for us to proceed without real mountaineering gear. There was a group of mountaineers with the right equipment that went further, but even they paused and shoveled a path in the snow at the point where we stopped. I'm not really saying this because it's cool, more like this was stupid, don't do it. But I did feel like we stopped at the point where you could not minimize the risk enough just by being careful. So then we turned around and headed back down the trail.
On our way down we were informed by other hikers that once again we narrowly missed a bear on the trail, so once again I was pissed. After getting back down to the lake we took a little side trail that connected to the CDT (Continental Divide Trail) and went down that for a few miles. Up until this point the hike was very pleasant, challenging, and fun, but this section of the CDT sucked. Not because it was difficult, but because it was also used a a "horse highway" for tourists staying at the park's hotel at the end of the lake. The trail was completely torn up by the horses, and all the shit left behind attracted a ton of bugs. This was a miserable couple of miles, but luckily toward the end of our hike we got to finish the day out on a much nicer trail that followed along the other side of the lake.
At that point we headed back to the campsite and immedialty took off our boots covered in horse crap and rested for a bit in our hammocks. Then we took some well deserved showers and ate some well deserved dinner. After dinner we planned to go to a program the park rangers were having an our campground about wolverines, but on our way there we saw a campsite of this other motorcyclists we noticed taking off this morning and coming back tonight. So of course we stopped to talk to him. We noticed he had a Pikes Peak sticker on his bike and found out he was from Colorado Springs too. He was riding a Sasuki VStrom which is in a similar class as Tomme 's bike. So we sat there and talked about bikes with him for the next two hours and missed the program the rangers were having, but it was well worth it.
After visiting with him we went back to our campsite, started a fire, and sipped wine while we rested in our hammocks. It was a very good day.
Wildlife siting: Big horn sheep and mountain goats, but still no bear.
Mediocre tip: Try to avoid trails used frequently by horses at all costs. They suck.
Mediocre tip: if you think something might be beyond your ability, it is. Stop, turn around, and live another day to try again.
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Day 7
Day 7: 6/25/10
Start and in end in Glacier National Park
Today's miles: 110
Total miles: 1,722
Miles hiked: 8.75
Total miles hiked: 18.75
Marriage status: After a good nights sleep we are back on stable ground.
Passed through: Glacier National Park and Waterton Lakes National Park.
Today's notes:
Today was an awesome day! It started out with beautiful cool sunny weather, and we made Pancakes much more successfully this time around by taking our time and reducing the heat as well as spraying the skillet with Pam between pancakes. Then we packed up our day hiking bags, hopped on the bikes and headed north to Canada!
After crossing the border we went into Canada's side of the park to Waterton village. This place was crazy, there is an entire little town with a school, housing, movie theater and everything inside the park. Now in a way this sounds terrible, but they have done a really good job of not letting it get too big and respecting their amazing surroundings. We spoke to a Canadian in town and he said that the Canadians that live there can own their house, but the government owns the land, so basically if the government tells you you have to move your house then you have to do just that. I was glad to hear this because up until that point I was trying to figure out how Tomme and I could get dual citizenship so we could live there because it was so beautiful. There are deer everywhere in this town. Just about every house has them in their yard, and the Canadian guy we talked to said some people basically just use the deer eating their grass as their way of mowing the lawn.
After driving through town we headed to a trail that would follow along the side of Waterton Lake and take us to the US-Canadian border that is about 4.25 miles down the trail. At the trailhead we met the lady I hope to be when I'm old. This lady was in her 80s and she walked up to us and the bikes and said that is how she used to travel all the way up until she was 79 years old. Amazing. She did the entire length of Canada 3 times on her motorcycle, and road in every state in the union BY HERSELF! On top of that she didn't even quit at 79 because she had to, that was just the year her bike finally gave out. She really was a great example of, you are only as old as you feel, and I really hope I'm still riding into my 70s.
After that we took off on foot down the trail. It was a beautiful hike, with great views of the massive crystal clear lake with snow capped mountains and glaciers in the background. Finally we reached the US/Canadian border, and took the obligatory one foot in Canada and one in the US picture just has it started to rain. At the border we put on our rain gear and had a little snack before heading back. We walked for maybe 20 minutes in our rain gear before the rain stopped, the sun came out, and the temperature was up. So we stopped again and took all our rain gear off. On the trail we passed some people that told us we narrowly missed a bear siting (I was so pissed). Then we ran into some deer that were on the actual trail, so Tomme raised his arms and waved them in the air, and yelled "hey deer, hey deer" to my amusement. Eventually they did move and we were able to proceed with the hike, but I'm not sure how much of Tomme's antics played a part in that.
At the end of the hike we decided to eat dinner in the village, and we went to the Prince of Whales hotel and ate in their restaurant. This hotel is amazing. It was built in the early 1900s and is right on the lake. The restaurant has incredible lake and mountain views, and the food was really good too. There was also a gift shop in the hotel called Princess Gifts. Now while this may seem fairly insignificant it had Tomme and I cracking up. This is because earlier on this trip I bought a dinosaur bone replica at Dinosaur National Monument for my nephew, and then realized I would need to find something for my niece. Well nothing at Dinosaur was going to do because my niece is pretty girly and I was not sure there would be anything that really fit her on this trip. While I was thinking about this Tomme said "Too bad there isn't a princess exhibit at Glacier". To this we laughed at the absurdity of that possibility and how true it was that we would need something Iike that to find her a gift. And then of course we found a place called Princess Gifts and we were able to find her a pink t-shirt with a glittery butterfly on it inside the shop.
After getting the gift and eating dinner we started to drive back to Glacier just as the sun was setting. The mountains were beautiful at sunset and the sky was pink and blue. It was so pretty I really wanted to take pictures but it was 9:30 and the border control gate we wanted to go through closed at 10. So we just booked it back to the gate. At border control we talked to the guys checking our passports for about 10-15 minutes about what they do, and it was really interesting. They actually work all over the world, and not just on our continental borders. It was all pretty fascinating and we enjoyed this little encounter. By the time we made it back to the campsite it was dark and we were tired. So we pretty much went straight to the tent and curled up in our sleeping bags, but it was a great day, and probably my favorite so far on the trip.
Mediocre tip: Backpacker magazine this year rated Starbucks' instant coffee via as the best camp coffee ever, and they were right! If you like to go camping, and you like coffee, throw away your regular old instant coffee and buy this. You will thank me later.
Mediocre tip: Be nice to your border control and customs people, and thank them for what they do. Sure going through customs is annoying, but they are just doing their job, and it is an important one at that. So just be happy they're there.
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Start and in end in Glacier National Park
Today's miles: 110
Total miles: 1,722
Miles hiked: 8.75
Total miles hiked: 18.75
Marriage status: After a good nights sleep we are back on stable ground.
Passed through: Glacier National Park and Waterton Lakes National Park.
Today's notes:
Today was an awesome day! It started out with beautiful cool sunny weather, and we made Pancakes much more successfully this time around by taking our time and reducing the heat as well as spraying the skillet with Pam between pancakes. Then we packed up our day hiking bags, hopped on the bikes and headed north to Canada!
After crossing the border we went into Canada's side of the park to Waterton village. This place was crazy, there is an entire little town with a school, housing, movie theater and everything inside the park. Now in a way this sounds terrible, but they have done a really good job of not letting it get too big and respecting their amazing surroundings. We spoke to a Canadian in town and he said that the Canadians that live there can own their house, but the government owns the land, so basically if the government tells you you have to move your house then you have to do just that. I was glad to hear this because up until that point I was trying to figure out how Tomme and I could get dual citizenship so we could live there because it was so beautiful. There are deer everywhere in this town. Just about every house has them in their yard, and the Canadian guy we talked to said some people basically just use the deer eating their grass as their way of mowing the lawn.
After driving through town we headed to a trail that would follow along the side of Waterton Lake and take us to the US-Canadian border that is about 4.25 miles down the trail. At the trailhead we met the lady I hope to be when I'm old. This lady was in her 80s and she walked up to us and the bikes and said that is how she used to travel all the way up until she was 79 years old. Amazing. She did the entire length of Canada 3 times on her motorcycle, and road in every state in the union BY HERSELF! On top of that she didn't even quit at 79 because she had to, that was just the year her bike finally gave out. She really was a great example of, you are only as old as you feel, and I really hope I'm still riding into my 70s.
After that we took off on foot down the trail. It was a beautiful hike, with great views of the massive crystal clear lake with snow capped mountains and glaciers in the background. Finally we reached the US/Canadian border, and took the obligatory one foot in Canada and one in the US picture just has it started to rain. At the border we put on our rain gear and had a little snack before heading back. We walked for maybe 20 minutes in our rain gear before the rain stopped, the sun came out, and the temperature was up. So we stopped again and took all our rain gear off. On the trail we passed some people that told us we narrowly missed a bear siting (I was so pissed). Then we ran into some deer that were on the actual trail, so Tomme raised his arms and waved them in the air, and yelled "hey deer, hey deer" to my amusement. Eventually they did move and we were able to proceed with the hike, but I'm not sure how much of Tomme's antics played a part in that.
At the end of the hike we decided to eat dinner in the village, and we went to the Prince of Whales hotel and ate in their restaurant. This hotel is amazing. It was built in the early 1900s and is right on the lake. The restaurant has incredible lake and mountain views, and the food was really good too. There was also a gift shop in the hotel called Princess Gifts. Now while this may seem fairly insignificant it had Tomme and I cracking up. This is because earlier on this trip I bought a dinosaur bone replica at Dinosaur National Monument for my nephew, and then realized I would need to find something for my niece. Well nothing at Dinosaur was going to do because my niece is pretty girly and I was not sure there would be anything that really fit her on this trip. While I was thinking about this Tomme said "Too bad there isn't a princess exhibit at Glacier". To this we laughed at the absurdity of that possibility and how true it was that we would need something Iike that to find her a gift. And then of course we found a place called Princess Gifts and we were able to find her a pink t-shirt with a glittery butterfly on it inside the shop.
After getting the gift and eating dinner we started to drive back to Glacier just as the sun was setting. The mountains were beautiful at sunset and the sky was pink and blue. It was so pretty I really wanted to take pictures but it was 9:30 and the border control gate we wanted to go through closed at 10. So we just booked it back to the gate. At border control we talked to the guys checking our passports for about 10-15 minutes about what they do, and it was really interesting. They actually work all over the world, and not just on our continental borders. It was all pretty fascinating and we enjoyed this little encounter. By the time we made it back to the campsite it was dark and we were tired. So we pretty much went straight to the tent and curled up in our sleeping bags, but it was a great day, and probably my favorite so far on the trip.
Mediocre tip: Backpacker magazine this year rated Starbucks' instant coffee via as the best camp coffee ever, and they were right! If you like to go camping, and you like coffee, throw away your regular old instant coffee and buy this. You will thank me later.
Mediocre tip: Be nice to your border control and customs people, and thank them for what they do. Sure going through customs is annoying, but they are just doing their job, and it is an important one at that. So just be happy they're there.
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Day 6 photo
Our campsite in Glacier showing our tent, hammocks, and tarp over the picnic table. Can you believe we fit all that on a couple of motorcycles?
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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Day 6
Day 6: 6/24/10
Start: Bozeman, MT
End: Glacier National Park
Today's miles: 348
Total miles: 1615
Marriage status: Boy the lack of sleep last night really got to us today. I started out this AM getting ready to go at a "vacation" pace, and Tomme wanted to get ready at a military pace. This combined with a lack of sleep did not make for a good start to the day. We were sort of on each others nerves all day, but have made up now, and hope that a good rest tonight makes for a more pleasant day tomorrow.
Passed through: Lewis and Clark National Forest
Today's Notes:
Well other then Tomme and I digging at each other all day we had a pretty good one. We made an egg scramble with real eggs for breakfast, and headed north to Glacier National Park. It was a good weather day, just a few sprinkles here and there.
The start of our drive took us through Lewis and Clark National Forest. This was pretty and a great motorcycle drive. Lots of rolling turns with a view. We were really enjoying it until we hit a road work area that lasted about 20-25 miles in which we had to follow a very slow pace care the entire way. They had us stop, and start following the pace car near a very small town about 12 miles before the actual road work started. I could not figure out why they did it this way, but Tomme guessed that it was so the road worker driving the pace car could pick up more cigarettes from the town each time she made a lap.
After that we stopped for lunch in a town about 100 miles outside of Glacier. The place was a little strange. Our server was a teenage girl who mumbled so badly and spoke so softly we could only assume she was asking for our order. However this may not have been what she was asking because I ordered bowl of chili and an order of cheese fries and received a cup of chili and Tomme got the cheese fries. I then asked if I could get the bowel instead of the cup, and then I got basically an entire vat of chili. My first thought looking at it was it's a good thing Tomme would not have to be stuck in the tent with me for a few more hours.
Finally we arrived at Glacier, and the view coming in was just amazing. We went in the Many Glacier entrance to the park, and I have to say that the view of the blue lake, with the mountains, and a glacier in the background was probably the most beautiful view I have ever seen in any of my visits to our national parks. We then found a spot at the Many Glacier campground and set up a pretty nice camp for the next three nights. We hung both our hammocks, got the tent up, and put a tarp over the picnic table. Tomme and I then had another short spat over dinner, and then we made up and ate our red beans and rice and cornbread. Then of course we passed out from our exhaustion.
Wildlife today: Just a few deer, no bear.
Mediocre tip: Don't go on a long road trip with your spouse and not sleep. It will be ugly.
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Start: Bozeman, MT
End: Glacier National Park
Today's miles: 348
Total miles: 1615
Marriage status: Boy the lack of sleep last night really got to us today. I started out this AM getting ready to go at a "vacation" pace, and Tomme wanted to get ready at a military pace. This combined with a lack of sleep did not make for a good start to the day. We were sort of on each others nerves all day, but have made up now, and hope that a good rest tonight makes for a more pleasant day tomorrow.
Passed through: Lewis and Clark National Forest
Today's Notes:
Well other then Tomme and I digging at each other all day we had a pretty good one. We made an egg scramble with real eggs for breakfast, and headed north to Glacier National Park. It was a good weather day, just a few sprinkles here and there.
The start of our drive took us through Lewis and Clark National Forest. This was pretty and a great motorcycle drive. Lots of rolling turns with a view. We were really enjoying it until we hit a road work area that lasted about 20-25 miles in which we had to follow a very slow pace care the entire way. They had us stop, and start following the pace car near a very small town about 12 miles before the actual road work started. I could not figure out why they did it this way, but Tomme guessed that it was so the road worker driving the pace car could pick up more cigarettes from the town each time she made a lap.
After that we stopped for lunch in a town about 100 miles outside of Glacier. The place was a little strange. Our server was a teenage girl who mumbled so badly and spoke so softly we could only assume she was asking for our order. However this may not have been what she was asking because I ordered bowl of chili and an order of cheese fries and received a cup of chili and Tomme got the cheese fries. I then asked if I could get the bowel instead of the cup, and then I got basically an entire vat of chili. My first thought looking at it was it's a good thing Tomme would not have to be stuck in the tent with me for a few more hours.
Finally we arrived at Glacier, and the view coming in was just amazing. We went in the Many Glacier entrance to the park, and I have to say that the view of the blue lake, with the mountains, and a glacier in the background was probably the most beautiful view I have ever seen in any of my visits to our national parks. We then found a spot at the Many Glacier campground and set up a pretty nice camp for the next three nights. We hung both our hammocks, got the tent up, and put a tarp over the picnic table. Tomme and I then had another short spat over dinner, and then we made up and ate our red beans and rice and cornbread. Then of course we passed out from our exhaustion.
Wildlife today: Just a few deer, no bear.
Mediocre tip: Don't go on a long road trip with your spouse and not sleep. It will be ugly.
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Thursday, June 24, 2010
Day 5 photos
Me trying to point the way on our hike chewing hay like a true KY girl.
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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Day 5 photos
We took a picture crossing into MT today since we forgot to take one yesterday.
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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Day 5
Day 5: 6/23/2010
Start and end in Bozeman, MT
Today's miles: 221
Total miles: 1267
Miles hiked today: 5
Total miles hiked: 10 (see, told you I'm mediocre)
Marriage status: OK, so we are doing fine, but there are definitely more and more moments when we stop ourselves from saying another word because we know that it would turn a minor disagreement into a real argument. But at the same time we have had some real high points together today.
Passed through: Yellowstone National Park
Today's notes:
Well we had another great weather day today. We woke up to warm sunny skies. We attempted to make an egg scramble this morning with powdered eggs, but it was not very successful. The eggs turned out grainy. If any of you other adventurers out there have suggestions on how to make powdered eggs better I would love to hear them.
Now my tip yesterday was about having the right gear, and I mentioned that I have a vest that heats up when you plug it into the accessory outlet of my motorcycle. This is huge for me because I get cold very easily. Tomme on the other hand has to be near the north pole usually to feel a slight nip in the air, however the few times it has rained on this trip he has actually been a little envious of my vest. So this morning while I cleaned up breakfast Tomme hit the Harley dealership in Bozeman to pick one up for himself.
After that we packed a day hiking bag each and headed back into Yellowstone. First we headed all the way back down toward Old Faithful to check out Midway Geyser Basin. Like Old Faithful this is a huge tourist attraction in the park, and packed with people. It's still amazing and beautiful and therefore worth seeing once in your life, but it is definitely a zoo. The thermal springs in this basin are just gorgeous. Think about the bluest clearest water you could ever imagine and then that is surrounded by brilliant orange, green, and yellow colors. It looks so inviting, but not a good idea to get in. These pools of water are about a 160 degrees.
After seeing that I had to get away from all the people. So we drove back up to the far northwest corner of Yellowstone and did a short 5 mile hike on a trail called Daly Creek trail. This was great because we literally saw no other people on the trail the entire time. This is no easy task in Yellowstone. Even though I'm not an adventure snob I do want to feel like I'm in the wilderness in these parks, and being in a parking lot with thousands of other people does not exactly convey that feeling.
After that we headed back to our campground in Bozeman, and treated ourselves to a nice dinner at a Bistro downtown. Then we stayed up really late packing things for our journey tomorrow and doing laundry. It's 2:17 AM now.
We did see some wildlife on our way into Yellowstone today. Including another big herd of Bison, but this time they had all their little baby Bison with them (so cute), and we also saw a bald eagle, but still no bear.
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Start and end in Bozeman, MT
Today's miles: 221
Total miles: 1267
Miles hiked today: 5
Total miles hiked: 10 (see, told you I'm mediocre)
Marriage status: OK, so we are doing fine, but there are definitely more and more moments when we stop ourselves from saying another word because we know that it would turn a minor disagreement into a real argument. But at the same time we have had some real high points together today.
Passed through: Yellowstone National Park
Today's notes:
Well we had another great weather day today. We woke up to warm sunny skies. We attempted to make an egg scramble this morning with powdered eggs, but it was not very successful. The eggs turned out grainy. If any of you other adventurers out there have suggestions on how to make powdered eggs better I would love to hear them.
Now my tip yesterday was about having the right gear, and I mentioned that I have a vest that heats up when you plug it into the accessory outlet of my motorcycle. This is huge for me because I get cold very easily. Tomme on the other hand has to be near the north pole usually to feel a slight nip in the air, however the few times it has rained on this trip he has actually been a little envious of my vest. So this morning while I cleaned up breakfast Tomme hit the Harley dealership in Bozeman to pick one up for himself.
After that we packed a day hiking bag each and headed back into Yellowstone. First we headed all the way back down toward Old Faithful to check out Midway Geyser Basin. Like Old Faithful this is a huge tourist attraction in the park, and packed with people. It's still amazing and beautiful and therefore worth seeing once in your life, but it is definitely a zoo. The thermal springs in this basin are just gorgeous. Think about the bluest clearest water you could ever imagine and then that is surrounded by brilliant orange, green, and yellow colors. It looks so inviting, but not a good idea to get in. These pools of water are about a 160 degrees.
After seeing that I had to get away from all the people. So we drove back up to the far northwest corner of Yellowstone and did a short 5 mile hike on a trail called Daly Creek trail. This was great because we literally saw no other people on the trail the entire time. This is no easy task in Yellowstone. Even though I'm not an adventure snob I do want to feel like I'm in the wilderness in these parks, and being in a parking lot with thousands of other people does not exactly convey that feeling.
After that we headed back to our campground in Bozeman, and treated ourselves to a nice dinner at a Bistro downtown. Then we stayed up really late packing things for our journey tomorrow and doing laundry. It's 2:17 AM now.
We did see some wildlife on our way into Yellowstone today. Including another big herd of Bison, but this time they had all their little baby Bison with them (so cute), and we also saw a bald eagle, but still no bear.
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Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Day 4 Picture
A picture of Old Faithful erupting.
Quote of the day:
"The most dangerous part of this trip was the visitor parking lot at Old Faithful"
-Tomme (commenting on the tourist insanity that surrounds Old Faithful)
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Quote of the day:
"The most dangerous part of this trip was the visitor parking lot at Old Faithful"
-Tomme (commenting on the tourist insanity that surrounds Old Faithful)
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Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Day 4
Day 4: 6/22/10
Start: Jackson Hole, WY
End: Bozeman, MT
Today's miles: 273
Total miles: 1046
Marriage status: Slightly more testy, but still having moments of smiling at each other and saying what an amazing trip this is.
Passed through: Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks
Today's Notes:
Well our luck with the weather took a slight turn today. We got a later start than we had hoped for this morning, and as soon as we were ready to get on the bikes and go it started to rain. So we broke out the rain gear for the first time so far this trip and headed to Yellowstone through Teton National Park. Almost right away we had our first major wildlife sighting (other than the antelope I almost hit), a moose! There was a huge Moose chowing down by the side of the road in the Tetons and we of course pulled over to take some photos (due to the rain I did not use my camera phone so those pictures will come later).
After getting into Yellowstone we drove straight up to Old Faithful. Which has basically turned into this massive tourists herding process, but a cool thing to see if you have never seen it. We waited for about a half an hour as the rain subsided until finally Old Faithful erupted, and then went to the cafeteria that is pretty much right next to it for lunch. The food at this place was fairly good, but the process of getting your food was a chore. There was a huge line, and you would think the workers would be moving their asses with so many people waiting, but seeing as we had Ben Stein from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" as our cafeteria server, timely service was not in the cards. About an hour and a half later we were done with lunch, and decided to drive pretty much the entire loop that takes you through the southern half of Yellowstone to take in the sites from the bike.
This was truly a beautiful drive. Much of it was next to the massive Yellowstone Lake which was gorgeous, and we saw tons of Bison on the ride. We also saw several deer today, and a bear! Now for those of you that know me from Colorado Springs you know that I have desperately wanted to see a bear for some time now. So as Tomme and I were driving we noticed traffic on the road had pretty much stopped and lots of people were out of their cars taking pictures. Immediately my hopes were up for a bear sighting, and Tomme was ahead of me on the road and I heard him say "It's a bear". Now I'm so excited I rush up there to look, and Tomme precedes to try and point it out to me for the next couple of minutes to no avail. Finally I do see a moving black dot in the distance, but he is so far off you can hardly call it a bear sighting. So Tomme grabs his binoculars and hands them to me and just as I get the bear in focus he moves behind the brush. Needless to say that after two years of yearning for a bear encounter this was pretty anticlimactic. But I am still holding out hope for a closer view on this trip.
After our drive through Yellowstone we headed up to Bozeman, MT where we had a reservation at a campground. We got to the site pretty late (It is 12:31 AM as I write this) and we really didn't feel like setting up the tent, so we caved in and sprung for a cabin. I have to admit that I was ready for a break from the tent and the self inflating air mattress so we reserved the cabin for tomorrow night too.
Mediocre tip: Appropriate gear is key. Staying dry in our rain gear today, and staying warm with my heated vest (it plugs into an accessory outlet on my bike) made the rain today a minor inconvenience instead of an all day bummer.
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Start: Jackson Hole, WY
End: Bozeman, MT
Today's miles: 273
Total miles: 1046
Marriage status: Slightly more testy, but still having moments of smiling at each other and saying what an amazing trip this is.
Passed through: Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks
Today's Notes:
Well our luck with the weather took a slight turn today. We got a later start than we had hoped for this morning, and as soon as we were ready to get on the bikes and go it started to rain. So we broke out the rain gear for the first time so far this trip and headed to Yellowstone through Teton National Park. Almost right away we had our first major wildlife sighting (other than the antelope I almost hit), a moose! There was a huge Moose chowing down by the side of the road in the Tetons and we of course pulled over to take some photos (due to the rain I did not use my camera phone so those pictures will come later).
After getting into Yellowstone we drove straight up to Old Faithful. Which has basically turned into this massive tourists herding process, but a cool thing to see if you have never seen it. We waited for about a half an hour as the rain subsided until finally Old Faithful erupted, and then went to the cafeteria that is pretty much right next to it for lunch. The food at this place was fairly good, but the process of getting your food was a chore. There was a huge line, and you would think the workers would be moving their asses with so many people waiting, but seeing as we had Ben Stein from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" as our cafeteria server, timely service was not in the cards. About an hour and a half later we were done with lunch, and decided to drive pretty much the entire loop that takes you through the southern half of Yellowstone to take in the sites from the bike.
This was truly a beautiful drive. Much of it was next to the massive Yellowstone Lake which was gorgeous, and we saw tons of Bison on the ride. We also saw several deer today, and a bear! Now for those of you that know me from Colorado Springs you know that I have desperately wanted to see a bear for some time now. So as Tomme and I were driving we noticed traffic on the road had pretty much stopped and lots of people were out of their cars taking pictures. Immediately my hopes were up for a bear sighting, and Tomme was ahead of me on the road and I heard him say "It's a bear". Now I'm so excited I rush up there to look, and Tomme precedes to try and point it out to me for the next couple of minutes to no avail. Finally I do see a moving black dot in the distance, but he is so far off you can hardly call it a bear sighting. So Tomme grabs his binoculars and hands them to me and just as I get the bear in focus he moves behind the brush. Needless to say that after two years of yearning for a bear encounter this was pretty anticlimactic. But I am still holding out hope for a closer view on this trip.
After our drive through Yellowstone we headed up to Bozeman, MT where we had a reservation at a campground. We got to the site pretty late (It is 12:31 AM as I write this) and we really didn't feel like setting up the tent, so we caved in and sprung for a cabin. I have to admit that I was ready for a break from the tent and the self inflating air mattress so we reserved the cabin for tomorrow night too.
Mediocre tip: Appropriate gear is key. Staying dry in our rain gear today, and staying warm with my heated vest (it plugs into an accessory outlet on my bike) made the rain today a minor inconvenience instead of an all day bummer.
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Apologies
I just wanted to write a quick note and apologize for all the typos I'm publishing on this site so far. Please understand that on this trip the only time I have to write is late at night (It's midnight right now) after a long day of riding or hiking. So under my exhaustion my proofreading has been in the crapper and my app that I am using to publish all this (since I didn't bring my actual laptop) does not really have an easy way for me to edit old post. Even the night I started this blog, it was the day before the trip and I had stayed up most of the night before preparing things. So once again I apologize, and I promise to make corrections when I return home.
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Monday, June 21, 2010
Thanks John
I want to send out a special thanks to my brother-in-law John who gave Tomme and I a national parks pass before this trip. It saved us $40 today and will save us much more before this two weeks is up, so thank you John! Some of you may eventually notice a sticker on my motorcycle that says "Thin the Herd", this is the name of John's band. He is an extremely talented musician and if you like heavy metal slash rock music I suggest you check it out at www.thintheherd.net
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Day 3 photo
Me standing on our lunch table for the day. This restaurant had good food but no view. Just hideous.
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Day 3
Day 3: 6/21/2010
Start and End in Jackson Hole
Today's Miles: 52
Total Miles: 758
Hiking miles: 5+
Marriage status: testy at times, but still strong
Today's notes:
Today we started out by checking our map of Grand Teton National Park and picking a trail for a half day hike. Not a bad way to start the day at all. Then we headed to downtown Jackson for breakfast and to pick up some more fuel for our stove (hence the reason for going in town for breakfast). Of course as usual we walked into the outdoors store for one thing and left with three (what can I say, even mediocre adventurers enjoy gear). But we were able to show great restraint by going into a camera shop and buying nothing. This was especially difficult for Tomme and I had trouble catching my breath when I realized he did not spend all our money there. Traffic in downtown Jackson is a little annoying and spurred our first marital tiff of the trip. But after proving I was right, as indeed I always am, it was resolved (this is not how it went down according to my husband, but I don't think that matters right?).
Next we headed back to the campsite to make sure we had a spot for the night since we did not have this night reserved, and then changed and packed a daypack and headed off for the park. We did a beautiful little 5+ mile hike that took us to two magnificent mountain lakes. We parked are butts on a rock in the water of one lakes and had a bite to eat as we enjoyed the view. On the rock next to us there were some kids who thought it was a good idea to do a polar bear plunge in the lake, and all I could think was, "damn kids, they are going to make me work on my vacation by making me treat them for hypothermia". So we did what any good nurse would do and got the heck out of there before that was necessary. I was a little disappointed we didn't see a moose on the hike, but I'm still holding out hope we will see one tomorrow on our way out of town.
After the hike we went into town and picked up a little salad from the deli at the local grocery store to go with our dinner and a bottle of wine. For our dinner we made mac and cheese with powdered cheese and milk (which was ok, but not great), and had salad and pineapple on the side. Then for dessert we made brownies in a bag using a recipe from the camping cookbook we got and it was awesome. During and after dinner we talked with another couple staying in the tent spot next to ours. The woman was a nurse and the man a well known statistician consultant. Apparently he has had his stuff in Forbes magazine numerous times and has been hired by major companies and celebrities. That's right celebrities hire statisticians. Probably to figure out things like how their fan base will respond to a new haircut they want to try. But even though he was discreet and wouldn't tell us the names of these celebrities he was really interesting, and we had a great time talking to them over our wine by the fire.
Mediocre tip: Talk to the people around you on your travels, people are interesting. Why do you think we have so many reality shows?
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Start and End in Jackson Hole
Today's Miles: 52
Total Miles: 758
Hiking miles: 5+
Marriage status: testy at times, but still strong
Today's notes:
Today we started out by checking our map of Grand Teton National Park and picking a trail for a half day hike. Not a bad way to start the day at all. Then we headed to downtown Jackson for breakfast and to pick up some more fuel for our stove (hence the reason for going in town for breakfast). Of course as usual we walked into the outdoors store for one thing and left with three (what can I say, even mediocre adventurers enjoy gear). But we were able to show great restraint by going into a camera shop and buying nothing. This was especially difficult for Tomme and I had trouble catching my breath when I realized he did not spend all our money there. Traffic in downtown Jackson is a little annoying and spurred our first marital tiff of the trip. But after proving I was right, as indeed I always am, it was resolved (this is not how it went down according to my husband, but I don't think that matters right?).
Next we headed back to the campsite to make sure we had a spot for the night since we did not have this night reserved, and then changed and packed a daypack and headed off for the park. We did a beautiful little 5+ mile hike that took us to two magnificent mountain lakes. We parked are butts on a rock in the water of one lakes and had a bite to eat as we enjoyed the view. On the rock next to us there were some kids who thought it was a good idea to do a polar bear plunge in the lake, and all I could think was, "damn kids, they are going to make me work on my vacation by making me treat them for hypothermia". So we did what any good nurse would do and got the heck out of there before that was necessary. I was a little disappointed we didn't see a moose on the hike, but I'm still holding out hope we will see one tomorrow on our way out of town.
After the hike we went into town and picked up a little salad from the deli at the local grocery store to go with our dinner and a bottle of wine. For our dinner we made mac and cheese with powdered cheese and milk (which was ok, but not great), and had salad and pineapple on the side. Then for dessert we made brownies in a bag using a recipe from the camping cookbook we got and it was awesome. During and after dinner we talked with another couple staying in the tent spot next to ours. The woman was a nurse and the man a well known statistician consultant. Apparently he has had his stuff in Forbes magazine numerous times and has been hired by major companies and celebrities. That's right celebrities hire statisticians. Probably to figure out things like how their fan base will respond to a new haircut they want to try. But even though he was discreet and wouldn't tell us the names of these celebrities he was really interesting, and we had a great time talking to them over our wine by the fire.
Mediocre tip: Talk to the people around you on your travels, people are interesting. Why do you think we have so many reality shows?
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Location:Jackson Hole
Day 2 Photos
Me enjoying the view on the way to Jackson Hole.
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Day Two
Day #2: 6/20/2010
Start- Dinosaur National Monument
End- Jackson Hole, WY
Today's miles: 324
Total miles: 720
Passed through: Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area
Marriage status: holding strong
Notes for today:
We started out about 6:15 this morning, and saw a beautiful view of the rising sun over the river at our campground. Then we attempted to make breakfast, however this was not as successful as our dinner last night. We tried making pancakes, but with no butter or Pam in the pan, it turned into more of a cooked batter mound than individual round pancakes. But it still tasted good and we packed up camp and headed off to the Dinosaur National Monument visitor center.
From there we took a shuttle to go on a guided tour of a trail where you could see several dinosaur fossils in the surrounding rock. It was pretty cool actually, but one of the walls of rock in the park that has been almost entirely excavated (and you can see a lot of fossils) is in the old visitor center which is now condemned due to a sinking foundation. But they are going to make the rock wall visible again after they complete the brand new visitor center (currently they just have a temp building). But we were disappointed we didn't get to see it.
After the tour we headed out of town and toward Jackson Hole, WY. On the way we drove through Flaming Gorge Recreational Area, and that was amazing. Not only was it pretty with the red rocks, massive reservoir, and snow capped mountains in the background, it was also a really fun curvy motorcycle road. We also saw lots of antelope on the drive today, which was really cool until one darted out across the road in front of Tomme, and then quickly turned around and darted again over the road in front of me. In case my mom reads this I am going to say that the antelope was not that close and I did not almost hit it (wink, wink). We also had great views of the Rockies most of the drive today so no complaints on the scenery. But we did have about a 150 mile stretch of straight and windy road again, but as least the view didn't remind me of Kansas like yesterday's.
Finally we arrived in Jackson Hole. We set up camp, took showers, and then headed off to downtown for dinner. We went to a place called Billy's that Tomme remembered as having the best burgers in the world as a boy, and they were indeed pretty close. Then we went to a brewery and tried some local brew. All in all it was another good day. We have covered a lot more ground so far than we thought we would so we are going to try and see if the campground has a spot for us to stay an extra night in Jackson instead of heading straight to Yellowstone tomorrow.
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Start- Dinosaur National Monument
End- Jackson Hole, WY
Today's miles: 324
Total miles: 720
Passed through: Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area
Marriage status: holding strong
Notes for today:
We started out about 6:15 this morning, and saw a beautiful view of the rising sun over the river at our campground. Then we attempted to make breakfast, however this was not as successful as our dinner last night. We tried making pancakes, but with no butter or Pam in the pan, it turned into more of a cooked batter mound than individual round pancakes. But it still tasted good and we packed up camp and headed off to the Dinosaur National Monument visitor center.
From there we took a shuttle to go on a guided tour of a trail where you could see several dinosaur fossils in the surrounding rock. It was pretty cool actually, but one of the walls of rock in the park that has been almost entirely excavated (and you can see a lot of fossils) is in the old visitor center which is now condemned due to a sinking foundation. But they are going to make the rock wall visible again after they complete the brand new visitor center (currently they just have a temp building). But we were disappointed we didn't get to see it.
After the tour we headed out of town and toward Jackson Hole, WY. On the way we drove through Flaming Gorge Recreational Area, and that was amazing. Not only was it pretty with the red rocks, massive reservoir, and snow capped mountains in the background, it was also a really fun curvy motorcycle road. We also saw lots of antelope on the drive today, which was really cool until one darted out across the road in front of Tomme, and then quickly turned around and darted again over the road in front of me. In case my mom reads this I am going to say that the antelope was not that close and I did not almost hit it (wink, wink). We also had great views of the Rockies most of the drive today so no complaints on the scenery. But we did have about a 150 mile stretch of straight and windy road again, but as least the view didn't remind me of Kansas like yesterday's.
Finally we arrived in Jackson Hole. We set up camp, took showers, and then headed off to downtown for dinner. We went to a place called Billy's that Tomme remembered as having the best burgers in the world as a boy, and they were indeed pretty close. Then we went to a brewery and tried some local brew. All in all it was another good day. We have covered a lot more ground so far than we thought we would so we are going to try and see if the campground has a spot for us to stay an extra night in Jackson instead of heading straight to Yellowstone tomorrow.
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Location:Jackson Hole
Day One Photos
Tomme sitting by the campsite and enjoying our first excellent dinner.
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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Day One Photos
So I know I said I would not have pics until we got back, but we did figure out that we could post pics taken with our phone because we could just email those to ourselves and download them from email instead of needing a cable to attach to the iPad. So here are a few from our first two days, and we will post some pics that we take with our good cameras when we get home.
When we left the Springs we decided to take a drive through Garden of the Gods on our way out. It was so beautiful with the sun rising. This is me in front of balanced rock.
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When we left the Springs we decided to take a drive through Garden of the Gods on our way out. It was so beautiful with the sun rising. This is me in front of balanced rock.
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Day One
Day 1: 6/19/2010
Start-Colorado Springs
End-Dinosaur National Monument
Today's Miles: 394
Total Miles 394
Passed through: Breckinridge, CO, Keystone, CO, Steamboat Springs, CO
Marriage Status: Good and Steady
Notes for today: I have to say that the start of our trip went swimmingly. We had beautiful sunny weather all day. The view going through the locations I listed above were amazing! Plus we had no major issues with the bikes.
We left Colorado Springs around 6:30 AM and arrived at Dinosaur National Monument around 5:00 PM. We stopped for lunch in Steamboat Springs and ate at a place called Freshes which had really good green chili chicken soup. After that things got a bit more rocky.
After lunch we pretty much left the high mountains and the last 160 miles of the day were on a VERY STRAIGHT AND WINDY ROAD! For those of you that have driven through the state of Kansas it was much like that, but on a motorcycle. For those of you that don't ride motorcycles, riding on a road like this is like being really bored but at the same time feeling like the hand of God is bitch slapping you left and right. It could also be equated to a boxing match (Wind V. Paige), and you are constantly trying to counter punch while your opponent is clearly still kicking your ass. It's pretty exhausting, so I was really thankful it was the last part of the day's ride.
Finally we reached our destination, and are staying in a campground in the park near a river. While this sounds nice it is horribly mosquito infested. Currently as I write this Tomme and I are taking refuge inside the tent because we fear the outside will eat us alive (our bug spray was not much help, we have already been fairly devoured). We did cook ourselves an excellent meal tonight with our Jetboil camping stove. We made beef stroganoff and cornbread, and not from the pre-made freeze dried packages you get from the camping store. Instead we made use of a book we purchased for this trip called, Backpackers Guide to Backcountry Cooking by Backpackers Magazine. Both dishes turned out awesome, and we are pretty excited about the prospect of being able to "bake" stuff in our camping stove. Before we turn in we are going to take advantage of an astronomy session being done by the park at our campground. They told us that if the clouds clear we may be able to see the rings of Saturn.
So that wraps up the first day. So far so good minus the wind, mosquitos, and the fact that while writing this I spilled red wine on my sleeping bag and licked it off instead of braving the mosquitos outside to get a towel, and oh yeah the fear that I may have broken the campground toleit. After I pressed the manual flush button it preceded to flush 4 separate times by itself while I washed my hands.
Mediocre tip #3- If you are riding your motorcycle a long distance and it does not have a touring size windshield, do not tell yourself "I don't need it, we don't have the money anyway, I'll be fine". Freaking find the money to buy one or stay home. This tip I learned the hard way.
Mediocre tip #4- If you are going to be camping for an extended period of time, and don't just want to eat instant oatmeal and red beans and rice the entire time, buy Backpackers Guide to Backcountry Cooking by Backpackers Magazine (no I am not being paid to say that).
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Start-Colorado Springs
End-Dinosaur National Monument
Today's Miles: 394
Total Miles 394
Passed through: Breckinridge, CO, Keystone, CO, Steamboat Springs, CO
Marriage Status: Good and Steady
Notes for today: I have to say that the start of our trip went swimmingly. We had beautiful sunny weather all day. The view going through the locations I listed above were amazing! Plus we had no major issues with the bikes.
We left Colorado Springs around 6:30 AM and arrived at Dinosaur National Monument around 5:00 PM. We stopped for lunch in Steamboat Springs and ate at a place called Freshes which had really good green chili chicken soup. After that things got a bit more rocky.
After lunch we pretty much left the high mountains and the last 160 miles of the day were on a VERY STRAIGHT AND WINDY ROAD! For those of you that have driven through the state of Kansas it was much like that, but on a motorcycle. For those of you that don't ride motorcycles, riding on a road like this is like being really bored but at the same time feeling like the hand of God is bitch slapping you left and right. It could also be equated to a boxing match (Wind V. Paige), and you are constantly trying to counter punch while your opponent is clearly still kicking your ass. It's pretty exhausting, so I was really thankful it was the last part of the day's ride.
Finally we reached our destination, and are staying in a campground in the park near a river. While this sounds nice it is horribly mosquito infested. Currently as I write this Tomme and I are taking refuge inside the tent because we fear the outside will eat us alive (our bug spray was not much help, we have already been fairly devoured). We did cook ourselves an excellent meal tonight with our Jetboil camping stove. We made beef stroganoff and cornbread, and not from the pre-made freeze dried packages you get from the camping store. Instead we made use of a book we purchased for this trip called, Backpackers Guide to Backcountry Cooking by Backpackers Magazine. Both dishes turned out awesome, and we are pretty excited about the prospect of being able to "bake" stuff in our camping stove. Before we turn in we are going to take advantage of an astronomy session being done by the park at our campground. They told us that if the clouds clear we may be able to see the rings of Saturn.
So that wraps up the first day. So far so good minus the wind, mosquitos, and the fact that while writing this I spilled red wine on my sleeping bag and licked it off instead of braving the mosquitos outside to get a towel, and oh yeah the fear that I may have broken the campground toleit. After I pressed the manual flush button it preceded to flush 4 separate times by itself while I washed my hands.
Mediocre tip #3- If you are riding your motorcycle a long distance and it does not have a touring size windshield, do not tell yourself "I don't need it, we don't have the money anyway, I'll be fine". Freaking find the money to buy one or stay home. This tip I learned the hard way.
Mediocre tip #4- If you are going to be camping for an extended period of time, and don't just want to eat instant oatmeal and red beans and rice the entire time, buy Backpackers Guide to Backcountry Cooking by Backpackers Magazine (no I am not being paid to say that).
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Location:Dinosaur National Monument
Thursday, June 17, 2010
The road home from Aspen (left). Beautiful view that makes me pee-my-pants nervous when I realize I will be riding on it.Tomme in front of the Twin Lakes and Mt. Elbert (right). Believe it or not both of these photos were taken on the same day.
Motorcycle note: Tomme is now on his bike that he will be taking on the long trip. It is a 2009 Triumph Tiger 1050.
Tomme looking like a pro motorcyclists with the Collegiate Peaks behind him.
Our bikes loaded up before the Aspen trip (top right). We packed them with all the gear we expect to take on the big trip for several reasons: 1) we wanted to get used to the weight on the bikes. 2) we could practice out efficient packing skills. 3) We could see if we forgot anything, or if we could eliminate anything (just so you we were not able to eliminate anything, but we thought of plenty to add).Me at the top of Independence pass (top left). YES I"M VERY COLD. We did not have good weather on the way to Aspen. It rained basically the entire ride, but it was a good test of our rain gear.
Mediocre tip #2: If you are not back country camping, and you have vehicles, do not set up your tent in the pouring rain with your husband. YOU WILL GET INTO A FIGHT. This is not worth the effort. Spend $80 and go to a hotel.
Tomme in front of the penny slot machine that became his personal ATM machine while I lost all the money he was making on the the slot machine next to him (Left).Me taking my bike to the water for the first time (Right). Over time on this blog you will see that I take a lot of photos that I like to call Jeep commercial photos of my Wrangler. These pictures look like I have driven up or to these really remote and difficult places like in the Jeep commercials, but really I drove on black top to a place that with the right camera angle makes it look harder core than it really is. This photo of me in the water is the first of such photos of illusion taken of my motorcycle. I will call these BMW commercial photos.
Me passing the backside of Pikes Peak on the way back home from Cripple Creek (top).
Tomme standing in front of the bikes at the annoying start of our trip to Cripple Creek. My bike was already having issues. Mediocre advice #1: Always bring tools.For the bike lovers out there reading this blog: The bike on the left if my 2010 BMW F650 GS Twin, and Tomme is standing in front of my 2006 Triumph Scrambler (his bike was in the shop).
Well instead of posting pictures and talking about adventures of the past, I thought I would start this blog off with my upcoming adventure. This Saturday my husband and I are going to take off on our respective motorcycles and drive 2, 595 miles taking us from our home in Colorado Springs, through Wyoming, up to Montana and Glacier National Park, and back down through Idaho and Utah.
Now you may assume when hearing we are embarking on such an ambitious trip that we have done such a thing before. However, your assumption would be entirely incorrect. My husband, Tomme, and I have never taken a motorcycle touring trip together before. In fact we will be doing over twice the amount of mileage on this trip than there are total on my motorcycle currently. Therefore one of the many things you can follow on this blog during this trip is the status of my marriage. We will not be staying in hotels on this trip, we will be camping, we are covering this mileage in the span of 2 weeks, and eating camping style with our stove. So if Tomme and I are still together at the end of these two weeks I will consider our marriage virtually indestructible (OK, that was a little strong, maybe just slightly more durable).
In preparation for this trip I have been to motorcycle stores and REI numerous times. I have been dehydrating foods and water proofing our old tent (which we discovered unhappily had lost many of its waterproof characteristics during out last trip), and I'm finding that this kind of "vacation" is a lot more work than most would desire. In addition to these preparations we also took two "shakedown" rides over the past two weekends to get a feel for longer rides on the bike as well as get an idea of what kind of gear we will need. The first trip was to a place called Cripple Creek, CO. Which is an old mining town turned casino town. The next was a longer trip to Aspen, CO. I will be doing a few postings with pictures of these first two practice runs, along with my first bit of mediocre adventurer advice that I obtained from these rides. So welcome to the blog, and feel free to contact me with questions or comments. I'm looking forward to sharing my mediocre world with all of you!
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