Overview
Well, Road Trip 2005 for Cyclerides is now complete. After 8 days of riding, 2844 miles
through 5 States, 5 National Parks, 19 National Forests, snapping 1900 photos, spending 53 hours in the saddle,
burning 70 gallons of gas, adjusting to 60 degrees of temperature change, and making a million deposits into
our memory bank of life, we are home safe and sound. As you probably
know from the last newsletter Mrs. C. and I shipped the Road Glide to Seattle and flew in on a one-way ticket to
start our 8 day, 2844 mile ride back to Phoenix. The ride took us through the Cascades in Washington, Coeur D'
Alene in Idaho, Glacier National Park in Montana, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Jackson
Hole in Wyoming, Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah and back to Arizona.
As we were getting close to leaving for this trip my adrenaline was building by the
hour. I had never been to most of these places, but from the pictures
I had seen and the stories that I have been told about these world famous locations, I was really excited to hop
into the saddle and get rolling. Our first stop after getting off of the plane was Downtown HD in Tukwila, WA.
We had the schedule set so that this would be no problem to get to their place in plenty of time. But the
plane was an hour late on arrival and only left us about 40 minutes to get off of the plane, and catch a cab to
the dealership. While consulting the map and talking on the cell phone doing 60 mph through the city
streets, our "out of the Country" cab driver finally got us to our destination to pick up our bike 15
minutes before closing time. And as it turns out, we had to do a little shopping while we were there. About 30
minutes outside of Seattle I was going over a mental checklist of what we needed to do when we got there.
It was at that time that I realized that I had forgotten two very important items to start our trip. Helmets! Washington is a helmet
State, so we had to buy the exact same helmets that we had setting in the garage at home. You will soon find them
on the classifieds for sale.
But if that was the worst thing to happen, it would be a great trip, and it was. We started the trip Thursday, July 28th with a quick ride through Deception Pass before
taking Hwy. 20 East across the North Cascades in Washington. This was a great way to start the trip as
the awesome beauty of this route only helped to raise the anticipation of what would follow in the next several
days from the more well known locations. As it turns out, the Cascades were a pleasant
surprise as they were on par with everything else that we saw and is a must see for anyone traveling in that
area. The second day was a 409 mile travel day from our night at Grand Coulee Dam in Washington through
the panhandle of Idaho via Eureka (7miles from the Canadian border) to Whitefish, MT. The 45 miles from Eureka
to Whitefish at 8:30 in the evening was where we learned and perfected the art of "Dodge Deer". This was
a game that I was not familiar with being from the Phoenix area, but nonetheless one that you have to take
very seriously. The object of the game is to stay alive as you ride through cerebrally challenged deer standing
on the side of the road ready to dart out in front of you in a moments notice for no apparent reason. Mrs.
C. counted over 40 deer on the side of the road
in that stretch with one jumping out in front of the car in front of us. Fortunately we made it through the
gauntlet, a little nerve wracked but unscathed.
Saturday, July 30th we took the "Going-To-The-Sun" road through Glacier National Park and then looped around to
the South back to Whitefish. Glacier is in a league of its own when
it comes to National Parks. It is one of the oldest parks in the States and is full of history that could keep
you busy for a couple of days. The roads are very old, narrow and almost hanging off of the
side of the mountain. I have pictures, but when you go, you will see what I mean. In my opinion, this is one destination
that you will want to put on your future ride calendar. Sunday, July 31st was a travel day from Whitefish
to Gardiner, Mt., which is also the North entrance to Yellowstone National Park.
This gave us the opportunity to get our Yellowstone HD t-shirts.
It had been 36 years since I had been to Yellowstone as a kid, but the anticipation that I had that Monday morning
was at the enthusiasm level of a 13 year old. We entered through Mammoth Hot Springs and made our way through Deer and Bison on our way down
to Yellowstone Lake and Old Faithful for the geyser show. I still can't figure out what is the most amazing. The
fact that Old Faithful timely spurts
hot water out every 90 minutes, or that literally thousands of people wait around to see it. And yes, we were two
of the thousands that did just that.
That same day we made it through Yellowstone and Rode through the Grand Teton National
Park on our way to Jackson, WY. The Grand Tetons are beautiful and Jackson is one of the neatest old towns I have been
to. It was especially exciting that week because there were so many
riders staying in town on their way to Sturgis. Every motel you went by there were several bikes parked at each
one. In fact, we even ran into a group from Scottsdale at
the Cadillac Bar and Grille. We liked Jackson so much we stayed another night so that we could go back to Jenny
Lake at the Tetons and take a float trip down the Snake River.
Wednesday was the start of the trip back to Phoenix. We
traveled Hwy. 89 through Montpelier, ID., Logan Canyon and Salt Lake City to an unknown gem called the Nebo
Loop around Mt. Nebo just outside of
Payson, UT. I'm guessing you haven't heard of this route, but if you are ever up that way, I would highly recommend
this National Scenic Byway as a road to take. We then spent the night in Richfield, UT. The last
day was filled with 583 miles and lots of eye candy from Mother Nature as we rode through Bryce Canyon National Park
and Southern Utah on our way back to Phoenix.
I've said this before and I'll say it again. There is no better way to see, feel or
experience this great Country we live in than from the seat of a motorcycle. We
could smell the distinct aroma from the lumber mills as we passed by in Washington, the strong fragrance
of the healthy forests in Montana, the undeniable sulphur smell from the hot springs in Yellowstone and the
180 degree view of the majestic mountains in Glacier. You can even be a total stranger in a small community
but feel like a part of the family as they are always friendly and curious to know about your trip. There is just
something about the thought of living out of a bag strapped to the back of a motorcycle for a couple of weeks on
the road that intrigues those who haven't done it. And for those of you that have, you know what I mean. In 49
years I have found no better way to relax than to ride my motorcycle to the mountains or the coast, far
from the nearest cell service. It is only way to completely unwind.
After 2000 miles through California's Napa Valley and Yosemite, 3000 miles through
British Columbia and the West Coast and now 2800 miles through the Northwest, these annual trips are something
that Mrs. C. and I look forward to, enjoy and recollect all year long. If
you are new to riding and haven't taken at least a week long motorcycle trip or if you have been riding for
a while and haven't gotten past the weekend rides, I would encourage you to start planning your next trip now.
There is no better way to see the awesome beauty of God's Country than the way that our forefathers did it. By taking the back roads with the wind in our face.
I have said this before, but after this trip it deserves to be repeated. "Being a motorcycle rider it almost seems like we have an unfair advantage when
it comes to building memories. Every day we fire up our motorcycles and head out on the open road, we are filling
out another deposit slip for our memory bank of life. And the more you ride, the more experiences you have to share
with others."
I took a total of 1900 pictures on this trip. Many
of them are fantastic. I will be back next week with pictures, maps and details from the first couple of days of
the ride and then follow that up with the rest of the ride over the next couple of weeks.
Click Here For Glacier Ride Overview Photos