This was the final day of the meet and greet for the 1300tourer group and what a great time. It was nice to see all the friends that we have known and to meet new ones from all over the country. This really is a great bunch. People that we have met over the net that will be friends for life.

We took off this morning to see one of the local state parks.    http://sinkscanyonstatepark.org/

It was a fun ride and not too long as we had the final picnic this afternoon.

Lori on the way out to Sinks Canyon

Mark and Conrad

Mark being Mark

Lori being Mark... LOL

Water disappearing into the hillside

Lori

Mark

Lori S. on a bike. Miracles do happen!

Sacajawea

Of note, there is a very interesting story about Sacajawea and her husband Charbanou and how this country would be so different if she had not died when she did. Look up the story of the great seal of the U.S. and the 14 arrows.

We got back to the hotel and went over to the final picnic and had a great time and it was sad to say goodbye to friends. but we will see them again next year.

Will and Chrissy, owners of the 1300tourer.com site

Welcome banner

Mark and his Ice cream

The girls

The guys

Two days of exploring the grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks. There was so much to see, we were gone all day both days. We got back to the hotel room last night at 11:00 pm.

If you remember from the last update there was a construction area West of Dubois that was all gravel. Lori did not want to ride through it again so she rode in the Car with Lori(S) until we got into the parks and then they both rode on the back of the bikes.

I like it having her with me on the back of the bike, she just looked around and took pictures as we went. Is was a pleasant change from her riding her own bike.

Anyway, not a lot to say other than that, so I will just put up some of the pictures she took.

 Today we will head south to Sinks Canyon for a relaxing day before the picnic this afternoon. Thanks for following along!

We left out of Idaho Falls and hit some great roads for motorcycles, smooth sailing and pleasant weather.

We did a quick stop at Jackson to get Dirtball a new phone. This is getting to be a habit with him. Last year he lost his phone on the way to New York and this year he drowned it with water.

A little farther down the road we turned into the mountains and ran alongside the Grand Tetons for a while.
The roads were good for 35 miles or so, and then we came around a corner and saw a sign for road construction. Not a big deal... Then another sign saying motorcycles use extreme caution. Again, not a big deal. then another sign saying pavement ends... Problem... Lori does not like gravel.

Next up another sign saying prepare to stop. A flagman stopped us and told us to go to the front of the line. We had to go right behind the flag car. The problem is the driver of the flag car must have never ridden a motorcycle. He crawled us for 3 1/2 miles at speeds from 5 to 12 miles an hour. It would have been a lot easier if he had gone a bit faster. Driving a motorcycle on loose muddy gravel is not fun on crawling speeds.

We finally got out of there and it was smooth riding all the way to the motel.

Iceman beat us to the hotel and got a free hat for being the first. He also got to get the first beer :)
Everybody is here that I can tell, and most are out having dinner right now.

The fun begins!

We left Stanley to bright sky's and cold temps. About 5 miles down the road we passed a sign that said "last gas for 62 miles" It was a good thing that Lori noticed because I didn't. I had enough, but Lori and Dirtball would have been real close. It would have been 215 miles on that tank. So, we turned around and went back and got gas.

The ride out of town was beautiful and the mountains can captivate you. We stopped at a couple of turnouts and just enjoyed the views.

 We stopped in at Sun Valley for a bit to look around and I can tell you, it is not my kinda town. Too pretentious. I am not a fan of phony people and that town is full of them.

Once we got down a little further it started to get hot and we started across the crater to peak Hwy. There was about 20 miles of black rock that kinda looked like the surface of the moon. (like I have been there... LOL) It was interesting. until we got to the other side and it got hotter!


We passed right by a few electrical reactors and the rest area's in the area have signs showing the amount of radiation in the air. Makes you kinda wonder... Hmmm... :)
The last 100 miles or so into Idaho falls was just plain Hot! My bike was showing between 95 and 96 degree's all the way into town. We stopped at the first Mcdonald's we saw and got Ice cream so I could use the wifi to get a room. I had just finished the reservation and it was now showing no more rooms available. There was something about the railroad that had all the rooms booked.
right now we are relaxing and enjoying the air conditioning.
It will be great to see everybody again tomorrow!

M&G5 Day 2

What a great day!
We woke up to sunny sky's and warm temperatures and after the normal thing of getting 4 people through the bathroom  and everything packed we hit the road at 7:15

The roads were clear, I set the cruise at 72 and sat back to enjoy the day. About 25 miles later. Lori started to flash her lights and we pulled over. It seems that with the new tires on her bike, it wanders a bit more than she likes. She wanted me to check it out and make sure it was all OK.

We swapped bikes and I drove hers for a few miles and it was fine. Just a new tire with more of a crown than she was used to made it not track as steady. Anyway, I pull over and stop, Lori pulls up behind me on my bike and goes to get off and the bike started to go over. The kickstand is a little long and the road
 was tilted to the right, so the bike was actually straight up. Fortunately she caught it as it started to go and by then I was right there to steady it.

We took off again (on our own bikes) and made it another 100 miles or so. Coming down a long downgrade it just seemed something was wrong. There were cars off both sides of the road, stopped, and the cars in front of me were slowing down. All of the sudden the car right it front of me swerved hard to the right and ran over the corner of a big concrete form. It was about 6' x 20' and covered the shoulder and all of the left lane and part of the right lane. I swerved right and Mark and Lori followed right behind me.
Lori S. in the car managed to squeeze right in front of a semi and we all made it past without hitting it. That was a good thing as evidently there were exposed nails because for the next mile there must have been 15 cars pulled over with multiple flat tires.That was better than a Red Bull! Nothing like a quick adrenaline rush to perk you right up.

We took off east around Ontario Oregon and headed for the hills. The roads from Garden Valley to Stanley are some of the best I have ridden on for a motorcycle. Twist and turns for about 100 miles following
 rivers and the speed limit was high enough to make it entertaining. There were, of course, warning signs for the corners, and of course I totally ignored them. I figure if I am not over double the caution speed,
 I am safe to make it. I wasn't going even close to that fast so I had a safety margin there in case I ran up on somebody in the corner.
We made it to Stanley with no problems and got a room and ate and relaxed at a real nice cabin right on the river.

It is a beautiful area at the base of the Sawtooth mountains and I can see why people like it here so much.

Tomorrow we go into Sun Valley (shopping, Yay! (sarcasm intended)) and then into Idaho falls for the evening. We have contemplated going through to Dubois, Wy,
But we want to take our time going through the Grand Tetons. 2 short days now and we are into our base camp for a few days.

A great day today and we will see you tomorrow.    

Parks tour trip Day 1

Twas the first day of vacation and all through the land... It rained, and rained, and then rained some more.
I figured out real early in the day that is was not going to be a great day.

You see, I had skipped mowing the lawn the lawn last weekend because I wanted to do it right before we left. I had fertilized this spring and it is growing at about 3" a week and I didn't want it too tall when we got back., so anyway...

I get up early and attempted to start the mower. No dice... It sounded like the battery was dead, so I hooked up the charger and tried again. No go. I did a couple of circuit checks and found the starter to be bad. No chance of a replacement this early, so I cleaned and lubed it and cleaned the contacts and got the mower running. About 1/3 of the way though, the drive belt for the blades breaks. 8:30 in the morning is not a good time for parts. After about an hour of chasing around, I finally found a belt and got it going again, only to go 30 feet and have a flat tire.

yep, that is how my day started...

Lori and I finally made it down to Mark and Lori's place and dropped the dogs off and got the bikes ready to go. It was raining pretty good, and it just didn't let up. All the way down Hwy 410, down, Hwy 123 and east on Hwy 12 it rained. When we got into Yakima, it let up for a minute, but it was short lived. All the way from Yakima to Sunnyside, it rained.

Thankfully we already had the room here arranged, so we didn't have to look around.

After Mark got off work and caught up, we went out to dinner at a local Casino/sports bar called RC's. They have a never ending pasta bowl that Lori S. ordered. It was HUGE! We asked if anyone ever ordered another bowl (never ending) and was told "very seldom" The food was good, we are tired and laying around the Motel room, just relaxing. I just  hope tomorrow does better, or at least drier!

Till then...

Almost ready!

We are getting excited!

We are almost done with all the packing and getting the bikes ready and are sooooo looking forward to some time off and relaxing, enjoying the ride and the scenery and most of all, looking forward to seeing everyone from the 1300 tourer group again.

It really amazes me how you can get to be friends with someone from clear across the country, just by talking on a forum and when you actually get together, it is like you are home.

Our basic plan for now is to leave here on Friday mid day and get into Yakima area and get a room for the night and wait for Mark to catch up.

Day 2 June 23rd Saturday. Yakima to Boise area.
Day 2 June 24th Sunday Boise to Idaho Falls. Id, Via Sunvalley (North route)
Day 3 June 25th Monday Idaho Falls to Dubois, Wy.

Leaving Saturday morning
Day 8 June 30th Saturday Dubois, Wy to Billings area. Over Bear tooth Pass
Day 9 July 1rst Sunday Billings area to Hot Springs Mt, through Glacier National Park
Day 10 From here, we will see what happens