Retired and Trippin

The final day of Bill's fantastic two-wheeled tour. After checking out of our motel and gassing up in Colby, KS we were eastbound on I-70 at 7:10. It was a cool and windy 70 degrees. We made two stops for fuel on the way home to Shawnee and one of those stops included some Baskin Robbins ice cream. Life is good. I arrived home at 1:00. It was 91 degrees and had been for some time. We rode 368 miles today, which makes a trip total 3,475 miles. It sure was good to squeeze my Little Peach again. Life is very good! I took some pictures of the scenery along I-70 between Colby and Shawnee. If you'd like to see them click on the following link:  Final Day A BIG THANKS to Wild Bill (Billy Boy) for planning, organizing and leading this grand tour. It was an enjoyable trip.

Today we were blessed with another beautiful day for riding. We rode out of Steamboat Springs eastbound on Highway 40 at about 8:00 after gassing up the hogs. It was 64 degrees with blue clear skies. On the way out of town there was a hot air ballon aloft. Highway 40 was a pretty ride. A good deal of the time we were at high enough elevation that snow patches were visible. At Granby Billy Boy led us north on Highway 34 towards Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) past Lake Grandby. RMNP was beautiful, as usual. It feels like you're on top of the world. It was very cool with a brisk breeze with quite a bit of snow on the ground. At one of the scenic outlooks there was a large herd of elk on the mountainside above us. I tried to get a picture of them but they were far away and my point-and-shoot camera has limited capabilities. We exited RMNP through Estes Park. We took secondary highways east and south to I-70 to avoid the Denver area. Interstate 70 took us to Li

We left our motel in Jerome, Idaho at 7:50. Another beautiful day and the temperature was 64. Billy Boy wanted to make good time so we rode the interstate highways to the area of Salt Lake City, UT. On the southeast side of Salt Lake City we rode east on Highway 40, stopping for lunch at the Big G Cafe in Fruitland, UT. They sold t-shirts that said, "I Hit the G Spot in Fruitland, Utah." I didn't buy one. On Highway 40 about 15 miles west of the Colorado border we were stopped at a construction site for about 15 to 20 minutes. It wasn't too bad despite the 97 degree temperature. Highway 40 took us into Colorado and eventually Steamboat Springs, where we found lodging in the Rabbit Ears Motel. We rode 552 miles today and the high was 97. Billy Boy led us on another beautiful day of riding. If you want to see the pictures taken today click on the following link:  Day 6

The Fan Mountain Inn did not have a complimentary breakfast so we rode to the Ennis Cafe in downtown Ennis, MT for a very good breakfast. Bruce had cherry pie with ice cream for breakfast. Some of us were a bit jealous, but not enough to change our orders. Billy Boy led us on a route north and west through Montana on the following Highways: Montana 287 west; 41 south; I-15 north; 43 west. It was scenic riding on all these highways but the most enjoyable was 43 between Dewey and Wisdom. The route paralleled the Big Horn River and we saw some interesting wildlife. We spotted two bald eagles on top of power poles, one of which was sitting in a huge nest. We also saw a fox trotting down the side of the highway and an antelope right at the road's edge, which makes the old sphincter pucker. Once in Idaho Bill led us south to the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (accessed by Hwy 75) and we stopped at a scenic overlook of the Sawtooth Valley and Wilderness area. Information

The Holiday Lodge did not provide a complimentary breakfast so we rode a half mile down the road and enjoyed a big breakfast at Perkins. At 8:15 we took off back north (west) on I-90. It was 66 degrees with blue skies. At Ranchester we exited and rode west on 14 and Alternate 14 over the Big Horn Mountain Range between Dayton and Lowell, WY. It was a beautiful ride. Highway 310 took us north into Montana and we stayed on it all the way to Highway 212, where we rode back south and west to Red Lodge, MT. We stopped for gas before assaulting the Beartooth Highway and crossing Beartooth Pass (just under 11,000 feet elevation). The pass just opened two weeks before so we expected snow along the road and we were not disappointed. The views were incredible. We continued on Highway 212 into Yellowstone National Park. We rode through to the park to West Yellowstone. Along the way we saw antelope, deer and bison. The bison below had just crossed the road and he looked like he was pi

We awoke to another beautiful day for riding. I snapped the following pic as we were preparing to take off for the day. It was shortly after 8:00 when we finished breakfast and hit the highway. It was 63 degrees and you can see we had blue clear skies. Wild Bill led us north to I-90 where we took off westbound, destination Devil's Tower National Monument. The interstate took us into Wyoming and at Sundance we exited on Highway 14, which took us north to Devil's Tower.  It is quite a sight. There is a mile long paved trail around Devil's Tower but I had little hope of anybody wanting to walk it. The motto of some of our group has been, "we're bikers, not hikers." Bruce, however, said he wanted to do it and I was surprised when everybody except Gary and Bill went along. I got some good pics along the way. The highway 14 loop took us west and south back to I-90 and we rode into Gillette, WY for lunch at at Village Inn. From Gillette we took Highway

We took off from our motel at about 7:45 and rode north on Hwy 83 into South Dakota.  It was 54 degrees under blue clear skies.  Another beautiful day. Hwy 44 took us west into the Badlands National Park. We enjoyed exploring the park, taking pictures, etc. From there we took off to the Black Hills area.  We stopped in Scenic, SD for gas - before riding on to Pine Ridge, SD, where we stopped at Taco Johns for lunch. From Pine Ridge we rode through the Black Hills to Mt. Rushmore.  It was Larry's first visit here. We stopped for the day in Deadwood, SD at the Best Western Hickok House motel. Today was a good day for wildlife viewing. I saw a wild turkey, antelope, deer, a boat-load of prairie dogs and bison (or buffalo). We rode 402 miles today with a high temperature of 86.  Another beautiful day of riding! To see pictures taken today click on the following link: Day 2

Good friend, Wild Bill, planned an ambitious week-long motorcycle ride and I was fortunate to be invited. Eight of us met at the Quik Trip in western Shawnee and departed there shortly after 8:00.  It was a little foggy and 70 degrees but the skies quickly turned clear blue. Wild Bill led us north through Leavenworth to Atchison, KS on Highway 7.  North of Leavenworth 7 is known both as the Glacial Hills Scenic Byway and the Amelia Earhart Memorial Highway. Highways 73 and 20 took us west through Horton to Highway 75, which we followed north to Hwy 136 westbound.  Hwy 136 is called the Pony Express Highway. The water tower in Marysville, KS on Hwy 136. Just west of Marysville, KS Highway 77 took us north into Nebraska.  Wild Bill led us through Fairbury, NE to just north of Hebron, where we stopped for gas and lunch at a Subway. After lunch, Wild Bill's route in Nebraska took us through Strang, Fairmont, Hastings, and Grand Island to Highway 2 (designated as a scenic rou