Date: Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Start: 1130 (0630 wake-up)
Finish: 2000
Travel Time: 8.5 hrs
Distance: 203 miles
Total Distance Covered: 2454 miles
One of these days, we'll get to sleep in, but until that day, we don't. Even though we woke up early, there was a leisurely feeling int the air. We were both pretty excited to be riding with Kyle. We started to pack up the bikes and do our daily checks, when an older couple a few rooms down started chatting with us as they enjoyed their morning coffee. Mickey and Carol were two well-traveled and well connected folk from TX on their way to a conference in MT to gain some support for developing trail systems in TX. They were accompanied by trailer full of quads. And not just any quads, these things ranged from your standard workhorse to a custom sand-dune racer complete with paddle-wheel-lookin rear tires. We chatted for a bit and Mickey reminisced about an old Bimmer he used to own. They headed over to Jan's for breakfast and Yobo, Kyle and I decided to join them just a bit later. It was starting to get late, but Mickey and Carol were just too interesting of a couple to pass up.
We enjoyed a great breakfast with some of the most savory sausage patties known to man accompanied by some huge hawtcakes. Mickey and Carol were a wealth of knowledge and told us about several great rides across the country. They couldn't say enough about Paut, Richfield, and Marysville in Utah. As for me on the East Coast, they noted the Hatfield McCoy trail system. And for roads...well the Twisted Sisters apparently is a must-ride. Before we knew it, it was approaching 1100 AM and we had to break away.
We started up and my tummy wasn't feeling right and I was realizing I probably filled up a bit too much. We weren't on the trail for more than 5 minutes when we noticed that Kyle was no longer with us. We waited for some cattle blocking the road, but still no sign. Eventually he caught up and told us he had forgotten his gloves back at the gas station. Kyle was definitely a great companion on the trails. It was too bad he couldn't participate in our helmet cam ramblings. The roads were mostly dirt and fast. Kyle was up front for a bit, but his GPS kept kicking off, so Yobo and I switched up the lead with Kyle in the middle since we both had the com systems. The dirt roads eventually made their way into the woods and the trail really narrowed up. I was bringing up the rear when Yobo shouted over the com system that he was down. His wheels had washed out in some water and mud. His pannier was a smidge deformed, but we banged it back into shape. Shortly after we came across a gate blocking the route. We found a little single-track bypass that snaked its way around the side of the gate.
The single-track eventually led us back on to the road. We hit up a joint Subway/Snowmobile shop for a late lunch. That's right...Subway/snowmobile shop. Apparently, people are stoked for snowmobiles in this part of the country. At this point we decided to part ways with Kyle. Yobo and I planned to head through Yellowstone since I had never seen the park and Kyle continued on the route. It was a beautiful sunny day and really got to enjoy what Yellowstone had to offer. We came across a buffalo chilling on the side of the road just a few miles into the park. We made the typical tourist stop at Old Faithful and sure enough...she blew, just as expected. Afterwards we headed over to the lodge for a quick snack, and to our surprise everyone was celebrating Christmas inside. It was Christmas in August, complete with Christmas tree, kids decorating ornaments, and elves walking around all over. We had to get a photo with Santa. As we positioned ourselves in the standard YoboGoda pose, Santa let out his own rebel yell and it was AWSUM!!!. We hit up the ice cream counter for some fresh Huckleberry Ice Cream and made our way back to the bikes. To be honest, this trip couldn't have been a better Christmas present.
It was late in the evening and we wanted to get to Jackson Lake to stay for the night. As we approached the lake, again the views were second to none. I know it's getting cliche by this point, but riding at night with the setting sun is nice and good and pretty. The sun setting over Jackson Lake and the Grand Tetons might have created the best photo op of the trip. We continued a little longer down the road and found Jackson Lake Lodge and decided to pull in. Any place in this location was worthy of our cash for one night. As we checked in, we realized Jackson Lake Lodge was fancy. We were dirty.
We checked into a rustic room, cleaned up, and headed back to the main lodge for some din-din. The meal was great, but really, they could have thrown fried dirt in front of me and I would have been satisfied in this spot. After dinner, we made our way to the bar for a nightcap. Dean/Kiefer/Beca/Zack tried their best to sell us on their party-life. They were one big traveling band of gypsies working at lake resorts in the summer and ski resorts in the winter. They had me convinced I was going to come back back and drive boats for a living. Yobo brought me back to reality by the time we returned to our room. I was definitely feeling the "sauce." We did a quick weather check before bedtime and it looks like we are headed into a shitstorm in the upcoming days. I quickly fell asleep with a nice buzz.
It was one year ago today I made the following comment on Facebook: "If someone asked me what day it was...I'd have to think about it."
/s/ Goda
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