DAY 9
Beginning location:
Day 9 destination: Cody, WY
States visited: Idaho, (14) Wyoming
Daily mileage: 230
Cumulative mileage: 5,104
The plan for Day 9 was to spend the entire day seeing as much of Yellowstone National Park as possible. I was very concerned about traffic in the park, as, no matter how I tried to avoid the holiday, we found ourselves scheduled to visit this popular park on July 4th. Having only one day in a park of this size was enough cause for concern. To have to deal with holiday crowds had me worried even more.
We tried to address the over-crowding issue in two ways: First, we visited Old Faithful on Day 8 so we wouldn't be rushed waiting for the geyser to erupt, and so we could get ahead of others entering the park through the south entrance the next day when we were able to blow right by Old Faithful and continue north. The other remedy was to leave early. We lost some time eating breakfast and checking air pressure in tires, but were still on the road at 7:45 AM on a beautiful 54-degree morning.
If you've visited Yellowstone, you know that all of the most popular attractions are located on a figure-eight loop through the park. Coming in from the south, we visit the West Thumb Geyser Basin, first (absolutely amazing thermal things going on here), and then headed west along the bottom of the loop and then north. We blew right past Old Faithful and continued north to the Fountain Paint Pots. From here, we set our sights on Mammoth Hot Springs but stopped at various geysers and other places along the way. I was disappointed we didn't see more animals early in the morning - but we were treated to a quick bear sighting.
Mammoth Hot Springs proved to be quite the sight. We stayed in this area for a while to grab gas and lunch. Riding across the top of the Grand Loop, our next highlight was Tower Falls. Turning south, we made our way to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone (my favorite of all the things we saw in Yellowstone), then continued south through the Hayden Vally before exiting Yellowstone through the east entrance.
I've always wanted to visit Yellowstone. My expectations were high. Once again, I was not disappointed. It was like we were on sensory overload the entire day - taking in so much of the sights and sounds of this natural wonder. On this July 4th holiday, I must also add that I felt a great sense of pride in being a citizen of these United States. Our government showed great foresight in protecting this part of our great land. The National Park Service has done an incredible job making the park accessible to the masses, with well-paved roads built to highlight the best of the sights while preserving the natural beauty of the park. We saw people from more nations than I can recall visiting the United States to experience the beauty and diversity of our country. For those of us who are privileged to call the USA home - we are blessed. For all of her problems, the United States remains the best place on the planet to live!
I can't begin to adequately describe all we saw in Yellowstone. And I can't post the hundreds of photos we took. These highlight images offer a reminder for me and an idea for readers of what we experienced.
Leaving Yellowstone, we made our way into the Shoshone National Forest on our way to Cody, and found that the beauty of Yellowstone extended into this park. We arrived in Cody. We stayed at a Holiday Inn, but had dinner at Buffalo Bill Cody's Irma Hotel, built in 1902 and named for his daughter. Dinner was good, the laughter was endless, and after a pleasant stroll down the main street in Cody, we called it a day.
Our hotel in Cody had us just a few short miles from the beginning of our ride on the Chief Joseph Highway. After a quick stop for gas, we were on our way. At the northern end of CJH, we turned east onto Beartooth Highway to begin our climb through Beartooth Pass. This was a beautiful ride - and turned out to be pleasant... not nearly as challenging technically as I thought it might be. I'll let the pictures do the talking on as to what we experienced.
Finishing our ride on Beartooth Highway, we stopped for lunch in Red Lodge, and then headed east through more of Montana to arrive at our stopping point in Baker City. There's not much in Baker City, but we needed a place far enough north to let us clip North Dakota and check that state off of the list and get us close enough to see Mount Rushmore to let us see what we wanted to see in the Black Hills before the ladies headed home.
Day 10 was also the day we said goodbye to one of our BMW riders. Trent had received news early in the trip that an adoption opportunity had presented itself to his daughter. Getting updates regularly, Trent let us know that the long-awaited adoption was going to happen. A birth mom in San Antonio had selected Trent's daughter and son-in-law to be baby Nathan's forever family, and once confirmed, Trent left us after having lunch in Red Lodge, setting his GPS on the fastest way to San Antonio to be with his family and meet his new grandson. We knew we would miss Trent's company and humor - but celebrated with his entire family on this great news.
Waking up in Baker City, Montana, it really did seem we were on the back side of nowhere. As stated earlier, we needed to be far enough north to ride into North Dakota. We started looking for anywhere in this part of Montana where we could stay for the night and be close enough to get the ladies to Rapid City by the end of the next day. Baker City was the place.
Evidently, the oil industry is keeping this little town going strong. The hotel we stayed in, while built in a square metal building, was almost brand new and actually pretty nice. The restaurant was interesting, to say the least - but we were served well, and didn't have to get back on the bikes in search of food - so we were pleased.
We tried to address the over-crowding issue in two ways: First, we visited Old Faithful on Day 8 so we wouldn't be rushed waiting for the geyser to erupt, and so we could get ahead of others entering the park through the south entrance the next day when we were able to blow right by Old Faithful and continue north. The other remedy was to leave early. We lost some time eating breakfast and checking air pressure in tires, but were still on the road at 7:45 AM on a beautiful 54-degree morning.
If you've visited Yellowstone, you know that all of the most popular attractions are located on a figure-eight loop through the park. Coming in from the south, we visit the West Thumb Geyser Basin, first (absolutely amazing thermal things going on here), and then headed west along the bottom of the loop and then north. We blew right past Old Faithful and continued north to the Fountain Paint Pots. From here, we set our sights on Mammoth Hot Springs but stopped at various geysers and other places along the way. I was disappointed we didn't see more animals early in the morning - but we were treated to a quick bear sighting.
Mammoth Hot Springs proved to be quite the sight. We stayed in this area for a while to grab gas and lunch. Riding across the top of the Grand Loop, our next highlight was Tower Falls. Turning south, we made our way to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone (my favorite of all the things we saw in Yellowstone), then continued south through the Hayden Vally before exiting Yellowstone through the east entrance.
I've always wanted to visit Yellowstone. My expectations were high. Once again, I was not disappointed. It was like we were on sensory overload the entire day - taking in so much of the sights and sounds of this natural wonder. On this July 4th holiday, I must also add that I felt a great sense of pride in being a citizen of these United States. Our government showed great foresight in protecting this part of our great land. The National Park Service has done an incredible job making the park accessible to the masses, with well-paved roads built to highlight the best of the sights while preserving the natural beauty of the park. We saw people from more nations than I can recall visiting the United States to experience the beauty and diversity of our country. For those of us who are privileged to call the USA home - we are blessed. For all of her problems, the United States remains the best place on the planet to live!
I can't begin to adequately describe all we saw in Yellowstone. And I can't post the hundreds of photos we took. These highlight images offer a reminder for me and an idea for readers of what we experienced.
Leaving Yellowstone, we made our way into the Shoshone National Forest on our way to Cody, and found that the beauty of Yellowstone extended into this park. We arrived in Cody. We stayed at a Holiday Inn, but had dinner at Buffalo Bill Cody's Irma Hotel, built in 1902 and named for his daughter. Dinner was good, the laughter was endless, and after a pleasant stroll down the main street in Cody, we called it a day.
DAY 10
Beginning location: Cody, WY
Day 10 destination: Baker City, MT
States visited: Wyoming, (15) Montana
Daily mileage: 403
Cumulative mileage: 5,507
Finishing our ride on Beartooth Highway, we stopped for lunch in Red Lodge, and then headed east through more of Montana to arrive at our stopping point in Baker City. There's not much in Baker City, but we needed a place far enough north to let us clip North Dakota and check that state off of the list and get us close enough to see Mount Rushmore to let us see what we wanted to see in the Black Hills before the ladies headed home.
Day 10 was also the day we said goodbye to one of our BMW riders. Trent had received news early in the trip that an adoption opportunity had presented itself to his daughter. Getting updates regularly, Trent let us know that the long-awaited adoption was going to happen. A birth mom in San Antonio had selected Trent's daughter and son-in-law to be baby Nathan's forever family, and once confirmed, Trent left us after having lunch in Red Lodge, setting his GPS on the fastest way to San Antonio to be with his family and meet his new grandson. We knew we would miss Trent's company and humor - but celebrated with his entire family on this great news.
DAY 11
Beginning location: Baker City, MT
Day 10 destination: Rapid City, SD
States visited: Montana, (16) North Dakota, (17) South Dakota
Daily mileage: 301
Cumulative mileage: 5,808
Evidently, the oil industry is keeping this little town going strong. The hotel we stayed in, while built in a square metal building, was almost brand new and actually pretty nice. The restaurant was interesting, to say the least - but we were served well, and didn't have to get back on the bikes in search of food - so we were pleased.
After a good night of rest, we headed east into North Dakota, then south into South Dakota. Two observations: (1) There isn't much to see in this part of our country, and (2) Montana won the prize for worst bugs. Our windshields were caked with the things.
We rode into South Dakota on US 85 into Spearfish, and then headed into the Black Hills National Forest on 14A, then to US 385 on our way to the Crazy Horse Memorial. Seeing this memorial and hearing the story of sculptor Korczak Siolkowski was fascinating. We got to meet one of his daughters and gained an appreciation for the sacrifices this family has made to see the work on the carving continue.
Leaving Crazy Horse, we made our way to Mount Rushmore to take in the sights there, then went on to Rapid City via US 16 to spend our last night with the ladies before they returned home.
We rode into South Dakota on US 85 into Spearfish, and then headed into the Black Hills National Forest on 14A, then to US 385 on our way to the Crazy Horse Memorial. Seeing this memorial and hearing the story of sculptor Korczak Siolkowski was fascinating. We got to meet one of his daughters and gained an appreciation for the sacrifices this family has made to see the work on the carving continue.
Leaving Crazy Horse, we made our way to Mount Rushmore to take in the sights there, then went on to Rapid City via US 16 to spend our last night with the ladies before they returned home.
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