Crossing Lake Michigan and Home

We took a high speed ferry The Lake Express across Lake Michigan from Milwaukee Wisconsin to Muskegan Michigan. No bike trip is complete without a ferry ride and this one was fast as well as being being relatively easy to get on and off. From Muskegan it was a day and a half of interstates and 400 series highways and we were home. The whole trip was 8,600 km or about 5,400 miles for you Americans.

Milwaukee

After touring the Harley museum we stayed in a nice hotel in downtown Milwaukee. The city has some very well maintained old buildings including the theatre and city hall. There are also nice walks built along the canal that runs through the city.

State Trooper VS Bev

Well, Bev was travelling along the Interstate minding her own business when she noticed a cop car travelling beside her at the same speed....hmmmm. Then she saw the flashing lights, whhaaattt??? but she was only 5 miles over the limit, she was flying a Canadian flag, what the HELL??? She cautiously removed her hand from the grip and pointed to herself...twice...but the state trooper did not budge. Geeeezzz, she had to pull over on the narrow side driving at an angle over the rumble strips at the side of the interstate (dangerous for bikes), all the while looking at Dave's bike disappearing over the horizon (Dave looks in his rearview mirror once every 5 miles!!).
Once stopped and off her bike, the Trooper says that her front light is out....she checks and sure enough her high beam is dead. She puts on the low beams and begins to panic...where is Dave? How will they reconnect? Even the Trooper begins to get upset, Bev is nearly in tears....thank god he didn't ask for her driver's licence (guess who has it...way up on the horizon). Dave had the licence to show along with our US National Park Passes. So, the Trooper followed Bev to the next highway turnoff, but no Dave was to be seen. At that point the Trooper abandoned Bev with a pat on her back, and she hit the Interstate alone worried that not only did they they not have bike-to-bike communication, and not only did Bev have no ID, she didn't even have a charge card!
As Bev drove along creating different horrific scenarios, she wondered; is Dave at the next exit? will I see him going to other way on the Interstate? How will I get home with no money? I have Dave's Insulin! What if he is not seen at the next exit because he is on the bridge making a Uturn and I miss him? etc etc etc. Good result, about 7 miles later he has pulled off to the side of the highway and we reconnect....guess what, we now know what we want from Santa = Bluetooth bike-to-bike communication.

Harley Museum

We travelled to Milwaukee and visited the Harley Museum. Bev's bike was born here in Milwaukee at the Harley factory in 2007. They have an amazing collecti0n of motorcycles including the first Harley ever built - serial #1 (CIRCA 1903), a WW2 army bike and a drag bike based on the Vrod, as well as the two bikes used in "Easy Rider". Not many women ride a 750lb Harley and so Bev was photograhed by some touriss.

Our Longest Biking Day

There is not a lot to see in South Dakota once you get past the Black Hills, the Badlands, and of course "Wall Drug". We saw all these attractions when we came through in 2008 so we just drove. In fact with stops every hour to eat or cool off (see picture of Bev applying air conditioning....she missed the wet Tshirt contest at Sturgis) we covered almost 600 km before stopping at the Earth Inn in western Minnesota. See Bev standing on a nicely mowed roof of this "underground" motel.

Sturgis Bike Rally

Sturgis is enjoying its 70th bike rally this year and, as in 2008, we are visiting it one week before it really blasts open. You'll see us arriving, with the Sturgis name on the hiil; and, the bikes are parked in front of the tatoo joint....Dave and I got tatoos......nah, just kiddin'.....but we did have lunch in the infamous Knuckle Saloon and bought the requisite Tshirts. AND all sorts of bikes come to Sturgis, they expect about 350,000 this year and you can see that some have certainly seen better days!!

Cody to the Big Horn Mountains

Travelling frrom Cody, we croseds the rolling hills of Wyoming. There were a number of oil wells dotting the dry landscape. We then climbed the last mountain range of this trip, the Big Horn range. It is amazing how the temp dropped from 100F to 60F in 30 minutes while climbing Power River Pass to the top and at 9,600 ft. The rocks behind the bikes by the stop sign are pre-cambrian, more than 3 1/2 billion years old. We then descended down to Buffalo, joining the superslab I-90 for the boring trip back east.

Chief Joseph Byway & Beartooth Pass

We left Cody for a day trip up the Chief Joseph scenic Byway - Route 296 - and then up and over Beartooth Pass (10,947 ft...the bikes are fuel injection, but we are not so we were a bit out of breath at the summit) - US Route 212 - and down through a series of tight switchbacks carved out of the mountain cliffs into Red Lodge. This spectacular road was the highlight of our trip.

Cody Rodeo

While in Cody, we went to our first rodeo. Bev was thinking the guys were a bit wussy, taping up their arms, wearing a neck brace and then the action started...she could heard saying "OH MY GAWDD, who ever would ride that??" All things American, the rodeo began with parading the flag, the national anthem and prayers for both the livestock and the cowboys. Many limped off, cowboys that is, not the animals..

Yellowstone

We saw Old Faithful Geyser...it used to blow every 30 min but is now every 70 min; there are bench seats and at the entrance you'll be told when the next blow will be AND it is!! We have included a picture of the morning horizon, with steaming hot springs all over the hills. Quite a spectacular site. You'll also see a picture of Tower Falls. We left Yellowstone crossing up over Sylvan Pass, our 6th and final crossing of the continental divide. We stopped off at Buffalo Bill Dam, just outside of Cody, Wyoming.

Animals in Yellowstone

We took a tour of the north loop of Yellowstone and in addition to Mammoth Hot Springs and Tower Falls we saw; a mother cinnamon black bear with a cub, a mother grizzly with two cubs, two osprey fishing in the canyon of the Yellowstone and numerous relaxing elk. The highlight of the trip was was a real close up view of a six point elk buck (it was right beside us, not afraid and not aggressive as its antlers still had velvet fur). Off tomorrow to Cody, Wyoming, and will do the southern Yellowstone loop along the way.

The Tetons

On Sunday we drove north from Jackson through the Tetons National Park, into Yellowstone and on to the town of West Yellowstone. En route we stopped to take pictures at the Jenny Lake lookout , the north end of Jefferson Lake and beside the Yellowstone river canyon. If you 've never been to Yellowstone, you MUST plan a trip. You'll be on top of a volcano = the caldera with magmatic heat powering eruptions, geysers, hot springs, fumaroles and mudpots.......you get a glimpse into the Earth's interior.

Snake River Canyon Whitewater Rafting

When we drove up the Snake River canyon on route 89 from Alpine to Jackson, we saw the river winding down the canyon with people rafting and thought it would be fun. And so, after the mundane task of doing laundry the next morning, we went whitewater rafting down the Snake River Canyon (Evil Kneivel jumped this 100 miles downstream). Compared to rafting down the Ottawa River, this was much tamer but so much more spectacular due to the canyon scenery...and the water was a heck of lot colder. We posted a picture of us going down one of the whitewater drops....and we were relieved that our guide managed to stay with us....he got air borne. We have also included some canyon pictures for your enjoyment.