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..