Our Montana Adventure

We left Delaware and joined up with another couple for the trip. We loaded our wings and trailers into their cargo trailer and jumped in their pick up for the ride out. Okay so some may say wimp at this point but doing our trip this way gave us an extra four days of riding through the Rockies on our bikes so it was a good trade off. We stopped in Columbus Ohio for an overnight stay and to visit the AMA Museum, a great place to visit if you get the chance. The next day we were off for the Rockies and our first stop, Rapid City. We drove through the night and kept swapping off each time we filled the tank. The bikes were locked down tight in Condors and every time we checked on them they hadn’t moved even a quarter inch. We pulled into Rapid City for our first stop and stayed two nights at the President’s View Resort. We pulled in around noon so it gave us time to unload the bikes and run up to Mt Rushmore while we waited for our rooms to be ready. After a quick tour of Mount Rushmore and a ride to Crazy Horse. The following day we road through Mount Rushmore National Park and then out to the Bad Lands which was like a different world. The colors were amazing, but the heat was a different heat. It was only 98 degrees but it was an unbearable 98 degrees. Even with plenty of water we could only go about a third of the way through the park before turning around. We got out of the park and made a quick ice cream stop at Wall Drug. We then took a quick run to Sturgis just so we can say we’ve been there. It was not “Bike Season” there so the town was basically empty. But all in all it was amazing just to think that this small town swells to hundreds of thousands of people for Bike Week there.

The next day we loaded up the bikes and drove out to Billings Montana. We stopped here to enjoy a day at the GWRRA’s Wing Ding. We stayed with a woman who was nice enough to open her house for us. She was 73 and living by herself. She cleaned out a spot in her garage for our bikes and trailers, and cooked huge meals for us. She charged us $125.00 a night for the total of three nights that we stayed there and donated all that money to a local church. What a fantastic person. We stayed over the fourth of July and had a nice 360 degree fireworks display. In every direction there were fireworks going off. How nice is that? After two nights we got on our bikes and while this woman watched our truck, we took off into the Rockies on our bikes.

Our first stop was in Great Falls Montana. A nice place to visit but for us just a place to stop for the night. The next day we were off to Glacier national Park. We headed up 89 to the East Entrance to the park. The entire run up to the park on 89 we battled 103 degree temps and a 40 mph crosswind. We found that closing the vents on the bikes made things a lot more comfortable. Seems that with the vents open in the hot dry air, the cockpit turned into a convection oven, so by closing off the air we were actually cooler. We started to climb up into the mountains near the park and things cooled off for us. The only road through the park is the Going to the Sun Highway which takes you through Logan’s Pass at almost 7000 feet. The pass is filled with Goats and Sheep and a nice rest area. After working our way through the park we arrived at our Moss Mountain Inn. This B&B is run by Hunter and Deb Moss and they put together a great place. Everything is all natural and their home is a place out of a dream. The breakfasts they cooked were out of this world and Hunter pulled out a map to show us all the great places in the park to check out. Not that we had the time but it sure made us want to come back. The next day we went into the park and when back up to Logan’s Pass, parked our bikes and walked around to see the sites. We left the pass and headed towards the east entrance where we came upon a small bear eating huckleberries alongside the road. Well, that just made our day complete seeing the bear. The bear was nice and calm, eating away and cars lined up on the road, everyone taking their picture and moving on. I have to admit we were a bit nervous being on the bike and not in a car, but the animals there I guess are pretty use to people and cars. Trust me though, I was ready to twist the throttle and get the heck out of there.

The next morning we said goodbye to the Mosses and headed to North Folk Idaho down Interstate 93. The ride to North Fork was beautiful, especially going up and over the Bitterroot Mountains. We stayed overnight at the 100 Acre Wood Resort  which is owned by Jon & Nancy Cummings who ironically are friends of Hunter and Deb who they met in the Virgin Islands. They have a nice place with a pond and the north fork of the Salmon River running behind their place. We filled the tanks the next morning and headed to Jackson Hole. It was a good thing we did, there was nothing for miles. We did happen upon on stop in Lone Pine Idaho. This was a one pump gas station/post office/restaurant/motel/souvenir shop. Oh did I mention the town historian as well? I’m sure you get the idea. The gas pump was the old mechanical type with 79.9 on the price with a one drawn in next to it for the dollar and a sign that said “Price is for one half gallon”. Needless to say at 42 mph, we didn’t have to top off here.

We came into Jackson Hole through The Teton Pass on route 22. What a fantastic view. The pass was over 8,000 feet and coming down was a nice ride ending up by crossing the Snake River. Jackson Hole is a really nice town. We got our rooms and jumped on the bus to head into town for some site seeing and dinner. If you are looking for some fun for a quick dinner try Billy’s Burgers in the center of town on the west side of the square. You can either sit down in the Cadillac Grille or sit right in with the cooks almost on top of the grills. If you do that, the cooks will be more than happy to give the “tourists” some ribbing. The hamburgers are good and huge!! So make sure to ask for them a little more well-done than you would usually get.

The next day we headed north into the Teton National Park and on to Yellowstone. When you enter the Teton National Park your pass also allows you into Yellowstone as well so if you do one, you just have to do the other. A couple of things to note about the parks, first if you have any guns, they need to be unloaded and broken down to enter the park. The second is that no commercial vehicles are allowed in the park, ie tow trucks. So if you break down it will cost an arm and a leg (several hundred dollars) to get towed out by the park department. And they will not take you past the gate, you will need to call a commercial service from there. If you break down in Yellowstone I would suggest that you make sure they take you to West Yellowstone. At least there are services right near the entrance to the park. The Grand Teton National Park is simple beautiful. We road through to Jenny Lake and stopped for a while then road on checking out the scenery as we went. We followed the mountains north and into Yellowstone following the Snake River. We worked our way over to Old Faithful and walked through all the hot springs there. We came across some bison in the area which are disgustingly huge! Then it was time to watch Old Faithful, what a site! You just can’t be impressed until you see it for yourself. From there we worked our way to West Yellowstone for the night.

The following day we went towards the east side of the park to see the Yellowstone River and the Upper and Lower falls. Wow, the Upper Falls from the south side of the river is unbelievable. You can walk down stairs to an overlook that gives you a fantastic view. About 325 steps the last of which are bolted to the canyon wall so going all the way to the lower platform may not be for the week hearted, but do go as far as you can, there are plenty of rest areas along the way and it’s all beautiful. Leaving the park we headed out the North East Entrance and slowly worked our way back into the mountains. We climbed and climbed and climbed what seemed like forever and finally we topped out on Bear Tooth Pass. The scenery was unreal looking like somewhere in the North Alaskan Tundra more than anything else. We stopped at what was the top of our world at almost 11,000 feet. Wow 2 miles up and everything was so clear and clean. We wanted to stay forever but looking at the 12 foot high poles on the side of the road we figured the snow got pretty deep up there in the winter time. Now in the summer, it was 52 degrees for a daytime high and I’m sure into the 30’s or even twenties at night. The trip north off the pass was a bit different. Starting at about 10,000 feet you’ll ride through about a half dozen switch backs to get to the valley floor at about 7,000 feet. And what a view it is! We alternated going down the pass so the couple up top could take pictures of the others below. It was a nice ride out of the park and into Red Lodge Montana. Just remember, this pass opens from like May to September and that’s about it so make sure to plan ahead.

We rolled into Billing and back to a great meal all ready for us when we walked through the door. We got our bikes loaded up and ready for the trip home and that’s when it happened, the trailer had a flat! Well we all looked at each other and thought, darn we’re going to have to stay. Well that would have been nice but we had to get home so we pulled out an electric air pump from the bike and filled the tire then headed off to a tire store where they did the repair for free. Gota love the more rural states, getting that tire fixed would have cost $10.00 in Philadelphia. We threw the guy a 20.00 and headed out on the road.

I wish I could tell you about the ride home but we were talking about our trip the entire way back to the east and I can’t even remember the ride home. So all in all the trip was much more than successful, it was unforgettable. Something you can tell your grandkids about. And that’s why we put together our website. The planning that went into this trip was easy to do and allowed us to enjoy the trip so much that it is now something we treasure. We want you to have the same experience so look through our site and please ask us questions and provide us with your stories and adventures. We would love to hear about them.

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