Livingston Montana to Kalispell and Beyond

Well we traveled the Interstate to make some time and stopped for fuel at a Flying J and at Drummond and then we parted ways. Jordeane exited at Bonner and went on to John and Joanne's early and I went through Missoula and to the Motel 6 in Kalispell. The next morning I went to Army and Navy and bought a new pair of boots with some tread as mine were extremely smooth and slippery when there was sand or dirt on top of concrete..Almost dropped it a few times. Then I stopped at Super One in Columbia Falls and bought the Cilantro John needed for his chili and fixings for a tossed salad. And some tortilla chips (you know they don't make those grocery bags as strong as they used to. I tied the bag on to my sack and when I got to John and Joanne's all I had was the grocery sack No tortilla chips)....I ate way to much as they had enough food for 30 people and only 15 came. To those 15 who said they would be there and did not come you missed a really good time but not too worry I ate enough for you all and I certainly did not need it. I know some have really good reasons but a phone call would have been great to advise that you could not make it. This happens all the time for me and it does get my dander up a bit.They have the greatest group of friends I have ever seen with their neighbors Jowanna and Stanley and their chiropractor Delaney and his expectant wife Theresa. Plus the BMW people who came (A lot from Canada) We managed to not attract the bears or cougars who were roaming the area. Forgot to mention Stanley brought over a game called Cornhole and some played that for awhile.
Sunday morning I packed up and after 2 breakfast buritos headed home. Good to be home. Great trip.
Now I have cub scouts and camp at Bergen this weekend. No rest for the wicked.

Lander Wyoming to Livingston Montana

Today was quite a day because we had stopped sooner than we had wanted we had a few miles to travel. So we packed up and had breakfast at the cafe in the lodge and headed out, Unfortunately we did not stop a lot for photos so I bought postcards and then took pictures of them to kind of give an idea of the beautiful country we traveled through. (No I am not intelligent enough to be able to label my pictures on the photo.)
These pictures are just outside of Dubois, Wyoming. I was there about 30 years ago and remember going to the grub and tub to do laundry and so convenient to eat lunch at the same time but it was torn down about a year ago. I would definitely like to go there again a spend some time hiking in the hills.

As we continued on we went over Togawotee pass. It had road construction and we had to be led by pilot car. The mud and gravel were a little wet and slippery so I was very nervous but found I was able to handle it Okay. We got down off the mountain and ended up at Moran Juntion and headed north into the Teton's and Yellowstone Park. I was a little put out at having to pay $20.00 to drive through the park and the roads were terrible. One would wonder what they do with all that money. Anyway we decided to go up the west side of the park ...less traffic and quicker. The bison were out in their glory. Standing right beside the road and the tour bus ahead of us stopped. We stayed back aways and then when the bus passed and stopped further up we scooted on by. Kind of a touchy situation because I heard of one of them tossing a Harley and his rider a fair piece but then he asked for it because he reached out and touched it as he went by.

Saw some mud pots and I did not realize how big Yellowstone Lake was. We saw more bison and elk as we traveled through. We stopped just south of Mammoth Hot Springs and took this next group of pictures. What beautiful terrain. We exited the park at Gardiner and at the service station I was pleased to see the inventive way the local scouts raise money..selling firewood. We headed north again hoping to reach Butte but there was a very strong north wind and we were so cold when we reached Livingston chose to stay there. We stayed at the Livingston Inn  $96.00. A little rich but just to cold to go on. The next morning there was another BMW parked next to mine and while we were packing the owner James from San Francisco came out and we went for breakfast together. I was able to give him my park pass and save him the $20.00 entry fee which made it seem more worthwhile. Another young man from Edmonton on a BMW came in but it was too much for him so cold as he was he traveled on.

Craig Colorado to Lander Wyoming

We left the Bear Valley Inn in Craig headin towards Yellowstone. After riding through some stunning scenery we approached the Interstate and headed east. As we neared Rawlins, Wyoming just at a off ramp to a Flying J service station Jordeane's bike ran out of gas. This was no problem because she has 2 gallons with her at all times. However when the gas was put in the battery was not quite able to start the bike so I headed up to the Flying J to kind a kindhearted person to give us a boost. Just to put our plight in perspective..the person who volunteered to help was there with his whole family and 4 dogs in a suburban and an old jeep.

They were moving from South Carolina to Courvallis Oregon and had an accident in Tennesee and the suburban and their trailer rolled so all their worldly possession were in their 2 vehicles and Paul and  Sherrie were waiting for some insurance money to come through and yet they were so very willing to help out. Continuing on our way we did stop at viewpoint looking over the wind river range and a gentleman from Colorado shared a home grown apple with us and it hit the spot.

We stopped in Lander for fuel and looking ahead there seemed to be a large storm so we opted to stay at the Frontier Lodge . It was very unique and really caught our eye.

Salida Colorado to Craig Colorado Sept 12/2011

We left Salida Colorado and headed out. We stopped at Leadville for lunch at the Silver Dollar saloon for lunch. Leadville is noted for its lead carbonate rock which produces silver. Leadville is still industrious in mining today.Leaving there we headed for Steamboat Springs, Colorado. We  walked through several of the stores including the F M Light store which had been advertised along the roadway for about 50 miles. They sell western ware and I could not help but tell the clerk my Cowboy Boot story. This couple went out west and he went shopping and bought himself a pair of cowboy boots. He went back to the room wearing his new boots and strutted up and down in front of his wife and said "Notice anything different"! and she replies"No!| So he struts up and down once again and asks again,"Notice anything different"? Again she replies No! So in frustration he goes to the bathroom and takes of all his clothes and comes out t wearing just his new cowboy boots. Now do you notice anything different?. She responds No It's hanging down..it was hanging down yesterday and it will be hanging down again tomorrow. He angrily replies You want to know why its hanging down It's looking at my brand new cowboy boots!!! She said Should have bought a hat Sam Should have bought a hat..This store also had a selection of jackalopes. We had dinner at  a BBQ place and I had a little chat with Ben Franklin. and then headed out again, We  finally stopped at the Bear Valley Inn in Craig Colorado. We had gone through a little shower and looking into the sun found it difficult to see where we were going.

Addition to Sipapu to Salida

I forgot to mention that just past the Rio Grande Gorge bridge we saw a very phenominal site. Earthship a biotecnological community where all the buildings were built from the earth and are self sustaining. Incredible looking homes. Built into the earth of recycled materials such as bottles or tires etc.

Sipapu to Salida, Colorado Sun/Sept 11

Packed up very wet and headed out for home. Again Jordeane's bike would not start. Battery is low and does not appear to be charging as it should. But after plugging in for a bit we were on our way. As we neared Taos there was a very beautiful cemetery which we stopped to take a picture of..

A few miles down the road there was construction on the bridge over the Rio Grande  Jordeane drove  off the road on the viewpoint where vendors were selling their wares. When she  went to go back on the roadway she scraped the bottom of the sidecar unit and the bike thought her sidestand was down so when she put the bike in gear it quit. A wonderful man named Badger came quicky to our aid and found the problem immediately and we were on our way.

Next stop for lunch in Alamosa at a Mexican restaurant where Jordeane proceeded to misplace her key to her bike. She found the spare she had but never did find the real one. So we proceeded on without further incident to Salida and the Mountain View motel. A beautiful little spot across the road from a 7-11 where I had my junk fix.

Walsenburg to Sipapu Thursday Sept 8/2011

Got going pretty early this morning. Continental breakfast 9:00. Had a pretty good sleep and then on to Sipapu. We had a Mexican lunch at Michael's Diner in Taos. Taos is kind of neat even the MacDonalds is adobe style.So 25 miles to the SE is the Sipapu ski resort. Pulled in and there are Turk, Dennis, and Tim. Pretty hard to beat those boys. I think Turk was surprised. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and it was a very cold, wet weekend but everyone just made the most of it.
Vonnie and Paul Glaves were also there and Vonnie had achieved her 1 million miles on a BMW award and I was delighted to be there to see her presented with it.

Got a great picture of her and Jordeane in front of the lodge.
They had a band both nights in the lodge but it really was too small to accomadate everyone. Breakfast was served in the lodge cafe upstairs every morning to the tune of $10.17 It was a good buffet but very pricey. They also served the Saturday night dinner which was excellent Mexican food. I was pleased to receive the

the long distance award. I was given a 100 year centennial belt buckle for New Mexico which one of the fellow BMW members had designed. Beautiful! And one would be remiss to not include this wonderful picture of 3 dogs and Lucky. Here are just a few more pictures of the rally and all the bikes.

Monument to Walsenburg

Reluctantly we left the Sundance Mountain Lodge at noon. We had a great breakfast for 3.99 at the Lodge restaurant and proceeded to pack up. Jordeane was not feeling well and wanted to stop at a vitamin store in Colorado Springs. We exited the Interstate and went to the vitamin store and fueled up and just before getting back on the road we stopped at a red light and  her bike quit and would not go again. She pushed it round the corner and started to disassemble everything. A truck pulled up with a couple in it and he offered to help. Our guardian angels Dave and Becky. He took Becky to work and ran home and got some tools all the while thinking about what could be wrong. Came back and suggested FUEL FILTER. Took it off and Jordeane and him went to several parts stores eventually finding one that would work. I think he nailed it and that is what was wrong with the bike all along. He is the Honor Guard Commander for the Colorado Springs American Legion. He was truly in the right place at the right time for us. So we continued on to Walsenburg HMMM! Very unusual quaint depressed little place. It used to have a very large prison there which has been closed down and mining is pretty much done. We traveled a few miles west to the RIO Cacharas Inn.
We were kind of taken by the name. Let's just say it had ambience. Run by a couple of fellas who were partners in every sense of the word. It had a somewhat archaic charm. We went back to town for dinner

at Huerfano Restaurant run by 2 ladies one of whom was a former guard in the prison. So interesting to talk to the local people and learn about the history and people of these places. And so ended another eventful day