StrayCat's trip/pics - Discuss StrayCat's trip/pics on CBRXX, the ultimate on-line community for Honda motorcyclists. Read it in Events / Rides / Ride Reports. (Organize and report on events / rides / trips.)

CanadianBird · 06-27-2009, 10:37 AM

7,000 kms, where the Hell did you go? lol

StrayCat · 06-28-2009, 1:36 AM

From Seattle to Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Utah again, Nevada, California, Oregon, and back to Seattle.
I've got a ton of pictures and I'll put together a ride report this week. We hit five National Parks along the way too.

CanadianBird · 06-28-2009, 9:53 AM

Did you get to Cody? Ride Chief Joseph scenic drive and up and over Bear Tooth Pass?

StrayCat · 06-28-2009, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanadianBird

Did you get to Cody? Ride Chief Joseph scenic drive and up and over Bear Tooth Pass?

No, not this year. We did two years ago when we went to Custer.
Here is the vista from the top of Dead Indian Pass, and my little friend that wanted to get his picture taken.

StrayCat · 06-29-2009, 2:44 PM

I'm still sorting the pictures out. I can't post them all! I have hundreds!
Hopefully tonight I'll get a bunch posted and a ride report as well.

BTW Thanks for moving this out of the Accumen thread. I kind of went OT.

CanadianBird · 06-29-2009, 5:58 PM

Our kind of road. Very nice. Where is this road?

shewie · 06-29-2009, 6:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StrayCat

I'm still sorting the pictures out. I can't post them all! I have hundreds!
Hopefully tonight I'll get a bunch posted and a ride report as well.

BTW Thanks for moving this out of the Accumen thread. I kind of went OT.

No problem. Now get some pics up!

Poundstretcher · 06-30-2009, 7:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanadianBird

7,000 kms, where the Hell did you go? lol

He only zipped out for a newspaper, you know what it's like

StrayCat · 06-30-2009, 1:51 PM

Here is the ride report and some pictures. I have the full deal on my web site along with other ride reports and more pictures.
2009 STN National Meet

Enjoy!

StrayCat · 06-30-2009, 8:19 PM

Okay.. Picture uploading is working now...

Day 1: Seattle, WA to Lewiston, OR

It was a leisurely trip to Dave (greench440)'s house where we would also meet up with Scott (MuddDawg). I discovered that out of the four riders, I was the only one without heated gear. Everyone else seems to favor the "If I'm going to wear a jacket, it's going to be heated." theory.

We meandered our way through Enumclaw and enjoyed the ride around Mount Rainier. The weather was beautiful, although we experienced "snow" going over Mount Rainier. This spring has been full of cottonwood seeds, and at times, the quantity was so great that it looked like snow falling from the sky.

Lunch was at the Subway in Yakima, where we met a parade of Austin Healey cars. I reminisced about a missed opportunity in my youth when I had a chance to buy an Austin Healey. Regrettably, I did not, and so I have yet to own one.

We continued to Idaho where Dave led us to the Spiral Highway. The views of the river valley and the highway were spectacular from the top. After we checked into the Inn America, my high-school classmate Carolyn and her husband met us for fun-filled dinner. The night ended by sharing a glass of Scotch amongst the guys.

A great start to a two week road trip.

StrayCat · 06-30-2009, 8:23 PM

Day 2: Lewiston, ID to Hailey, ID

Morning came, and I watched Mary and Scott perform their daily maintenance by lubing the chains on their respective VFRs. Appropriately enough, Dave later dubbed her "Queen of Maintenance."

Idaho was a bucolic masterpiece. The gently rolling hills covered with different crops provided a backdrop perfect for riding along. In fact, the view was somewhat like the default Windows XP background.

We tested a road near Hells Canyon. At the top of the road, people running a bicycle race stopped Dave and Scott from riding the road. However, at the bottom of the road near White Bird, there was no such roadblock, so Mary and I rode up the twisties.

Near New Meadows, ID, we passed the 45th Parallel. This meant that we were halfway between the North Pole and the Equator. However, lunch in New Meadows was pretty slow and not that great either. Dave hereby proclaimed that we would be stopping at Subways for future lunches.

The road along Payette River was a lovely twisty road, but we were riding along after a rain storm. While we were cruising at around 40-45mph, it would have been a little bit more fun with dry roads and 50-55mph. Dave went adventure-touring by clambering down to the banks of the Payette River.

Later in the day, we discovered more cold and wet roads. At least, it wasn't raining, something Ron had gone through just 40 minutes prior.

At the end of the day, we met up with Ron (XLR8) in Hailey, although his hotel room had been given to someone else. Fortunately, the hotel clerk kindly paid for his room in Bellevue. The next town, not the mental hosptal in New York.

shewie · 06-30-2009, 8:25 PM

Nice. That's some fantastic scenery!

StrayCat · 06-30-2009, 8:27 PM

Day 3: Hailey, ID to Cokeville, WY.

At this point, chain maintenance looked like a great idea because the heavens opened today: it was raining throughout the day. We wanted to stop at Craters of the Moon National Monument just for a look-see, but we also needed to stop and warm up. Luckily, they had hot air blowers, which I used to dry out my gloves.

After Arco, ID, it stopped raining long enough to test out the throttle on our respective bikes. The road between Arco and Idaho Falls had seven bends in it, so this was a great place to open up and see the legendary Blackbird power in action. Dave quickly followed suit, but the three VFRs had more cautious riders. They eventually caught up miles and miles later.

By the time we entered Idaho Falls, we wanted lunch. I asked some local police officers where to find some good food. They sent us to the complete opposite end of town where everything was closed because it was Sunday. We eventually found Jalisco's, which had good Mexican food. However, this ended up being a two-hour lunch, something that hadn't been planned.

If it wasn't raining, it was cold and windy. The head wind was affecting my gas mileage, so I had to stop more often to get gas. Due to the long lunch, frequent gas stops, and horrible weather, the slower riders only made it to Cokeville, WY, a glorified truck stop. The thunderstorms had also caused a power outage in the town, so we checked into a dark motel room. Dave made it to Green River, WY, where he would attempt to locate the Intergalactic Space Port early the next morning.

TV wasn't working (no power yet), so our entertainment was watching the police chief stop speeders all night long. The hotel clerk used to be police officer #3 working for the police chief and gave us some dirt on how the police system worked there in Cokeville. Apparently, many drug runners avoid the interstate and scales, so they drive through Cokeville. The speed trap by Cokeville's finest is ostensibly to look for drugs.

Meanwhile, we had gas station food, trail mix, and Scotch for dinner. But what the heck... what's a road trip without gas station food?

StrayCat · 06-30-2009, 8:31 PM

Day 4: Cokeville, WY to Steamboat Springs, CO.

It was 44 degrees when we left Cokeville. Ron wisely was staying put until later in the day, but we had miles to make up. Scott, Mary, and I took off with sad goodbyes and started riding through the amazingly open countryside. Scott and I had fixed Mary's mangled wiring last night, so she finally had a working Gerbing jacket. I remained the only one without heated gear, but the thunderstorms had moved on, so the weather was moderately dry.

An hour later, we rode through Kemmerer and discovered the Busy Bee Cafe for a tasty breakfast that also warmed us up. There was a cute little cross-stitch by the cashier: "In this land of birds of bees, there are many new sons of bees." We met a hardcore Harley rider in the cafe who was wearing a motorcycle shirt that said "Mary's Motorsports". I stopped him and said that Mary liked his shirt. It turned out that he had picked it up at a rummage sale at a nearby Harley dealership. He was riding and camping solo, the sort of fellow motorcycle tourer we like to meet. We passed each other up at a gas stop a short while later and waved in friendly camaraderie. He was definitely not a frowny-face rider.

Once we were past Green River, WY, we attempted to find the Intergalatic Space Port, but there wasn't even a sign for the Green River Airport. Just a cattle guard and a dirt road.

Things were looking up though. The road through the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area was fabulous, especially the section before Vernal, UT. We passed quite a few cars and trucks, so Mary flew right past the dam viewpoint, unwilling to pass the same slow cars twice. She also saw the incoming thunderstorm clouds following us into Utah, so we kept riding.

Dave had recommended the Quarry Brewhouse, so we went in for a late lunch. We parked our bikes in the same spot, sat at the same table, and ordered the same beer. Kinda spooked the waitress.

The thunderstorm had come a bit closer to us while we were eating lunch, but it was only wind. As we went further east, the wind eased and disappeared. Soon, we reached dinosaur land. Dinosaur National Monument is a desert anyway, so why were we worried about rain? We hiked through the monument and "discovered" many petrified fossils, including dinosaurs and clams.

The rest of the day was a pleasant ride. Traffic was light and the weather was moderate. Dave had kept in touch throughout the day, so we knew where he had reserved rooms for us. The Nordic Lodge was comfortable and Steamboat Springs had great restaurants.

StrayCat · 06-30-2009, 8:34 PM

Day 5: Steamboat Springs, CO to Gunnison, CO.

Freezing. Cold.

Colorado was cold and foggy and cold. It's June. I was expecting some degree of warmth, not temperatures in low 40s. I was ready to tear apart some t-shirts to wrap around my arms to keep them warm. Fortunately, Scott loaned me his sweatshirt, and eventually, we crossed over to the warmer side of the pass.

A stop at the Wolcott Yacht Club Grill gave us a bathroom break and we met some Seattle-area riders too. Us rainy-side folk have to stick together.

Route 50 through Monarch Pass was crawling with bicycles. Fortunately, motorcycles and bicycles can share a lane without too much fuss. Oncoming cars, trucks, and RVs in our lane did cause a bit of fuss once in a while as they attempted to pass bicyclists. At last, we made it to the Continental Divide.

V-Twins, V4's and I4's at dinner.....

StrayCat · 06-30-2009, 8:38 PM

Day 6: Gunnison, CO

We had a lazy social day. Dave was out golfing, so, Scott, Mary, and I had a late brunch at The Bean with Scott. All of us had the sausage and egg burrito, which was super tasty.

Later while we were doing laundry, we chatted with Gary (Twist) who was coming back from a ride.

John (Black Ice) had some good stories. He's also a good sport for us yelling "Squid!" at him all day long.

Finally, I was relieved to find out that Chili is no longer going to be mailed to his next destination. That is absolute sacrilege! I was also honored to receive a Chili sticker for my bike. For the rest of the trip, Mary would be emulating Chili's cool dance moves.

Chili is the ST.N mascot. He travels with different members all over the country. Pretty much always on the move. He also has a drinking problem.

I brought him back from Custer SD in 2007 and Dave's wife made him a little 'stich. I now have the offical Chilli sticker on the windscreen of the bird.

StrayCat · 06-30-2009, 8:46 PM

Day 7: Gunnison, CO to Green River, UT

There was a little bit of sadness as the Gunnison Inn parking lot emptied out. However, we were merely starting our two-week road trip, so we were preparing our routes through Utah, Nevada, and California.

This next leg would take us near Telluride, CO, famed off-road destination, and then take us through Moab, the ultimate off-road destination. This was the only day when we wished we had more off-road capable bikes. For example, there was a shortcut through Arches National Park that was marked "4WD only", but it looked passable for a GS.

The views through Colorado were stunning including Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Paradox Valley, a high desert with ranches and B&Bs. We passed many empty miles with only buttes and snow-capped mountains for company.

Once in Utah, we stopped at the Hole in the Rock to see some very unusual sights. These guys were very bored and made hilarious sculptures from metal scrap.

Moab is normally a desert, but we rode through during some torrential downpours. Even the river bridge was flooded! Trucks passing in the opposite direction managed to splash our helmet visors. Five miles later, the road was dry. Craziness. Sometimes, it's better to just keep riding out of the nasty weather, rather than waiting it out.

Arches National Park has a 20 mile road to the end of the park, so we figured that it was a half hour in and a half hour out. Four and a half hours later, we hiked to several arches. At one hiking location, we met McGuyver (Jason) and chatted with a couple in a car. The driver had been out to Arches on his bike a year earlier to the GTS convention. This time, he brought along his wife in a rental car, and his long conversations about bikes made it clear that he would prefer to be on two wheels.

Before dark, we rolled into Green River, Utah. The Super 8 was next to a Burger King, but we didn't want to settle for that. At the recommendation of the locals, we headed to Ray's Tavern. This town looked like a ghost town; some gas stations looked brand-new, but they were closed. The beer came from a Salt Lake City brewery, and the beer glass had both the name of the tavern and the brewery on it. Mary haggled with the wait staff, so we took it home for the bargain price of $3.

Back to the motel, we discovered that the sign "WiFi, new beds, and pool" was all true. The beds were the best ones we had slept in so far on this trip.

dilligaf57 · 06-30-2009, 8:48 PM

Man what a trip that must have been. I am jealous. Nice pics.

StrayCat · 06-30-2009, 8:50 PM

Day 8: Green River, UT to Cedar City, UT

It was going to be hard to top Arches National Park. Even the monstrously large rocks carved by the Fremont River of Capitol Reef National Park weren't impressive enough to stop for any photos. Despite being in the middle of nowhere, there was a lot of traffic at Arches and still much traffic in Capitol Reef. We were hoping for fewer cars in Bryce Canyon later in the day.

We met some fellow travelers at a gas and food stop in Torrey: two GSers were on a loop through Arizona and Utah. They were inquiring about the Aerostich Roadcrafter, so I explained about the inevitable leakage in some private areas. If they wanted to try it on for size, Mary suggested that they ride up to Minnesota. After all, one of them was from Michigan. Those Midwestern folk are so practical.

They had ridden north from Bryce Canyon National Park and recommended stopping at the viewpoints there. We promised that we would, but we weren't sure if we could get to Zion National Park. First, we would ride through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, an impressive landscape with even more colorful rocks. To beat the heat, Mary stopped for slushee in Escalante and I discovered Starbucks Energy Drink: good stuff with caffeine, ginseng, and guarana. Normally, I'm not a fan of energy drinks, but I do enjoy coffee as a pick-me-up. Mary took a few sips and found it tasted just like a frappucino.

Once we arrived at Bryce Canyon, we found that the park was even more crowded than Arches. All we did was zip to the very last viewpoint, Rainbow Point, and enjoy the scenic vistas of tectonic movement and erosion. The Paria River that carved the Bryce Canyon feeds the Colorado River, which carved the Grand Canyon. Looking at Bryce Canyon does evoke the same feelings as looking at Grand Canyon. In fact, the green hills in the background are the top of Kaibab Plateau, which forms the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

With sunset coming early down in the South, we scooted down the road. Route 14 turned out to be surprisingly good as we twisted and turned through the mountains and around lakes towards Cedar City, UT where we had hotel reservations at the Abbey Inn, which had great ratings at Expedia and TripAdvisor. It was a nice room with friendly staff. This place topped $100/night, but there was a decent breakfast included the next morning.

After parking the bikes, we wanted to find a decent bite to eat. Through Mary's sleuthing through the room's local directory and me asking the hotel desk where I could find a beer, we ended up walking down the street to the Bard Food & Drink Establishment. It seems that this part of town is quite Shakespearean! Even the restaurant host was wearing Shakespearean garb. Of course, we had Shepherd's Pie for dinner; it was so big that Mary took half of hers back to the hotel refrigerator.

A pleasant walk back to the hotel ended a day full of colored rocks.

StrayCat · 06-30-2009, 8:53 PM

Day 9: Cedar City, UT to Benton, CA

During our original route planning, we had wanted to take Route 50, the Loneliest Road in America. However, that was going to take us too far north of our eventual California destination, Yosemite. In Gunnison, we amended our route to go through the Extraterrestrial Highway.

Mary scouted this route online, and she was already worrying about gas shortages. Plus, the day was turning out to be very windy, causing more concern for running out of gas. Rachel, Nevada in the middle of the state looked like a good place to gas up, but checking the website the night before, she discovered a footnote at the bottom of the page:
Note: The gas station in Rachel is closed. The nearest gas stations are 60 miles south in Ash Springs and 110 miles north in Tonopah.

Great. We gassed up in nearly every town that we saw, and we met some fun people this way. In Caliente, NV, we met four guys on two GoldWings, 1 ST1300, and 1 Chrysler 300 that were tearing up the roads. While we were here, other drivers told us that it was raining pretty hard in Alamo, NV out west. We weren't headed directly there, but rain never hurt us Seattle folk.

What they didn't tell us was about wind. By the time we went 45 miles to Ash Springs, Mary was tired from fighting gusts and I was tired of riding sideways to go straight. At the gas station there, we met a GS guy in a Honda Civic who said he had turned out once he saw the sign "No Services Next 110 miles". As he left, he predicted two things:
1. we would pass him at 90mph.
2. we would meet again at the next gas stop.

In the short time that we were in Ash Springs, the wind picked up even more, and Mary could hardly keep the bike upright while going slowly. We eased slowly onto the Extraterrestrial Highway and made our way at 30mph. The wind and dust made it difficult to find the road at times. We could hardly hear over our communicators for the same reasons. However, we were already passed the point of no return since it would be impossible to do a U-turn in this weather. There is no try.

The land was so flat that we had very little break from the wind. When we did have a moment, we stopped to put on extra layers and continue into the rain that had just started.

Eventually, we rode out of the thunderstorm and into Rachel, Nevada where we had lunch at a deserted gas station. Mary had her leftover shepherd's pie and I had a hard-boiled egg, a bagel, and some cream cheese. Fortunately, we had packed a little bit of food, all lifted from the hotel that morning.

After relaxing there for a while, who else would ride by but the same guys on the Gold Wings, ST1300 and Chrysler. They went passed the deserted gas station and took the next left. We packed up our gear and joined them there at the Little A'Le'Inn, a combination hotel, restaurant, and gift store. Ale for beer, Inn for bedding, A-le-inn for being near Area 51. Very punny, those folk out in the middle of nowhere. The restaurateur told us that they had 100mph gusts in that storm. I am not sure we went through winds that strong, but it was definitely the Worst Ever riding conditions.

The rest of the day went like a peach though. Temperatures stayed in the upper 60s, so while we were still wearing layers, we could wick up our speed to 90mph without any problems. Miles came and went with hardly a blink - except for when cattle crossed the road. Then we inched past them and resumed our merry way.

Entering California is like entering a foreign country. I don't know of any other state that checks for produce, but they waved us two motorcyclists through. Benton Hot Springs arrived soon enough, and after a quick dinner at the Benton Cafe, we luxuriated in the hot tub fed by the natural hot springs until our tired muscles stopped aching. There was so much hot water that even the lawns were watered all day and the toilets were flushed with hot water. Your butt would get misted by hot moist air as you sat there. It was a butt sauna.

After hot tubbing, we closed the windows, turned on the air conditioner, and fell asleep in the cool breeze. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......

06-28-2009, 1:36 AM	#2
StrayCat Join Date: Sep 20 2008 Location: Renton, WA Posts: 144	Re: Acumen Products From Seattle to Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Utah again, Nevada, California, Oregon, and back to Seattle. I've got a ton of pictures and I'll put together a ride report this week. We hit five National Parks along the way too.

06-29-2009, 2:44 PM	#5
StrayCat Join Date: Sep 20 2008 Location: Renton, WA Posts: 144	Re: StrayCat's trip/pics I'm still sorting the pictures out. I can't post them all! I have hundreds! Hopefully tonight I'll get a bunch posted and a ride report as well. BTW Thanks for moving this out of the Accumen thread. I kind of went OT.

06-29-2009, 5:58 PM	#6
CanadianBird Join Date: Nov 25 2006 Location: Vancouver BC Canada Posts: 5,058	Re: StrayCat's trip/pics Our kind of road. Very nice. Where is this road?

06-30-2009, 1:51 PM	#9
StrayCat Join Date: Sep 20 2008 Location: Renton, WA Posts: 144	Re: StrayCat's trip/pics Here is the ride report and some pictures. I have the full deal on my web site along with other ride reports and more pictures. 2009 STN National Meet Enjoy! Last edited by StrayCat; 06-30-2009 at 8:57 PM.

06-30-2009, 8:25 PM	#12
shewie Resident Eh?hole. Join Date: Oct 26 2008 Location: Ontario, Canada Age: 43 Posts: 7,424	Re: StrayCat's trip/pics Nice. That's some fantastic scenery! __________________ Where are we going and what am I doing in this handbasket?!

06-28-2009, 9:53 AM	#3
CanadianBird Join Date: Nov 25 2006 Location: Vancouver BC Canada Posts: 5,058	Re: Acumen Products Did you get to Cody? Ride Chief Joseph scenic drive and up and over Bear Tooth Pass?

06-30-2009, 8:48 PM	#18
dilligaf57 Join Date: Oct 23 2008 Location: Venice Florida Posts: 31	Re: StrayCat's trip/pics Man what a trip that must have been. I am jealous. Nice pics.