Day 10. The Long Way to Arco. Saturday the 13th.

Arco is only 67 miles from Idaho Falls. So John and I decided to take the long way, 302 miles. We stayed with the theme of riding the Idaho scenic byways.
We left Idaho Falls on I-15 and got off at exit 143. We went west on ID-33 to Mud Lake. Then north on ID-28, the Sacajawea Historic Byway. The road runs up between 2 mountain ranges, and along side a couple of different rivers.
We had lunch at Subway in Salmon, and then gassed up. We followed US-93 out of Salmon. The first section follows along side the Salmon River, and is the Salmon River Scenic Byway. In Challis, US-93 becomes the Peaks to Craters Scenic Byway.
We got a room at the D-K motel in Arco.

Day 9. Worland, WY to Idaho Falls, ID August 12

We left the Days Inn around 0945 after doing our laundry and eating breakfast. We headed south towards Thermopolis, home of the worlds largest hot spring.

We continued south from Thermopolis. Hwy 20 runs through the Wind River Canyon. It was kind of a weird optical illusion, but both John and I thought that the road was going down hill, and it looked like the river was running up hill as it flowed north. If it weren't for the GPS telling me that we were gaining altitude, I wouldn't have believed it.

Further up stream is the Boysen Reservoir Dam.

We passed through Shoshoni, over to Morton, and up hwy 26 to Dubois, where we stopped for lunch.

John and a cardboard cut out of Gene Autry, his hero.

We turned left at Moran Junction, and headed for the Grand Tetons.

My favorite pic so far.....

We rode through Jackson, then west on WY-22, over the Teton pass and into Idaho.

Near the Teton Pass.

We spent the night at the Motel 6 in Idaho Falls.
We were thinking of trying to make the coast, but we only have until the 20th. We have changed our plans and will most likely be spending the next few days exploring the many scenic byways in Idaho.

Days 7 and 8.

Day 7. Wednesday the 10th.

John and I went into Sturgis to do our shopping. We walked up and down the streets, shopped, and people watched. We walked over to the Post Office and mailed our purchases home. We took a short break in the Civic Center, and we met a couple of guys from New Zealand. They had shipped their bikes from home to the west coast, then they flew in and picked them up. They rode all the way to the rally, and found camping on a little old lady's front lawn, just a block from rally headquarters. They were going to tour the USA on their 5 week vacation.

At 1200 we met Lee and Gabi, Lyle, Larrie and Garth, for lunch at the Loud American Roadhouse.

Lee and Gabi

After lunch, John and I went back to the campground. We went back to Sturgis just before sundown, because I wanted to try and get a few night life pictures.

The "top" is painted to match the pants.

It was a very slow night. The temps have been a lot cooler this year compared to past years.


Day 8. Thursday the 11th.

This morning John and I packed up and headed west. We're still not sure where we're going, but it will be somewhere west.
We left Belle Fourche and headed west on SD-34. In Aladdin, WY we dropped down onto I-90 from WY-111.
We stopped for gas in Gillette. That's when John noticed that his front tire had a really bad cupping problem. He decided to go back an exit to the Harley-Davidson dealer we'd just passed. We walked into the the service area and John spoke to the service writer. The dealership wanted almost $400.00 to mount a new Dunlop D-408f on his bike. John told them he'd have to think about it. I got out my netbook and Googled his old tire, D-407f. I found out about a recall on that tire. So John called his dealer in Rice Lake, WI. Their service manager told him about a service bulletin, M1258C. John went back into the service department and the writer looked up the bulletin and they ended up replacing his tire for free. We were back on the road about 3 and a half hours later.
We got off I-90 at Buffalo, and crossed over the Big Horn Mountain on hwy 16. I had been over the Big Horns before, but on hwy 14. I think that 16 is a much more scenic highway and is perfect for a motorcycle. There are nice 50 MPH sweepers and even a few 25 MPH tight hairpin curves.
I tried to get some pictures on the west side, but I was shooting into the setting sun.

We had really good dinner at the Ten Sleep Saloon. I had the chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and John had the beef roladen with mini dumplings and brown gravy. Both the food and the waitress were GREAT!

We stopped for the night in Worland, WY at the Days Inn.

Day 6.Tuesday the 9th.

Last night we had a plan... We were going to get up with the sun, shower, eat breakfast at the campground as soon as it was available, and head south. It was a good idea, in theory, but the weather wasn't cooperating. This morning the sky was overcast and we could see rain to the west and south, and it was headed our way. We sat around in camp until the weather improved.
We got on I-90 and got off in Rapid City. From there, we took 79 down to Hot Springs. None of us could remember ever going to Hot Springs during the rally. We stopped for lunch in a combination pawn shop/cafe. The food was good, the portions were large and the prices were low.

After lunch, we gassed up and started north on 385. We stopped at Whitaker Jewelers. We have stopped there every year since I started coming in '99. They used to have stores in Hill City, but last year they moved south, just out of Hot Springs. They have a small shop and live totally off-grid. Preston showed John and me his solar collector set up and his battery bank. Both John and I expressed interest in his system. Preston's advice was to read as much as possible before planning or buying anything. John bought a necklace for his niece.
We followed 385 north through Custer, and Hill City. We went east on Sheridan Lake Road. All the way up, we were either just ahead of or just behind the rain. We only had a little sprinkle all day.
We stopped at the T.G.I.Fridays in Rapid City to meet up with Terresah. She was John and Lyle's waitress way back in '97, and was still waitressing as a college student, at the Valley Cafe in Spearfish when I started coming out here in '99. We have met up with her almost every year since. She is the mother of the child I never had... (there's a G rated story behind that from 2000) We celebrated Lyle's birthday. Terresah got some of the other help to come out and sing Happy Birthday to him.

Lyle getting his birthday dessert.

Garth, me, Terresah, Lyle, Larrie, and John.

We got back to camp around 1830. I don't think the temp ever got over 70 all day.

I spotted this alongside the road. Is it a South Dakota riding lawnmower?

Days 3 4 and 5

Day 3, Saturday the 6th.

I was up with the sun, showered and ready to rock by 0630. We didn't get going until 0830. The 5 of us, me, John, Garth, Lyle and Larrie, drove the 26 miles from Belle Fourche to the VFW in Sturgis for breakfast. After breakfast, John and I rode down Vanocker Canyon to Johnson Siding. Then down to Hill City. We tried to photograph the 1880 train, but it wasn't running. We had lunch in Hill City at Rico's. They have great home-made Mexican food.

Day 4. Sunday the 7th.

Another breakfast at the VFW in Sturgis. This time with Lee and Gabi, and Tom and Carla. After breakfast we were supposed to take a group ride. John and I got separated from the others. We were going to go out Vanocker Canyon. John and I headed out to the canyon, but couldn't find the others. We drove part way down and waited but never saw them. We turned around and headed towards Belle Fourche.
John and I ended up going out 34 to Hulett, WY. Then up WY-112 to Alzada, MT.

This was an interesting thing to see in the middle of nowhere..

Just an experiment with the camera. Click it for a larger view.

We stopped for a pop at the Stoneville Saloon. The weather didn't look very good down towards our campground in Belle Fourche, but we went that way anyway. A few miles down the road in Colony we ran into a heavy rain. We rode through it, a few more miles down the road. Just before getting to Belle Fourche it started to rain again.
We stopped for an early dinner at the American West restaurant. We sat down and ordered, and then it really started to rain. 10 Minutes later it let up, but turned to hail. Pea and marble size at first. The manager/owner came over to us and told us to drive our bikes around to the back door and park them in their basement on the dance floor in the banquet room. So John and I ran out and got the bikes to the back door. We got back to our table and when we looked out the hail was golf ball to almost tennis ball size. By the time we finished dinner, the storm was passed us the sun was shining. A huge Thank You to the American West restaurant in Belle Fourche for your thoughtfulness.
That night, after dark, we had another storm pass through camp. That one was just thunder, lightening, and heavy rain.

Day 5. Monday the 8th.

John and I had breakfast at Taco John's. Then we stopped at the laundromat at washed clothes. It was a pretty sad place, half the machines were out of order. We went back to camp and met up with Lyle, Larrie and Garth.
We went for a group ride down Spearfish Canyon. We stopped at Roughlock Falls and walked down to view the falls.

Larrie, Lyle, John, Garth.

We stopped at the little town of Rochford.

Then back onto 85, and into Spearfish. We ate dinner at Sanford's. After dinner it was back to camp to relax.