2019 - North to Alaska

Ah, Banff™, we hardly knew ye. Dad claims that I’ve been to Banff before. When I was 12. On a train. For a few minutes or so. Please correct your scorecards, those of you following along at home. Perhaps it was that shock of deja vu that caused my ass to fall out of bed in the morning. All I know is that my alarm went off, I reached across the large bed to snooze it, and promptly crashed to the floor. Apparently you don’t have to reach quite as far when you’re actually sleeping in a twin bed. Paul, the quintessential father-person, shot straight up in his bed and demanded to know if I was alright (in spite of the fact that I was laughing my ass off on the floor). I was up. ...

https://youtu.be/IMEwhSLFLRg I took some video of the exit road from my helmet. For perspective reference, I was standing up on the pegs for most of this, I believe.

Day 5 Blog (Redux) Keep in mind that this entry is for Sunday, Helena to Whitefish. So last night I had a nice FaceTime with Bear back at the homestead. We discovered that we could take screen caps of each other, and much hilarity ensued. I am comfortable in the knowledge that my goofy faces are safely in the phone of an 11 year old with minimal technical skills. Her goofy faces, though, are in the hands of a man with a blog! ...

So. Up early at the Patel Hotel we crashed in Whitefish. The fact that it was known as the “Cheap Sleep Motel” just 12 weeks ago (before the lovely Patel’s bought it and wisely rebranded as The Inn at Whitefish”) should tell you all you need to know. Suffice it to say that we slept well, the coffee was hot, and it kept the bison out. I leisurely re-sorted and re-packed my gear. I had time, after all, because Paul was on a mission to Wash My Bike™ again. I swear that I will have the honor of riding into Alaska with both the newest AND the cleanest Goldwing to ever grace that fair state. Sooner rather than later we had one clean bike and two riders packed and ready to roll. Again. It’s hard to believe that it’s only been five days so far. All I can clearly remember at this point is riding. ...

I had a whole post written up for today, but it seems to have disappeared into the ether. It’s about 1am and I’m a bit frustrated, so I’ll re-do it tomorrow. The photos below show bits of our trip from Helena to Glacier National Park (on the Going to the Sun Road), and on to Whitefish.

Mountain road above Helena. Please note the broken yellow line… Gravel Road Into Glacier Park Glacier Park Panorama Top of the Park, Going to the Sun Road, Glacier NP Vista down the valley as you leave Glacier headed west. Road out of Glacier. It gets tighter and hairier, but I’d put the camera down by then.

I’ll get the bad shit out of the way early and we can never talk of it again. I got pinched. My partner pulled a quick pass at the end of a dotted-yellow, and I followed him after our side went solid. The sheriff that was two cars behind me lit me up. He was quite professional and nice, noting that he’d just about stopped paying attention to me because I was keeping well within the speed limit and then… It took longer than needed, but I paid him $85 in cash on the side of the road and went on my way. Seriously. It was…odd (although I should note that I did get a ticket, so I basically pled guilty on the side of the road and paid my fine, for all intents and purposes). ...

Shoshone Falls On the road to Yellowstone. Outside of Idaho Falls. My bike makes it to Wyoming. I was close behind. Grand Teton? More like O.K. Teton. Amirite? *Note the family still lurking around the sign (to the left and behind). We realized that it says the same thing on the backside, and they took even MORE pictures back there. It was spectacular. * They look so peaceful from a distance. IT’S A TRAP! ...

Another long day, even though the mileage was lower. We started in Twin Falls, Idaho, and were heading for a cabin at the Roosevelt Lodge in Yellowstone. Due to time concerns we skipped the Craters of the Moon northern route and opted for the interstate route to Idaho Falls. It was the right decision, and the scenery wasn’t nearly as bad as Nevada, but interstates just suck ass. This was no exception. ...

I sure hope that vest saves my life someday, ‘cause damn is it ugly. Yes, please!