Pacific Northwest trip

[HawkGTRider]

While I've blanketed the eastern US during my 40ish years of riding, I'm looking very forward to experiencing the eastern half of Canada once I get back to riding. And the PNW is very much on my list as well. I think I could spend more than a few months just visiting the National Parks in California.

Just a reminder...check those rear view mirrors every time you slow down. There might be someone there ready to hurt you.

[NinjaBob]

While I've blanketed the eastern US during my 40ish years of riding, I'm looking very forward to experiencing the eastern half of Canada once I get back to riding. And the PNW is very much on my list as well. I think I could spend more than a few months just visiting the National Parks in California.

Just a reminder...check those rear view mirrors every time you slow down. There might be someone there ready to hurt you.

Thanks for the reminder Geoffrey. I have been rear-ended while stopped twice in the last few years so the rear view mirrors are always on my mind.
I hope your rehab is going well. Hers's to many  future great road trips to you!

[NinjaBob]

On August 22 we had a 292 mile ride from Glasgow to Dickinson, ND. North Dakota is one of only four states I had not ridden on a motorcycle and it was good to check that off my bucket list. Also the weather was much improved from the previous day. The highlight of the day was a tour of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I must admit I had never even heard of it before this trip!

We headed south out of Glasgow on MT 24 to MT 200 and then on east on I-94 to Theodore Roosevelt NP South Unit. The park has a 22 mile loop with beutiful scenery and wildlife along the way but there was a road closer near the end so we about 17 miles and then backtracked. At a couple of pint the road was literally block by a few dozen Bison, requiring a ranger to herd them off the road with his truck. We slowly rode past several huge beasts within a few feet of our machines! The park is also home to a herd of wild horses but they kept thir distance.

[Ride4MS]

Dickenson, ND is less than 300 miles from International Peace Gardens, Dunseith, ND. We were there in mid- July, 2023. After reading about it, we had wanted to go there for a few years and finally made it there this year. It is very peaceful and heart warming. It covers over 3,000 acres with camping available, lakes and many memorials and museums as well as part of the towers from 9-11 attack.
There were not a lot of people making for a great visit, without the crowds. As someone said, if this was located near New York, there would be a lot more people, but ND just does not get that many visitors.
If you go, take your passport or other ID as listed on their website. It is located half in the USA, and half in Canada.
They also have a sense of humor in the rest rooms. See photos below.

[HawkGTRider]

While I've blanketed the eastern US during my 40ish years of riding, I'm looking very forward to experiencing the eastern half of Canada once I get back to riding. And the PNW is very much on my list as well. I think I could spend more than a few months just visiting the National Parks in California.

Just a reminder...check those rear view mirrors every time you slow down. There might be someone there ready to hurt you.

Thanks for the reminder Geoffrey. I have been rear-ended while stopped twice in the last few years so the rear view mirrors are always on my mind.
I hope your rehab is going well. Hers's to many  future great road trips to you!

Prior to this incident, I had only been bumped from the rear one time (at a traffic light) in nearly 40 years of riding. The lady that hit me this time, per the accident report, slowed from 35 to near 30 while the estimate for me on that report was slowing from 35 to near 10 mph. I was unconscious for an extended period of time after the impact, so I can't even guess why I was slowing (especially to a speed as slow as 10 mph) and I don't remember the impact at all. But if she really hit me with a closing speed near 25 mph, it's no wonder I've suffered the injuries involved. That's a substantial impact!
I don't know how fast the guy that hit Brick recently was traveling, but seeing the pictures of the front of that car tells me he hit Brick at a substantial speed.

I go in a couple of weeks for another exam by the orthopedic surgeon who did my pelvic reconstruction. If he says my pelvis is healed enough that I can be weight-bearing, maybe I can start more rigorous therapy for walking and balancing (leading eventually to maybe riding), and more. My fingers are crossed. I've been in a wheel chair or bed for nearly 2 1/2 months. Others have had worse injuries, but this is by far the worst thing that's ever happened to me.

[Ride4MS]

We are praying and hoping that you get much better soon. And, be able to walk easily, maybe even run soon, and back on a cycle. The hope is what will help you get better also.

[brider]

Get well soon Geoffrey!

[stevegrab]

Yes, keep the ride reports coming. Some of us have to live vicariously through others. I don't think of it as rubbing it it in, more like telling of an exciting ride.  Greetings to GEOffrey also. Good to hear from you ol' buddy. best to all injured on the fateful weekend.   TM

Well said Tom. After MPFB one of our former riders asked "where is Steve's report" which I'd often post after an event or local ride. I don't tell the best stories, too much of my analytic brain going with route details or other less interesting stuff. But good to know people were still enjoying them.

PS that Atomic motel in Astoria looked cool, reminded me a bit of the Alleghany Inn in Sparta NC.

[stevegrab]

9 miles of mud?  No way I would have tried that no matter what I was on. Going to the sun road, it was still closed when we tried to do it after STAR in Rapid City, so its on my return to the west list.

[NinjaBob]

Time to wrap this story up.
On Wednesday the 23rd we rode 363 miles south through western South Dakota and to Chadron, Nebraska. Our route took us through the Black Hills and through Deadwood and Custer on US 385 which took us all the way to Chadron. This would be the last night for the four of us together. We had a nice meal at Helen's pancake and Steak House.

Thursday would be a 413 mile ride for three of us through Nebraska to Phillipsburg, Kansas on NE 250 and 2 and US 83 to Oberlin, Kansas where three of us turned east on US 36. Kevin continued south on US 83 on his way back to Amarillo to pick up his  truck and trailer.

The Cottonwood Inn in Phillipsburg proved to be a real dump, which was surprising since the Cottonwood Inn in Glasgow was super nice. However the Sand Trap Bar and Grill turned out to be a very friendly place and the food was fine.

For Friday Tony and Scott had a nearly 500 mile day to Scott's place in Kansas, OK and they left way before dawn to beat the heat. I had a much shorter day, 253 miles to my son's place in Wichita and waited for daylight to hit the road.  The short ride to Wichita was pleasant. I spent Friday night and Saturday hanging out with my son and his family. We had a great visit and I headed home on Sunday,  a trip I've made many times, stopping half way in Paris, Texas arriving home on Monday, 6071 miles in 18 days.

It was a great trip!  Happy Trails with great friends. I was quite pleased with the performance of my new Yamaha Tracer 9 GT. I had been worried about downgrading from a shaft drive bike to a chain but my Tutoro auto oiler worked as advertised and no slack adjustments were required.

Below are links to Google maps from our track log, broken into two parts due to size limit in Google Maps.

Part 1

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1Pfne7AKZUAzRt60iD2fZoklz9YqRABs&usp=sharing

Part 2
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1huzcFr4lQL0ytmA3acvI70qrW51CYbM&usp=sharing

[tunerider335]

Great ride report Bob!  Good to relive these epic adventures again!
On the way home….  The largest ball of twine….


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