Adventures on Our Harleys

Friday, August 12, 2011

West Yellowstone to Sheridan, WY

Got down to 32 degrees in Yellowstone this morning. Had to wear about everything I brought. But it warmed up after a time and now is at 82 in Sheridan.

Yellowstone was great as always. Roamed through the town of West Yellowstone yesterday and then road through the park starting at 8:00 this morning. Got up close and personal with some buffalo and just missed seeing a black wolf that the ranger said ran right across our path just a few minutes earlier.

Climbed Granite Pass before winding our way back to warmth in Sheridan. Some awesome views on the way. Stopped in Cody for lunch although skipped the rodeo given we had over 100 miles to still cover at that point.

Tomorrow head in to Sturgis for the last two days of the bike rally then set our sites for home.

Curt

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Yellowstone

What a great ride to West Yellowstone. A nice reasonably short ride. The weather here is great: cool, dry, and nice breezes. We hung around the little town, found a place for lunch, then washed our bikes. Nice dinner with the guys. Things are winding down... We are on the last legs of our dream ride. Moods are really high, some anxiousness about heading home. But, first things first: Yellowstone and Sturgis!!

Middle of Nevada, Ladies of the Night were asking Curt and Bob to stop in on the CB radio. We didn't.

Close to Yellowstone

Curt and I on the Idaho/Montana border

Curt and Bob

Kevin

Putting our babies to sleep at the hotel in West Yellowstone, Montana.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Moving north and east

On our way out of Reno today, we stopped at Fernley for the last stamp in our "Loneliest Highway in America" books. It's official: we did US Route 50! Riding I-80 in Nevada is amazing. Hundreds of miles of nothing...but a beautiful nothing. So much land, so few people. Speed limits are 75mph, but if you drive 75, trucks and everything else will pass you. Even a cop passed us today!

We rode a long ride today. Strictly a day of riding "just to get there." Not much fun, not much to do. But, the next few days will be great: Yellowstone, Granite Pass, Cody, Sheridan, Devil's Tower, and, of course STURGIS!!

I can't believe that I'm writing this sitting in Curt's and Kevin's room watching "So You Think You Can Dance", listening to Curt and Kevin critique the dancers. Where did I go wrong? What happened to the "Harley-Davidson Mystique?" What's next? Quiche for breakfast?? I'm going to make a polite exit, go to my room, pour a Seagrams, and watch Fox News. :)

Road Warrior Virgin Back On-Line

Sorry I've been away for a few days. The lady's came out to join us for a few days in Napa/Sonoma and Mendocino. Unfortunately for me the "Knurd" index (scale of 1-5; 5 being incarcerated for drunk and disorderly conduct...check Mike's photos) rose to a "4.5" with the women in town. I'm not saying there was a direct correlation to this but in my elementary school math class 1+1 did equal 2. I also noticed something that I wished I had understood earlier in life....."wine tasting" at numerous wineries doesn't count as "binge drinking", rather it's a sophisticated, classy thing to do....who knew : ). I would also recommend any salespeople out there consider serving mass quantities of wine when attempting to sell their wares...whether it be shoes or nuclear reactors, people buy more when they've been "classy and sophisticated" for hours. We collectively spent more on wine/wine futures than my first new car cost. Wow....I'm going into sales.

Our time in California was great fun, the weather was very much appreciated by the gals and the scenery was spectacular. We had a long ride from Mendocino to Reno but again the views were phenomenal and brought back a lot of memories for me from being a kid in California.

We had a great evening and dinner with Carol in Reno...as well as an opportunity to wash our "delicates" .......thanks for putting up with us Carol and adding the fabric softener to my wash....I smell great now.

We got the girls to the airport mid day Tuesday and spent the rest of the day checking out the cars gathering for "Hot August" nights in Reno and checking out the local beers.

Today was a long haul from Reno to Twin Falls, Idaho.....wide open spaces all alone with our thoughts...for those who know me well I was obviously very lonely.

Again...beautiful country populated with hardy souls. Getting close to Twin Falls we saw numerous fields of wheat, corn, yada, yada, yada, with great blue skies....gold, green, blue....time for a shower....sarsaparilla....and sustenance.

Twin Falls today - on to Yellowstone

Long day today out of Reno. 460 miles to get to Twin Falls. Very similar terrain as we saw on the way out on rt 50. There is a lot of land in the US that you couldn't raise your voice let alone crops. Not many people lived in the area we came through. Dry, hot, and barren. Beautiful in its own way but wouldn't want to live there.

Passed a neat "ranch" where a woman was on the CB asking us manly men to stop by and have a cold beer with a beautiful babe at the bar. Since we had just dropped the wives off decided this would.not be a good idea.

Tomorrow things cool off as we head in to Yellowstone. High of 75 and a low of 41. Hope I brought enough clothes.
Then on to Sturgis and the bike week. From there - home

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Reno!! Not sure what day it is.....

Today is Tuesday Aug. 9th, our second day in Reno, so it must be Day 13 of our 3 week trip. We started planning this trip not weeks ago, but probably years ago. And, one of the things we said we'd do, is add in a day in Reno as a contingency, just in case we needed some work on the bikes, or just time to relax. As it turned out, the only bike work was a routine servicing for Jim's bike: oil change, and a new rear tire, even though it probably could have made it to Sturgis. But, it was a fun, relaxing day in Reno. The relative humidity here is 20%, with the dew point at 26 degrees. Dry heat. You feel hot and sweaty in the sun, but as soon as you stand in the shade, you almost feel chilled.

Last night we had a GREAT meal at Carol's house. What a spread she put out for us! I grilled chicken and shrimp, but she also had risotto, salad, and Italian cold bean salad. What a great avocado dip and salsa to start with. Thank you so much, Carol. We all sat around and drank some of the beer we brought, as well as some wine that we'd picked up along the way in our wine-tasting tour of Napa/Sonoma.

The cities of Reno and Sparks are preparing for "Hot August Nights", a car show that is incredible. I'm sure we're seeing only the tip of the iceberg, but there are classic cars riding around all over the place. Beautiful works of art and machinery.

Carol's patio. Great place to hang, eat, drink, and talk.

Carol sitting next to Kevin in the back.

I don't know why he was so upset. I just wanted to play with the lights and siren.

Another patio picture. I don't know where all those wine bottles came from.

Took a walk to check on the bikes, and to take a few pictures.

Some of the classic cars pulling into town

Downtown Reno

The "Biggest Little City in the World"

Monday, August 8, 2011

We've Gone As Far West As We'll Be Going

Yesterday we headed northwest to Mendocino and Fort Bragg. We hit a few wineries along the way, including the Castle and the Coppola wineries. Very opulent and beautiful. We made it to the Pacific Ocean! The temperatures were mild, to say the least. Actually, it became quite cold as we drove through the Redwoods and approached Mendocino. Cheryl was the only wife to stay on the bike. The rest decided that the van might be more comfortable. Today, we'll head for Reno, where some home-cooked food awaits us at Carol's house.

The Castle. Someone had so much money that he decided to build a castle on his vineyards.

At the Castle

Vineyards everywhere

Coppola Winery: Cool place

Yep! There's a pool at Coppola

Standing behind The Godfather's desk and chair.

Kevin and Jim

Bob and Curt

Linda

The Pacific coastline at Mendocino

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Saturday: Napa and Sonoma

Another downday, which included more touring of the wine country in the van. Joining us today were an old friend from Mansfield (my home town, where I went to high school), Ann McNamara, and her friend Susan. Both of them were a lot of fun, and very tolerant of our antics and humor.

We did three wineries: Artesa, Viansa, and Gloria Ferrer. The views are spectacular, and I continue to love the weather here. I'm learning more and more about wine, but I don't think I'll ever become as proficient as people like Curt and Linda. I know a good wine is good, but I don't know how good. And, I still default to less expensive wines for "table" purposes, much like my Italian heritage taught me over the years.

Tomorrow, we pack up the bikes and head up north to Fort Bragg. The wives will be riding with us (them). We'll spend one day there, then on to Reno for two nights. Back to the heat!

Here are some pics from today:

Ann and Susan joined us for today's wine tastings.

All of us at Artesa, a winery built into the surrounding hills. Way cool place!

Selecting the wines to taste.

Enjoying the wines.

On to Viansa.

Grapes are beginning to change color... Harvest must be approaching...

Viansa focuses on Italian wines...

Susan, Ann, Curt, and Linda trying the cool spreads they offered.

Cheryl and Bob enjoying a moment to themselves, taking in the great scenery.

Lunch at Viansa

Last stop: Gloria Ferrer

The view from my canopy.

NAPA Repose

The last few days have been great. No worries about what may go wrong next, Women to talk with - especially Cheryl! Not that the guys aren't fun, but I can take only so much of "what's going to break next Bob?" Anyway - got that bald tire replaced in Carson City - cord were showing so it was very lucky that I made it that far on that tire. Saw a nice bike and was tempted to buy it but it didn't have a luggage rack, lol. Once the tire was replaced I could drive with more confidence and I was much more relaxed driving. It's amazing how much nicer the ride is with a good rounded tire.
Picked up the gals in Sacramento and arrived at the Wine Valley Lodge. Had a great reunion with the wives, after a hard week on the road. Next morning went to Ledson Winery. This was a very fine - high class place. Much nicer than any I have ever been in. Hoffman's and Lewis' being members allowed for a fantastic experience. Even though I don't drink I really enjoyed the experience of listening to the "Wine Talk" of the group. There is much to be learned about Wine. After Ledson we went to a few other wineries, but really I don't even remember their names. They just didn't compare.
Today we went to more Wineries - but now its getting a little old and I need some different stimulus to keep interested. As I was the designated driver I focused on driving and making the ride enjoyable for the winos in the back lol.
Cheryl and I went out to diner tonight - alone! I had Oysters :-) and Cheryl had a great looking Salmon Salad. Tomorrow - off to Mendincino

Here are some photos of the past few days.