7-15-05

I took off south and dove off the pavement at Volberg taking the gravel roads to Sheridan, Wyoming. I happened to see the mailbox that the cowboy had ‘fixed’ the last time I rode down that way. I am happy to report that  the fix is doing well and may end up being one of those permanent fixes.

There was quite a bit of hay being put up since it has finally dried out. The grass has been growing well with all the rain this year. I hear that hay will not be worth much this year as is usually the case when it is a wet year.

As I was going through Ashland I snapped this photo of a bike parked outside one of the bars.

It was a beautiful day and as I got into the highlands the lupines were in full bloom.

As I got into the sugar beet areas near Thermopolis I saw this way cool mudder style tractor. I cant help but think it looks like some sort of hot rod tractor.

I took some time to explore the hot springs. It was very hot down there and I didn’t feel like going in but the park with the big trees were a nice break from the hot oil highway.

I started looking for a campsite when it started to get dark. I took the turnoff to the north and came across this sign. Hummm. I am too sound of a sleeper to be camping out in that area. It could have been a long sleep  campsite. I doubt if the flashing lights would have woken me up.

I camped out in the wide open just west of Hells Half Acre.

It isn’t much different  than some spots around here but very unusual in that area of Wyoming.

This restaurant sits on the very edge of Hell and the sign said it was for sale.

I took the road from Shoshone to Casper  and it had more antelope than I have ever seen before. They were scattered everywhere and the little ones can really run when you buzz them with the bike. From Casper I went south and took the little gravel road from Alcova to Sinclare. The road was good and it goes quite high in the mountains.

This is a nice little lake formed by this dam.

This is the lake formed by the dam.

There were  a few campers enjoying the water. In Sinclair there is a huge oil processing plant. This is just a small part of it.

I was hungry when I stopped at a little restaurant that had several people standing outside. It was a little place that was doing a land office business and I finally had to elbow my way in  and grab a seat. The place is run by about five Mexicans and the food was some of the best I have ever had. I had sat down next to a guy working on the sidewalks in town and after seeing his plate I told  the girl, ‘I’ll have one of those” without  even looking at the menue.

  As I got into Colorado I entered the mountains and the roads were in good shape with little traffic.
When I got to Brekenridge the traffic got heavy and the builders have been busy erecting huge houses and shopping centers. When I left that mess I went over a high pass where it was raining and I had to watch carefully to be sure it wasn’t freezing up there making the road slick. I think it is Hoosier Pass at 11,500+ feet.

There were a few of us that showed up a day early. This guy is Alex and  he is from England and was riding a NZ (I think that is what it was called) that was built in Eastern Germany.

He was very proud of the aluminum tank he had custom built  for it. It would have won  the ‘Best tank” if there had been a contest at the meeting.

The bikes showed up well packed as these are serious mc travelers.

A nice KTM

A BMW

My favorite bikes are the old ones and this one certainly fits that category. This rat bike belongs to this Honda mechanic.

This old R100S was in great shape and well loved.

A view of camp as the campsite filled up and  the tents popped up.

This was a beautiful Honda Transalp that was only imported into this country for two years. The girl who rode this bike was trying to sell it.

I love this ‘Permit’ sticker that one guy from Canada got while on a trip to Alaska. Can you imagine a border guard noticing this sticker?

view of camp.

A slick little BMW Dakar.

Dr. Greg Frazier showed up and was interviewed by a couple of reporters. He has a great relaxed style that comes from years of doing this. Greg has made four trips around the world and is on his fifth now.

One guy mentioned that all the bikes here are all foreign made. not long after he made that comment this Harley Sportster showed up. He was really like a fart in church but he hung out with these BMW road bikes at the edge of camp. I never did get a chance to meet him.

The meeting was centered around getting info on a variety of subjects to folks  that are planning on traveling around the world or at least some long distance rides to distant continents. There were lots of slide shows and general info sessions that I tried to attend. Sometimes the conversations were so good around the  parked bikes that I missed some of the presentations. There were some really nice informative people there. On Sunday morning there were quite a few folks that got up very early and packed up and were gone. Some of us took our time getting out of there.

This is George’s bike packed up for the trip home. It is an old BMW R65 and it was well used. I George put his tent next to mine and we talked quite  a bit. He is thinking about traveling to Russia and ??? I’m not sure if this is the bike he will take.

 I rode with a friend to Bolder and then on to Denver by myself. Sheesh,  I'm a country mouse in the big city. It was a good thing it was Sunday and the traffic was light.

Town life aint fer me.

The reason I have these photos of downtown is that I got lost trying to find Greg Frazier’s place. I finally did get there but I went through some tough areas before I got lined  out. Greg had invited me to camp the night at his place and have supper. This aint no chick pad, it is all male and motorcycle.

The front door is side car friendly.

this is one of his bikes that he has traveled the world on.

Grant Johnson showed up and spent the night too. Grant is the guiding force behind the www.horizonsunlimited.com website. If you want to know anything about travel  on a motorcycle, hit this link. He and his wife took several years to go around the globe.

After a late breakfast I headed for Fort Morgan where I have a friend I have never met. Ken (on the left) I met through the guy I bought my motorcycle from. He has been traveling along with me via my road logs. It was good  to get a chance to meet him. He has a bike similar to mine and has the itching to go on long  distance rides too but has a couple of years until he can retire.
 

Ken knows the back roads in the area and pointed me on a couple of really great rides on my way home. (Thanks Ken, those roads were great!!) This is the back road to Laramie.

This part of the road was very fast and most of the time I was traveling at 65-70. At first I thought they were proud of this little pile of rocks.

But latter I see that the Pawnee Buttes were a long way away. The sun was just right and I wish I had a telephoto lens for the little camera.

This was an interesting wind break formed from big bales of old tires and stacked up in a semi circle. It is a good way to get some use out of several thousand old tires. It should last for a good many years and keeps them out of landfills to boot.

I don’t remember just where this is but I think it was near Rock River.

I got there late and had to go on to Medicine Bow to get something to eat and gas up before heading up to Douglas on the back road that Ken had marked on the map for me. There was a nice little park in Medicine Bow that I stayed in and in the moring I went down to the Virginian Hotel and had breakfast.

I over heard some tourists asking the waitress about the town and found out that the area is sort of famous for a movie and tv program that took place around this area. I didn’t  have tv and I guess I never saw the movie so it was all news to me. the museum was closed  as it was still early but it looks like a nice one.

A sign by the  museum.

As I heade out of town and into the country I saw these  loose stacks of hay with the deer fences around them. the only other place I have seen them lately is in the Big Hole country.

There was a little rock museum here  but it was closed as well.

I finally made it to the back road just out of Rock River that is called the Fetterman trail.

the roads were pretty good and this patrol had packer wheels that I have never seen before. It sure looks like a good idea.

Just starting to get up to the tree line.

Some old cabins along the way that someone has been working on.

As I came down a stretch of road I saw this cowboy talking with a small  bunch of horses. It turns  out that he used to ride in the Bucking Horse Sale in Miles City years ago and still goes up every year if he can. He has a business working on water wells and windmills in the area but was out on a drive in his  old truck and was going to go to Douglas for lunch. I visited with him  for a couple of hours it seemed and when I told him  I was taking this bike to South America this  fall he said that in 79 or 80 a guy owed him  some money and couldn’t pay so he took a 185cc Kawasaki in stead. He said he rode it to Mexico and on to Guatemala and Honduras! Isn’t it amazing how this synergy thing works!!! He had a great time down there. Geezz, a cowboy on a 185cc Kawasaki can make it, so there shouldn’t be much of a problem for me, eh?

His name is Vern Hubbard and he showed me some of the points he had made out of rock that  he has found around there.

He searches all over for suitable  rocks and told me about a quarry where the Indians moved a mountain to get at some good stuff.  He  called it the biggest armory in the world and  it  is not too far from there.

A new oil well going in somewhere around Gillette.

Oil, gas and coal are all shipped out. the coal trains are miles long with engines at both ends.

Just south of the Montana line about thirty miles from Biddle my motorcycle quit.

I am not sure but I think the rotor of the alternator gave out. I left it by the side of the road and caught  a ride with an older couple in their Cadillac who were pretty well looped on whisky. He handed me a half pint and offered me a drink but I had to pass. It was a fast ride to Brodaus where I called my friend Charlie who went up to camp and got my truck and bike trailer and drove down to rescued me.

I had the part on order but I hadn’t gotten it yet or I would have been able to fix it out on the road. this is the same problem I had last year when I went down to Nevada and had to be rescued by my friend Ken in Silver Peak. It is a known weak point with this bike but with the new part I hope I will not have  any more problems. I will  carry a spare with me when I go south.

As usual it is good to be back in camp even if it was 111 degrees the next day.