The good folks in Casper, WY were incredulous to hear that we weren't
planning a stop at the country's largest motorcycle rally.
Not ones to dissapoint, we've altered our plans and will leave the
Great Road for a jaunt up to Sturgis, south Dakota.
This should be interesting...
Photos to follow....
Ride outta of the campground on US20.
Buffalo Bill Dam and accompanying mountain terrain.
Breakfast in Cody, the "home of the rodeo."
Beautiful praireland out of Cody.
Mineral Hot Springs in Thermalolis.
Unforgettable ravine roads from there to Shoshoni.
Fast break to Casper through 10-person towns.
Mountain road with sweet switchbacks up to Casper Mountain.
Skunk Hollow campground at secluded spot.
Ate at mountainside Broken Spur Cafe--delicious!!
Met righteous Wyoming dude, Clark, & talked local politics.
Cooked delicious Walmart burgers and drank Oregon brew.
Enjoyed a campfire till the wee hours.
Great day 5.
A sincere round of apologies to our friends and family (esp.
girlfriends) with whom we've been out of touch. Service continues to
be spotty. And our batteries seem to last for a blink of an eye. We
love ya and miss ya.
The approach to the western entrance was a bit disheartening. Having
just departed the amazingly beautiful Idaho countryside (with a
lengthy stop with Dava and her dog Stella at rhe Hend's Lake nature
preserve--thanks!) it was a bit jarring to see the shopping outlets,
tourist traps, and IMAX movie theaters that lines the road through
West Yellowstone. And then, we sat in traffic at the West Entrance
waiting to pay the $20 per bike entrance fee, and then again in
traffic at the first set of cascades past Madison Junction, and then
again in traffic as both lanes of travel gawked at a buffalo who was
sunning himself a few paces from the road. After lunch at Canyon
Village, we knew we had to get outta there.
We decided to forego our original plans to camp at Fishing Bridge and
instead forged ahead out of the park.
Yellowstone, gotta hand it to ya, you redeemed yourself on the road
out of the park to the Eastern Entrance. As we passed hurds of
buffalo, the terrain got more and more mountainous until we found
ourselves in a valley that could only be described as magical. Mix in
the hairpin curves and the slight drizzle, not to mention the oddly
beautiful wildfire smoke in the distance, and we just about fell back
in love with Yellowstone.
But we forged on anyway, trying to escape the crowds, and fell into a
lovely Forest Service campgroud about 15 miles from the East Entrance
called Newton Creek. Just about the most picturesque spot you've ever
seen, and nice and quiet! We claimed a spot, drove east a ways toward
Cody for some supplies, and cooked up a nice dinner of polish sausages
and Doritos, with some local Wyoming brew to wash it down.
A great day. Photos to follow shortly.
In other fun cell phone news, the GPS functionality on the iPhone has
proved largely reliable, although you may notice some bizarre geotags
on some of our photos. (At breakfast Wednesday morning in Arco, Idaho
the phone thought that I was in the Netherlands! Maybe it was some
atomic interference.)
Anyway, thanks for your patience. We'll get some more updates an
photos to you when we hit coverage down the road...
About 100 miles into today's ride. We got more ground to cover!
Onward!
We managed to catch up to our itinerary today although not without some trouble. While Nate and I are fine, the same cannot be said for a not-small percentage of mid-Oregon's bug population. Following in the footsteps of misters dillon and miller, we have decided to reclassify the insect population to more accurately reflect the level of pain they cause when colliding with the human body at speeds greater than 30mph.
Small flies (including but not limited to black flies, noseeums, mosquitoes, and gnats): sparrows
Medium flying insects (black flies, horse flies, and the innacurayely named house flies (if it was a house fly, what's it doing plunging headlong into my facial pores at 70mph?)): falcons
Large flying insects (moths, butterflies, and the odd dragon fly): eagles
Heaven forbid, an actual bird: teradacdyle or perhaps a 747...thankfully we haven't been on the business end of bird-face collision so we'll have to make a final judgement on name appropriateness should those dire straits ever be met.
This taxonomy accurately reflects the pain of colliding with one of the above insect-types at cruising speed.
There is much more to say about today's adventures but I'm bedding down in a real ned and will be goddamned if I lose precious sleep to the likes of you!
that's right boys and girls. We made it to the beginning of US-20 east! It's a rather non-interesting intersection in Newport...but it represents the beginning of our eastward quest!
Goodbye Pacific Coast! We're headed inland!
stopped at a viewpoint just south of Rockaway Beach.
Good night sleeps all around. surprisingly good, in fact, given that
it was darn cold and our tents are not heated. (by the way, a special
thank you to mr michael Ciccarone for so kindly lending his tent, amd
to Mr and Mrs C for letting me come up last Sunday to grab it!)
So....not the best weather for riding, but were forging ahead! Burns,
OR by nightfall!
Astoria is a town on the border between Washington and Oregon. There's a 4 mile bridge leading up to it and the entire town is built into a hill rising straight out of the ocean. It's like hong
Kong but green. So the bridge is elevated enough so that you have this like cartographic view of Astoria as you come in over the bridge. You look down into streets that run up the hills away from you. Naturally and as any red-blooded young man would, Nate and I screamed into the deafening wind at the top of ours lungs as we entered Astoria at sunset. If you're looking for articulate responses to pure beauty, look not to the dudes on motorcycles who can't hear themselves think over the wind. Look to pete smith. (he'd never get on a motorcycle anyway.)
So astoria was jaw-dropping. And route 101 was great too ( if a bit nippy in the shade). The initial parts of the trip which mostly involved us getting lost in Seattle are somewhat blurred in the recollectio by adrenaline. But a good first day it must be said! Lots of footage, lots of paddy quotes, and lots of shivers from the cold. Also, lots of smells from Nate it must be noted. Girlfriends missed, food deep sixed, and mildewed tents unstuck. G'night blog and blog faithful. We love you. (no, seriously...if you're reading this we love you.)
Tv
We touched down safely in Seattle and met Auntie Anne and uncle Mike at lovely Tacoma airport. The two were ever so kind enough to accompany us on a courtesy shuttle to Eagle Rider's new Seattle location, where Claudio and Hugo were waiting for us with a pleasant surpirse: free upgrades!
Yep, we're on matching blue 2008 Lowriders. What hogs!
Already blazing down the trail...just did a leg on US-5 and about to hit 101 for a eastward jaunt to the pacific coast.
More to follow!
Aqui estamos en el mar de japon. Although I suppose not in actuality. When we're burning down the west coast highway this afternoon the more expansionist of the Japanese would be pleased as punch if they 1) heard me calling the pacific ocean the "sea of Japan" and 2) understood Spanish. In any event, we've discovered that eagle rider Seattle is located at the airport. So we're just going to pack our saddle bags and try to meet up with auntie poo and ratika for lunch. Alright, they're boarding us now and I've really given this iPhone a run for its word recognition money. Tootles!
Well, everyone...the moment has arrived.
We've packed our bags and completed our e-check-in for the flight. At 4:30am tomorrow morning, we'll stumble down to the Bowery and try our darndest to hail a cab to LaGuardia. And then our trip begins!
Many thanks to you fine folks who joined us last night at our bon voyage soiree. Fun times were certainly had. And a big 'danke shane' to the many of you who have already shared tips about dives and detours, as well as possible accommodations. It warms the heart, it does.
Just a few hours to the starting bell... stay tuned...
In a few short days, two hapless young chaps will set off with the money in their pockets and shirts on their backs for an epic journey--a journey that will test their humanity, their courage, and most prominently their buttocks. Yes, friends...your own Nate Bliss and Jim Bisbee will soon embark on a cross-country motorcycle adventure on Harley Davidsons, completing the entire length of US-20 East, a two-lane highway that starts in a sleepy beach town in Oregon and will spit us out in Kenmore Square, Boston. 
Okay, so...how much gas will we be using on this trip?In sum, per bike:
3,627 miles
80.6 gallons of gas
$327.56 on gas
24.4 fill ups
