I know some of you are curious about what happened in Wyoming so I will fill you in..
We arrived in Wyoming Tuesday afternoon after leaving the Badlands and riding through the beautiful Black Hills. We were looking for a truck stop or diner to plug in and stretch our legs a bit. We met a guy and his uncle on their bikes outside of Newcastle and they rode with us until we got to Gillete to a flying J then they took off.. After that it was all down hill, the folk in Wyoming wanted nothing to do with us.. everyone was harsh and rude and we just wanted to get out of the state completely.. We found a rest stop in Powder River and sent up our tent, we figured we would just catch a few quick hours and take off.. we weren't sure it was too safe.. I think we were just taken aback by all of the rude locals it made us uneasy. Then next thing you know the owner of the motel at the rest stop comes stumbling around the corner ( We were plugged into a couple outlets in front of his motel bar ) He appeared to have been drinking or some sort of recreational stimulant.. he was peering in the windows telling us about how his girlfriend left her purse inside with all the keys, weird.. ok, we didn't know what to do but he told us to feel free to set up our tent and then he hopped in a car that was unlocked and had keys in it and rode off. So Joey set up the tent and I charged the phones at through top of the hill. Pat had told us that we were going to get rained on around five am so we planned to get out of there by four.. We woke up at two to buckets of rain and wind so hard it was ready to roll the tent away with us in it! ( Joey never staked the tent, he said its unnecessary. I usually do it but I didn't help set up the tent that night ) Needless to say I told you so Joey!
So we had to jump out grab all of our important stuff and ride up this dirt (now mud) hill and to the rest stop where there was shelter. We dropped all that stuff off and put on our rain gear (which if you want a mental image makes me look like a big long burnt marshmallow! ) We went back down the hill packed the tent then back up the hill to pack the bike up secure everything and tarp it ( thank you Stacey for giving us that tarp and the clear's which have really been coming in handy! )
So we take off and the next town is Buffalo and it is forty miles away. So here we are in the dark dark Wyoming hills on the bike in the rain on a one lane highway with construction happening. It was a blur really. When we reached Buffalo at three thirty ish nothing was open except one gas station, so we roll in dry off and sit there until six. Joey talked to the guy attending who said to expect snow in the mountainside where we were headed which we did not have the gear for. We were really freaked out.
So we went to a diner that had opened at six and had breakfast and tried to figure out what we were going to do. By seven we felt defeated and frusterated and decided to be safe and head south and go west through Salt Lake towards San Francisco. We were heartbroken about having to skip Seattle, Olympia & Portland, but the guy at the gas station made us feel like we were about to do a really dumb thing..
Luckily two guys started talking to us out front of the diner and we told them about the trip and about how we might just turn around and go south and they talked us out of it basically. They assured us that we would be just fine and the ride was so beautiful we just had to do it. So we did.. thank goodness there were two awesome people in the state of Wyoming or else I could be blogging from a McDonalds in Casper instead of being in Paradise Valley in beautiful southwest Montana!
So we went from Buffalo to Sheridan Wyoming where I begged Joey to pull into a city park so I could nap. So I napped in the sleeping bag in my full rain gear with helmet and all.. I was totally exhausted to say the least.
After that we got up to Montana and the ride was beautiful. We stopped at the Custer and Sitting Bull museum where the battle of little bighorn began. That seemed very sad to me. And we met an old Native American who had no teeth but boasted he was the nicest man on the Crow Indian Reservation. And as far as we were concerned he was. He told us he was off to watch Ali fight, he said Ali was the best prize fighter but he would be too scared to hang out with him. We thought that was cute..
So we found camping last night in the most beautiful area. Paradise Valley it's called. Basically we just went down a fishing access road and sent up camp right on the gorgeous Yellowstone River nestled between the majestic Gallatin and Absaroka mountain ranges..
the whole scene was unreal, we had a campfire and watched the river and the sunset behind the mountains then star gazed for a bit the whole bit. Joey played his guitar for a bit then we turned in.
As soon as we tucked in we started hearing noises, I think he had to get out of the tent three times before I finally fell asleep. Fear was no match for my exhaustion. Joey told me he had to stuff tissues in his ears so the noises of the wild wouldn't freak him out!
We are about to roll on out now we are headed for the Rocky Mountains and the sun is out it is cold but a beautiful day.
canyondan.com
met this guy during breakfast, he is a nature photographer. Check it out..
