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In the summer of 1985 the lady and I loaded down our 79 Special and left Fairbanks, Alaska headed for Cocoa Beach, FL. We left on June 30 to catch the Alaska Marine Hiway Ferry in Haines, AK. Took three days of very wet riding on a extremely overloaded bike to get to Haines. Met a lot of other riders headed south from a HOG Rally that had been held in Fairbanks the week before we left while we were in Haines and literally had a big party for the three days that we rode the ferry south to Bellingham, WA
Spent a few days in Lynden, WA with my retired parents and then headed east over the Cascades on state Hiway 20 to Hiway 97 and turned north. At the intersection with 155 we turrned east again and spent the first night out of Lynden at Grand Coulee. Watched the laser light show that played on the face of the dam on my spouse's birthday.
The next day we proceeded south on 17 to Mosses Lake where we had a late breakfast. On down 17 to 12 and that led us to Oregon state hiway 730. Just after crossing the border into Oregon while following the Columbia River we took the first left on state rd 37 that led us almost straight into Pendleton, cutting about 3 hours and 1 fill up off the ride. Had lunch in Pendleton and then got back on the road again on I-84. Rode I-84 all the way to the border with Idaho and spent the night at a little campground on the Snake River.
On our 2nd day out of Lynden we got up and immediately lost an hour by crossing into Idaho! Toodle on down the road and stopped in Boise for lunch and an oil change. Really good people at the local Yamaha dealership. They took in the 1100 and changed the oil without our having to unload the about 200 lbs of camping equipment, clothes and junk we had tied to the scooter.
After leaving Boise it started getting really hot out and we wished that our "Alaska" leathers would breathe a little better! We got back on I-84 and headed towards Utah. Just after crossing the border into UT we stopped in a rest area for a bit of water and the proverbial potty break. Came back out of the john and the XS wouldn't start! Cranked just fine but wouldn't fire! Damn, here we are 2k miles from home, no appreciable tools and the beast won't start! We let it sit for about 20 minutes and she fired right back up. (A few months later the same thing happened in Florida and we found out about the leads for the spark advance being to short and seperating when the engine is hot).
Ran on down the road and decided to dine at a little town just north of Brigham City. Had a real quiet dinner and left just before sunset. We'd had enough of the interstate for the day so we decided to take a local road to a private campground about 10 miles from where we'd eaten. Got to the campground just as it got dark and found out that they were closed that week. Oh well, let's go on down to Brigham City and rent a room. Got back on the Road and I had no Headlight!!!! 2nd time in one day, an electrical problem! We continued on down the road at about 20 mph following the road stripes off the glow from the running lights of the fairing. Got passed by someone going about 70 which was really spooky!. Got into a twisty area and another car came up behind us and followed until we got to a straightaway. When this car passed I used the power available in our ride and paced him from about 100 feet using HIS headlights to light our way. Well, the farther we went the faster he drove. I wasn't watching my speedo, just the car in front, trying to keep from loosing our source of light, I just kept accelerating to keep up with him. This went on for about about 5 or 6 miles until we got to the lighted streets on the outskirts of Brigham City. When we hit usable streetlight I looked at the speedometer and we were doing about 85mph. I immediately slowed down to the posted 30 MPH but the car we were following just kept on going.
To quote my wife, the driver of the car said when he got home, "Maude, Maude, There were these bad bikers chasing me all the way home!" LOL
We found a room at a little motel and checked in. While I was parking the bike my lady went back to the office and told the clerk what the problem was with our ride. The lady in the office was the motel owner and told us not to worry about the check out time. "Just get the bike fixed!" she told my wife.
We didn't stay too long the next day. I couldn't find the problem so we decided to just ride during daylight hours until we got to Longmont, CO, our next destination.
We left Brigham City at about 11AM and got back on I84 headed to Ogden. When we got to Ogden we went looking for an information center and ended up at the Union Pacific Railroad Station that has been converted into a museum. Spent a couple of hours wnadering around there and then went to find some food. My lady had a chocolate attack while at the dinner and proceeded to fill a dish with a fudge brownie topped with chocolate ice cream topped with chocolate flavored whipped topped with chocolate sprinkles. I don't have any idea how she ate it all, but she did!
When we were leaving the diner we got to talking to a truck driver and he said that the easiest route out of Ogden to get to Colorado was to drive due east on I-80, which we did and got to regretting it a couple of hours later.
After we'd got about an hour into Wyoming we got into a construction area where the west bound lane was closed and the interstate was being used as a 2 lane hiway. Now I-80 is one of the main east-west trucking routes through that area so about every fourth or fifth vehicle was a semi and about every 20th was a semi pulling doubles. No problem, we are used to lots of traffic on two lanes, that's what most of the roads in Alaska are like. But then the wind started to blow from the north across the plains and giving us a really strong push towards the edge of the road. And then a big rig would come by sucking us back towards the center line. It got really scary a couple of times. The lady and I decided that the next exit was ours and we would find a local road to run on and find somewhere to camp before dark. We took the exit at Green River and found that there was a campground in the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area on state road 530. Stopped in Green River and bought some stuff for dinner and went on down to the campground. Pitched our tent in a wide open, flat, no trees campground high on the Great Plains. There was a wind break for every camp spot so we set up out grill and my spouse proceded to heat up some water to cook some beans. Well, she stood there for about 20 minutes waiting for the water to boil while I finished setting the camp. I came back to the windbreak and asked what was taking so long.
"The water hasn't boiled yet." she said.
" It won't," I said, "we're over 5,000 ft in elevation and water doesn't boil at this altitude."
Well, she didn't know that having born and raised in Florida, where the highest spot is a bump on the ground at 300 some odd feet.
She then grumbled something at me and went on to fix dinner.
We got up the next morning and the wind had died down but we decided to stay off the Interstate and went on south on State road 530 through the Flaming Gorge Park. It was a beautiful ride and some of the most gorgeous scenery we'd seen on the trip so far. I'd post a pic but it takes up to much space.
When we got Manila we went south, back in Utah again, to state 44 and on down to Vernal. On this stretch of road we encountered approximately 12 switchbacks coming down off the plains to a river valley. Love then twisties!!!
We left Vernal headed east towards Colorado and were just cruising along at about 70mph on state 40 when all of a sudden a gust of wind came at us from the left at about 40 mph and almost blew us off the road. Had to stop for a bit and get re-adjusted! We got just over the border into Colorado and stopped for lunch in Dinosaur. We ended up spending that night in Craig at a KOA campground. Nice showers and a pool to soak in.
Got up the next morning and decided to have a brunch somewhere on down the road. Found a nice little restaurant in Steamboat Springs.
Intermission
Next installment: High Ground, high temperatures and
a hurricane!
Spent a few days in Lynden, WA with my retired parents and then headed east over the Cascades on state Hiway 20 to Hiway 97 and turned north. At the intersection with 155 we turrned east again and spent the first night out of Lynden at Grand Coulee. Watched the laser light show that played on the face of the dam on my spouse's birthday.
The next day we proceeded south on 17 to Mosses Lake where we had a late breakfast. On down 17 to 12 and that led us to Oregon state hiway 730. Just after crossing the border into Oregon while following the Columbia River we took the first left on state rd 37 that led us almost straight into Pendleton, cutting about 3 hours and 1 fill up off the ride. Had lunch in Pendleton and then got back on the road again on I-84. Rode I-84 all the way to the border with Idaho and spent the night at a little campground on the Snake River.
On our 2nd day out of Lynden we got up and immediately lost an hour by crossing into Idaho! Toodle on down the road and stopped in Boise for lunch and an oil change. Really good people at the local Yamaha dealership. They took in the 1100 and changed the oil without our having to unload the about 200 lbs of camping equipment, clothes and junk we had tied to the scooter.
After leaving Boise it started getting really hot out and we wished that our "Alaska" leathers would breathe a little better! We got back on I-84 and headed towards Utah. Just after crossing the border into UT we stopped in a rest area for a bit of water and the proverbial potty break. Came back out of the john and the XS wouldn't start! Cranked just fine but wouldn't fire! Damn, here we are 2k miles from home, no appreciable tools and the beast won't start! We let it sit for about 20 minutes and she fired right back up. (A few months later the same thing happened in Florida and we found out about the leads for the spark advance being to short and seperating when the engine is hot).
Ran on down the road and decided to dine at a little town just north of Brigham City. Had a real quiet dinner and left just before sunset. We'd had enough of the interstate for the day so we decided to take a local road to a private campground about 10 miles from where we'd eaten. Got to the campground just as it got dark and found out that they were closed that week. Oh well, let's go on down to Brigham City and rent a room. Got back on the Road and I had no Headlight!!!! 2nd time in one day, an electrical problem! We continued on down the road at about 20 mph following the road stripes off the glow from the running lights of the fairing. Got passed by someone going about 70 which was really spooky!. Got into a twisty area and another car came up behind us and followed until we got to a straightaway. When this car passed I used the power available in our ride and paced him from about 100 feet using HIS headlights to light our way. Well, the farther we went the faster he drove. I wasn't watching my speedo, just the car in front, trying to keep from loosing our source of light, I just kept accelerating to keep up with him. This went on for about about 5 or 6 miles until we got to the lighted streets on the outskirts of Brigham City. When we hit usable streetlight I looked at the speedometer and we were doing about 85mph. I immediately slowed down to the posted 30 MPH but the car we were following just kept on going.
To quote my wife, the driver of the car said when he got home, "Maude, Maude, There were these bad bikers chasing me all the way home!" LOL
We found a room at a little motel and checked in. While I was parking the bike my lady went back to the office and told the clerk what the problem was with our ride. The lady in the office was the motel owner and told us not to worry about the check out time. "Just get the bike fixed!" she told my wife.
We didn't stay too long the next day. I couldn't find the problem so we decided to just ride during daylight hours until we got to Longmont, CO, our next destination.
We left Brigham City at about 11AM and got back on I84 headed to Ogden. When we got to Ogden we went looking for an information center and ended up at the Union Pacific Railroad Station that has been converted into a museum. Spent a couple of hours wnadering around there and then went to find some food. My lady had a chocolate attack while at the dinner and proceeded to fill a dish with a fudge brownie topped with chocolate ice cream topped with chocolate flavored whipped topped with chocolate sprinkles. I don't have any idea how she ate it all, but she did!
When we were leaving the diner we got to talking to a truck driver and he said that the easiest route out of Ogden to get to Colorado was to drive due east on I-80, which we did and got to regretting it a couple of hours later.
After we'd got about an hour into Wyoming we got into a construction area where the west bound lane was closed and the interstate was being used as a 2 lane hiway. Now I-80 is one of the main east-west trucking routes through that area so about every fourth or fifth vehicle was a semi and about every 20th was a semi pulling doubles. No problem, we are used to lots of traffic on two lanes, that's what most of the roads in Alaska are like. But then the wind started to blow from the north across the plains and giving us a really strong push towards the edge of the road. And then a big rig would come by sucking us back towards the center line. It got really scary a couple of times. The lady and I decided that the next exit was ours and we would find a local road to run on and find somewhere to camp before dark. We took the exit at Green River and found that there was a campground in the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area on state road 530. Stopped in Green River and bought some stuff for dinner and went on down to the campground. Pitched our tent in a wide open, flat, no trees campground high on the Great Plains. There was a wind break for every camp spot so we set up out grill and my spouse proceded to heat up some water to cook some beans. Well, she stood there for about 20 minutes waiting for the water to boil while I finished setting the camp. I came back to the windbreak and asked what was taking so long.
"The water hasn't boiled yet." she said.
" It won't," I said, "we're over 5,000 ft in elevation and water doesn't boil at this altitude."
Well, she didn't know that having born and raised in Florida, where the highest spot is a bump on the ground at 300 some odd feet.
She then grumbled something at me and went on to fix dinner.
We got up the next morning and the wind had died down but we decided to stay off the Interstate and went on south on State road 530 through the Flaming Gorge Park. It was a beautiful ride and some of the most gorgeous scenery we'd seen on the trip so far. I'd post a pic but it takes up to much space.
When we got Manila we went south, back in Utah again, to state 44 and on down to Vernal. On this stretch of road we encountered approximately 12 switchbacks coming down off the plains to a river valley. Love then twisties!!!
We left Vernal headed east towards Colorado and were just cruising along at about 70mph on state 40 when all of a sudden a gust of wind came at us from the left at about 40 mph and almost blew us off the road. Had to stop for a bit and get re-adjusted! We got just over the border into Colorado and stopped for lunch in Dinosaur. We ended up spending that night in Craig at a KOA campground. Nice showers and a pool to soak in.
Got up the next morning and decided to have a brunch somewhere on down the road. Found a nice little restaurant in Steamboat Springs.
Intermission
Next installment: High Ground, high temperatures and
a hurricane!
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