Month: July 2014

Day 27 – Buffalo, Geyser and Mountains

America 2014

It was sprinkling a little in Big Sky this morning, but the forecast called for passing showers, so we headed to Yellowstone National Park. We got back on Route 191 south to Route 287 which takes you to and through the Park.

We stopped at a couple of scenic view points and then headed to “Old Faithful”  On the way, we hit some traffic.  The traffic turned out to be due to a buffalo taking a walk along the side of the road. How to describe a wild, 2-ton animal and 2 motorcycles within 15 feet of it? The traffic is in front of us – so we really couldn’t get anywhere. He looked right at us – needless to say,we felt a bit anxious.

Yellowstone National Park

But, it all turned out good.  “Old Faithful” had just spewed before we got there, so we saw it sort of dormantold faithful

We went into the museum fo a bit and then continued our trip to Grand Teton National Park.

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We jumped off of Route 287 onto Teton Park Road to the Teton Mountains.  We are so glad we did.  The Tetons are simply an amazing set of mountains.  Majestic. Beautiful.

Then, we grabbed Route 26 east and headed to Riverton, Wyoming. Another beautiful state.  The mountains are different from any other we’ve seen. Then, we hit the plains and fields.  Sooooooo many fields, all the way to our destination, Riverton.

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We rode 355 miles today.Big Sky, Montana to Riverton, Wyoming

Current total: 7,752 miles

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Day 26 – Heading East Through Montana

America 2014

We left the Millers’ home at around 10am.  Of course, we had to stop at Grizzly Harley Davidson, because of the name.

We jumped on Route 90 east and got off at Route 85 in Belgrade, MT to take Route 191 to Big Sky, MT.

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Montana is another great state to ride a motorcycle through, from the mountains to fields and rivers.  Beautiful.

We stopped short of Yellowstone, and will do that park tomorrow.

Missoula, Montana to Big Sky, Montana

We rode 255 miles today.

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Day 25 – Glacier National Park, Montana

America 2014

We left Bonner’s Ferry somewhat early (8:30) because we knew it would be a long day.

Out of Bonner’s Ferry, we took Route 2 towards Glacier National Park.  Along the way, we stopped at Kootenai Falls. It was one of those Montana raging rivers that you could have easily just passed by.  We ended up spending over an hour just walking around the woods and the river in AWE!

Eventually, we ended up back on Route 2 and continued toward Glacier.

We finally got to Glacier National Park around 2:30 pm.  We realized we crossed a time line, so we lost an hour. Glacier National Park is an amazing example of the wonders that exist in this country that Mother Nature has provided us.  Amazing, stunning, and so alive.7-26_Montana (5)

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7-26_Montana (2)We left Glacier around 5 and headed south to Missoula Mountain via Route 35 past Flathead Lake and  all the cherry stands. (This is prime cherry season).  The lake was HUGE. It felt like being next to an ocean.  Sometimes you’re at the level of the lake, sometimes you’re looking down from 500 feet up.  Beautiful ride!

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Route 35 connected us to Route 93 and then to Route 90 into Missoula.

The Millers welcomed us with open arms.  It was really nice to see some familiar faces.  Shawna, Tucker, their daughter, Andrea and her boyfriend, Mike.  We were happy to see Kira here when we got here, and Keith when he arrived on a later flight.

Millers - Missoula

It was a late night, but a good one.

Bonners Ferry, Idaho to Missoula, Montana

354 miles today.

Tomorrow, we are heading towards Yellowstone.

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Day 24 – Washington to Idaho

America 2014

We left Yakima after doing a load of laundry this morning.  We headed out on Route 12 to Route 82 and to Route 90 east.  We never knew how many “plains” there were in Washington State.  Beautiful rolling plains.  They grow a lot of hay here.  Massive buildings filled with huge bales of hay.  And lots of them.

Route 90 took us through Spokane, WA – a really beautiful town.  Then, we grabbed Route 95 north all the way to Bonner’s Ferry, Idaho, only 30 miles from the Canadian border. Route 95 took us through a town called, Sandpoint.  Wow!  It was stunning. It’s on a lake surrounded by mountains.

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We did not know how beautiful Idaho is!  It is really nice, clean, green – all of the people that we met were all so nice.

7-25_hotel-wallsRode 311 miles today.

Yakima, WA to Bonner's Ferry, ID

Tomorrow, we head into and through Glacier National Park on the “Going to the Sun Road”

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Day 23 – Cascade Mountains

America 2014

The weather is still not that great, but we had to get out and ride.  We jumped on Route 5 North toward Portland and continued beyond Portland to Route 12 East. Route 12 takes you up to the Cascade Mountains and by Mount Rainier and to Yakima, WA.

When we got on Route 12, we started to hit some rain, clouds and fog and going through these mountain passes in those conditions is not always so great.  But, we still pushed ahead.coltonfinn.com (1)  When we got nearer to Mount Ranier it was raining, cold (46°) and yuk! We pulled in to the nearest gas station to fill up and warm up.  It was well worth the stop.

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colton climbs down rock wall

clear lake cascade mtn

clear lake, mt. rainier

Then, we headed down the east side of the Cascades and the weather started to get better.  It seemed like every mile on the downhill side got 5° warmer.

Eventually, it was completely clear and 74°.  The scenery was beautiful  Route 12 runs parallel to the Tieton River.

It was a really nice ride ( the second half of the day)

eugene oregon to yakima, washington

Rode 345 miles today.

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Day 21 – California to Oregon

America 2014

We left Arcata this morning and headed north on Route 101 along the coast of California.Smith River
The weather was not that good, so we jumped on Route 199 in Crescent City and headed inland where the weather was nicer. It went from raw and cloudy 50s to partly sunny, nice 70s.

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It was a really nice road through more redwood forests and into Oregon.

7-22_oregon We stopped along the way to fuel up and ended up talking with some local folks. There were also a couple of other guys on motorcycles. We compared notes on the best routes to take on our trips

Eventually, we ended up connecting to Route 5 North into Eugene, Oregon and settled in to a Comfort Inn. We had a decent meal at a local restaurant around the corner.

We rode 288 miles today.

arcata, ca to eugene, or

Current trip total: 6,132 miles.

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Day 20 – The Redwood Forests

America 2014

We left Fort Bragg this morning, but stopped at a breakfast place called “Eggheads” before we left town. Awesome breakfast! If you are ever in Fort Bragg, we highly recommend it.

We continued up Route 1 towards Leggett.  This was another amazing section of road for a motorcycle ride.

When we got to Leggett, we continued up to Route 101 which is the Redwood Highway.  We stopped at one of the small parks where you can actually drive through a tree.

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Amazing.  The size of the tree was simply incredible.

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We continued up the Redwood Highway until we got to the entrance of the “Avenue of the Giants”

You don’t know what a big tree is until you drive through a forest of these giant redwoods. It makes you feel so small.

At the same time, it gives you the feeling of – well, maybe there are giants.  7-21_redwood-treeTruly incredible.  Some of these living trees are over 2,000 years old.7-21_redwoods-sign

We ended up in Arcata, California for the night.  We only traveled 180 miles today, but it was well worth it.fort bragg ca to arcata ca

Tomorrow, we hope to get through Coos Bay, Oregon to Eugene, Oregon.  That will depend on the weather.

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Day 19 – Monterey to Fort Bragg

America 2014


7-20_MontereyWe left Monterey and continued north on Route 1 toward San Francisco. The California coast is a beautiful ride.

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Getting closer to San Francisco, you could tell the ride was about to change.  The traffic started to increase, and what might have been a 2-hour ride, turned into a 4 hour ride.

The Golden Gate Bridge is a nice structure.  It was smaller than we thought it would be.  Getting there, however, was miserable.  All in all – somewhat anti-climatic.  Also, it was cool and drizzly.

Well, we got through that and caught Route 101 to the Fort Bragg area.  We got off of Route 101 and onto Route 20 heading west.  Route 20 is a great ride for motorcycles. It had winding curves through redwood forests.  It was an amazing ride,  It reminded us of the “Tail of the Dragon”” but 15 miles longer!  And the trees – Wow!  And this is only the beginning of the redwood forest.

monterey california to fort bragg

292 miles today.

Tomorrow we head into the Avenue of the Redwoods.

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Day 18 – Pacific Coast Highway to Monterey

America 2014

We left Kevin and Linda’s house at around 10 am.  We headed west on Route 126 to Route 101 to Route 1.

The GPS kept telling us to go a different way toward Monterey, but we wanted to stay on the full length of Route 1 to be on the Pacific Coast Highway. And we did! Eventually, we made it to a section of the PCH that was simply incredible.  Just north of a town called Cambria, the road turned into all of the images you have ever seen of the PCH.

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Mountains on your right, ocean on the left, and a sheer cliff on the edge.  Beautiful ride.  Amazing views.

The road had to hug the contour of the mountains, so it was a very slow ride.  Between 30-40 mph instead of the usual 70-80 mph.

We ended up riding about 4 hours and covered 330 miles before we landed in Monterey.los angeles to monterey - pacific coast highway

Once again, simply a beautiful ride.  It has to best appreciated with the naked eye.

Tomorrow we continue on Route 1 toward the San Francisco area – hopefully to Fort Bragg.

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