Gremlin's Tall Stories

Alarm rang at 7am, but I’d already heard the guys up and around at some ungodly hour like 4am. Nutters. I think I heard Murray coming up, to collect his phone, that had been on charge. He likes room sharing with me, as I’ve got the electronic stuff sorted (and I wouldn’t have it any other way).

He thought he could simply plug it in, until I told him there is different voltage and different plugs. I solved this by buying an NZ 4 plug powerboard, with 2 USB slots, so I can charge up to 6 devices (and I do have about 6-7 I think) and then all I need is a single converter instead of a handful (plus power outlets). Murray likes this. I connect everything at every stop, he just plugs into the board.

While the Big Sky Village was huge, the advantage was that I never heard a single Harley leave… slept like a baby until 7.30am instead, and when I woke, no-one was around. Got ready in my casual fashion, and walked several buildings over to the one building complex. Used a different route again, ended up in the wrong place, wrong floor, so had to walk up through the levels until I finally found my baby.

Parked her out front of the main building, buggered if I was lugging my gear a kilometre or two. Figured the valets wouldn’t have a problem as I parked to one side. Couple of trips later, I was checked out and with the gear loaded onto the bike I left at 10.15am.

I had to backtrack to the main road, about 8 miles, the trip much more enjoyable than the one up the slippery wet road, as this time it was dry and warm. There was a gas station at the bottom, so did my day’s fill there. Negotiating the pumps, I come across another GSA, I think I’ve seen at least 5-10 of them so far, and enjoy complimenting the other on their choice. Today, the fella beat me to it, as I gave him a big thumbs up, saying “Good choice of bike”. Only 4-5 gallons required, the bike can hold a maximum of about 8.7 gallons.

I headed south, towards Yellowstone, a brief stop for photos at the entry. We’re not going into the actual park today, just skirting around the edge. The park has 5 entrances, where you pay for a pass to access, unless you have the annual pass. The scenery was somewhat boring compared to some other days, so I didn’t bother stopping, just soaking in the terrain.

I had a very interesting adventure with a couple of cops. Stopping at a section of road works as required (it seems several states are constantly under construction now), I eased forward onto the hard shoulder, stopping in the shadow of the trailer unit ahead of me. A bit of relief from sitting still in 26 degrees in full gear. It was then I noticed the sedan a few vehicles behind, with bullbars on the front. I’d been puzzled by the same thing in Virginia City, and found it was a cop, so I presumed the same.

It was confirmed when I pulled away, and I had continuous alerts from Ka band. How to move through traffic when a cop is only a handful of vehicles between you, going the same way? Fortunately, it was Montana, the speed limit was 70mph, and very few vehicles were doing that. I would gently pass a vehicle at a time, making sure not to exceed the limit, Ka band going off all the time.

It got even more interesting on one pass several vehicles later, now getting a K band alert. NZ cops don’t use it, but USA cops do, and I noticed it in the national parks. Pulling in, K died away, but emerging from behind a truck had it going off again, so I knew I had an oncoming cop as well… and sure enough, a few seconds later they passed by. Turning onto 20 I finally dropped the cop, as he/she turned off.

South on 191, then 20, then 32, finally stopping now and then as the terrain was quite amazing. We are now pretty much over 6000 feet (about 2000m) constantly now, and these rolling fields with mountains in the background made you feel like you were on top of the world. At times, there was a 360 degree view of rolling hills, clouds, mountains, stunning stuff.

Highway 32 and 33 were also very interesting in the design of the road. Almost every straight was either due east or due south, either spot on, or within a degree. Passing through Victor, I kept my eye out for a place Ken had mentioned that had delicious sandwiches, but since I’m a guy, when I say kept my eye out for a place, I was looking for the obvious “DELICIOUS SANDWICHES HERE”. Didn’t see that, didn’t stop.

I did stop at the top of Teton Pass, some 8400 feet above sea level. The view was fantastic, and there is a cool sign, so pictures were obligatory. Down the other side, steep enough for a couple of runaway truck lanes, as the grade was rated at 10%. I simply thought it was a good road

Exiting Wilson, an unscheduled stop, to document a milestone. Jessica was purchased in mid-January, I put the 4000th km on her myself during the test ride. She had rolled over 22,222km, so I wanted pictures, it was over 6000 feet above sea level and the view was still pretty good. Nice place to mark the milestone.

Jackson was only 5 miles down the road, found the Inn without issue and checked in around 2.15pm. Complimentary choccies on the counter, dangerous stuff. Then they mention I should be there at 5pm, as they will have cookies. Could it get any better?

Settled into the room, as others arrived, I think this time I was mid-pack… I think people are now a bit more shopped out from the Harley shops. Heard from one of the guys Ernie had had an adventure, when riding Ken’s bike. He was stopped by a cop, who said he had been riding with his pannier over the yellow line, which the cop thought was dangerous.

It only got better when he found Ernie was Mexican, with a Californian license, on a bike he didn’t own. The cop didn’t recognise the personalised plate, and asking where it was from, didn’t know where New Zealand was. He did know where Australia was, and of course this cleared things up didn’t it? Of course not. Ken had turned around, approached, saying he had insurance for the bike, and was sent packing.

Ernie, trying to reason with the cop, said he had been looking for overtaking opportunities, hence the position on the road. The cop replied, well, if you had overtaken, I would have had you for speeding… He told Ernie to stop talking, or he would get a ticket… so after an interesting escapade, Ernie arrived OK at the Inn, with only a warning.

I spent the afternoon processing pictures and writing up the day’s events, watching a bit of very interesting telly on military sharpshooting events, such as the 1.5 mile one kill shot in Afghanistan and another where a guy had to have an 8 foot lead at 600 yards, dropped an insurgent at full sprint, across his field of fire.

Paused at 5pm for the promise of cookies from reception, one each, hot out of the oven, chocolate still a bit liquid. Absolutely one of the best cookies I’ve ever had. Sucks to be you lot missing out on them. Found some NCIS on TV, and while watching that I lost track of time blogging etc. eventually realising at 6.15pm I should have been in the town square by 6pm for an old fashioned shootout. Drat, dammit, buggrit. Rushed over, missed it already. Got some shots of the cow girls etc. walking around, Ken says we’ll see more of the old gun fights, so it’s somewhat OK.

After walking around a bit, we settled on a nice café for dinner. Samosas for an appetiser, ground bison on rice, veges and lettuce for a main and non-dairy blueberry cheesecake for dessert. The cheesecake was the only disappointment, I think them non-dairy people should give up cheesecake, it needs dairy for christsake.

Dropped by the Million Dollar Cowboy bar, tried to charge us a $3 door charge, bugger that, we hung around outside looking at all the bikes. Plenty of money sunk into them, many of them not ridden enough… Back to the Inn, chatted to some of the people, then helped one view the video files on his video camera stick, as he didn’t have a laptop.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/aUEba4y4w38Bhat88