First, hopefully not the last epic ride

So my Navy buddy calls me from Oregon, " would you like to try your hand at fly fishing for steel head?" Who can say no to that? So ask for two weeks off, and then mybrother in law invites me to a week , with my wife, to Voyaguers national park to fish for walleye! BONUS! I put in for three weeks of vacation, get approved, and get ready to go.

We head out Saturday to get up to Voyaguers, and the weather is threatening rain...after a week of camping, and fishing, I'm just getting primed for my trip.

I get home, unpack, then start packing to leave (solo this time), on the bike.

Take plenty of photos, stay safe, and enjoy. :good:

Can't beat the with a stick. GO NAVY!!

3 weeks? Now that's a SERIOUS vacation!!

I'd rather eat rotten walleye than ANY salmon. Too fishy. My brother says to me "You haven't had FRESH smoked salmon". So I go up there, he smoke a fillet that was caught that day, and it taste fishy. I'm done with salmon.

Regardless, have a nice time.

Gee pants, why eat fish if it don't taste fishy. Now most trout taste's like mud, I don't like mud.

Regardless, stay thirsty!

Hey Wallyo:

I hope you get a steelie on the line - they are a magnificent hard-fighting fish!

I have caught a few on a hidden gem of a river in Nor Cal, and let them go to live another day.....

Biknflyfisher

Panman posted: Gee pants, why eat fish if it don't taste fishy.

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Ding, ding! My ex was famous for saying, "I want a fish that doesn't taste fishy." Fish are supposed to taste like fish.

(For the record, hppants is not my ex. Just sayin.)

Best fish I ever ate was smoked mullet in Punta Gorda. Tasted like tire re-treads without the steel belts. Yummy with a little Texas Pete.

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wallyo, hope you catch your limit and eat until your belly's 'bout to burst. Photos required, of the ride and the fish.

After seeing the wife off to work, I climb aboard my trusty steed, and head out. Heading north on the super slab;I can only hear the wind, and the motor, everything is running great. I'm heading to Billings Montana, a short 769 mile day. I leave Minnesota on 94, and shortly after crossing the state line, I realize just how windy North Dakota is. Around 1:00, I grab lunch at a subway, and head out; I'm amazed at how flat a lot of North Dakota is, and get settled in for a long haul.

I pull over at the Theodore Roosevelt national park to check out the scenery, and take a break from the wind, I love this country, and am constantly amazed at how different the topography changes in short distances. The Badlands are a great lesson in this respect showing the different layers of sediment, and how easily the earth can change the landscape, through various seismic shifts.

It's hot, 97 degrees, at least it's not humid. I get into Montana and am glad to see the clouds starting to form, I need some rain to cool down some. I pull over for a gas stop, and notice it's getting really dark , quickly, and its starts to rain....luckily just a passing shower, but I'm hungry for dinner, and theres a nice little restaurant right next door...trout almondine please, and as much iced tea as you can pour. Only two hours left to Billings.

What a pleasant way to start my day - dreaming vicariously through a brother in the wind.

Ride on, man. Cheers!

What are you riding wallyo?

To Hppants, thank you, so far everything is going very well;to Littlejon, im riding an 2010 ST1300, very smooth, fast, and it seems to love the sweepers, and twisties.

I made it to Billings around 8:30, found the hotel, and found out that the Honda Wing ding was being held there. I spoke to a couple of the guys there before going to my room to go to bed. When I wake up, I get a shower, pack , then head to breakfast. The place is packed with wing riders of every age, they're all talking about the days upcoming rides, and events, and I ask the map coordinator if he had info for the Bear tooth highway. He prints me out a map,we swap stories for a while, then it's time to pack up, and hit the road. It's chilly out, around 51 degrees;perfect for a days ride.

I thumb the starter, and head out, at the foothills of the pass near red lodge, I notice the temps are dropping fast, so while getting gas, I put on a heavier over shirt, and head out once again. The views of the mountains is spectacular, early morning sun hitting the peaks, and more motorcycles than I can count. I hit the scenic overlook for the Bear tooth, take some pics, then head out.....after some well executed twisties, and sweepers, I come into a town, and stop for lunch at the Bear tooth cafe'. Good burgers, excellent staff, and nice place to sit and relax.

Sorry everyone, while on the road, I had no wifi, so for security reasons didn't write.

So after having lunch, I made my way to the north east corner of Yellowstone, paid my entrance fee, and started making my way to the north west side to continue my ride westward. First off , let me say that if you've never been through the park, you're missing a lot! The park is beautiful, and every turn seems to be prettier than the last. I got out of the park, headed east by north east, and landed in Deer Lodge Montana. After setting up camp, I had time to check out the limited scenery, and had an espresso before settling down for a post 749 mile day. The next morning I woke early, packed, and after a breakfast of espresso, and oatmeal, I headed out again. It was a chilly 37 degrees when I left; I hit the mountains, and the temp quickly dropped as did the visibility, the bikes temp gauge indicated 36 degrees, as I pulled into the gas station. More to warm up, but I needed gas too.

When I came out, I noticed my tire was wearing thin (showing cord) , not good, I swore I had plenty of tread before I started, but a fact is a fact. I carefully got to the next town of Kellogg Idaho, and started calling around for a mechanic, found one, but he couldn't work on it till Monday (labor day). In the mean time, I went on the riders assistance network,and found someone with a tire....Bob, from Spokane Washington, not only had a tire, but he brought it to me, and, didn't ask anything for it! This man had at least a lunch coming to him, but once he got there with his friend Dwayne, he wouldn't take a penny for the tire, gas, or anything. I did make him let me buy him lunch. Glenn of Shoshone Honda in Pinehurst Idaho is an ace mechanic, and very generous of his time, and patience. If you're ever in the need of help , and you're in the area, look him up! I can't express enough gratitude to him, or Bob, and his friend.

After the tire was mounted, and ready to go, we had lunch, and took off. Bob, and Dwayne followed me as far as their turn off to get gas, plus they followed up via email to make sure I'd made it to my friends house in Portland.

Sounds like a great trip and the generosity of fellow riders is always great to hear. You forgot to include your photos

I need to learn ho to upload pics, they're not jpeg, but I have plenty!.....help!

wallyo said:

I need to learn ho to upload pics, they're not jpeg, but I have plenty!.....help!

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You'll need to store/host your photos at one of the (free) online storage sites, and then add a link in your ride report to each photo that you are referencing in your report. The online photo storage services typically have a cap in the amount of storage they give you for free, so if you know how to resize your photos before you deposit them with the storage site so that they are not the huge files that comes out of the camera, that would be good and would enable you to host many more photos before you hit their storage ceiling. That being said, you should be able to store many, many large photos before hitting the limit.

Flickr and Photobucket are popular - I have accounts at both, but for ride reports, I usually use Photobucket. Just my preference. Here is a link to Photobucket's tutorial on how to share photos that you have stored on their site: https://support.photobucket.com/hc/en-us/articles/200724424-Linking-to-Forums. On FJRForum.com, you simply copy the "Direct" photo link at Photobucket, and then click the insert image icon in the FJRForum post editor where you are typing your ride report. Then, paste the photo link you copied from Photobucket, and if done correctly, your photo will show up in the post editor, and hence, in your post. It's a piece of cake.

Lastly, you can "test" your image posting skills here on the forum at this location: https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php/forum/90-test/, which was set up specifically for this purpose.

Looking forward to seeing some of your photos