The NAFO D-Tour

[Bugnatr]

Good stuff Bill, keep it coming!

When you were at the factory did you pick up some Hardley Ableson unmentionable undergarments for Barb?

 

[SacramentoMike]

Miss Bust & I headed over to the Taco House in town. I had the Rio Grande Burrito...

Miss Bust had something different....

Great food and lots of it for a fair price.

MMM-hmmm! Boy, as every California boy knows, when you want some fine Mexican food, always go to Michigan! And it's always best if you can get a good recommendation from a Canadian! :yahoo:

.

 

[beemerdons]

Miss Bust & I headed over to the Taco House in town. I had the Rio Grande Burrito...

Miss Bust had something different....

Great food and lots of it for a fair price.

MMM-hmmm! Boy, as every California boy knows, when you want some fine Mexican food, always go to Michigan! And it's always best if you can get a good recommendation from a Canadian! :yahoo:

.

You know what else is even funnier SacramentoMiguel than a Nord du Ligne Bogstomper recommending La Comida Mexicana, is listening to any Canadian attempting to pronounce Spanish!

With yamafitter tacos turns into tay-kos, he pronounces tamales toe jam, flan becomes flytrap and relleno turns into reindeer! Pinche cabron puto perro Frostbacks! Que lastima, Frostbacks!

 

[Bustanut joker]

MMM-hmmm! Boy, as every California boy knows, when you want some fine Mexican food, always go to Michigan! And it's always best if you can get a good recommendation from a Canadian! :yahoo: .

:lol: :lol: So right Mike!!

Actually that place has been owned by the same Hispanic family for 3 generations and the majority of all platters are prepared without cans, bottles or boxes.

All year long the shells are made in house an in the fall most if not all the sauces and spices are from local sources. The guy running it now is pretty particular about keeping his food authentic.

Crazy fella goes to Chicago weekly to buy cheese as he can't get the taste he wants from anywhere around here.

 

[yamafitter]

Good stuff Bill, keep it coming!

When you were at the factory did you pick up some Hardley Ableson unmentionable undergarments for Barb?

I'm packed to overflowing with useless stuff like heated gear and it was almost 100oF in the Badlands today. If I bought Barb some unmentionable garments I would have to throw out my Rye bottle and that ain't happening.

...With yamafitter tacos turns into tay-kos, he pronounces tamales toe jam, flan becomes flytrap and relleno turns into reindeer! Pinche cabron puto perro Frostbacks! Que lastima, Frostbacks!

I've had reindeer.Tastes like chicken. You wouldn't know decent poutine if I hit you over the head with a plate of it.

 

[airboss]

Sorry about using up all the good temps.

It hit a high of 77 Saturday when Griff and I went tru the Badlands.

 

[Bungie]

With yamafitter tacos turns into tay-kos, he pronounces tamales toe jam, flan becomes flytrap and relleno turns into reindeer! Pinche cabron puto perro Frostbacks! Que lastima, Frostbacks!

Here, this'll just about make you wet your pants..

Dunde est'a casa de pepe?

 

[beemerdons]

With yamafitter tacos turns into tay-kos, he pronounces tamales toe jam, flan becomes flytrap and relleno turns into reindeer! Pinche cabron puto perro Frostbacks! Que lastima, Frostbacks!

Here, this'll just about make you wet your pants..

Dunde est'a casa de pepe?

I am assuming that you mean: Dónde está la Casa de Pepe?

Dundee was Crocodile's last name in that Australian movie!

Freaking Canuckistani Bogstompers! Take off, eh Hoser; eh!

 

[yamafitter]

No update tonight. Poor internet connection.

I'm in Hot Springs, SD and will head to Cody, WY tomorrow.

 

[Fairlaner]

and?

R

 

[yamafitter]

Somebody Turn Down the Heat

The Plains are very dry this year and a number of farmers are using irrigation to help the crops. One of the irrigation units was creating this little rainbow that I came across after shortly leaving Broken Bow...

I was making good time across Nebraska and turned off Nebraska #2 onto #83. I stopped to take a few photos at one of the few rivers I saw that had any water...

When I turned onto US #20 I had lots of gas and had only gone about 230 km. Since I had not seen that many gas stations I started looking for fuel at 250 km. I found a town with a station at 280 km but the station was closed on Sundays. This is starting to become a problem. At 310 km I went on reserve with no signs of civilization in sight. Finally at 30 km into reserve I came across a town that had a water tower and a grain elevator...

Sure enough there was also a small gas station. I filled the bike and then celebrated not running out of gas by buying a gatorade and chatting up the girl running the place while I took a break from the heat. Did I mention is was getting hot. The area I was in is called the sandhills and there wasn't much of anything in the way of vegetation. It was mostly scrub grass and was mostly range land. I passed some very big ranches along the way but you needed that much land to raise cattle.

I was going to swing through the Badlands since I had not been there since I was a kid by heading up through Wounded Knee. When I got to Wounded Knee there was a small display that explained about the massacre but I only stopped quickly because without the air flow of moving along I would start to melt. By this time it was hitting the mid 90's. The temperature continued to rise as I entered the Badlands. I only made one quick stop for photos and the heat was almost unbearable...

I saw a high of 37oC which converts to 99oF. That's too hot for this Northern boy. Unfortunately the photos I took don't do the scenery justice...

Finally the Black Hills of South Dakota appeared as I was now getting close to my destination for the day. I had not planned on crossing into Mountain Time this soon so I arrived into Hot Springs, SD early. I could have gone further but I wanted the morning light for my ride through the Cody National Park and the Needles Highway. I rode this route when I came out for WCR in 2010 and I'm hoping for good weather since this area is big fun.

Just across the river from my motel is a retirement living area that Don might like...

I know what your thinking. That's not much of a river but around these parts anything with water in it gets a name.

I had a late lunch at a local diner and had a good chat with a retired coal miner that had moved out to the area from West Virginia. After a swim in the pool to cool down I took advantage of the cleaning rags that the motel provides and gave the bike a quick wash and went into the local ACE Hardware and got some 200 mph tape and small sewing kit to do some needed repairs. With the repairs taken care of and the bike washed I headed over the river to the local pub for some grub...

The burger was OK but Jumbo's in Owosso is much better. I however got stumped by one of those chain puzzles. I'm usually pretty good at these but not on this night. Must have been the heat.

Here is the screen shot of the trek for this day...

My Spotwalla tracking link - The NAFO D-Tour

 

[RaYzerman19]

There's nothing like a Yamafitter ride report!! Enjoying it, Bill. Damn I wish I was there instead of packing up for moving day!

 

[yamafitter]

Buffalo and Other Critters

I got the early start I wanted and headed north into the Wind Cave National Park. There were all kinds of wildlife on display. I had to slow down and follow these guys until they decided to get off the road...

I also had this fellow decide to wander across the road in front of me...

I believe I have this on video but the computer won't talk to the camera and I don't have the adaptor with me. I will post later. I have what should be some great video of the both the ride through Wind Cave National Park and the Needles Highway. I rode the Needles Hwy back in 2010 on my way out to WCR and the scenery is beyonds words. The $10 fee to ride through the State Park is well worth the price of admission. I will let the photos tell the story...

This is why it is called the Needles Highway...

Plus you have to thread the needle to get between the rock walls...

It really was a truly spectacular ride on a perfect day.

From here it was on into the open spaces of Wyoming. I got off I-90 and took Hwy 14 for a spell and was all alone in the open range lands of Wyoming...

No traffic, no people, no houses for miles upon miles. I looped back to I-90 and then turned off again as Highway 14 headed towards Yellowstone. The run up the first range was great fun though I think I may have scared some Harley folks poking along on parade. I was around them before they even had time to react and was out od sight by the next hairpin. The temperature was dropping as the elevation increased and by the time I reached the 14A turnoff I stopped for some coffee & pie and put the liner in my jacket to offset the chill. It had gone from 31oC at the start to 14oC at the top and there was still snow close by the road...

I found I needed to pay close attention with all the wildlife in the area. I had a number of encounters with forest rats but fortunately there were no trees for them to hide behind so I was able to avoid all encounters. The route for today ended at Cody, Wyoming...

The trip today was just under 800 km (500 miles) to help maintain my CBA status.

The winds were also blowing very strongly and it was difficult to hold the bike on a precise line. By the time I got off the range and into Cody I was ready for the hottub at the hotel. Tomorrow - Beartooth Pass & Chief Joseph Scenic Highway.

 

[yamafitter]

Where's My Ski Wax

What we have here is a failure to communicate. I said to turn the heat down...........not off

It was fairly cool when I was packing the bike so I thought it would be wise to put the liners in the pants and jacket. This turned out to be a smart move which is not normal for me. I headed north out of Cody, WY and soon turned onto the Chief Joseph Highway. The first set of switchbacks were great fun and I was rewarded with a very scenic view at the top...

When I reached the valley floor I stopped to take a few shots of the river running through the small canyon...

The rest of the ride along the Chief Joseph had sone nice sweepers but nothing as challenging as climbing & descending that first mountain ridge. At the end of the Chief Joseph I turned north and headed up over Beartooth Pass. It had cool considerably by this time but we were ascending at a greater rate now and I watched the air temp reading on the bike continue to fall. Early on in the climb I came across a rather impressive cascade of water coming down the mountain...

The snows keep getting closer to the edge of the road. Small wonder the temperatures were dropping...

Near the top of the climb the temperature was +2oC and it was time to turn on the heated grips. I came across a small lake that was still mostly frozen over...

Soon I came across the parked snow blower that had just been recently used to clear a path through this area...

This was not the biggest drift but this was a place where I could safely stop and get a photo. I finally reached the top were it was a balmy 0oC (32oF) and the ski lift was operating. I had not packed the skis and boots so I had to continue to the next pullout for a few photos...

When I got to the bottom I pulled in to the first coffee shop I saw in Red Lodge to warm up before continuing on. I also stopped to do a little shopping for some items and by the time I got going again there really wasn't any time left for more photos on this leg. Montana has some really lonely roads that just cry out for some liberal application of the throttle. I obliged. I ended up stopping in Missoula since I was getting a little tired and the trip to Calgary from here is not that far.

The really good news is that the Road to the Sun Highway opened today. I detouring the D-Tour to Calgary to stay with Canucklehead Biker and do a few small items on my bike. We will then be joining up with the a few other riff-raff for the ride to Castlegar on Thursday.

Here's what the route looked like today...

I normally not one to notice cool temperatures. Where Don would be chopping up the furniture and starting a bonfire in the kitchen I would just put on a light sweater. I have to say it was a bit chilly at the top of the Beartooth Pass today.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Looks like a great trip so far Bill! Thanks for taking us along.

Keep up the good work.

--G

 

[RaYzerman19]

Bill, from Missoula, you owe it to yourself to take an hour or two and buzz down 93 a short bit into Idaho, then turn around (if you're thinking you're not having enough fun) and head back to Missoula..... but you probably don't have time if you're intending to do Catch the Sun Road and make it to Calgaree.

 

[yamafitter]

Bill, from Missoula, you owe it to yourself to take an hour or two and buzz down 93 a short bit into Idaho, then turn around (if you're thinking you're not having enough fun) and head back to Missoula..... but you probably don't have time if you're intending to do Catch the Sun Road and make it to Calgaree.

I won't have the time right now but I might be looking for some fun in Idaho on the way back after Hyder and the North Cascades. Do you want to be my route planner??

I'm finding this route planning is getting in the way of my Rye drinking.

 

[Bungie]

Your day doing Wyoming/Montana is one of the most memorable parts of our journey of the 3 Amoeba's. Just like yours it was pretty damn chilly up top.

If your taking backroads north, keep an eye out for animals. Their are TONS in Montana.

Route planning: If you don't do hwy 20 in the North Cascades somebody needs to slap your peepee. It's on my top 5 roads ever (for scenery). Idaho, real backroads stuff, do the Trail of the Lonesome Pine (I think that's what it is called - Runs through beautiful downtown Lowman).

Edit: (Ponderosa Pine Scenic Route - IdaHo Rt 21. Carl and Karl just went through this yesterday)

Have a blast Bill!

 

[yamafitter]

I sitting at Canucklehead's kitchen table drinking his beer. MEM, Shakin & Canucklehead went to the shop to pick up Canucklehead's. FJRGuy, the chief cook & bottlewasher for this shindig just showed up and is getting the daughter's bike ready. If I can find the time I'll post some photos from the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park but there is some beer drinking to be done so I don't know how much of today's ride I can report on at this time.

I can report on the route from today at this time...

 

[Bugnatr]

Good on you Bill, drink a few for us working stiffs :dribble: