Handlebar Wrap Up...Home At Last

NOB HILL--I'm posting just a few pictures to wrap up that bike trip through Wyoming. Yes, Mike and I did make it to West Yellowstone, Montana. My beautiful GF MaryAnn joined us there along with Mike's wife. We now had 2 vehicles there. The girls had driven 1200 miles to pick us up. We owed them big time.

So, after a few hours in the Evergreen Motel, Mike and Carol headed back to ABQ...that would be 2400 miles in 3 days for Carol.

Meanwhile, MaryAnn and I spent a little more time in Wyoming...Yellowstone, Du Bois, and the Wind River Range. I had reserved a room at the Twin Pines Lodge. The room had one huge bed and the whole place was made out of logs, dating from about 1920. It was also 100 yds. from the Wyoming Cafe. What a wonderful place to eat! It was a little pricey (about $20 each), but everything was fresh and made from scratch. You have to make reservations if you want to sit on the balcony overlooking the Wind River...even in this small town of 197 people. The next day we traversed the Wind River Range on the only road that does that. It was gravel, but in pretty good shape. We met a group of 5 motorcyclists on bmx type bikes who were doing the Great Divide Route. This "bicycle" route goes from Canada to Mexico 80% on dirt and gravel roads, 10% single track and 10% paved. We also met a ranger who gave us directions to a nice view of the whole area.

The following day we headed south to dinosaur country: Vernal, Utah. This is a National Monument you don't want to miss if you have an interest in fossils. My own interests aren't nearly so academic. I am easily entertained.

At any rate, we drove home from Vernal in one day...even after spending the morning at the Monument. When we got home, the house was utter chaos with the kitchen under construction, the floors in the entire house between coats of sealer, the sprinkler system on the fritz, and the heat way up there. But it was home. I am still somewhat blitzed by riding all those days and the drive home. Long distance riding is a mostly silent experience. It takes a while to start talking freely again.
But the experiences and memories are indeed "priceless." And the things that MaryAnn and I share make our life together so much richer. I am the luckiest man alive.