Ok, I made it to Yellowstone! I am staying in the Historic Madison Hotel. In the 1930′s and 40′s this was a favorit of movie stars. It is a great old Yellowstone lodge with lots of wood and animal heads on the walls. It should be a great place to stay.
« Older Entries Newer Entries »Well, I got 3 for the price of one. I just crossed the 7027 Ft. pass that leads into Yellowstone. It also happens to be the Montana state line, and it is the continental divide.
I have been racing a thunderstorm for an hour or so. It caught up with me at the pass. So, the cell picture is all dark and unusable. The regular camera only worked with the flash.
It seems to be a bad storm. Lightning and thunder, and ice falling from the sky. I am safely under the overhang of a garage, just watching the storm pass. It is cool listening to the thunder echo off the mountains.
It seems to be getting lighter in the direction the storm came from. So, I hope it is passing. Only 10 more miles!
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Over half way to Yellowstone. The ride has been great. I took the alternate route this morning and I was afraid that I was going to pay on the hills, but they were great.
It was a winding mountain road with not much traffic. The views were spectacular, wild flowers everywhere and butterflies. I took one of the best pictures of the whole trip this morning of a yellow swallowtail butterfly eating at a bright yellow flower. I can’t wait to upload it.
The falls were great very large, but you could only view then from above. I also forgot to take a picture with my camera phone. So, you will have to wait for the upload.
I broke my old altitude record of 6003 Ft this morning with one of 6345 Ft. I will be going to at least 7072 in the next 2 hrs. I should also cross into Montana then into Wyoming. I am looking forward to it.
« Older Entries Newer Entries »First off, let me apologize for not getting any pictures uploaded. The library closed at 1:00 this afternoon. I arrived there at 1:05.
I had a little time to look at the maps and plan out the trip a little. The most probable route at this point takes me out the east exit of Yellowstone to Cody, WY. Then passed Devil’s Tower and into South Dakota through Minneapolis St. Paul. Into Michigan and into Canada for a while. Through New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and ending in Portland, Maine.
There is another route that takes me to New York City, but I am not yet sold on that one.
So, the most probable route takes me about 3481 miles total. Funny thing is that if that is the route I take, I am almost exactly 1/4 of the way there (actually I am 1.48 miles short of 1/4 of the way). WOW!
It took me 15 days to get this far. So, that would make this a 60 day trip. Not bad.
Anyway, it is 60 miles to Yellowstone and 1585 miles to Canada. 
I guess I should add that it is 2612.2 miles to the coast.
Tomorrow, I hit some of the most challenging mountains yet. It is 2000 feet up to Yellowstone. The hill outside town here is supposed to be the worst. Good thing that I am all rested and ready to go.
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Today has been great! What a birthday.
This morning I went to the Hess museum just outside of Ashton. It is funny. I was in front of the museum reading the sign that said it was open by appointment (something I did not have) when a kindly gentleman drove by and stopped. He asked about the bike ride, and I told him I was out this morning to enjoy Ashton. I mentioned the sign and the appointment requirement and he asked if I would like to see the museum. It turns out I was talking to Mr. Hess.
I am not going to say much about the museum in this post. I have a lot of pictures and a ton to say about it. What I will say is that it was wonderful. They had everything from dog sleds to a Model-T to an Apollo space suit. WOW!!! What a great collection. But better than all that Mr. And Mrs. Hess are the nicest people you could possibly meet. Great tour guides, extremely interesting people who have lived extraordinary lives. They even sent me on my was with a homemade cinnamon roll (and it was gooooood!) I have so much more to say, but I will save it for when I have pictures and more time.
I have had a wonderful day of exploring. It was better than I could have hoped for. It does my soul good to meet such fine people in some of the most beautiful country on earth. What a great birthday.
Did I mention that Ashton used to be considered the world capital of dog sled racing? Or that it is now the capital of seed potato production? What a colorful past.
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Total miles today 80.1
Not as far as I wanted to go this morning. But 30 miles more than I wanted to go this afternoon. I took the bike in to be serviced in Idaho Falls. It took about 4 hrs. So, I thought about staying there for the night, but was so motivated to get to Yellowstone that I pushed forward. Mistake. I strained my neck while leaving town. So, I had headache the rest of the day. Not far out of town I started to look for a place to stay, but everything was booked. Town after town, everything was booked. I could not believe it.
I have really been pushing to get to Yellowstone by tomorrow and my body is telling me about it. It is time for some rest.
So, I am spending 2 nights in Ashton. It is a great town and I am excited to explore it. I also did not want to have to ride on my birthday.
One of the towns I was unsuccessful in obtaining lodging in was Sugar City(I know sounds sweet). While looking for a motel I stumbled onto an old sugar factory. I know not that interesting, but there was a sign talking about it. I am glad I stopped and read it.
It was built in 1904 and at the time it was the largest sugar factory in the U.S. Processing 700 tons of sugar beet per day. The capacity was increased to 1700 tons with it’s peak production year being 1933 (yes during the Great Depression). It closed in 1942. Here is the mind blowing stuff. During the 37 years of operation the factory produced 8,100,481 one hundred pound bags of sugar from 2,107,898 tons of sugar beets.
I also looked for a motel in St. Anthony. Cool little town. They have a beautiful old downtown and very nice park by the waterfalls on the river that runs through the town.
Right now I am eating at a log cabin restaurant. There are stuffed heads of elk, antelope, bison, deer and stuffed bears and the like. Lots of interesting things to look at.
Tomorrow, there is a fish hatchery, a museum, and some waterfalls to explore. That is of course after I get out of my nice, soft, warm bed at about 11.
« Older Entries Newer Entries »Just a quick update. I rode 93.2 miles yesterday. Good day!
I am currently about 120 miles from W. Yellowstone. So, I am going to push to make it there for my birthday tomorrow.
The weather is great, I feel great and I plan to break 100 miles today.
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Interesting piece of history here… On July 17, 1955 Arco became the first city in the free world to be powered by atomic energy. The power was being produced by that National Reactor Testing Station located in the desert southeast of Arco.
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Here is the picture. You decide. Lets review the facts.
I found this in a mountain stream. It is matalic and fairly heavy. You might want to note the color while you are deciding.
Oh well. I have decided to take it with me. I would hate to litter such a beautiful place
Ok so I only went 7.5 miles this morning, but the guy at the restaurant told me about these hot springs at mile marker 214.5. So, I thought I would check them out. Boy am I glad I did! They are beautiful. Warm, crystal clear water flowing out in to a 4 Ft deep pull from broken lava rocks. There is creek smooth grave on the bottom. Wow! I could stay here all day. This cross country bike ride thing is hard. Soft grass to sleep on at night and natural bath tubs in the morning.
Speaking of the smooth creek gravel in the bottom. I found something in it. I will send a picture in the next post.
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