9/06/14 -

9/05/14

 I rode about 30 miles to Crater Of The Moon National Park. There is a campground, and a 7 mile loop that takes you around the whole park. As far as you can see is miles of lava rock. It really does look like you're on another planet. There was a few places to park, and read about the area, hike, and check out lava tube caves. I spent a couple hours riding around the park, before heading west towards Boise. It was about a 200 mile ride through hills and farms. I'm glad I stayed off the main highway, much nicer ride!

 I got into Boise and rode to Devotion Tattoo, saw a bunch of my friends and hung out for a few. I  went back to Weston and Nicoles to unload all my crap off my bike. A couple people showed up from Salt Lake to stay at Westons for the night as well, So we all rode out to Dinner, then to Phil's house. I pulled my exhaust pipe off at Phil's, it had been leaking for awhile now. I figured it was the exhaust gasket.... but it was worse. The head of the pipe, that goes into the motor was broken. Phil looks in the corner of his shop, and pulls out the exact same exhaust that I have, but almost brand new! We called a buddy (who the pipe belongs too), worked out a deal, and put it on my bike. It ran soooo much better!!!

9/04/14

The motel was much warmer then if I would have camped, it was freezing last night!

 I left around 8:30, and it was still really cold. The 50 mile ride to the east entrance of Yellowstone was amazing! Once I got into the park I rode about 15 miles and got to Yellowstone Lake. It finally started warming up a little, and the sky was clear and blue. I rode around the lake and headed north to start my way around the whole loop. There was a ton of cars pulled over in one spot, and everyone was out with cameras, so I stopped. There was a Bison hanging out right off the road in a field grazing! It was so cool, I had never seen one before! I kept on north until I saw a sign for 'The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone'. I followed the signs down to the lower falls. It was pretty incredible, a huge rock ravine, with really cool big waterfalls. What made it especially cool, was the fact that when  driving on the highway, you'd never know it was there. just looks like thick forest. Next I came across the 'Mud Volcano', a big boiling pit of mud. There were also big boiling pools of crystal clear blue water.    

  In the parking lot I noticed a guy laying down looking under his motorcycle. It was an old Honda CB. His bike was leaking oil, and I asked him if he needed help. We talked for a bit. He and his girlfriend had ridden from Buffalo, NY to Yellowstone, and were headed for Los Angeles. I gave him my phone number in case he needed a shop to go to in Boise, or LA. Haven't heard from him yet, so hope fully Buffalo Bill and his girlfriend made it!!!

 I came across a huge open field..... way out there were about 20 Bison! I took a pic, but with my phone camera its a little hard to see that far out there. I rode around the top of the loop, and down the west side past the west entrance, and down to Old Faithful. I walked over to the sitting area, and sat down with the massive crowd of tourists. After about 20 minutes, it started going. At first it started small, and looked like that was it.... but then it went off like crazy and shot about 30' up! It's pretty wild that it happens like clockwork, and has for years and years.

 I rode back up to the turn off for the west entrance and headed out of the park. The road followed along a river for awhile, and I saw a couple big Bucks by the water. The west entrance spits you out into a little corner of Montana, and then into Idaho. I rode for a couple hours towards Idaho Falls, Idaho, cut west on highway 20, and started across central Idaho towards Boise. I made it to a small town called Arco, about 200 miles east of Boise. It was dark, and getting really cold. So I checked into a motel for the night.   

   ^ Yellowstone Lake.

   ^ Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

9/03/14

  I had breakfast at a little restaurant near my hotel, and headed north back to highway 90, then west into Wyoming. I cut off to ride through a few small towns and over to Devils Tower National Monument.

 As I got off the highway, I saw an older guy on the side of the road on an old Harley. I pulled over, and he told me he had ran out of gas. I offerd him the gas I had with me, but he said had someone on the way. We talked for a few minutes about riding cross country.

I rode to Devils Tower, and paid to go into the park. I parked and walked the 1.5 mile trail around Devils Tower. It was really cool!!

 I rode a few more hours and went through Bighorn National Forest. Which was unbelievable! Except for the part where I ran out of gas haha. Good thing I brought gas with me! As it got dark the wind came up, and got really bad. I read later on the news that there were 35-40mph gusts. I was riding sideways for a longtime haha. I finally made it to Cody Wyoming around 10pm and found a motel. I thought about camping, but it was supposed to get down to about 35!

  ^ Devils Tower was the first US Monument.

   ^ Tenspell Canyon in Bighorn National Forest.

9/02/14

It dropped to 44 over the night, good thing I have a good sleeping bag, cause it was damn cold!!!! I packed up and rode to the Crazy Horse Memorial. The visitor center was really cool. A ton of information on the mountain, the area, and the history of the Black Hills. The Crazy Horse carved into the mountain was pretty incredible. It was started 60 years ago, and isn't expected to be finished for another 60-65 years. I took the bus ride down to the base of the mountain, and got a better view.

 Thanks to some suggestions from my buddy Andy, I rode to Sylvan Lake and had some lunch. Then rode back down to Custer City, and up Iron Mountain Road to Keystone, which was an amazing ride!!

 Right outside of Mt. Rushmore, I got pulled over for going 51 ina 35mph zone..... oops. He was pretty cool, and once I explained that I was traveling the country, he told me to slow down and let me go. The 3rd time I've avoided a ticket so far!

 Mt. Rushmore was incredible!! There was a ton of cool info on the history and story of the sculpture. I walked around there for a couple hours, until it started getting dark. I rode back north to Deadwood and got a motel room, since I froze my ass off the night before! I stopped at an old cemetary to see Wild Bill Hickok's grave!

   ^ Sylvan Lake.

9/01/14

 Woke up to clear weather....... for now haha. I rode about 20 miles on some farm roads through endless fields of corn. Got back on Highway and headed west. It was beautiful out in the Great Plains.... just nothing for miles and miles, which was nice. After Hours of riding in a straight line, the sky starting looking a little suspect. I pulled off the highway and checked the weather.... Heavy rain, wind, lightning, and hail ahead.... rad. I put on the rain gear I got from Corey in NY, covered up my bags and gear, and went. It sucked. I rode about 80 miles in horrible weather, got rained on, blown around, and hailed on, which hurts real bad at 60mph. I finally made it to Rapid City, and the sky cleared up. Thanks to the rain gear, only my boots and gloves were wet. I pulled the rain gear off and rode into Custer City and found a campsite near Crazy Horse. I put my boots and gloves next to the campfire and tried to warm up.