THE TRIP
Bob and Patti Highsmith, Paul Warren, Sheryl Wood, and Catherine and I took a two-week motorcycle trip this summer. Following is a little journal and description of where we went, what we did, and whether we liked it or not. This was sort of a “trip of a lifetime” for all of us as we had never been able to take two weeks off in a row since we started working for a living. If you ever get the chance to go to the same area maybe it will give you some ideas.
Saturday, June 30, 2001: We all met at Ponder’s Restaurant in Ardmore and left about 7:30 AM. It had been raining on Cat and I since we left home, but we assured ourselves that the rain would stop just west of Ardmore. Unfortunately, Bob’s 2001 Road King quit about 14 miles west of Lone Grove. We stood in the rain getting wetter and wetter until our friend and motorcycle mechanic Larry Edmonds picked the bike up and we all went back to his shop in Lone Grove. An examination by Larry revealed a bad stator, which has something to do with the ignition. This sort of confirmed Bob’s suspicion that most breakdowns on the road are electrical. While Patti took Bob back to Tishomingo to get the trusty old Dyna Wide Glide, Cat and I ate a great breakfast of biscuits and gravy at a little café just west of Longhorn Scooters.
We all got away shortly after noon and rode hard and steady on Highway 70 west, then we jogged down south and hit Hwy 287 at Oklaunion and followed it to Amarillo. In Amarillo we ate a good supper at the Country Barn Restaurant. We took an interesting little two-lane blacktop 1061 from Amarillo to Hwy 385 south of Channing and followed it to Dalhart, then took Hwy 87 to Clayton, NM.
We decided to spend the night in Clayton. Unfortunately, Clayton was having their school class reunions that weekend, and the town was full and we were told a few times that no rooms were available. Finally we found a little old motel on the north edge of town that had four rooms. We took three of them and a couple on a Harley who were heading for Alaska took the fourth. Now that’s a trip! The rooms weren’t fancy, but they were clean and we were tired. We finished the day 510 miles further away than when we started.
Sunday, July 1: We got up early and had a really neat ride to Raton on Hwy 87. It was cool and we saw a lot of pronghorns in the fields and pastures. It is high desert country through there, but for an early morning ride I thought it was great. We ate breakfast at Hooter Brown’s Truck stop and Café in Raton. I think everyone enjoyed their meal, but Cat and I had the Huevos Rancheros with green chili and it was fantastic. From Raton we zipped up I-25 to Walsenburg, CO and took Hwy 69 northwest toward the mountains. I loved that little road! It is through some beautiful ranch and farmland that is foothill country. The road is two-lane blacktop with some good hills and curves. We passed a ranch that had just about the largest group of buffalo I have ever seen. They were on both sides of the highway for several miles. We got on Hwy 50 to Salida then took Hwy 24 to Buena Vista. While putt putting through town I heard a rattle start on my Dyna Wide Glide. We pulled over and discovered that one of the bolts securing the rear exhaust pipe to the cylinder had broken. I had been watching them because the nuts had been loosening some, but I let this one get too loose and the vibrations of the motor broke the bolt. I removed the heat shields so I could get to the remaining nuts and tightened them, and we continued north on 24 to Leadville.
Leadville is the highest town in Colorado, and maybe in the U.S. It is an old mining town that pretty much is still the same. We enjoy going to the Silver Dollar Saloon, which is decorated in an Irish Pub style. After having a few drinks there, we ate lunch at The Grill. It is a Mexican restaurant and had good food. I had the green chili, which was very good.
From Leadville we took Hwy 91 north to I-70 east, then Hwy 9 north at Dillon. This road sort of skirts the mountains and is an interesting fun little road. A rider gets to see some ranch land, and the roads are hilly and twisty, so it’s a good ride. Hwy 9 met back with 40, which turned into mountains over Rabbit Ears Pass, and we followed it to Steamboat Springs. Paul’s Heritage Springer started getting squirrelly on him and Sheryl about 18 miles outside of town and by the time we got down the mountain and stopped at a motel in Steamboat, the rear tire was flat. We spent the night there. We had eaten a late lunch and everyone was tired, so we didn’t go eat, but Sheryl, Paul and I rode into town and had a few drinks at a little sports bar. We covered 444 miles on this day.
Monday, July 2: As soon as possible Paul started calling trying to find a motorcycle shop that was open on Monday. Luckily he found a shop called Perpetual Motion owned by a guy named Kevin who builds custom bikes and has had some featured in major motorcycle magazines. He had a tire and agreed to repair Paul’s bike, so while he worked, everyone got packed up and we ate lunch at a bar/café in Steamboat, and got away shortly after noon.
We rode on Hwy 40 west across into Utah. The further west we went, the bleaker the country got. From mountains around Steamboat, to a little farming and ranching in the Craig area, we passed into dry hot desert country in far western CO and eastern UT. Some of it was interesting scenery, but one couldn’t really call it pretty. We turned north on Hwy 191 at Vernal, UT and immediately got into a good stretch of road. There are a lot of very interesting rock formations with signs that explain what type of fossils are found there and what period they are from. If a person is interested and has time, Dinosaur National Monument is in this area and is fun to visit, but we passed it on this trip.
At the junction of Hwy 191 and 44 we went on 44 on the west side of Flaming Gorge Reservoir. This was a pretty ride down by the lake, but from driving on the road in the past, I think the road on the east side of the lake is prettier. It runs on a plateau and a person is going on the highway looking at the lake and valley below. Hwy 44 turns into 530 in Wyoming and we followed it on into Green River, where we stopped for the night. We ate supper at a little steakhouse close to the motel and hit the sack early. On a short half-day ride we covered 303 miles.
Tuesday, July 3: I had made arrangements to be at Green River Harley-Davidson to get my bike’s exhaust bolts repaired first thing in the morning. Some of the people were pretty surly and some were pretty nice and helpful. In the end they got on the bike pretty quickly and got the bolts replaced. They still came loose as I rode, but at least they were a little easier to tighten. It became a ritual during the rest of the trip that I had to “tighten my nuts” at least once a day. The Harley shop there is pretty nice. Like most Harley shops they have 3 or 4 people selling t-shirts for each person they have working on bikes. But if you like buying stuff that has the H-D logo on it, it’s a good place to go.
We got away from Green River about 11 AM and rode northwest on Hwy 372, then southwest on Hwy 189 to Kemmerer and Hwy 30 on west to Sage, then north to Cokeville. This road was one of the least interesting ones we took on the trip to me. It’s pretty flat and dry and just kind of ugly, but I don’t know any way to get across southern WY without going through a little of it. Just north of Cokeville we got on Hwy 89 and dipped just across the Idaho border before coming back into WY and continuing on north through Alpine and Hoback Junction on into Jackson. This section of highway began getting into more trees and hills and was prettier and more interesting.
In Jackson we stayed at the Antler Inn, which is close to downtown. We walked around downtown and ate and drank and danced at the Million Dollar Cowboy Saloon. It is a large bar, and for all the tourists who visit it, it still retains it’s “good ole bar” atmosphere. For those of you who are smokers we had trouble finding places to eat that allowed smoking in the establishment. This was sort of a problem in a lot of the northern states. We covered 248 miles today after getting a late start and stopping early in Jackson to get an early start through the National Parks Wednesday.
Wednesday, July 4: We got an early start and made our way through Jackson and into Grand Teton National Park. We had to pay a fee of I believe $15 per bike to get into Grand Teton and Yellowstone both, as they join each other. Of all the beautiful things we saw on this trip, I think the view of the Grand Tetons is my favorite. Glacier National Park and Rocky Mountain National Park have more beautiful views, but if I could just see one view, I believe it would be the Grand Tetons. We rode up a little road to the top of a mountain in the Tetons and got a great view of the valley below and the mountains and the lake at the foot of the mountains.
In Yellowstone we turned northwest at West Thumb, followed it to West Yellowstone, then cut back east to Canyon, then up north on the east side of the park to Tower Junction and then west to Mammoth Hot Springs and the North Entrance/Exit. We waited for about 30 minutes to see Old Faithful, and it is probably worth it. It’s a pretty impressive sight! We stopped at a few of the other geysers, hot pots, mud
pots, hot springs, and waterfalls, but a lot of them require a good bit of walking to see them well, and we didn’t want to spend a lot of time there. If you want to see the whole thing, you should allow several days and wear some comfortable walking clothes. We saw deer, elk, moose, and chipmunks. Yellowstone is so large and so spread out it’s not the best thing to see on a motorcycle. If a person is just wanting to ride through to say they’ve been there, I don’t think I’d advise it because the roads are not real good, the traffic is bad, and you can’t see a lot from the bike anyway.
We left Yellowstone going north on Hwy 89 to I-90, then west to Bozeman, Montana. This was all very pretty riding. We spent the night in Bozeman and ate at a very good Italian restaurant called Farraro’s. This may have been the best meal we had on the trip! After eating, we stood outside the motel and had a drink or two and watched the town fireworks display and toasted the USA. We made 286 miles today in a full days riding but most of it was stop and start through the Parks. Amazingly, no bikes broke today. Patti’s 2000 FXR and Catherine’s ’97 Sportster 883 ran perfectly the whole trip.
Thursday, July 5: We rode different routes today. Paul, Sheryl, Bob, and Patti rode I-90 to Missoula except for making a loop on Hwy 1 through Anaconda. They hit some rain, but still said the scenery was really pretty. They stopped at the new Harley shop in Belgrade, and changed their oil. They were impressed with the size and how nice this shop will be when it is completed. When they got to Missoula they went by the Harley shop there and picked up their stuff for the Montana HOG rally, which started today.
Catherine and I went west out of Bozeman on Hwy 84 to Norris then south on Hwy 287 to Ennis. The road rides along the Madison River and Ennis Lake and is a simply gorgeous ride. It’s a little 2-lane highway with no traffic. On the river we saw probably 300 pelicans fishing and playing around. We saw several little deer on the way. I’m not sure what kind they were. They looked a lot like the deer we see around Luckenbach, TX. From Ennis we took Hwy 287 west and went through a couple of little old gold mining towns. The first one, Virginia City is still populated and has some interesting looking buildings. The next one, Nevada City is a ghost town, but there are still a lot of old buildings one can look at. There are quite a few historical markers that are interesting to read and tell a brief history of the region. This ride is all through low mountains so there are lots of hills and turns that make for great motorcycle riding. At Twin Bridges we went south on Hwy 41 to Dillon, then back west on Hwy 278 to Wisdom. This is all area that Lewis and Clark covered in their exploration. It is not spectacularly beautiful country, but it is perfect for riding motorcycles. The roads are good, traffic is sparse, there are lots of little towns that are interesting to ride through, and it seems that every little wide spot in the road has a bar and grill that is inviting.
At Wisdom we went west on Hwy 43 and visited Big Hole National Battlefield. This is a site where the U.S. Army attacked the Nez Perce tribe as they were making their journey trying to get to Canada and freedom. It has a very interesting visitor center, but to see much of the battlefield itself requires a good bit of walking. We went west from there and hit Hwy 93 at the Idaho/Montana border, then went north toward Missoula. This is very pretty mountain riding. We ate a late lunch in Darby at the Sawmill Saloon and Café. Darby is a very interesting little town with friendly people. We then rode on into Missoula and met
up with our companions at the motel. This may have been my favorite day of riding. It was almost all very pretty, with virtually no traffic. We rode 317 miles today.
Friday, July 6: We left Missoula going north on Hwy 93 to Polson at the south end of Flathead Lake. Flathead Lake is a beautiful clear mountain lake and is supposed to be the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi. We rode up Hwy 35 on the east side of the lake. This is pretty much developed land with houses and cabins all the way, but it is still a nice ride. We stopped at a little roadside store and sampled and bought cherries. We stayed on 35 till we hit Hwy 206, which bypasses Kalispell and Columbia Falls, then took Hwy 2 east toward Glacier National Park. At a little town called Hungry Horse we were all looking at a biker bar called Packer’s Roost when Paul ran into the back of Bob’s bike. Both bikes went down and all 3 riders with them. Paul’s bike somehow righted itself and went on down the road about 50 yards before falling over on the side of the highway. Luckily the cars behind were able to stop and everyone was wonderful to try to help. We were so very fortunate that nobody was seriously injured, with bumps and scrapes and bruises being the only injuries. The people in the bar called medical people and wreckers right away and contacted a bike shop in Kalispell for us. This happened about noon and the bike shop, Montana Motorcycles, and the owner Mark and his buddy Tom had the bikes repaired well enough to ride before closing that day. Everyone in the area was unbelievably nice and went out of their way to help. We stayed at the Friendship Inn and after eating supper at Scotty’s went to the Rainbow Bar which was having sort of a town party. We visited with the locals, drank, danced, and had a great time. The Rainbow was selling Budweiser in half-gallon longnecks, and Bob and I had to partake of one ….. or two in my case. Course I did have some help in drinking them. We were all very impressed with the Kalispell area. Due to the trouble we only made about 154 miles today.
Saturday July 7: We retraced our route of Friday this morning and made it through Hungry Horse without incident. We rode to West Glacier and ate breakfast, and then stayed on Hwy 2, which skirts Glacier National Park on the south border. This was a pretty ride through mountains along the Flathead River through lots of trees. At the southeastern corner of the park we went north on Hwy 49 to Kiowa, then up Hwy 89 to St. Mary, which is the east entrance to GNP. We entered the park here and rode across from east to west on the highway called “Going to the Sun Highway”. We had heard that this was the highest road in North America and the scariest, but neither is true. We rode much higher and more precarious roads in Rocky Mountain National Park later in the trip. But the scenery in GNP is absolutely gorgeous. The Following the Sun Road is about 50 miles long, but it took us about 4 hours to go across it. There are numerous pullovers to allow a person to stop and look at the scenery. The mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, and small glaciers are breathtaking. I would say that as far as total scenery and beauty goes, GNP was the best place we went on the trip. We were all hoping to see moose, elk, and bear, but except for Catherine seeing what she thought was a bear’s butt going into the trees, we didn’t see much large wildlife. If I were to do GNP again I would take the Going to the Sun road through the park one way, then turn around and take it the other way to see the vistas from both directions. This park is definitely worth seeing if you’re ever in the area. I’ve not been to every National Park in the United States, but I’ve been to a good many, and Glacier may be the prettiest, most breathtaking one I’ve seen. I can’t think of one that I would put ahead of it.
After leaving GNP, we retraced our route back to Kalispell and stopped at Packer’s Roost for a couple of drinks. Everyone was pretty tired, so we went back to the Friendship Inn and ate supper and went to bed. We made about 238 miles today.
Sunday July 8: We started the 2nd half of the trip this morning. We filled up on the Friendship Inn’s donuts and coffee and headed north on Hwy 424, then got on Hwy 93 north on into Canada at Roosville. We continued north on Hwy 93, then cut south on Hwy 95 through Cranbrook and stopped for lunch at a British type pub in Moyie called Kokanee Cove Neighborhood Pub. We ate fish and chips and drank some of their local beers. If you ever go there don’t order anything but the one piece fish and chips unless you’re really hungry and a big eater because they really fill the plates. We exited Canada at Kingsgate, and stopped at the duty free shop there and looked through the store and bought some souvenirs. It was interesting, but we had more trouble getting back into the U.S. than we did getting into Canada in the first place. We had heard stories that we needed special insurance permits and such, but the only thing the Canadians checked was the license plates on the bikes to verify ownership I guess. The ride through Canada was pretty, but of course looked pretty much the same as the U.S. We stopped a time or two and talked to some Canadians and that was kind of interesting, as well as trying to figure out the money exchange rate and the speed limits, which were in kph instead of mph.
After leaving Canada we rode on down Hwy 95 to Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho. It was getting toward the end of the afternoon and we were hot and dry, so my nose for bars honed in on the Beachcomber Bar. As you can imagine from the name it was decorated in a beachside motif. The people were friendly and after drinking for a while and cooling off we decided to stay there. Luckily there was a motel next door, so after checking into the motel we spent the rest of the night eating and drinking at the Beachcomber. The food was pretty good. They played good music, and later in the evening they had a karaoke guy. We all got up and serenaded the crowd with our rendition of “Luckenbach, Texas” before singing “Happy Birthday” to Sheryl. It was a good day riding and a fun night celebrating. The days ride covered 301 miles.
Monday, July 9: A biker we met in the Beachcomber gave us a hint on a good ride and we were all glad we took it. We went east on I-90 to Kingston then went north on a little two lane Hwy that goes through Pritchard, Murray, across Thompson Pass into Montana and intersected Hwy 200 at Thompson Falls. The ride over the interstate was really pretty, and the traffic wasn’t too bad, but a lot of trucks were throwing dirt around. After we got on the two lane road, the ride became really good. The first part was along the Coeur d’ Alene River then we began climbing into the mountains, so the roads got nice and twisty with some pretty far off vistas. The ride was pretty till we got on Hwy 200 at Thompson Falls, and then it began to level out and the temperature began to rise. We intersected Hwy 93 and took it on into Missoula and stopped at the Harley shop there to buy Bob some primary fluid. Well, actually the primary fluid was for Bob’s bike. Bob made sure his own primary fluid stayed in pretty good shape most of the trip. From Missoula we continue south on Hwy 93 to the little town of Darby, MT.
We stopped there and sampled the wares of a couple of the local bars, and ate an early supper at the Sawmill Bar and Café, then got some rooms at the Log Cabin Motel. Some of us did laundry, we all sat around and had a drink and chatted, then Catherine and I went downtown to one of the bars and had a couple beers and chatted with some of the locals. We met a local biker riding a really pretty shovelhead FXR and some of his cronies. Catherine visited with some young men who follow the forest fires and pick mushrooms to sell. It seems that the year after a forest fire, the Morel mushrooms grow in abundance and a
person can make up to $100 a day picking them and selling them to dealers. Again, this was a good day. We had no trouble, the ride was pretty, and we had a relaxing evening. Mileage for the day was 269 miles.
Tuesday, July 10: We ate breakfast and headed south out of Darby on Hwy 93 and almost immediately began climbing into the mountains. We saw lots of deer and crossed over into Idaho again at the top of Lost Trail Pass. The road continued on south into Salmon, ID. From there we cut southeast on Hwy 28 through a long wide valley with lots of farming and ranching initially, which gradually led into drier pasture land. This was interesting, but a person couldn’t really call it pretty, and after 120 miles of it we were all ready to get into something a little different. We hit a little rain around noon, so we stopped in a little wide spot in the road called Leadore which, wouldn’t you know it, had a little bar and grill named the Silver Dollar Bar. We ate burgers and drank beer and chatted with the owner and his wife and little girl. I think sampling the different bars and talking to the locals was about my favorite part of the trip. If I was going through this part of ID again, I believe I would follow Hwy 93 further south on into or around Idaho Falls.
At Mud Lake (what a name for a town) we got on Hwy 33 east, then 31 south, then 26 through and over some pretty mountains across the state line to Alpine, Wyoming. By now it was getting toward evening and it was looking a little rainy so we stopped for the night. We got rooms at a nice little motel and ate supper at a not so good bar and restaurant. This was one of a couple of times that I messed up in picking bars. We totaled 342 miles for the day.
Wednesday, July 11: We ate breakfast at the Red Baron Café in Alpine, which was very good. We then headed north on Hwy 89 along the Snake River to Hoback Junction, then turned south on Hwy 191 to Cora and on to Farson. The road from Alpine to Cora was a really pretty ride through the mountains. The land leveled out into a long plain after Cora and we were in the area where some of the old mountain rendezvous were held back in the middle 1800’s. From Farson we went northeast on Hwy 28 and took a historic loop through South Pass City and Atlantic City, which are old gold mining towns. This is an interesting loop, but it is about 5 or 6 miles of dirt and gravel road, some of which is pretty rough. A person can still see a lot of the old mining equipment and mines. We stopped in Atlantic City and ate lunch at the Atlantic City Mercantile. This is an old Café/Bar that has a lot of old pictures and memorabilia of the old mining days. And the food and drinks were very good. We also encountered some people who used to be from Tishomingo and chatted about the people who we knew in common.
Just up the highway we came across a small canyon called Red Canyon. It wasn’t real large but the colors were awesome. As you might guess, the predominant color was red. When we intersected Hwy 287 we turned southeast again and continued on to Rawlins. We had filled up with gas in Farson, and encountered a little station in Jeffery City, which was 124 miles away. On the maps it looked like there would be several more towns with gas stations, but as we came to each one all we found were closed down stations. Paul had to use some of the extra gas he carried on his trailer and we were all getting a little antsy by the time we hit Rawlins which was 190 miles from our last fill up. From Rawlins we went east on I-80 to Walcott and turned south on Hwy 130 to the tiny little town of Riverside, WY.
This town is real near the North Platte River and there are other little creeks running through it. It is mostly a fishing and hunting destination. We got some little cabins and ate supper at The Bear Trap Restaurant. Mistake!! This was probably the worst food we ate on the trip. The evening was salvaged by a trip next door to the Mangy Moose Saloon where we checked out their merchandise with its bawdy logo, and enjoyed ourselves at the bar. Bob and I got to know the bartender very well that night. After Bob drinking no telling how many scotch and waters and me coming close to breaking the record for drinking moose piss (a delectable combination of banana schnapps and grapefruit juice) we helped each other across the road to our cabins and laid on the grass and looked at the stars and solved the problems of the universe…until Patti stuck her head out the window and told us we were being too loud and to go to bed. Next time you see me ask to see my card declaring me an official member of the “Moose Piss Club”. We had a great ride today
and saw some lovely scenery and it ended (at least for Bob and me) in the warm glow of alcohol and camaraderie (not necessarily in that order). Our mileage total today was 396 miles.
Thursday, July 12: We hopped out of bed (well, some of us stumbled) and in the process of sitting outside the cabins and drinking coffee and loading the bikes, learned why the little store in town sold t-shirts with a picture of a mosquito that said “I gave blood in Riverside, Wyoming”. They were as big as hummingbirds. Catherine says this is a lie. She says they weren’t as big as Houston mosquitoes. Maybe they were as big as small hummingbirds, but we agree that they were particularly vicious. After dining on the blood of Wyomiams and Coloradoans mostly, the blood of Okies was a real treat for them I guess. We discovered that the little electronic mosquito repellant devices Patti bought for all of us didn’t work. It confirmed my suspicion of the whole trip that they were really ultrasonic bear calls to attract the bears to us and keep them away from Patti. We ate breakfast at a little café in Encampment, right around the corner from Riverside, then headed south on Hwy 230 and Hwy 125 to Walden, Colorado. This was a pretty ride. From Walden we went east on Hwy 14 through Roosevelt National Forest. The road followed the Cache La Poudre River through the Medicine Bow Mountains. Don’t you just love the names of some of these places and things? This was in my opinion one of the prettier sections of road we traveled.
This took us into Fort Collins where we stopped for lunch, and then we headed south to Loveland before getting caught in a rainstorm. We waited it out for about an hour then decided to go for it and headed west on Hwy 34 to Estes Park. This is another gorgeous section of road. We made it to Estes Park and didn’t want to try to make it through Rocky Mountain National Park that late in the day, so we got motel rooms, and everybody pretty much crashed. Some did laundry and some ordered pizza and vegged out in front of the TV. Mileage for the day was 228 miles.
Friday, July 13: We got up early and rode on Hwy 34 south through RMNP. This was a gorgeous ride. The first half of the road is almost all in the mountains, and pretty high in the mountains. We saw a lot of elk, chipmunks, pica, and marmots. The views here were probably not quite as spectacular as Glacier NP, but they certainly rivaled it. The second half of the road was mostly going downhill through more wooded areas. We followed Hwy 40 south from Granby and then went west on I-70 for a short distance, then took Hwy 91 south to Leadville, where we ate a late lunch at a little Mexican café next door to the Silver Dollar Saloon. After lunch we went next door and had a couple drinks.
Looking outside we saw that it was raining and Bob stated that this must be a sign that God wanted us to stay in Leadville, and we all agreed with him. Paul and Sheryl ate supper at a Chinese Restaurant and the remainder of us ate at the Golden Burro. Bob, Patti, Catherine, and I stopped at the Montana Bar for one of their Bloody Marys, which we had heard were the best around. They were good. Luckily there was a motel just down the street and we got rooms there, and had a very enjoyable evening. During a sign from God shortened day, we made 176 miles.
Saturday, July 14: We woke up and ate breakfast and headed for
home by taking Hwy 24 south to Salida.
This is a real pretty ride along the
From there we continued east to Lamar then headed south on Hwy 287. About halfway from Lamar to Boise City, Oklahoma, we hit a hellacious rainstorm. It got bad enough that the group classified it as a turd floater and bungee corded me to my bike to keep from loosing me. By the time we got to Boise City we were soaked and tired and decided to spend the night there. We got some motel rooms, ate supper in a little café and hit the hay. The road from Pueblo to Boise City was flat, ugly, and rough. I would not suggest that anybody go that way, if there is another road within 3 states that you could take. Mileage for the day was 381 miles.
Sunday, July 15: In the middle of July there’s not a good way to get through Oklahoma. We stayed in the panhandle on Hwy 3 east, and then took Hwy 283 south, then Hwy 60 east to Seiling, then Hwy 281 south to Anadarko. From there we took Hwy 62 to Chickasha then Hwy 19 to Pauls Valley, then Hwy 77 to Davis and on to our respective houses from there. Really except for the panhandle the ride wasn’t too bad. We got into some kind of pretty farm and ranch land around Shattuck and the ride through Hinton and Binger to Chickasha is not bad. Mileage for today was 499 miles. Mileage for the trip was 5092 miles in 16 days.
I think I can speak for everyone in the group when I say we had a great time. There was a little friction form time to time, but when you’re basically living with 5 other people for 16 days, that is inevitable. We all rode back together and were still talking to each other when we split up in Mill Creek. I am looking forward to another long trip next summer. There are still lots of bars and lots of beers I haven’t experienced!
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