This was the day for the letter T. noticing the letter in some form throughout the 520 miles to the eastern entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Starting with the TANK – cutting up my hand whilst replacing the fuel filter, causing the 4.5-hour delay.
TWENTY TO THIRTY mile per hour winds in my face heading west. Neck was very sore after 40 minutes into the trip so I rode one handed holding the bottom of my motorcycle helmet with my left hand. Passing a trailer that read the “Lazy T” ranch the bike began to sputter outside of Buhler, WY. Pulling over and puzzled because I had only gone 127 miles. Not again I thought. Fortunately this time it was still in the middle of nowhere but near a construction zone. Pushing the bike to the side of the road I talked to this woman named Francis who offered two options. One was 4 miles in one direction and the other 11 miles in the other direction. “Damn” looked like I would be hoofing it again.
At this point a woman TESS pulled up and offered me a ride toward the gas station 4 mile away but I had to accompany her on the remainder of her roadside duties for the next TWENTY minutes. TESS had an accent much like us Minnesotans. Working on the road crew for the summer until she would attend Nursing school in the fall further west in Wyoming. “No worries” I was not pushing the bike so I agreed to ride along and listen to the friendly accent. We spoke about traveling in general and she had never been outside of the country other than Spring Break to Cancun Mexico.
Telling me about the TORNADO that passed through the day before blowing up the portable toilet, imagine the mess. The TORNADO freaked out all of the birds seeking refuge under the bridge and the next morning there were “bird bodies everywhere” according to TESS, “and enough feathers to make TEN pillows”. I had to take her word for it since I didn’t know how many feathers it took to make 1 pillow. She thought I may have run out of gas because I was facing the strong winds getting less gas mileage as I headed west. Very insightful I thought and made total sense.
Getting gas at the TEXACO I filled up the bike and gave TESS a TWENTY after she kindly brought me back to the bike 4 miles down the road where Francis was manning the “slow/stop” flip sign. Off I go toward Yellowstone. TRAVELING through Wyoming I got hit by actual TUMBLEWEEDS with a few getting lodged into the nooks and crannies of the bike. One of the more memorable scents was from the very pungent TREES in parts of Wyoming.
Outside of Cody, WY ( A fun Town that I wished I would have spent more time in ) I entered Cody National Forest/Park. Traveling through the first TUNNELS making my way to the front gate. Upon getting there it was TWILIGHT and no rooms were available at the closest lodging near the gate so I had to travel TWENTY-FOUR miles back to Wapiti, WY. This wasn’t that bad because I got to see the path traveled from a different view.
Riding through the mountain passes to and from Yellowstone was fantastic at TWILIGHT. Lodging at a RV and Cabin site in Wapiti, walking into the bar/restaurant where want to be rock stars were singing karaoke. Finishing the day talking to a local cowboy/guide, who hunted and tracked elk, mountain goats and moose and the occasional bear, and a Harley rider from Pittsburgh, PA who was passing through from Montana. Traveling the same pass I did earlier in the evening he thought that it was the most beautiful part of his trip and I got to see it THREE times. Downing a shot of TEQUILLA before bunking down in my TWO TWIN bed cabin still 4 hours behind my original trip plan.
THANKFULLY to have a place to sleep and looking back thinking it was better that the clogged fuel filter had sidetracked me. Heading through Yellowstone in the AM would be more satisfying. Smiling because I get to be one of the first through the gate in Yellowstone.
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