Around the World in 800 Days

After 3 days of eatting dehydrated food, I rode in to Banff and had a nice steak dinner complete with wine. I went to a restaurant called Salt Lick, which I heard was the best. They had AAA Alberta beef and I gotta say, I was not impressed. I think their cows are not as happy as the Candadian's say they are. California still has the happiest cows in the world! The wine was from BC and it was pretty darn good.....Mission Hills Reserve Cab.....yum!

I rode through Glacier Nat'l Park in northern Montana. The Going to the Sun Road is a great motorcycle road. I attacked it first thing in the morning before the RV's clogged it up.
After that, I rode to Yellowstone and saw some of the sights.



Old Faithful going off every 90 minutes





Looks inviting for a dip but way too hot for swimming

Just started reading your blog. I think the title needs to be changed, though. "Around the World in 800 Bottles of Wine!" You are definitely living the dream. It will take me a while to catch up on reading the blog... but I think you are doing it right.

I took a cross country trip in 2010... in the middle of winter and some of it was crazy, sub zero, cold... but I had a ton of friends over the years I got to stay with... and that was one of the best parts. Keep the shiney side up and keep posting.

Charlotte

Thanks for sharing ~ been enjoying your ride report

Your words are insightful~keep up the posts and stay safe.

Thanks for all the kind words. I don't know why I like hearing your feedback on my posts, but maybe it is because I am traveling alone and hearing from you makes it seem I am not alone. Or maybe its because I need a reason to justify my trip so I am not feeling selfish. Or maybe its just an ego thing.
Probably all of the above.
But I hope to hear from more people. I know I have almost 20,000 hits so some are looking but not commenting. I would like to hear from you.
And yes, if I had to do it over, I would change the name of my blog to something more eye catching.

I've been following along and really enjoy seeing your updates.. I also love the area that you have ridden so far and since i'm on lockdown for the next few months.. it's nice to get a break and see it through your eyes. keep it up.. your not alone - if you find yourself down in my neck of the woods give a shout (i'm in tent space as well).

I really enjoy reading your report and I would love to do the same!

But it's not that easy as it sounds like. I agree with you that a trip don't have to be expensive. Of course there are many ways to save money. If you just ride and eat, it's quite cheap. But you should have a backup for technical issues - without talking about accidents, because shit happens and humans make failures.

At my point of view there are two reasons: money & family
Let's talk about money ...
The amount of money you need for the trip doesn't seem to be a problem. I think it's the amount of money you need to buy out your freedom. I don't know how it works in north america, but here in Austria you need a loan for starting your own life. I had a lot of motorcycles (i.e). To be serious .. parties, girls and motorcycles were everything I was thinking about as I was young. Which was a great time I don't want to miss.

If you meet someone special you want to share your life with, it won't get easier. Kids, house, car, loan ...
Even if you're just married. While my wife is talking about new furniture, I'm talking about riding thru Romania and the Black Sea... guess who will win? New furniture will be way cheaper than finding a new girl.

What I'm trying to say is, that we all made our decisions. Some of them* just don't go together. I think it's ok to have a dream. As same as to be selfish - if you don't hurt someone.


*Is it "them", "these" or "those"??

Where are you now, Ed?

I need my adventure ride report fix!

late to the party, but i'm along for the ride!

i also added Hot Sulpher springs to my trip in 2 weeks, thank you very much!

Great trip! Hope to do the same someday. Stay safe and keep posting!
best, jaggz

I went to visit my brother and his family in Colorado Springs. They live in horse country.

On the way to Utah, I saw a winery and had to stop in for a tasting. And the wines were pretty good. I would have bought a bottle but it was just too hot and the wine would have not lastest.

There is a little town in Utah called Mexican Hat. I always wondered how it got its name. Now I know why.



When I saw it, I knew I had to rock climb up and sit under the hat. It was tough but worth it



from down below, the base looks bigger than it really is. The base is only about 6 feet by 6 feet. The scariest part was not climbing up, it was sitting under the hat!!!!! It seemed like it was impossible that the base could support the weight of the hat. I didn't stay long even though I knew that it had stood like this for thousands of years



One more cool shot

Having some fun along the way to Zion

Crossing over the Colorado River. This is the start of the Grand Canyon and the last place to cross the River for a 100 miles (because the Grand Cyn gets in the way

Like a scene from a wild west movie



Its all behind me now

I was really looking forward to visiting Zion in Utah. I have been there a few times and I was wanting to spend some time there hiking up Angel's Landing and the Narrows. But the Zion I remembered is no more. The first thing that had changed was they no longer allowed you to drive back in to the canyon on your own. You had to wait for a shuttle to pick you up, packed full of octagenarians and then drop you off back in the canyon. The speed limit in places you could drive was only 25 miles and hour anc it was almost 100 degrees so I needed the airflow thru my jacket. And it seemed there were park rangers around every corner there to enforce the speed limit. And there were even unmarked Ford Explorers with hidden light bars and radar patrolling the park to nab you. But it didn't matter anyway because Grandpa driving that 40 foot Winnebago was only going 15 MPH and holding everyone up. And the whole park was double yellow, so you couldn't pass (legally). I was sooooooo out of there. I stopped by the visitor's center to get a permit to hike "The Subway" the next day (outside the park) but the ranger said they already issued all the permits for tomorrow (maybe about 15). He asked if I wanted to go the next day and I said "yes". And he said ok but I would have to come by the office tomorrow because the permits are issued not more than 24 hours in advance! Fuck that shit! I just spend the past 7 weeks in some of the most remote parts of North America and now I am trying to be controlled and I didn't like it. I left the park and went hiking that afternoon to the Subway with a permit and here's that story.............

oooops, here's the Zion pic

The Subway is a hike I have always wanted to do. Last time I was in Zion, it was closed due to flash flooding dangers. The hike starts out hiking down in to the canyon. At the start, the canyon is wide. But the further back you go, the more narrow it becomes. At places, the canyon walls are only about 2 feet wide but the canyon is over 2000 feet deep. If it were to start raining and flood, a wall of water would come thru the canyon so fast, you would never know what hit you. Here is a shot hiking in to the canyon