North America, First and Second.

[OnHellas]

Buffalo, Prairie Dogs and Donkeys. Wiley Coyote slyly wandered off before I could get the phone out. He was to far away for a pic anyway I expect.

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[OnHellas]

Presidents heads at Mount Rushmore.
Disrespectful? Absolutely! It had to be done though, as the obvious so often does.
It made us laugh anyway.

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[OnHellas]

Deadwood. A tourist town of ‘historical’ buildings. Saloons, restaurants, Street re-enactments, gambling.

The best parts of staying there for us were.

1. My replacement Credit Card finally caught us up. We left Aspen before it arrived but Ang sent a nice UPS chap or chapess with it and now I have it. Hopefully this one won’t get compromised.

2. The bikes had an oil change in Sturgis. They are actually due a service but we want to use up a bit more if the rear tyres and Island BMW in Vancouver Island is the place for us to get sorted before we head up to Alaska. But fresh oil can’t hurt.

3. We had a rest. Yesterday we did nothing. It was nice.

That brings us to today. We are now in Sheridan. The weather forecast wasn’t so good and as we’ve booked a few things further down the road due to Yellowstone Park approaching, we decided on an Interstate day. Apart from a couple of very light showers the weather was very kind to us. Heavy rain could be seen over the mountains away in the distance.
Wyoming doesn’t offer many route variations through its stunning countryside. We didn’t want dirt roads and sometimes with nice views and a deer running alongside briefly, motorways are not always dull. The deer ran parallel to the road much to our delight. A deer on your lap at 60 MPH isn’t really want you want afterall.

So that’s it. Thursday the 13th of June, westbound to Yellowstone and the coast of California. Another tank of gas, another good day on the bikes. Living the dream really.
Two lucky people, two willing bikes....but also.

Two happy people, two happy bikes.

[OnHellas]

Deadwood and the infamous ‘Wild’ Bill Hickok.

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[OnHellas]

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[DavidS]

We drove from Denver to Yellowstone through Wyoming....still asleep after about 30 years or so.
We watched a burning tractor in a field from at least 5 miles away, dead flat.
Jackson was quite nice though.

Don’t get me going about Alaska. Fantastic place and fiercely independent of the Lower 48.
We won’t go back as we have such great and detailed memories from 20 years ago. We can still remember every one of the 22 days we had. Only downside was Fairbanks. A bit backpackery and seedy back then.

Are you hopping over to The Yukon? Dawson and all the gold rush stuff is fascinating.

[OnHellas]

We’ll have to go through the Yukon to get to Alaska.
The current plan is to go up the Alaska Highway, have a ride around Alaska and visit some friends. Then ride The Top of The World Highway, south down The Cassier Highway and then east to Halifax in Nova Scotia.
That rough idea has been in place for about three weeks so might have stuck.
Back to Blighty sometime in October....in time for winter...???

[DavidS]

If you can, get down to Skagway. Great road down from Whitehorse and a nice little town, although the cruise ships stop there.
The trouble with Yukon and Alaska is the relative lack of circular routes so some to and fro needed.
Tok is ok for fuel but awful otherwise, or it was back then. Just a big junction.
Valdez very interesting. Good museum. We did a Stan Stevens all day boat trip to Mears Glacier. My wife hates boats but it was worth the light stress. Whales, bald eagles, sea otters, seals ice flows etc etc.

Might see you in Canada. We’re in Ontario and Quebec through September.
Nova Scotia is lovely. Go right up to the Cabot Trail, great location and the riding should be good.
Not to much to do but a nice place to be.

[daveuprite]

Very envious of you going up to Yellowstone next. I've traveled a fair bit, but I can honestly say that nowhere I've visited had such relentlessly stunning scenery as Yellowstone (and the Grand Tetons). It just keeps coming. Fantastic waterfalls, towering mountains, sparkling clean rivers, spectacular wildlife and all the amazing geothermal stuff. Too many tourists I suppose, but you just have to look past that, and anyway you'll be one of them too!

Have a great time, and please don't forget to post some pics....

[DavidS]

We stayed in the hotel at the south end (30 Sept), went out on our first day (1 Oct) and would fill up with petrol at the hotel gas station when we got back...except they didn’t say it shut for winter the day before.
Running on air we limped up to Fishing Bridge and got more than the alleged tank size in the car, the low fuel warning light going mental all the way there.