Boone's Travels

It's Not The Destination, It's The Journey

Yellowstone Park Ride: Day 3

The Grand Tetons rise high above Jackson Lake - View from Colter BaySunday, June 27th, 2010: Day three started out quite nice. I woke up at about 8 AM, having slept in for an extra couple hours after sunrise. The morning was perfect, the cool crisp mountain air made it difficult to get out of bed. Before the trip I purchased a Coleman queen air mattress, and this trip was the first time I had used it, and boy what a difference it made! I finally succumbed to the sunshine though and climbed out of my tent into the outside world.

I packed up camp and loaded the bike up as quickly as I could. I really wanted to head back by the visitor center and the Colter Bay Marina so that I could take some morning photos of the Tetons. Once I got there, I climbed off the bike and wandered down by the water to take some pictures of these beautiful mountains. This was not my first time here, but it is hard to not be awe inspired by the site of these behemoth, jagged peaks protruding from the crystal clear water of the other side of Jackson Lake. I got a few pictures and wandered up to the visitor center to collect my pin and a souvenir for my girlfriend back home. Once I found what I was looking for, I hopped back on the bike and headed for the nearest gas station.
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Yellowstone Park Ride: Day 2

Inside the cabin at EnnisSaturday, June 26th, 2010: Saturday morning finally arrives and my alarm starts screeching. As I reach over to turn it off, I can’t help but notice the bright glow through the red curtains in the… let’s call it rustic… cabin where I spent the night in Ennis. I stumble out of bed and over to the window, pulling back the curtain to see a bright blue sky and sunshine peering over the mountains to the east. Today was shaping up to be a beautiful day! So what do I do now? Back to bed for me!

About an hour later, I get a phone call from my girlfriend. She wanted to know if I was awake yet and how the ride was going. I lied to her and told her I had been awake for a while and we talked about the ride. After talking to her for a few minutes, I finally got out of bed and started packing up all my gear. Most of my riding gear got wet the previous night so it was sprawled out all over the floor to dry. I gathered it all up and put it back in it’s rightful place, with the exception of my chaps and jacket which I would be wearing, of course. This sunshine was really starting to motivate me. I thought about having breakfast at the hotel restaurant, but thought otherwise as I walked inside to a huge crowd. I got on the bike, rode over to the closest gas station to gas up and hit the road.
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Yellowstone Park Ride: Day 1

Ugly Skies at Rock Creek - Time to Break Out the Rain GearFriday, June 25th, 2010: The day was looking to be pretty nice. The temps were in the mid 80′s and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. This was somewhat of a spur of the moment trip, but I had done a lot of packing the night before so that I could ride out straight after work. All I would have to do is stop by home, gear up, strap the sleeping bag on and head for the hills! Unfortunately, as luck would have it, the beautiful day turned rather ugly right about the time I decided to leave.

Just before I had planned to leave work, some coworkers and myself headed upstairs to the cafeteria for a quick break. Since it had been warm out all day, we decided to go sit in the courtyard. As we were out there, I could see some thick black clouds rolling in from the west. Not even five minutes later, those very same clouds decided to open up, so we headed back inside and down to the dungeon (IT people always work in the dungeon it seems). I hung out for about another 30 minutes finishing up some last minute work and then headed out for the day. As I got back upstairs and to the parking lot, it was no longer raining, although it was still pretty dark out. I wiped the raindrops off the seat of my Road King and headed for home, hoping for better luck than I had encountered so far.
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