Great Day. Woke up and the storm had passed. I got up in the morning before all and sat under the trees to write the blog. No cell service so posting will have to wait. Sheriff’s deputy stopped while he was cruising the campground. Gave us some good tips on the area.

We packed up and headed down the mountain. Super drive. Shifting gears. Tight turns. Sweeping vistas. Sun was out. Starting to heat up. About 30 minutes into the drive we pulled over for a ‘point of interest’.

Continued heading down. Scenery is just plain great. Canyons. Steep grades. With 5 of us, we get strung out. Try to tighten up the formations on some of the less demanding stretches. Stopping now and then to look at stuff, put on and take off layers, take pictures, rub our butts etc..

At the bottom of the grade we pulled into Grey Bull, WY. Cute little town. Fueled up and found a place for lunch. Hot out in the valley. A&W’s. Pork sandwich and a frosty mug of root beer. Car hops brought it to our table. When was the last time? It hit the spot. On the way out of town we stopped at a grocery store. I picked up a few pieces of fruit. I promised mr colon that I wouldn’t forget the rest of the food groups.

Back on the bikes we headed south to hit a different grade up the mountain so we could find another grade farther north to go back over again. Its about the ride experience. What can I tell you. 🙂 Neat ride through the valley. Mostly at speed. Very hilly but sweeping curves. Things to look at everywhere. Mike in the lead taking side roads I wouldn’t even think of taking in a car. I think we went 30 miles on one stretch before even seeing another car.

Pulled into Tensleep, WY. Ok, so apparently it was ten sleeps for the indians to make the journey from Buffalo to that place. Makes sense. Found a great little brewery on the edge of ‘town’. Got the tip from a Forest Ranger at one of our stops. Had a great beer. Talked to the brew meister. Sat outside. There brought us some popcorn. There was a guy who was restoring an old wooded boat there. Not sure where he would float it, but it was neat. I could of spent the rest of the afternoon. We needed to get over the mountain. Goofing around a lot takes up time. I am at peace with it.

Fueled up again and headed up the pass. Another great ride. Tough to find new ways to explain. Articulating the visual and tactile experience. Motorcycling is obviously a ‘hands on’ endeavor. Temperature changes sometimes are dramatic. You can be hot and in a few miles, wishing you had your liners zipped in or have your insulated gloves on. Judging curves. Nothing scarier than realizing you may be coming in to a curve a bit too fast. Only happens once or twice before you learn. Going up grades. The bikes strain at altitude. Watching for other traffic, oncoming and on our tails. Then trying to enjoy the view. It’s a hoot.

We stopped a few times then finally came down the other side into Buffalo. Another neat little town. Thinking of camping but didnt see anything worthy of our expedition. We stopped at the Occidental Bar on Main St. to again drink the water of wise ones. Googled motels and found the Blue Gables down the street. Rated 4.7. Called and they had rooms. Gave her cc info and had another glass of the healing waters.

We mounted up and rode the 3 blocks to the motel. On the US historical register. Stopped at the liquor store. Unloaded the bikes and pulled our chairs together for another strategy session. Decided it was time for dinner. Found ‘Papa Bino’s’. Great Mexican. Just great. A couple of margaritas served in a jar. Back to Blue Gables.

We closed the night down with the chairs huddled between the bikes. Told stories we probably shouldn’t have in front of the boys. Finished up the stuff that came in bottles we bought earlier. Beautiful evening. Beautiful day

Life is good.