ionbeam
2 FUN
Sly Fred hands TMJ a camera and asks her to take trip pix so she snaps away instead of asking over and over, "Are we there yet?" :lol:
Fred W and TMJ's Vacation Ride to the Great Divide
- Thread starter Fred W
- Start date
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wheatonFJR
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Where is that damn like button when you need one!Let's not give Fred too much credit. He normally is not this good. I think it is The Magnificent Josie who is telling him what to say. He sure isn't the one taking the pictures.
I think he is now obligated to take The Magnificent Josie on all his rides. And she is obligated to go for the good of our forum.
BigOgre
Well-known member
REALLY enjoying this Fred. And not sure who benefited more when Josie decided to go along, you or us
. As was said, thanks for taking the time to post along the way.
Totally enjoying all this. So happy for you guys and happy for me that I get to relive part of my 2009 trip through a couple pair of freinds eyes. So looking forward to the rest of your trip.
Iris
formerly "herfjr"
wow this is wonderful!!! The photos are amazing. This report brings me back to our trips out west. It's so enjoyable to watch where you guys are going and what youu have seen. Can't wait to hear more.
Now I want to start planning our next trip out west again!
Now I want to start planning our next trip out west again!
Thanks for all of the (mostly) positive comments. It makes doing the daily updates worthwhile. But I am also using the forum as a convenient dumping ground for my daily notes, so that I can go back after the fact and copy paste it all into something i can hold onto. Hopefully it is a win-win.
We saved this day for the end of our "touring", hoping that we would get good weather (and we most certainly did) and that it would be the cherry on top of the rest of this incredible road trip.
Josie really out did herself today, and I pitched in with a few shots whenever we stopped for a bit, which was intentionally quite often. We set out with a short miles day planned, just riding from Kalispell to Great Falls thru the park.
I'll put up a few of what I think turned out to be the best shots that we gathered, and then give you a link at the end to a slideshow of all 99 images that we deemed worthy of keeping (this after extensive and critical editing).
Day 9 - Going to the Sun
First ones in last night, and then first up and out from the hotel this morning.
Quite an American group, though there were a couple of other Bass Bote Blue Beauties in the line-up.
Ride up to Glacier NP was cool and pleasant.
No real lines at this early time at the western entrance to Glacier
Perhaps a tactical mistake, but one I'll gladly make again.
We stopped early on, at a couple of the turnouts down at the bottom. i think we grabbed some of the best shots of the day here. The early morning light just cannot be beat.
And here you see what was one of the major disappointments of the day. i don't want to be someone who complains, but I was a little dismayed that those fires out west were hazing the skies so much even here in Glacier. You can really see the smoke where the sun it breaking over the top of the ridge above.
But in direct light these mountains still pop.
I really liked this one. Nice job Josie!
It was actually quite serene, until we reached the pass. Most of thetraffic seemed to be coming from the east side, and the parking lot was quite full. Glad they have a MC parking area. Very nice views up top...
Met a BMW GS 2-up rider from Orange, NH up at the pass. He was a month into his little ride about. What a lucky son of a gun.
obligatory pose:
Time for us to drop back down.
On the east side, which seems to be a lot shorter descent than the climb was from the west, there was a bunch of road work going on. And wouldn't you know it, it happened to be exactly in the area of Lake St Mary that Zooom had taken his photo from, the one that is hanging on my kitchen wall at home, as inspiration for this ride to the divide, for several years now.
We turned and saw the view back through the trees, but we were not allowed to stop and really take it all in. Or reproduce the photo, which i wanted to do. Just as well , I suppose. With the smokey haze, it would not have been quite as magnificent as the shot the Jim got all those years ago. I guess it is just one more reason that I'll have to come back to Montana again.
Maybe next time it will be in the fall when the air is crisp and cl;ear and a threat of snow is always in the air?
When we reached the park terminus, we stopped at the St Mary lodge at the east end and had a bite.
Buffalo Burger for me, Grilled Portobello for TMJ.
Quite tasty, as it should be for the tourist prices they charge. But we were feeling flush right about then. You see, we realized that this really marks the end of our "touring"and the start of our "getting back home."
It was a sweltering hot and relatively boring ride down through the Blackfoot Indian Reservation and down to Great Falls. We holed up in the Quality Inn, downtown there, which is kind of a nice sized city. Not very busy at all.
Click Here for the full 99 shot slide show of our ride through Glacier NP and beyond.
I fear that our daily ride logs from here on will be quite boring. I'll try and post up anything unique or interesting, and of course some food Pr0n for the addicts, but a bunch of slab riding through the flat lands
of the breadbasket just won't be able to hold a candle after all the excitement of these past several days.
Tomorrow the long slog begins. We're headed a bit southerly to make a visit to Joann's Brother in central Missouri. But we will be entertained with thoughts of South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana in our minds.
We saved this day for the end of our "touring", hoping that we would get good weather (and we most certainly did) and that it would be the cherry on top of the rest of this incredible road trip.
Josie really out did herself today, and I pitched in with a few shots whenever we stopped for a bit, which was intentionally quite often. We set out with a short miles day planned, just riding from Kalispell to Great Falls thru the park.
I'll put up a few of what I think turned out to be the best shots that we gathered, and then give you a link at the end to a slideshow of all 99 images that we deemed worthy of keeping (this after extensive and critical editing).
Day 9 - Going to the Sun
First ones in last night, and then first up and out from the hotel this morning.
Quite an American group, though there were a couple of other Bass Bote Blue Beauties in the line-up.
Ride up to Glacier NP was cool and pleasant.
No real lines at this early time at the western entrance to Glacier
Perhaps a tactical mistake, but one I'll gladly make again.
We stopped early on, at a couple of the turnouts down at the bottom. i think we grabbed some of the best shots of the day here. The early morning light just cannot be beat.
And here you see what was one of the major disappointments of the day. i don't want to be someone who complains, but I was a little dismayed that those fires out west were hazing the skies so much even here in Glacier. You can really see the smoke where the sun it breaking over the top of the ridge above.
But in direct light these mountains still pop.
I really liked this one. Nice job Josie!
It was actually quite serene, until we reached the pass. Most of thetraffic seemed to be coming from the east side, and the parking lot was quite full. Glad they have a MC parking area. Very nice views up top...
Met a BMW GS 2-up rider from Orange, NH up at the pass. He was a month into his little ride about. What a lucky son of a gun.
obligatory pose:
Time for us to drop back down.
On the east side, which seems to be a lot shorter descent than the climb was from the west, there was a bunch of road work going on. And wouldn't you know it, it happened to be exactly in the area of Lake St Mary that Zooom had taken his photo from, the one that is hanging on my kitchen wall at home, as inspiration for this ride to the divide, for several years now.
We turned and saw the view back through the trees, but we were not allowed to stop and really take it all in. Or reproduce the photo, which i wanted to do. Just as well , I suppose. With the smokey haze, it would not have been quite as magnificent as the shot the Jim got all those years ago. I guess it is just one more reason that I'll have to come back to Montana again.
Maybe next time it will be in the fall when the air is crisp and cl;ear and a threat of snow is always in the air?
When we reached the park terminus, we stopped at the St Mary lodge at the east end and had a bite.
Buffalo Burger for me, Grilled Portobello for TMJ.
Quite tasty, as it should be for the tourist prices they charge. But we were feeling flush right about then. You see, we realized that this really marks the end of our "touring"and the start of our "getting back home."
It was a sweltering hot and relatively boring ride down through the Blackfoot Indian Reservation and down to Great Falls. We holed up in the Quality Inn, downtown there, which is kind of a nice sized city. Not very busy at all.
Click Here for the full 99 shot slide show of our ride through Glacier NP and beyond.
I fear that our daily ride logs from here on will be quite boring. I'll try and post up anything unique or interesting, and of course some food Pr0n for the addicts, but a bunch of slab riding through the flat lands
of the breadbasket just won't be able to hold a candle after all the excitement of these past several days.
Tomorrow the long slog begins. We're headed a bit southerly to make a visit to Joann's Brother in central Missouri. But we will be entertained with thoughts of South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana in our minds.
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Redfish Hunter
Gone Fishing
Fred you have done a magnificent job so far. I do appreciate you posting while on the road, it gives a different feel to the whole RR. The emotion of the moment is evident in your descriptions, there has not been time for the effects of what you experienced to fade. This is a great way to do this.
I am going to scroll back up, "Click Here", look through 99 pictures and forget the fact that I am at work for just a little while.
Enjoy your night's rest and stay safe on your journey home.
Edit: Just watched the slide show of the 99 photos. Please treat The Magnificent Josie especially nice for the rest of the trip. She is awesome.
I am going to scroll back up, "Click Here", look through 99 pictures and forget the fact that I am at work for just a little while.
Enjoy your night's rest and stay safe on your journey home.
Edit: Just watched the slide show of the 99 photos. Please treat The Magnificent Josie especially nice for the rest of the trip. She is awesome.
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BigOgre
Well-known member
Give you a lot of credit. Takes a big set to look that in the eye and order it again!Buffalo Burger for me, Grilled Portobello for TMJ.
Ride safe my friends.
escapefjrtist
Searching for Dry Roads
Very nice Rockies wrap-up Fred.
Safe travels the rest of the journey!
--G
Safe travels the rest of the journey!
--G
Goodman4
Pressing on
Thanks, Fred and Josie! I appreciated this ride report almost as much as I did your advice on my suspension. You're the best.
- Paul
- Paul
ZOOOMM AGAIN
Well-known member
What a great way to wrap up your tour to the West. Sorry you guys weren't able to get the same shot at the end of Lake St. Mary, but the important thing is that you found it and it's beauty will last in your memories forever. Your whole report has made Iris and I want to plan our next trip out West soon. Thanks again for taking us along.
Just saw the slide show.....OMG, wait it's hard to swallow right now....this is what Sport"Touring" is all about. God bless you both!!
Just saw the slide show.....OMG, wait it's hard to swallow right now....this is what Sport"Touring" is all about. God bless you both!!
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El Toro Joe
FYYFF
Wow...some great pictures in that slide show Fred.
ionbeam
2 FUN
Great courage to order that. I'm sure it took a great deal of intestinal fortitude to take that on!Give you a lot of credit. Takes a big set to look that in the eye and order it again!
Looks like the trip is living up to the billing. Hopefully the bread basket of the US will get gobbled up fast on your way back. If you pass through Rolla Mo, wave to my family.
Thanks everyone. Just so you all know Josie has been reading my posts and your responses to her pictures all along. She says she's glad that you all are enjoying them (almost) as much as we are enjoying being here taking them. 
A couple of added photos from last nights stay in Great Falls. Neat little city (seems like I keep saying that about the MT cities). we stayed right in town at the Quality Inn, which is a 4 story hotel with a parking garage under. Nice to have the bike under camera surveillance and out of the weather, though at this point it could use a little H2O.
We walked just a block to a place called "Bert and Earnie's Tavern"
They had a very nice, mostly local, tap handle line-up. Josie Harvest moon Belgian White and I went for the Great Northern Brewing Co.'s "Going to the Sun" IPA. Both beers were stellar.
Since we had splurged and eaten a big lunch in St Mary's we opted to just split a Montana Beef Cheese Steak, which our waitress did for us on separate plates from the kitchen! and a couple of side salads.
Oh... my... God! That was the best damn Cheese Steak sandwich I have ever eaten. The steak was nicely grilled Medium - Medium rare and then sliced. The cheese was good too, but that steak was killer. Glad I sampled some fresh MT beef before we head east.
In front of the hotel is nice little square with a park. We walked through there and looked around (no body else was around) before returning to our room for the night.
Continental Breakfast at the hotel isn't till 7, so we are going to hit the road and stop somewhere out along the way... time to start the ordeal.
A couple of added photos from last nights stay in Great Falls. Neat little city (seems like I keep saying that about the MT cities). we stayed right in town at the Quality Inn, which is a 4 story hotel with a parking garage under. Nice to have the bike under camera surveillance and out of the weather, though at this point it could use a little H2O.
We walked just a block to a place called "Bert and Earnie's Tavern"
They had a very nice, mostly local, tap handle line-up. Josie Harvest moon Belgian White and I went for the Great Northern Brewing Co.'s "Going to the Sun" IPA. Both beers were stellar.
Since we had splurged and eaten a big lunch in St Mary's we opted to just split a Montana Beef Cheese Steak, which our waitress did for us on separate plates from the kitchen! and a couple of side salads.
Oh... my... God! That was the best damn Cheese Steak sandwich I have ever eaten. The steak was nicely grilled Medium - Medium rare and then sliced. The cheese was good too, but that steak was killer. Glad I sampled some fresh MT beef before we head east.
In front of the hotel is nice little square with a park. We walked through there and looked around (no body else was around) before returning to our room for the night.
Continental Breakfast at the hotel isn't till 7, so we are going to hit the road and stop somewhere out along the way... time to start the ordeal.
Geezer
Parsimonious Curmudgeon
Wow. Life is good.
Enjoy the ride east. Every day is an opportunity for an adventure.
And, if you want more, consider SWFOG next May.
Enjoy the ride east. Every day is an opportunity for an adventure.
And, if you want more, consider SWFOG next May.
bbdig
Well-known member
Jane and I edited our 1300 photos down to about 650, and although we didn't post on the forum Janes daily logs are a real treat to reread and remember the best of the trip last year. And you do forget the RAIN with time. We went to the badlands last and the next morning when we headed east you knew the trip was really over. Except for the "Bucket". The last day ,our 34th, was the highest mileage day, bet yours will be to.
Stay safe and keep the rubber side down.
Stay safe and keep the rubber side down.
dcarver
Well-known member
Fred, just quit the job and keep heading west.
bikerskier
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2005
- Messages
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Love the report, Fred. So glad you are able to see the great areas we might take for granted on this side of the country. Just kidding, we never take the Rockies for granted. I'm wishing Marianne was along for my upcoming ride for several reasons, including photo duties.
Moedad
Member
This has been a GREAT report. My only complaint is that you skipped Yellowstone.
This has been a GREAT report. My only complaint is that you skipped Yellowstone.
Purely intentional, I assure you. Even Glacier was a bit of a slog with all of the tourist traffic, but Yellowstone would have been much, much worse. I'm afraid that as many cool things to see as there are in Yellowstone, I am not up to that kind of scene. The only way that I would have done it would be in one of the shoulder seasons, and then you really can't predict what the weather would be like.
Now for today's ride:
Day 10 - Great Falls to Spearfish
Not much to say about today's ride, except that we stuck mostly to the US 2-lane highways vs the interstates. I like that you can see so much more of your surroundings and that you actually do slow down to go thru the little towns. It was also actually a shorter time and distance route by taking US 191, US 12 and then US 212 from Billings to Belle Forche, SD.
As for our ride today, it was mostly through drizzle and a few thundershowers. The advantage was that kept it cool until late in the day.
Still Josie was busy with the camera between the wet times...
Not sure what this guy was supposed to be, but he doesn't look too happy.
Serious wind farm
Rolled into Spearfish and squatting at the Days Inn tonight. Right behind the hotel is a Chinese place called the Golden Dragon. Not bad. Not bad at all...
House Special Fried Rice and Beef and Broccoli were both quite tasty, as were the pot stickers and paper wrapped chicken appetizers we gobbled down first.
The best part is, tomorrow, we get to do it again!
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