Long Ride, Short Flight

7/19/08 Calgary, AB, Canada - DFW, TX

Early alarm (damn TV!) today to make sure I get to Calgary in time to take care of business and still make the 2:40 flight. Morning clerk rather disinterested in the whole thing, would rather play internet gaming than talk to a traveler. Finishing my ride thru town I note several more savory lodging options - at the same price. But the morning is crisp and clear, and I'm wearing just the right number of layers to be happy. And happy I am. Something about morning sun, cool temps, a sweetly running bike and uncrowded roads. The landscape stays wide open all the way into Calgary, where it congests slightly, reminiscent of Colorado Springs in layout, including the by-pass to the airport.
Sentinal Storage has a spot for me, and Shirley and her husband (managers) are bikers as well so there's an understanding and friendliness. Cab is 21$ and I'm standing in cue 3 hours before the flight. Seem like a waste of time? Not really. First off, I'm all relaxed and unhurried - so my temperament is one of amusement and humor. Secondly, I have time to take in the surroundings and the people - most of whom are returning from a wonderful vacation in the Rockies and are happy to share their experiences.
I struck up conversations with several folks in the gate area: a couple from Keller on their 45th anniversary, a tour guide from Indiana, and another couple from Tyler. I kept saying we needed a campfire and bottle of Scotch, because our topics ranged from travel suggestions to philosophical discussions of exactly what makes these mountains, this road, different from those mountains, that road.
Trying to squeeze out the single drop of difference, I suggested that perhaps there wasn't a difference in those things, but rather in our attitudes, observations, and willingness to open up to new experiences. Do you ever talk like this in line at Kroger, I asked? Good point.
A true challenge would be to keep the same vacation attitude after arriving in 100degree heat back home on the congested highways of the MetroMess.

Now it's time to think about the NEXT leg of this summer odyssey - bringing Emily back up for a few days in Banff and the Canadian Glacier Park!

Glacier Park

7/18/08 Two Medicine CG Glacier Park, MT

Slept better and longer than anticipated. 50degrees and no banging, no cars. Was up and out by 0800, stopping by the Ranger station for information before the end run to the south of the park. East Glacier is a small town, lots of Indian references, and a beaut of an old style lodge. Rt 2 less dramatic than expected from maps.google, but a pleasant, scenic high speed transit to West Glacier. Not much there either, just a motel, convenience store and train station. Re entering the park you are at a low (3000') elevation, in heavy pines, on a heavily traveled road with CG's left and right and a large body of water. From there the road heads upward to Logan Pass and becomes Going to the Sun, climbing about 4000' in the process! Wonderful old style CCC road not designed for speed but for spectating and to enable the adventurous folk of the late 30's to drive over the pass.


Logan Pass Exhibit is a must do, and, if possible, the 4 mile hike across the snow field to Hidden Lake. Then it's downhill to St Mary, the road full of look outs and tunnels. From there it's a quick run up to Many Glacier Park and a slow drive in (good, accurate signs for bumps, rough road and recommended speeds in turns). The lodge at Lake Sherborn is travel magazine stuff, including a moose cow feeding in the shallows. Utilizing modern tracking techniques, I found two grizzly bears in a field alongside the road (you look for a BUNCH of parked cars and you'll find wildlife nearby).

After Glacier NP a short run up Rt 2 left me at the entrance to Many Glacier NP, beginning with another lovely lake. I really had no idea there was so much water involved! Much of it was fishable or boatable, all of it enjoyable. Many Glacier has the quintessential Lodge, complete with feeding moose cow and a pair of Grizzly's. I recall it as a more managable sized park, with many trails and scenes.

Exited the park and took 17 up to the boarder, where the customs agent instructed me (not asked, instructed) to remove my helmet and sunglasses (so he could get a better look at me as I answered the questions). No big. Then very open and rolling countryside back to the east and RT 2 north toward Calgary. Pretty much since turning north I had been watching a large thunderhead, and just south of Ft McLeod it became apparent I was going to see it much closer than I'd like. Gusty winds, wall of rain, lightning are all undesirable on a bike, so I retreated to a small farmhouse I'd seen 2 miles back and asked the owner, who had just stored his cars in the barn against possible hail, if I could put my bike under one of his cab-over trailers. He was very friendly and sent me in back to a cow shed or stable, where I waited 45 minutes or so with the rafters shaking and dirt blowing up but little rain. Finally it all stopped and cleared enough to proceed, and when I stopped at the house to say thanks they said Lethbridge (just east) had gotten hail and damaging winds and several lightning strikes. Thanks!

Continued along Rt 2, noting many campgrounds and a few motels, until I needed gas - right across from the Lazy J Motel. It was late, I was tired, there was still rain ahead, and I decided I was within striking distance for Calgary tomorrow, so I threw in the towel. Michael, the clerk, was interested in the trip, and gave me a discount on the 75$(!) room. I pulled the bike in under the eaves and took off all but the tank panniers before walking next door to the pizza shop. The girls were all a-giggle when I ordered a "pie". Again cell phone coverage was available, so contact was made with all the folks at home.

Sitting in my room eating, I heard a muffled comment about BMW's, but by the time I got to the door whomever it was was gone - with one of my gloves out of the pannier! They'd also knocked over many of the potted decorative plants at the motel. Maybe proximity to a pizza shop/bar wasn't so good after all. Found the glove at the far end of the motel, took all of it into the room for the night.
Finally tapped out at 1130, pretty late for this traveler.

Sir?

After our enjoyable dinner, I had little trouble falling asleep. Remember, 24 hours previously I had flown from Miami to San Francisco, deadheaded back to DFW, slept in my camper, non-reved up to Jackson, and ridden 150 miles through Yellowstone NP. 10oz of Medium Well Buffalo and a beer didn't hurt either. So imagine my chagrin when at 0400 a truck rattling over the gravel camp road in front of my tent woke me up. And again at 0600, this time accompanied with a voice: "Sir, hummmruph, packing, wubbah, campground, bladdah, bear."
Bear?
Say again your last, over?
"Sir, we think you ought to start packing and leave the campground, we have a bear in the vicinity." Oh. Now c'mon, what's to worry? I have no food in my tent (the dehydrated stuff, one Cliff Bar and my shaving kit are in the "bear-proof" locker) and there are lot's of more interesting campsites around. But I poke my head out and talk to my neighbor, who is debating the same issues. This time when the truck comes by we get a clearer picture from the passenger. Seems he was sharing the campsite with his traveling buddy (on their way to the BMW rally in Gillette WY) when at 4 he awoke to his friend's screams as a Grizzley Bear broke through his tent and took his wrist in his mouth to shake him loose. Yikes! and said bear was still down in the creek less than 50 yards from our site. Expeditious relocation is what we called it when we regathered in town a few minutes later for coffee at the Elk Lodge. No, not men in funny hats, ELK like four legged kind. The proprietress was also the town medic/emt and had shipped the poor victim off to Casper for surgery on his mauled arms and wrist. "Looked pretty bad" was her assessment. "Guess they're done with the rally". My opinion differed, and I bet her a doughnut the uninjured rider would continue on. Powder coated and delicious, thank you. I know my riders. Now it was the newly formed trio of Kristin, Dave and Randy's turn to head up the road to Beartooth Pass and breakfast in Red Lodge. Can't say enough about the road and the ride and the riders. MT212 is an awesome motorcycling road - clean and smooth, with fabulous views and plenty of pull-outs from which to gaze. Like the bugs, all the motorcyclists in this area take advantage of good weather to get out, and there was a constant stream of traffic coming down the mountain as we went up, and lots of folks with whom to chat at the summit - including my two acquaintances from OK on their Harleys. Breakfast at the Red Lodge Cafe was wonderful, the short stack being more than I could finish, though Kristin and Dave had no trouble devouring their eggs and sausage. We all coffee'd up and then I headed in a more northerly direction toward Glacier, while they proceeded to Gillette with instructions to find the Texas contingent for hospitality. Just before we left the cafe the OK riders appeared again, so a proper "stay safe and enjoy it" was spread around.


I had a long way to go, and it's a good thing being alone doesn't bother me, 'cause for most of the way it was the road, the prairie grass, and me. You can get a little jittery at first, but when the bike doesn't just quit and no critters jump out to wreck you, after a while you notice that you're feeling pretty good and can look around and appreciate what it takes to live up here one barb-wire fence from Canada. Out of Red Lodge I took 78 thru Roscoe and Abserkotee - it's a sweet 2 laner - to Columbus on I-40 to fill up. There another rider suggested 191N to Hobson and 87 into Great Falls, figguring I'd stop there (check a map, it's a ways).

Got through (Not so) Great Falls around dinner time; finally got cell-phone coverage to let folks at home know that IF they heard about a bear attack it wasn't me and dined with the King - Burger King. Afterwards I pressed on out 89 up to Glacier Park. Again and again long stretches of empty plains, no traffic and a true feeling of being alone. Also several large bodies of water. At Browning I decided to head to Kiowa and Two Medicine CG. Browning is a very Indian town, in the Blackfoot Reservation, and the Casino is the big game. Art galleries and Indian craft stores are just the minor leagues. Rt49 south from Kiowa to the camp ground is a twisty motorcycling treat, but it's late in the day for true enjoyment. 25$ (!) entry fee into Glacier and another 7 miles to the 20$ campsite at 2 Medicine, but it's a beautiful lakeside area. Nearly full, but one spot remained - between the trash cans and the toilets. Bill, a Goldwing rider out of Michigan, waved me in to share his site if necessary, but I found my little shangrila and set up there. Took an evening stroll to stretch my legs and check out the rigs and people. Lots of smokey campfires to hold the bugs at bay. Fish rising in the lake, and fishermen laying out line. Many canoes/kayaks, several small motorboats. A good (long) day's run of 480 miles.

Plan B

Plan worked pretty well. I arrived at the DFW airport at 0100 on the 16th, slept in the Employee Parking lot in my 1977 VW camper, and was up in line at security later that same morning at 0800 for the 0940 flight to Jackson, WY. Noting the initial line-up was a long one, I headed to a secondary screening area just around the corner. Two gentlemen exited the line and followed, explaining that while waiting in airports they keep an eye out for 'seasoned' looking travelers, and then follow them. Interesting; sort of a modern wilderness tracker. Sure enough the new line was expeditious until they x-rayed an 8 inch 12 point 10/12mm box-end wrench I wanted to take along. Seems the TSA limit on 'tools' is 7 inches. So what's a fellow to do? Well I exited the airport, found some heavy ground cover near the employee bus stop, and buried the wrench out of sight. Will it still be there when I return? 31$ question.

Got a seat on the jet straight away for another nap en route Wyoming, disturbed only by the tittering of a gaggle of unaccompanied 12-16 year old girls on their way to camp. Evidently the uniform for travel was flip-flops, t-shirt and shorts. Not enough material between all of them for one decent pair of blue-jeans!

Found a share-a-ride van with a friendly driver to take a 25$ ride thru town to the storage area (check what it cost me to get FROM the unit TO the airport), where the bike was waiting patiently. Quick change and short elevator ride to ground level and we're on our way through town to pick up my pocket knife from Josh. Who, it appears, has been 'let go' from the motel desk, taking any knowledge of my pocket knife with him. Oh, well.



I passed on the Teton Park road, having already done it with Emily when the views were clear, and rolled directly to the Yellowstone entrance and my 20$ ride-thru pass. A little bit of construction held us up but provided an opportunity to meet two HD riders from Oklahoma, they and I and the flagperson (girl) chatted waiting for the pilot car, and then pressed on along the eastern side of the lower Yellowstone loop. Along the way I wandered through endless lodgepole pines, several lakes, a few buffalo and a nice uncrowded geyser called Mud Volcano and Dragon Mouth Cavern. Pretty self-descriptive.

There are basically two loops in Yellowstone, attached one north of the other, and four entrances to the NE, NW, SE and SW. Roughly. To avoid the geysers (double entendre there, I do mean gushing geysers as well as the older geezers who slow-down and stop on the road to watch them) I opted to stay to the east side of both loops, and camp at the NE corner of the park at Slough Creek Park.

Which was full by the time I got there. However, a friendly biker pointed me further east to campsites outside the park, and the first one I came to - Cooke City - was open and only 9$, so there I pitched my tent. Shortly afterwards two riders on K1200R and S BMW's pulled into a site just above mine and dismounted. One did the 'happy dance', and that was all it took to encourage me to amble up and say hey. I met Kristin Ackerson and Dave Wilson of Albuquerque NM, 3 month's pregnant and 4 days married on their honeymoon! Well, how about that. We celebrated with a Buffalo Steak dinner in town, comforting ourselves that we wouldn't be cooking in the campsite in bear country.

What, me worry?

O.B.E.

O.B.E.

Anyone trained in the military will understand those three letters mean Overcome By Events. That means that a plan you had was rendered useless by events outside your control. It also pretty nearly describes this leg (Jackson WY to Calgary Canada) of the trip.

Without getting too deeply into the reserve (or 'on call') system for pilots at American Airlines, let me just say that I had 4 days off, beginning on the 16th of July, but the first one was 'movable' at the discretion of the company. I had been awarded international division requiring training, which was scheduled for the 20th, beginning at 1245. So a plan developed to ride from the 16th to the 19th, ending in Calgary, and flying out first thing on the 20th to arrive in DFW at 1135, drive down to the Flight Academy (it's on the way home) for my school, and have someone pick up Emily. Best part would be that since I was heading to training, I could get a priority seat without worrying about non-reving. Then my call out schedule became such that I was off duty starting at 0100 on the 15th, so I figured we could even leave that morning at 0900 allowing yet another day on the road. Five days to move the bike 875miles.

My Plan.

And then events began to take over.

First, Emily reasoned that she didn't really want to ride that whole way, considering that the next bit (from Calgary to Lake Louise) would only mean an hour on the back of the bike and her boyfriend, Roy, had a single vehicle, non-injury accident totalling his car.
So she was out.

Then Crew Skeds called at 1630 (that's 4:30pm) on the 14th sending me out on a 2+ day trip getting back at 0100 (yes, that's one o'clock in the morning) on the 16th and not only denying me the early go on the 15th, but pushing my 'movable' day back to the 22nd leaving me on call for the rest of the 16th!

O.B.E.

Presently I'm at 35,000 returning to DFW on a Super 80, as a passenger, and my plan has become this: After checking that there are no open flights on the 16th to which I could be assigned, and that I do not have a reserve assignment period, I will head to the employee parking lot to sleep the remainder of the evening in Burt the VW Bus. Tomorrow (the 16th) I'll rise and dress in my traveling clothes (yup, brought 'em along when I left) and get on said 0900 flight from DFW to JAC as a D-2 THRU (a little higher priority, thanks to my coming in from San Francisco) and start my ride. Solo. Depending on the weather I may head up thru Yellowstone NP to the northeast, Beartooth Pass, and a town called Red Lodge, or I may head due west, then north on the interstate to Butte and save a few hours en route Glacier NP.

If things work out for a 2pm Saturday flight from YYC (Calgary) to DFW (ah, DFW) flight, fine. If not, I'll park the bike, hit a motel, and take my positive space ride home for training.

And so it goes.

Just another Non-Rev

6/21/08 Jackson Wy to Dallas-Ft Worth

On our final day of this segment, all we had to do was get to the airport and get on the airplane. Neither of which was a sure thing. Getting to the airport was going to be hampered by finite funds due to an inoperative ATM card. It seems (from information gained later) that when I replaced my 'soon to expire' card with a new one in preparation for this trip, it had somehow become attached to my wife's house account, rather than the checking account (somewhat larger), and so with an initial withdrawal and gas money along the way I had drawn it down to Zero! The cab driver was understanding, but not amused that I had enough for fare (30$) but only a 10% tip. As noted, the cost of living has skyrocketed here. But we did get to the airport.

I'm getting just a tad ahead of myself, though. Again, the time change made getting up fairly easy, and packing the night before allowed me to shower, dress, and vacate the room to allow my (say it with me) 16 year old daughter to shower, dress and prep in peace. I wandered into the office to coffee-up with Josh, the clerk, and a couple of guys who'd been climbing on the Tetons for the past 3 days. Pretty typical Americans: one from Brussels originally, one from India, both living in Cincinnati OH and working for Proctor and Gamble. Accents? You bet. Neat guys though. Josh was from OH as well, which is another social point of the area. As the locals have been forced out, the business owners (most corporate) bring in labor from around and outside the country for basically room and board and a little folding money each day. When my ATM card failed, I went to a store to ask for the nearest bank. In an accent I can't duplicate (but sounded like Andy Kaufman's 'Latka'), I was told by 2 separate clerk's that they'd only been in town two days and didn't know where anything was. So much for local color and lore.

Despite my best efforts, I did wind up with one minor crisis on departure day: a pocket knife. Oh, no big deal, really - but you cannot take it with you on the plane (duh), I didn't want to check a bag (15$), and I'm kinda partial to the things I carry in my pocket and the thought of just throwing/giving it away hurt a little. So I entrusted it to Josh for a month, and hope it will be there when I return. Option B was to hide it atop a wall, in a chink, or bury it in a plastic bag 10 paces due north of the old clock. I mention this because if someone were to follow my example of ride, stash, fly vacationing this accounting of valuable but unflyable items becomes important; particularly if the are of the 'special licensing required' kind. Forget something in that category and you'll have some serious improvisation to accomplish before the metal detector.

The flight leaves at 11:50. The flight - SINGULAR. There is one non-stop a day on American between JAC and DFW. Miss that and you have a 30$ cab ride back to town to hunt for another 100$ room. Or make other plans. There is a Chicago flight leaving at 11:30, so if it looks like the DFW flight is full you can go through ORD and then cue up with the other 1,000 non-rev's to get to Dallas. Fortunately for us, not so for the other passengers, the ORD flight was delayed until after DFW, so if we didn't get on the preferred we could still make the other. We got to the airport about 3 hours prior, and had time to smile and converse with the agent before the crush, and search through our pockets for change enough to get pancakes, coffee, and milk for breakfast.



Departure time came and we had seats across the aisle from one another, and nice nap on the way home.



Now all we have to do is work out JAC to YYC (Jackson WY to Calgary AB Canada)!!

Take care of your Horse

6/20/08 Spalding Bay, Jenny Lake, Teton NP, ,WY

A campsite at the end of a dirt road, at the edge of a lake, sounds wonderful - and it is. Until about 0530 when the local fishermen begin arriving in their pick-ups dragging their boats to the ramp. S'ok - after seeing 34degrees on my thermometer/watch I didn't go back to deep sleep, I just kept wondering how Emily was doing. She didn't sleep well either, but it wasn't because she was wondering about me.

We finally accepted the fact that the day had begun, and got up around 0700. Morning light was absolutely beautiful, spotlighting that which had been backlit and bringing out indescribable colors in everything. And, as yet, no bugs. Not having a breakfast strategy, and wanting to view as much of the park as possible, camp was struck and the bike kicked into life (there's another passing expression - kicking a bike to life. It's all on the battery, and God help you if it fails) for the trip up the dirt road. Aside from the beauty of said road itself, lined by tall pines and fragrant sagebrush, we had tantalizing glimpses of the Tetons through the breaks in the trees, and the anticipation of wildlife (only one LARGE deer so far).

The main N/S road was empty at this hour, so we traveled at our own pace back to Signal Mountain Lookout for a vista of the area. Yesterday's toll was still heavy on Em, as evidenced by the noises she made getting on/off the bike, and her reluctance to even take the helmet off, but again she suffered Dad's enthusiasm and even smiled for the camera. Once.

Things perked up a bit when we stopped at the Jenny Lake lodge for a sticky doughnut in an unusual shape, and got recommendations for food in town. I was unable to talk Em into an hour's hike to Hidden Falls and unwilling to press the issue (recall that the objectives for this ride are: Time with Daughter, Move the Bike, See the area), so into town we went to arrange hotel for us and storage for the bike. Once those were accomplished I promised Em we could just walk around the square for the rest of the day.

My hopes for a hostel were crushed as it was full, and the next alternative was a 99$ 10x10 room (King of the Road? NOT), or, as Em put it: Half the room for twice the price. I let her off to explore and eat, and then began to search through my list of storage units to care for the bike. As in many newly 'discovered' tourist towns, the local populace and all their businesses are being pushed out of town center by developers and outrageous property values. Try to find a real hardware store, for example. Orvis, Pendleton, YES. Ace, Plumbers Supply, NO. At least not in town. The real 'folk' have moved 30 miles away, taking such things (and storage) with them. Of the 3 U-Store-It's I'd googled, all were closed, and the only storage left was 5 miles south of town - climate controlled 2 story and 145$ per month! Well, I spent most of my afternoon tracking down and procuring a spot for the bike (horse), then separating the "leave-its" from the "take-its" before locking up the bike and taking my 20$ cab ride back into town (which is still, I found out the next day, 30$ from the airport!!).
When I got back Emily was taking a nap, and it seemed like a pretty good idea. An hour or so later we wandered around as she showed me the various shops she'd perused, and visited an animal adoption store. They find the animals abandoned in the area, tend to them, then walk them around with little jackets saying "available for adoption". Good idea. Dinner was at a deli where my 7$ Italian Hoagie weighed (no fooling) 2 pounds!!! Then back into town to get some money for the ride to the airport.
Uh-oh. ATM card no workee. Hmmmm. A quick call to MG and it's a mystery unsolved. There was money IN the account, and she'd added to it that day, so WHY can I not get it? Scramble time. Tank bag, pockets, duffel, etc, and we come up with about 40$. It'll have to do.
Good night's sleep and tomorrow we head home.