Wyoming

AUGUST 9, 2010 - DAY 5 - CODY TO GILLETTE

Sleep was hard to come by yet again. I think I was just excited being in Cody. There is so much Old West history. But we were on limited time so we quickly hit a couple of stores and the H-D dealership and picked up a few souvenirs at each place. I had one item shipped home so, to my kids, look for a package in the mail. Not everything fits on a bike. Proof of that was the next stop at the UPS store for Angel to ship stuff home that she decided she really didn't need to lug around the country.

As we headed out of Cody we both wished we'd had more time there. It seemed like such a great place with so much to offer. Such as the rodeo every night. Yep, e v e r y night. But then it is touted as the Rodeo Capital of the World. To us that means cowboys wearing Wranglers, so were are sorry we missed it. We also had to skip the museum that everyone told us we had to see. Maybe 27 days isn't enough for this trip.

The Wyoming countryside is beautiful. We headed out on Hwy 14, once again staring out at farmland. However, the hills here are different. Most look as of the top halves are of rock and flat on the top. But there is a mountain range that we are heading toward, along with all the other bikes on the road.

We reach the Big Horn Mountains and begin our ascent. They look like something out of a geology class (the one science class I liked). But aside from the red and orange colors of the rock I also noticed small brown signs every so often along the roadside. They all listed the era and age of the rocks, like 450-500 million years old.

Once we climbed higher there was lush pasture lands again accompanied by open range signs. However, the first cow we saw I smelled first. It was in the field next to the road on the other side, udders up. Her friend was grazing alongside our side of the road, just chewing away, unconcerned.

As we headed down from the mountains and the valley opened up below I planned to make a pit stop at the first town. As we rode through I saw a small place with lots of bikes parked out front. Looked like the perfect place for lunch, water and a pit stop. But I reasoned that since Sheridan wasn't that far away I could wait, and we would just take care of it all there.

I had envisioned finding a similar eating place along the historic district of Sheridan but never saw such a place along the main street. We got all the way through town so just stopped at Starbucks. There we were told about a quaint place to eat just 8 miles up the road so we chose to continue on and fuel up ourselves and the bikes when we get there.

We pulled out of the parking lot and I pointed out we needed to go on the other street there at the intersection so we turned around. As we passed a sign for the next town to be 23 miles I was about to turn around. But when I looked at the mileage I figured we would push it and be fine. But obviously we wouldn't be eating at that quaint little restaurant.

The town of Uconn had nothing and we were probably past the point of returning to Sheridan. Thankfully there was a sign touting gas just 10 miles away, with nothing available after that for 70 miles. We reached the single pump at the store in Clearmont. Lunch meant standing in the air conditioned store munching on almonds and a granola bar while sucking down a bottle of water before hitting the road again, looking forward to the hour ride and reaching Gillette by 4 p.m.

However, like everything else we keep planning, circumstances decided to remind us that we are not in control of our lives no matter how hard we try. As we approached the town of Leiter, and I use that term loosely, I had some mechanical issues and we stopped. But the good news was that though we were out in the middle of nowhere, smack dab in-between Sheridan and Gillette, the town consisted of a post office / bar for us to stay in while awaiting the tow. Which took four hours. Yeah, upgrading my H.O.G. roadside assistance package was really looking like a waste of money about then. It didn't matter how many phone calls we made or whether it was me or Angel telling them our location they had extreme difficulty figuring it out, even when we told them in specific detail. These call taker types need to sometimes take their eyes of the computer, listen to the customer, and engage their brains, if they have them. Preferably before I start yelling at them as though they are idiots and jacking up my blood pressure.

But I do have to say that Martha and Dale, whom we met in Leiter, were very friendly and hospitable people, helping to make my problems seem minimal. Even the tow driver was helpful and nice. However it's not as if the trip into Gillette was uneventful. As Angel followed on her bike she suddenly gave us the thumbs down signal. Seems some sort of flying thing had flown up her jacket sleeve and stung her 4-5 times on her back.

Then once we finally got to Gillette we were told they had over booked our motel, despite having made the reservation several months ago, and we had been moved to another. Not good news for the manager who then had to deal with two tired, hungry women who already had their fill of dealing with incompetence. He comped us $30 toward dinner.

Now tomorrow's plans have changed as well. No need to get up at 6 a.m. for the ride into Sturgis as the Harley dealership doesn't open till nine. Angel is already preparing me that we may just alter our stay and spend a second night here. I of course am not accepting such a fate. I think the word stubborn has been used to describe me several times by numerous people today. Not like I haven't heard that before!

Today's stats: 10.5 hours (if counting the extra 4), 258.5 miles (but my bike only logged in 201.5)