Easy Rider 2006: Home

We are home. It was a short 137 mile trip from the Red Lion Hotel in Wenatchee to our garage. Easy as pie, piece of cake, hell we did 130 miles before breakfast these past 13 days! As all journeys go, it's both sad to see them come to an end, and nice to be home at the same time. It's going to seem odd to not get up, load up the bikes, hit the gas station, and head off down an unknown road tomorrow morning, and who knows how long before we get restless again -- but I expect it will be a while before we undertake another trip as big as this one has been.

We slept in as best we could -- the time change and the urge to get home was a bit strong. It was a warm morning in Wenatchee, and so to even out my tan I wore a sleeveless t-shirt, which proved to be a bit chilly going over Steven's Pass, but otherwise it was a quite nice and short ride over the Cascades and home. We pulled into the driveway just after noon, having left Wenatchee at 930am and dodging a bit of a repavement project (there's nothing like riding a motorcycle on a newly paved smooth as silk road). Our leathers were covered in bugs and bikes rather dirty (which we've since cleaned). We put 3,897 miles on the bikes, got some interesting tan lines, and saw a lot of wonderful country.

To wax somewhat poetically like a certain credit card company...

Two Harley Davidson Motorcycles -- $30,000,
Number of states visited -- 5,
Number of tubes of sun-screen used -- 2,
10 new HD Dealer t-shirts -- $200
Miles Driven -- 3,897...
Adventure experience...priceless.

From our home in West Seattle,

Gary and Tony

Easy Rider 2006: Homeward Bound, Day 2 - Salmon to Wenatchee

Almost home. Almost. We are in Wenatchee, Washington, just 160 miles from Seattle, but after 540 miles today, we just couldn't finish it -- indeed we didn't think we would after leaving this morning. As it is, we pulled into Wenatchee about 8pm, PDT -- after leaving Salmon, ID at 8am MDT, so we were on the road for more than twelve hours, and the sun was setting over the Cascades and so we decided to pull into the Red Lion Hotel -- a real hotel with a pool and room service, and treat ourselves to one last night in a good hotel on the road before heading into Seattle in the morning. We crossed the high rolling wheat fields of Washington, and watched the Cascade's rise up from the plains from about 60 miles out as we climbed out of the Columbia River Coulee just as the sun started to set. It's the kind of a view that Woody Gutherie would have seen when he wrote "This Land is Your Land"...wheat fields waving, dust clouds rolling, etc. It seemed fitting to wind down the road trip on that note, since it's how the Chorus closed the shows on this tour.

We got up early and pulled out of the Stage Coach Inn motel in Salmon a little after 8am, and headed due north on US 93. The road follows the Salmon River, and there are lots of little fishing camps/motels all along the route. It was in 1806 that the Lewis and Clark expedition was returning east along this route, and there are countless "historical markers", wherever Lewis or Clark stopped to go to the bathroom or some such event. It was a tad overcast and nicely cool when we left -- I swear there is nothing like the smell of a pine forest in the early morning with cool crisp air. It's even better when one passes a sawmill and you can smell the fresh cut wood on top of it. After we crested the pass and crossed into Montana we followed the Bitteroot River valley and noticed that the main industry seemed to be manufacturing log homes. It seemed that ever mile or so was another log home manufacturing plant, milling giant Lincoln Logs for gorgeous houses. It was all I could do to keep Tony from stopping and picking up a catalogue at each one. Needless to say we smelled a lot of sawdust on the run today.

When we got to the junction with US 12 at Lolo, we had a decision to make. We pulled into a gas station/café and pulled out the maps. We could turn on US 12 and head southwest into Lewiston, ID, or continue northwest on US 93 further into Montana and crossing the Idaho panhandle and northern Washington. Since it was quite clear that we likely wouldn't be getting home tonite anyway, we both felt we might as well take a longer route to get home and enjoy it, so we opted to continue on US 93 rather than turn west on US 12, dropping into Lewiston, ID and crossing Washington much the same way we did when we left two weeks ago. We elected to keep going north and go into Missoula, Montana. There is a nice Harley-Davidson dealer in Missoula, just like there is further up I-90 in Bozeman and in Billings. These aren't just "nice" Harley dealers, they are almost Theme Parks dedicated to all things HD. It makes us both wonder why a big city like Seattle can't have one of these mega dealers, while they seem to be strung out like Christmas lights along I-90 in Montana. Naturally we stopped for shirts and a look-see. On this trip we've managed to score cool HD shirts from Salt Lake, Pocatello, Jackson, Billings, Bozeman, and Missoula. We will need to re-arrange the t-shirt drawer when we get home.

We ducked under the dreaded I-90 and headed north on US 93 until we turned northwest on Montana 200. After a few miles of gawdawful road construction with stripped off pavement (we've run into this several times this trip, not fun in a car, and really not fun on a motorcycle) we hit a little shower but it didn't last and soon we were dry again. This road follows the Clark Fork River (named after you-know-who), as well as the old Northern Pacific Railroad. About lunch time we came across a small town that used to be a division point on the NP called Paradise, and the only place to eat was the "Whistle Stop Café". With a name like that we had to stop in. It was right across from the tracks, and very much a little local hangout. The only thing that would have made it perfect is if it had "Fried Green Tomatoes" on the menu, and Fanny Flagg in the corner. As it was, the food was great, including home-made Dreamcicle Cake. Had we stuck to the Interstate we never would have found the "Whistle Stop". Nor would we have smelled the fresh pine air and felt the cool of the river bottom. It is why one takes back roads on a motorcycle.

We turned West on a county road that took us over Thompson Pass and back into the Idaho panhandle. There we had no choice but to pick up I-90 for 30 miles, crossing the boundary back into Washington just before Spokane. Those 30 miles were shear hell. Unlike the back roads, the freeway is ALWAYS full of cars going roughly the same speed you are, and the air pockets, vortexes and wind-wakes they create combine to slap you and your motorcycle around so that after a few miles I end up feeling like I've been in a bar brawl. In addition, you have to be constantly paying attention to the other vehicles moving along with you, and you can't really look around and enjoy the country you are passing through. You are much like a leaf caught in a raging river, rather than floating lazily down a quiet stream. You can go just as fast on the back roads in most cases, especially in the West, but the lack of traffic makes them smooth as silk, giving you the chance to enjoy the ride and the scenery, and not end up feeling like you've just been run through a blender.

We stopped for a water break at the BECU facility in Spokane where Tony is often training employees. He didn't have his ID badge and looking like the road warrior he's become, they were a tad hesitant to let him in (much like my Aunt Jane was when we showed up on her porch). Once they realized who it was they let him in and we were able to rest, cool off and relax from the freeway run. We left there and headed west on US 2 aimed ourselves towards Wenatchee.

US 2 runs pretty much straight west in the middle of Washington -- past lots and lots of wheat fields, and small almost ghost towns. The color of young wheat before it ripens and turns gold is a wonderful light green, and combined with the building afternoon thunderheads in the distance, makes for one of the prettiest sights, and one I could never really describe. We went on for miles through the wheat -- it's 160 miles from Spokane to Wenatchee. However, this route also drops down into the Columbia River Coulee and past Lake Roosevelt which is formed by Grand Coulee dam. I've never seen the dam, and we didn't have time for the side trip up to it, but someday we'll come back. We dipped down into another Coulee and as we rose up out of it we could see the Cascade Mountains rising in the distance, and at that moment we knew we were almost home, and the trip just about over, and we'll pull into the driveway almost exactly two weeks from when we were SUPPOSED to leave.

We've seen a lot of wonderful scenery and places along this journey, and we've got one last stretch over Steven's Pass and down into the Puget Sound area tomorrow, then it's over. We've been over a lot of new roads, been through towns we've never seen, and likely never will again. We've wondered what's that awful smell, and enjoyed the cool crisp air of the high mountains. We've killed millions of bugs and will be scraping them off the leathers for weeks I expect. We've seen deer, antelope, elk, buffalo and tons of other critters. We've ate in wonderful little local dives, and watched as whole new audiences have come to love the Choruses. It's been a wonderful adventure.

We will sleep in a bit tomorrow, have a room service breakfast, and still be in Seattle before lunch. Thanks for coming along with us...

From the Red Lion hotel in Wenatchee..

Gary and Tony

Easy Rider 2006: Homeward Bound, Day 1 -- SLC to Salmon ID

Well, we are on the homeward stretch, so to speak. It's Sunday night and we are in Salmon, Idaho -- 504 miles and 9.5 hours from Salt Lake City, via Tremonton, UT, Burley, ID, and Sun Valley. We didn't send out a posting last night after the Salt Lake show since we were exhausted, both emotionally and physically, and needed to get an early start from SLC today.

The final concert at Libby Gardner hall (no relation I know of, despite the Mormon "Family Bush" theory) on the University of Utah campus was without a doubt the most emotional for me and many of the singers, as well as the best received by an audience anywhere on the tour. The hall was spectacular, both architecturally and acoustically. Dennis Coleman, the artistic director had the choruses do EVERY song they took on tour in this single show, so it lasted nearly three hours, and the audience still wanted more. Tony read the proclamation by the Mayor of Salt Lake setting the day as SMC/SWC day in SLC, to which Dennis said "I think I like your mayor", and the audience reacted with wild applause. I've tended to get a bit teary eyed during "Not in Our Town" every time it is sung, and this was no exception, but I also got rather verclempt during the Brokeback Mountain set, as well as the Peace Medley -- as did most of the audience and many of the singers. I think the combination of the audience energy, the final show, and the emotion of the music sung by singers on the top of their game combined to get everyone reaching for the Kleenex. I was particularly happy to have 20 members of my family there in the audience -- and aside from a few, none had ever seen the Chorus, though they've heard Tony talk about it for years. They finally got to see what all the fuss was about, and everyone raved about the show, and Tony's dance choreography. His bows were well deserved.

This morning we got up and hit the road a little after 8am to beat the heat. As usual, we tried to keep off the Interstates, and planned a route accordingly, but unfortunately there really isn't any way to "escape" Utah without taking an Interstate for some stretch. We went north from SLC along US 89 as far as we could, and we had planned to head northwest through desert to Corrine following the original transcontinental railroad route, but missed a turn and had to take I-84 for about 20 miles to Snowville where we picked up a back road and took it across the desert up into Idaho and landed up near Burley. Gadzooks it was hot. By the time we got to Burley it was 98 degrees on the bank of Burley sign and we were roasting, in our black leathers sitting atop a roaring hot engine, and feeling the heat bounce back up off the pavement. That stretch of desolate desert was long and hot, and the road had more dead animals on it than I'd ever seen. Tony called it "Road Kill Highway".

One of the things they taught us in the basic motorcycle rider class last year was that bikers always "wave" when they pass. We observe this rule more or less all the time, and often find ourselves reflexively waving while driving in a car as well.

We stuck to the parallel to I-84 stretch of US 30 until we hooked up to US 93 North through Shoshone and into Sun Valley, one of our favorite towns. It's very different without snow. Past Sun Valley we headed up into the mountains and crested at Galena Pass, a route that neither of us had ever been on. It was a gorgeous twisty road that climbed up to about 7800 feet before dropping down into the headwaters of the Salmon River. In the little wayside of "Smiley Junction" we stopped for a quick drink and to put on the rain gear at the advice of the attendant at the store who said it was raining up the way. Two other bikers, guys from California headed for the "Arctic Circle" were doing the same thing. They said they expected to get up there about the 20th. Long long way still for them. In fact, just before we got to our hotel tonite we passed a sign marking the crossing of the 45th parallel which is half-way between the equator and the north-pole. These guys had a long way to go, as do we it seems. We then followed the Salmon River for 170 miles to Salmon, Idaho.

The plan now is to get up early again and head north to Missoula and then turn west on US 12 and go over Lolo Pass and drop back down into Idaho again and end up in Washington via Lewiston. We'll likely take a bit more of a northern route from Lewiston towards Seattle, but we are both anxious to get home so who knows. It is possible, though not probable, we'll get into Seattle late Monday.

It's been a long trip, both literally and figuratively and we are both ready to be home, while still looking forward to the drive back. We checked into this old motel (but with Wi-Fi, albeit spotty) and at their suggestion went down the river a bit for some fantastic prime rib and tomato and mozzarella salad. The motel is right on the river and our room has a patio that faces the riverbank -- and despite about 30 other bikers on a group ride staying here, it's rather peaceful.

So, from the "Stagecoach Inn" on the banks of the Salmon River in Salmon, ID -- on the downhill slope home..

Gary and Tony

Easy Rider 2006: Day 10, Bozeman to SLC, the Long Way

We woke up this morning to a clear and cool sky in Bozeman. We'd wanted to hit the road early since it's such a long trip, and as it was we slept a tad later and left a bit after 8am. The downpour from last night had blown over, and the bus that went into the ditch was in the hotel parking lot, so we can assume everything is OK. We've not talked to or heard from any other chorus folk today so we don't know for sure. We took a rather long way to get from Bozeman, arriving at my parent's home a little after 8pm -- 12 hours later, and two miles shy of 500 on the day, with 498 showing on Tony's odometer, going through four states. The Chorus crowd on the buses got off relatively easy, taking I-15 south and only being on the road for 7-8 hours.

It was just the two of us this morning -- Thatcher and Rose were still asleep when we left, and Dan and Ken were dropping off the tour at this point and headed north to Glacier National Park. It was nice just the two of us, we could set our own pace and not have to worry about the rest of the herd. Group riding is a ton of fun, but it's also work, and everything goes by consensus. Tony and I think enough alike that we know when we need to stop and for what, and we even commented that we were riding much more relaxed today, and not pushing ourselves to go as far or as fast as we tend to do in a group setting. The other thing you have to remember is that apparently I'm not allowed, with rare exceptions, to handle the camera -- which is why nearly all the pictures are of me riding, since Tony refuses to let me hold the camera while riding, and I only get it when he sets it down.

We left Bozeman and headed south on US 191, aiming for West Yellowstone and the entrance to Yellowstone Park. We'd dressed in long-sleeve t-shirts but that was too cool, so as we started up the canyon of the Galatin river (where the movie A River Runs Through It was set), we pulled over and put on sweat-shirts and warmer gloves. Our first real stop was at the turn off for Big Sky ski resort, where we stopped for a bathroom break and a drink. I guess we are becoming rather "seasoned". We are looking very weathered, sun burned, and our leathers are covered with bug splats. It seems everyone is curious as to where we are coming from, or where we are going. We have two answers -- the short one and the long one, depending on how much conversation we feel like getting into. We can either answer, "Bozeman to Salt Lake" for the short version for today as an example -- or the long one, which is Seattle to Salt Lake, back up to Pocatello, then to Jackson, over Beartooth to Billings, then to Bozeman, south back to Salt Lake then home to Seattle. Peoples eyes really bug out when we tell them that one. However, we get asked it ALL THE TIME on this trip, and I've been tempted to just launch into the old Hank Snow/Johnny Cash song, "I've Been Everywhere", where the singer runs an entire atlas of cities when asked the question where he's going..."been to Reno, Chicago, Fargo, Minnesota, Buffalo, Toronto, Winslow, Sarasota, Wichita, Tulsa, Ottawa...." and on and on. It does feel that way sometimes.

The ride through the corner of Yellowstone where you don't have to pay was quite nice, with no traffic until we hit the tacky tourist town of West Yellowstone, where we stopped for another quick break and a nice lady asked us "Are you going to Sturgis?" (the big 500,000 person biker rally in South Dakota each summer). I guess we really are looking a bit long in the saddle if we are mistaken for the hard-core bikers who go to Sturgis each year.

We continued south into Idaho, skirting the back side of the Teton's and we stopped for lunch in Ashton. One of the best things about being on the road on the bikes and taking back roads is that McDonalds are more or less hard to find, so you get to eat at local little burger joints with big revolving mugs of root beer for a sign, served outside on a picnic table by a 15 year old girl, and eat real hand cut fries and shakes made with real ice cream on a Kelly Green colored Hamilton Beach three headed mixer. It had warmed up enough for us to ditch the sweatshirts by this time, and we rode in our long-sleeve t-shirts.

We actually backtracked on a 20 mile stretch of road we'd taken earlier in the week from Idaho Falls to Jackson -- only this time we did it in the reverse direction. If you have an atlas, our route has actually been a figure eight, starting and ending in SLC, going to Pocatello, over to Jackson, up to Billings, over to Bozeman, back to SLC -- with the point in the middle of the figure 8 being a 20 mile stretch of Idaho Route 31 between Victor and Swan Valley.

We went south from Swan Valley on US 26 and back into Wyoming's Star Valley on US 89, and despite having grown up in Utah and spent a lot of time traveling the west growing up, I'd never been in the Star Valley. I have some very distant relatives in that part of the country (we Mormon's don't have family trees we have family BUSHES!), as my great, great, great, grandfather had some of his wives stashed up there. We passed a "Gardner Village" service station just after going under the "Worlds Largest Antler Arch" in Afton, Wyoming. The owners son has that "Gardner" jaw, though we didn't stop to find out or chat. It was starting to really get warm at this time and we debated changing clothes, but decided to ride on.

The route took us back into Idaho, then back into Wyoming again, before finally curving into Utah. We went up and over a 7,000 foot pass with some snow still on it, before dropping into Ogden, and stopping for Chinese food in Bountiful, just north of Salt Lake. By this time it was scorching hot and we were ready to rip off the leathers and long-sleeve t-shirts, but decided to spare the SLC traffic the sight of that, and instead we crapped out and took the freeway the rest of the way to my mother's house, feeling like horses returning to the barn knowing fresh hay and oats await. Our hay was a cool shower and the oats were my Mom's chocolate cake.

We get to sleep late, do some laundry and gear up for the final show. Ticket sales aren't great, and I'm hoping the chorus guys will promote the show out at the local bars tonite -- and we'll get some of the last minute types to show up. We've got 20 from my family going, so we'll have a good showing, and I'm going to enjoy watching them watch the show.

Then it's pack up again and head north back home to Seattle. It will be good to get home, most likely exactly two weeks from when we left. Tony and I are both anxious to get back to our home and own bed, our dogs, and our friends back in Seattle.

From my mother's guest room...a tired and sunburned,

Gary and Tony

Easy Rider 2006: Day 9, Billings to Bozeman

It was about as perfect a day on the bikes as you could get -- a nice 220 mile ride from Billings to Bozeman, no freeway, and glorious weather. There is a reason Montana is called the "Big Sky" country -- it's very appropriate. The vistas went on for miles -- both along the prairie and through the small mountain range to drop into Bozeman. It's also very isolated and remote -- not a lot other than the road, the sky, and the horizon ahead.

We'd wanted to do a whole chorus group ride -- the four women in SWC, and the six with SMC. The women are performing tonight in Helena, and we'd mapped our a ride that would take us all for about half the distance before we guys going to Bozeman turned south, and the Women kept on going to Helena. However, the Women, had to leave earlier in order to get to Helena in their bus "Handbasket" AND stop for brunch somewhere along the way at a church, didn't have time to ride with us. However, this is the first time all six of us with the Men's Chorus have ridden together. Tony and I rode with Rose and Thatcher from Pocatello to Jackson, and with Dan and Ken from Jackson to Billings. All six of us met in the hotel portico at 8am and slathered on sun screen and headed north east out of Billings.

There is a lot of heat and reflected radiation from the sky as well as the road when you are on a motorcycle, so you get very tanned and if not careful, very burned. We've gone through two tubes of sun screen already this trip, and despite those efforts, my arm looks like a paint chip from Home Depot, with four very distinct shades of reddish/tan, caused by my varying shirt lengths which are based on temperature and weather. My hands and wrists are very dark since that's what's nearly always exposed. There is a distinct line and a drop in shade where I've pulled up my long-sleeve t-shirt to my mid fore-arm, then another one from where my short-sleeve t-shirt hits, and a final one where my sleeveless t-shirt rides. Tony on the other hand has the worst case of "racoon eyes" I've ever seen, complete with a white "helmet chin strap" stripe. It's quite colorful.

As I said, the ride through the sparsely populated high plains north east of Billings was wonderful -- we dipped in and out of a river bottom, and along high grass covered plains past very small towns and farms, and at a steady 65 mph. Traffic was very light, I don't think we passed a dozen cars. Part of the line followed the old Milwaukee Road railway which was abandoned in 1983. They took up the tracks, but left the signals as well as the old red-brick substations that powered the only electrified mainline in the Western US. I'd wanted to stop and take a few pictures, but when one is traveling with a group of five others you can't really stop easily. Thatcher wanted to stretch the legs on his sport-bike, and decided to take off and push the limits -- the traffic was so light he could really let it rip and says he got it up to 120 mph out on the prairie. We got to Bozeman at about 2p and rested before the afternoon rehearsal and evening performance.

The show in Bozeman was at a small venue on the Montana State University Campus. Once again the small audience was to say the least, overwhelmed I think at the power of the music that the guys sing, not to mention being amongst so many supportive and positive people. Like I've said, its great fun for me to sit out among the audience and watch them. Many, if not all, have no idea what to expect -- the shows in each city are promoted by local non-profits such as the local GLBT group, or AIDS organization, to whom the proceeds of the show are donated. In troupe a couple of hundred tuxedoed guys who launch into wonderful music. It's fun for me to watch these folks fall in love with the guys in the Chorus just like I have, and to watch them be moved -- often to tears -- by the power of the music. I've seen the shows enough to know what's "coming up", and the jokes and skits are amusing, but to the audience they are new and I get the laugh now in watching them burst into hysterics at the antics on stage or the smart-ass lyrics.

There's one more show to go in SLC on Saturday night. We've got 400+ miles ahead of us tomorrow to get to SLC, then we can rest a bit on Saturday before the show that night. We rode home in another Montana evening thundershower, just like last night in Billings -- and we are soaked, and changing to catch a ride to the cast party and BBQ at an estate north west of town that is owned by one of the SMC Board Members.



ADDENDUM: One of the busses taking SMC members out to the cast party tonight went into the ditch after dropping folks off at the house. The rain turned the dirt road to mud and it gave way under the weight of the bus and the bus slipped into the ditch on it's side. No one was on board or injured. They called out a heavy-duty wrecker from Bozeman to come out and pull it upright and out. As of 1240am it's unknown if the bus will be able to make it back to SLC or they'll need to get a replacement one or what.

We'll want to get an early start however, and we'll ride south from Bozeman to West Yellowstone, then down the Snake River in Idaho and into Utah and past Bear Lake and into SLC.

From the Downtown Holiday Inn in Bozeman -- a wet, tired, sunburned and hungry...

Gary and Tony

Easy Rider 2006: Day 8, Billings Show

It was a nice lazy day today. We slept in until almost 9, and went to the breakfast buffet and found that most of the rest of the chorus was still in bed as well. We were both able to catch up on some work voice and e-mails, and then went out to explore the town a bit. Billings reminds me a bit of Spokane, WA -- about the same size, and SLC when I was a kid. First stop was Beartooth Harley-Davidson. A HUGE store -- it rivals anything in Seattle, and I was able to find a part I'd been looking for for some time, and of course we picked up a couple of t-shirts for the collection. We took some time to do some laundry at a coin-op, and wash the bugs off the bikes as well before having a nice lunch in a little sandwich shop in a revitalized part of town near the train station. We chose it because it had a poster for the Chorus show in the window, and we weren't disappointed either.

One of the songs that the men sing is about how the town of Billings was able to stand up to the KKK some ten years ago, and so a local TV station was filming the afternoon rehearsal, and it prompted a few more ticket sales as well. The theater isn't set up for large ensembles like the combined SMC/SWC so they utilized a neighboring church for dressing rooms and walked next door to the there. The show itself was very well received and people appeared quite moved by several of the numbers. It's fun to sit amongst them and listen to the gasps and a few tears, and "oh my's". [Tony writes]: The tears came from many members of the chorus as well. Singing "Not In Our Town" in the real life city that the song is about, made the words that much more emotional. I was singing through my tears and I could hear other members of the chorus sniffling throughout.

And after, there are a lot of "thanks" and hugs from the audience, who in towns like Pocatello and Billings, need the affirmation that the Chorus brings to them. Tonight at the after-show reception, hosted by the local sponsors, we met a nice older gentleman who apparently lives half-way between Billings and Bozeman in a small town. He'd never been around this many gay people in his life and he was very moved by it, being the only gay person in his small town. He shared his own 'Brokeback Mountain' story about falling for another sheepheader one summer, only to leave his wife of 2o plus years to finally come out of the closet. He's going to see the show again tomorrow in Bozeman. This is why the Chorus tours, and why even when the audience is small, and the travel time long, it's all worth it.

We are (or I should say Tony is) packing for tomorrow's ride. We are meeting four other riders at 8am in the hotel parking lot and riding as a group over to Bozeman. The Chorus is going to take I-90 the short 145 miles to Bozeman, and the motorcycle contingent is naturally taking the back roads and going about 200 miles. Only the men are going to Bozeman -- the women split off and are going to Helena. They have named their bus the "Handbasket", so they will be -- say it out loud with me -- "Helena in a Handbasket."

From the 16th floor of the Sheraton Hotel in beautiful downtown Billings Montana (and where despite the menu in the room, room service DOES NOT operate until 11pm).

Gary and Tony

Easy Rider 2006: Day 7, Jackson to Billings

We've been on the road a week, and this is the day we've been looking forward to. I've actually forgotten what day of the week it is too -- apparently it's Tuesday -- or so I'm told, as I haven't read a newspaper in a few days. Without a radio on the motorcycle, both Tony and I tend to "sing" songs in our head -- either favorites or ones that are somewhat apprapro for the moment. One that came to mind today for me was by country-folk singer C.W. McCall, who had a song called "Wolf Creek Pass" in which he describes some mountain road with lots of curves as "one of them looked like a can full of worms -- another one looked like malaria germs..." That would be an accurate description to the wonderful 306 miles we rode today on a road known as the "Beartooth Highway".

Today we teamed up with two other tour riders -- Dan, who sings with Tony, and his partner Ken. Both ride Harley's and are in another group we ride with, the Border Riders. Because we were riding through Teton and Yellowstone Parks on the 4th of July holiday, and given the distance as well, we figured an early start would be best. We were glad to leave the "Snow King Resort" in Jackson -- a sort of "hotel hell", of which if I have time on our off day tomorrow I'll post a list of reasons why you should never stay there, but I digress..We met up with Dan and Ken on Jackson's main street at 7:30am and promptly headed north on US 89, the main road through Teton and into Yellowstone. The sun was coming up and lighting the east face of the Tetons in a wonderful light. It was rather cold, in the mid 50s, so we had to bundle up, but with no traffic (save for an ungodly number of cyclists Lance Armstrong wannabes who were on some tortuous "Tour de Teton" or something who tended to ride in clumps, peddling madly with their heads down watching the asphalt roll away rather than at the gorgeous mountains) we made good time and soon we were paying our $20 to ride through Yellowstone.

The tourists were just beginning to stir as we started through the park, and so were the buffalo. We ran into the midst of the largest bison herd in the US not long into our ride. We were in a high sage plain and there were several thousand grazing along the road for a mile or so. This time I kept hearing Roger Miller sing "you can't roller skate in a buffalo herd..", nor can you ride very fast through one on a motorcycle. We stopped for some breakfast at the south end of Yellowstone Lake, and then hit the road again. We bypassed the main tourist portions of the park -- Old Faithful and the like, so we could make good time towards Beartooth.




Midway through the park we took another break at "Artists' Point" in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and posed for the obligatory picture with the falls in the background. We headed towards the little used North East entrance to the park which sits at the base of the Beartooth. Tony and I had wanted to ride the Beartooth ever since we'd seen it written up as one of the best and most scenic motorcycle roads in the world, and it was the main inspiration for riding the bikes on this tour. Our riding partners Dan and Ken had ridden the Chief Joseph Highway to this end of the park a year ago when the Beartooth was washed out and closed. The Chief Joseph is also highly regarded as a great scenic motorcycle road, and we'll have to come back and try it again.

Just after leaving the park is Cooke City, Montana, which is where the road up to Beartooth Pass starts. We stopped for lunch at a bar that had a dozen Harley's lined up like horses in front of an old west saloon -- so we knew it had to be good. It was a nice rest, and we geared up for the ride up the pass, slathering on sun screen and making sure the ties were secure on the luggage. It had warmed up considerably so we were all riding in t-shirts. The first few miles were of freshly watered gravel -- kind of slick, and slow going. Once we hit real pavement again though it was a great, curvy, twisty, "can full of worms" road up the mountain. We stopped at a couple of scenic overlooks, and as we neared the top we could see the daily mountain thunderheads building up along the top of the pass, so we changed into rain gear. In the picture below, you can see the top of the pass as the "notch" above and to the right of Ken's head (the one in the black head-wrap). It's way up there! It was a good thing too, as the elevation gain had lowered the temperature once again and it was rather chilly.

Beartooth Pass tops out at 10,947 feet, and we (and the bikes) felt for the lack of oxygen and had a bit of difficulty running, not to mention it being a tad cold this high above the tree line with lots of snow still around. The view back down from where we came was stunning, and we could see the road twisting and turning and heading north back into the Yellowstone Basin.

On the other side of the pass, the road had a sickening drop and was more an equivalent to looking like a "malaria germ". It clung to the side of the mountain and twisted its way down and around, taking 20 miles to advance about 3 miles in the direction we needed to head towards Billings while dropping 3,000 feet in elevation.

At the last scenic overlook we stripped out of our still dry rain gear as it was getting warm again (best prevention is one that is never used) and started down the last portion of the pass. Naturally, not 1/4 mile after we left we ran into the remnants of a shower and a few drops on the windshield later we were out of it, and not wet at all.

We dropped down into the town of Red Lodge, another biker friendly town (indeed we saw more bikes than cars on the Beartooth), where the motel advertised "free bike wash" if one stayed. It was a cute town and we'd like to have had time to explore, but having been on the road for almost 10 hours, and because EVERYTHING was closed for the 4th of July, we hightailed it on down the road, watching for cops after being warned by a fellow biker of some nasty speed traps. After about 40 miles of fast running on flat farm land we hit I-90 and decided to ride it the short 15 miles to Billings (Montana's speed limit is 75 on the freeway, so it was a fast run) where we checked into the Sheraton - a good two hours ahead of the main contingent of Chorus folk, who had taken a shorter route and left Jackson 90 minutes later than we did.

We showered and rested, getting the sun screen and grime off, and went to dinner at one of two restaurants open in downtown Billings on the holiday, and we heard from the Chorus members who had made it to town about how they had sung "This Land is Your Land" before a nice crowd at the Old Faithful Inn where they had stopped for lunch, and how they paused for a group picture at one of the Teton overlooks and broke into "The hills are alive..." It reminded Tony and me of when we all posed for a group picture on the steps of St. Paul's cathedral in London when the Chorus sang there several years ago, and how they all broke into "We Shall Overcome.." The picture of that tour is framed and on our stairway to this day and one of our favorite memories. We both wished we could have been in that group picture at the Tetons as well.

Tomorrow is actually an "off" day of sorts -- the show isn't until 730pm and we have the day to rest and not do much of anything (except go to the Harley dealer for Beartooth t-shirts.) Its going to be nice to not get up and drive somewhere tomorrow. The concert in Billings should be good too, and the local PFLAG group has been busy promoting it, so we expect a good crowd.

From the 16th floor of the Billings Sheraton Hotel -- glad we don't have to ride tomorrow..a very tired..

Gary and Tony

Easy Rider 2006: Day 6 - Pocatello to Jackson

(Just a reminder - if you click on a picture, you'll get a larger version in a separate window)

Greetings from Jackson, Wyoming -- a town that ranks high on the tacky tourist scale. It's in a very lovely setting, high in the Teton Valley, with mountains and rivers galore -- exceeded in number by t-shirt shops, ice cream stands, and "trinket" outlets. The universal reaction among many we are traveling with is "its a big mall!", albeit one with staged gunfights in the town square and stage-coach rides, and all within spitting distance of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Needless to say it attracts tourists by the veritable bus load, not to mention RV, and yes, motorcycle riders. This place is beginning to look like a mini motorcycle rally town -- like Sturgis or Daytona during Bike Week. Most of the riders are coming from the Western Harley Owners Group rally in Billings that ended yesterday, and I'd bet motorcycles came close to outnumbering cars at times today.

We got a very early start this morning, meeting up with fellow Chorus folk, Thatcher and his girlfriend Rose (Thatcher is one of the token straight guys in the Chorus, and Rose is the costumer). Both of them have been riding the tour, but they skipped the initial ride to SLC and met up with the Chorus in Pocatello. We showed them the route we planned to ride and they wanted to ride with us, so we all met up at 715am in the hotel parking lot.

We headed north east out of Pocatello on US 91, reversing the route we took down from Blackfoot two days earlier. After Blackfoot it was all new however, and once we left Twin Falls on US 26 we started climbing up into the Mountains. After crossing the Snake River, we turned east on Idaho 23, and climbed up and over Teton Pass before dropping down into the Old West town of Jackson. It was another glorious morning for a ride -- and in fact it was cool enough to cause me to switch to a long-sleeve t-shirt. There was a fair amount of west bound traffic too -- a harbinger of what I expect we'll run into in Yellowstone Park over the 4th of July Holiday.

We got to Jackson in good time, about 1130, a good two hours ahead of the Chorus. The hotel rooms were not ready so we grabbed lunch at the "Million Dollar Cowboy Bar" -- Buffalo Burgers all around. Once the rooms were ready after 3p, we freshened up a bit and rode out to Teton Village to take the Jackson Hole Ski Resort tram up to the top of 10,000 foot Rendezvous Peak. Tony and I both realized we'd like to ski Jackson sometime, and were sad to see that they are closing their famous Tram this fall and we'll never get a chance to ride it skiing. The view of the Teton valley was spectacular, and one couldn't see a single tacky tourist in a fanny pack or a t-shirt/polished rock/stuffed animal shop, and the grazing Moose made you forget for a moment you were close to the worlds largest outdoor mall.

We had a nice quiet dinner at a great sushi place that made dumplings that reminded us of Tony's mom's homemade ones, and now we've retired to the room for a good nights rest. We are up early for what promises to be the best day of riding yet - through Grand Teton and Yellowstone Parks, and up and over the Beartooth Highway to Billings, Montana. We should have a group of four to six other chorus folks on this ride, all leaving at this time with us. The idea of riding over Beartooth is what prompted the whole idea of riding this trip to begin with, and we want to get out of Jackson and across the Parks before the tourists wake up and start up their lumbering mobile homes.

From an overpriced, underutilized hotel in Jackson, WY..

Tony and Gary

Easy Rider 2006: Day 5, SLC to Pocatello

203 miles, and only 2 on the Freeway -- and that was by accident! Actually, it was part of that grand conspiracy to force people to take the super slab and avoid the side roads, and this time we fell for it. Heading north out of Bountiful, UT, US 89 takes a jog to the east, but the obvious road continues forward and directly and WITHOUT AN OPTION -- on to the damned Interstate. We'd mapped out and planned a route with NO Interstate, and by golly we were going to stick to it. We took the next exit and went back to US 89 and continued on our way.

We got up early and loaded up after doing laundry at Mom's and resting for a couple of days. We headed north out of SLC on US 89, after swinging by the Chorus' hotel and making the guys and gals envious of our mode of transportation. I love traveling early on Sunday's -- there's no traffic, the temperatures are cool, and the words of Kris Kristoffeerson's "Sunday Mornin' Coming Down" keep running through my head "..I watched a small kid playing with a can that he was kicking, then I walked across the street and caught the Sunday smell of someone's frying chicken...and somewhere far away a lonely bell was ringing, and it echoed through the canyons like the disappearing dreams of yesterday..." We'd hear singing as we passed churches, and see fresh scrubbed Mormon boys in white shirts walking late to Church... Tony was playing count the Ward Houses (Mormon Churches) along the route, but in Davis County he ran out of numbers...

We went up through the suburbs of SLC through Davis and Weber Counties -- I'm awed by how much things have changed, but here and there are little touches of things I remember from growing up in Utah and working in the Bountiful, Farmington, Centerville and Ogden. A few little businesses from my day remain here and there, a familiar neon sign or too -- but much of it has changed beyond recognition. Such is the pace of life after some 24 years.
After Ogden we stuck to the old highway as it clung to the mountains on the east side of the valley, and at Brigham City, we kept going on State roads up the back way to Logan, and then picked up US 91 outside of Logan and rode into Preston, Idaho for lunch. Preston is the setting for the movie "Napoleon Dynamite" -- or so we've been told, as neither of us has seen it, and we've been advised to rent it immediately and repeatedly. We stopped for lunch at a local burger joint, slathered on more sun screen and hit the road once more. It had been a pleasant ride up to that point -- very little traffic on a Sunday morning, and a nice cool temperature.

The Chorus, having sung at a SLC Church that morning, was a few hours behind us, but catching up fast as they were on the super slab of I-15 the whole way. As it was, we followed US 91 up the same way we had come down on Friday, past the small semi-abandoned towns that died when the Interstate came through. Past old drive in theaters and interesting old motels. I'd once toyed with the idea of driving all over the west at night and compiling a coffee table book of old neon signs -- seeing so many broken old ones now makes me wish I had.














This time we took the side roads the ENTIRE way to Pocatello, and got to our hotel by 230 -- well before the afternoon rehearsal and time to rest for a bit. Tony's tux was VERY wrinkled, so he ironed it, and realized that it would wrinkle again if he folded it, forcing him to ride to the show on his bike in his Tux -- he turned a few heads in Pocatello on the way.

The performance tonight was great, and well received by the Pocatello audience. The Hall was beautiful, though only about 1/3 full. The audience very appreciative, and we mingled and chatted for a long time after. Many of the folks in the Chorus joined the tour here in Pocatello, including a number of others on motorcycles, and we are planning several group rides for the next couple of segments. Tomorrow, we are up early to ride over Teton Pass into Jackson, Wyoming.

From the Ameri-Tel Inn (sounds like a phone company doesn't it?) in Pocatello --

Gary and Tony

Easy Rider 2006: Day Four -- SLC

Last night, just before bed, we were downstairs with Mom and Ron watching television when we heard the rain start. By the time we came upstairs to take a look at the rain, it had changed from rain to hail stones. Coupled with some thunder and lightening, it made for an interesting way to end our first night in Salt Lake City.

Surprisingly, we awoke to a beautiful morning and had breakfast before heading over to the Harley Davidson dealer to drop the bikes off for a tune up. Since we were dropping the bikes off at 9am and had no plans until later tonight, I bought tickets to a 10:30am showing of “Superman Returns” at a local movie theatre. Mom and Ron followed us to the dealership and then the four of us stopped by Kinko’s to make 700 copies of the SLC Mayor’s proclamation announcing that Saturday July 8th was to be “Seattle Men’s Chorus and Seattle Women’s Chorus Day” in honor of our last tour stop before heading to the movie.

“Superman Returns” was a good movie and we didn’t realize that it was 2 hours and 45 minutes long. So after the film, we were READY for lunch. We ate at an Applebee’s at the Gateway Mall where we saw the movie and half way through our meal I noticed Dennis Coleman walking by outside. I ran out and we talked and when I mentioned we were inside having lunch with Gary’s parents, he wanted to come in and say hello.

We saw a few other chorus folks in the restaurant and around at the mall before we headed back to the dealership to pick up the bikes. After we did that, Gary and I headed back to the mall where I bought a new watch (I lost my watch after laying it on my luggage to put on some sunscreen in Clifton Idaho -- but then I headed off on the motorcycle without putting the watch back on). While at the mall, I found the PERFECT shirt for the Reception hosted by Salt Lake Men’s Choir tonight. The shirt says simply “I (Heart) LOVE Mormon Boys”.

After a short afternoon nap, Gary and I hopped in Mom and Ron’s Range Rover and headed for the reception at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center. It was a very nice evening where the SL Men’s Choir performed 5 or 6 songs for us, and then SWC, Sensible Shoes and SMC each sang one song before we joined together to perform “This Land is OUR Land” for the guys in Salt Lake.

While all this was going on, Gary worked with the local gay and lesbian bars along with the ACFEA guides and bus drivers to coordinate an after reception bar crawl. Gary was able to arrange free admission for any member of SMC and SWC at both the Trapp and Trapp Door and $2 admission into the women’s bar “Paper Moon” where Sensible Shoes performed “Sweet Dreams” for the people at the bar.

Gary and I got back to his parents house around 11:00pm and I started our last batch of laundry and packed so we can be ready to go in the morning. While the choruses head off to two churches to perform a small selection of songs, Gary and I will be heading back to Pocatello on the back roads through Northern Utah and Southern Idaho. Tomorrow night at 7:30pm, we open our tour with our performance in Pocatello.

From our bedroom in Gary’s parents house…

Tony and Gary