Ride Report - Hampton Boys do it again!

[SupraSabre]

Today is our 3rd day of our Montana ride.
1st day was Brett getting to my house and Justin getting to Bobby's house.

2nd day was Brett and I heading to meet Bobby & Justin in Idaho Falls. Brett and I did 471 miles, Bobby & Justin did about 425 miles. We got there 30 minutes before they did.

Nothing exciting.

Today, starting off in Idaho Falls, we left for Jackson WY around 10am. Once in Jackson, we took a break and gassed up.

Then on to Yellowstone NP. Once in the park, we found we were too late for one restaurant and too early for another, so we settled for the Gereral store.

Off we went, around the north end of Yellowstone Lake, and finally out the East Gate and on to Cody.

Two things happened on this part of the trip. First, as we were climbing a steep hill, Bobby said his bike was acting up. Justin and I figured it was probably Vapor Lock, so we opened the gas cap and I dumped in two ounces of Seafoam, then I jumped on the bike, took it back down the hill, we just came up, turned around and rode it back up. No more problems with that.

Then we were getting ready to leave the General Store, after eating and I looked at where Brett had just been and I could see liquid coming out of the back, from???

Justin jumped down to look. We thought it was gas, at first, but found out it was water (not coolant). Turns out Brett had his water line to his Camelback, it was open and leaking. Lol

Other than that, it was a good ride and all four ST1300s ran good.

Tomorrow, we'll be heading up Chief Joseph Hwy and the to Beartooth Pass and stop in Red Lodge to gas up and get something to eat.

Then turn around and head back over Beartooth Pass and on back to north end of Yellowstone. Once to US89, we'll head up to I90 and west the Bozeman for the night.

 

[ToddC]

How far west are you going Bob?

 

[hondawayne]

Better get some pictures to support this trip!

 

[SupraSabre]

Well, until I get back, the app is not letting me add pictures. Probably something to do with settings.

We made up Chief Joseph Hwy. At the end was CONSTRUCTION!!!! Justin and I had taken off from thr other two boys and when we hit the construction, Brett, came in right behind us. And after sitting for a couple more minutes, I decided to go back and check on Bobby. I got about two miles down the road when he was coming up.
Once on Hwy 212, we took a quick break and then headed up Beartooth Pass. It wasn't to busy, but the winds were blowing and the temp was around the upper 50°s. We rode into Red Lodge to gas up and the boys suggested we just eat there at the gas station.
We got back on the bikes and headed back the way we came. Back up Beartooth Pass. Now, how many of you ever did both ways the same day?

We continued west thru Yellowstone and the Bison. We had one walking on the road, going the opposite direction. I was about 10 feet from it, but it was paying us, no mind.

At one point, we got stuck behind a driver that was going 10 to 15 under the 45mph speed limit. I could only take so much of that and passed them. The boys soon followed.

We stopped at the Northwest corner of the park, and took a break. We decided the break was over, when it started raining on us.

We left, going north and the rain continued until we got up to I90. With it stopped, we were able to almost get into Bozeman, before it started, again.

We were able to pull in , under the entrance to the hotel. Where we were able to unpack our gear.

 

[SupraSabre]

I just made it back an hour ago. 3,616 miles total.

I'll start where I left off, add some pictures and do a as day report.

 

[the Ferret]

Great place to ride. Beartooth is my wife's favorite road in the whole country, followed by Going to the Sun Rd

 

[SupraSabre]

How far west are you going Bob?

Hey Todd, I did think of you when we were going thru Spokane, but we had a hotel in Umatilla OR, and we had over 400 miles to do that day!

 

[SupraSabre]

Okay, here it goes! The start and first three days:

HamSTOC 2025 (the boys came up with this...LOL)

Left to right: Brett (36), Justin (48), Bobby (50), Bob (Dad - OLD)





The bikes: (A true STOC Event! LOL )

Bob : 2004 75186 miles (after the ride)
Bobby : 2005 about 17,000 miles but not sure. The speedometer was missing when I got it.
Justin : 2005 about 191,000 miles this was my first ST1300, that I put over 174.3K miles on it, before selling it to him in 2013.
Brett : 2010 About 105,000 miles This was my 2010, bought in 2013 with unknown miles. I put over 100K on it, myself, before selling it to Brett a year ago last April.

Let’s see, where to start.

How about 2014, where it really started (taken from my 2014 ride report):

Being flexible has never been one of my better attributes, and my plans were all set for Northern California in September to attend the WeSTOC Event in Fortuna California. I already had all my reservations made and everything!

Then one day, Big Bro calls and says he wants to ride out to Colorado Springs to see his youngest son and family, which included his new granddaughter, which he hadn’t seen yet. So I thought for a moment and then said, why not, if he could wait until September (this was like in March) to make the ride. So he said that that sounds pretty good.

Within a day or two, my #2 son (Justin) calls to talk about meeting me in Fortuna and wanted to know my plans. We’ll I told him, that it looks like I’ll be riding out to Colorado Springs with Uncle Dave instead. The phone went silent and so I said, would you be interested in going? I know, what a dumb question!

Of course he says "Yes", and then asks if I had said anything to his brother, Bobby? "Nope, last I heard Bobby was going to sell his Triumph Sprint ST." So Justin calls Bobby, and Bobby wants to go too. Okay, so how do I plan a ride without asking Brett to join us? Now I had all three boys interested in going.

Now, how this ride started:

A number of months back, my oldest son, Bobby, said that we needed to do another ride, like we did in 2014. After all, dad, is not getting any younger.

We discussed it and decided, since Bobby, Justin and Brett, (I’m retired!) had to schedule time off work and August 5th was perfect. Of course, setting it up fell to me, so I started playing around with some roads. And since, I was just in Montana last fall at one of my ST Owner’s WeSTOC rides and became familiar with several roads that would be great riding, and since we were in the area, both Yellowstone NP & Glacier NP would be easy targets!

But it wasn’t all that easy. Because Bobby’s ST1300 had sat for years before I picked it up 5 or 6 years ago, then a month or so later, gave it to him in “pieces”, and all though I had ridden it 200 miles a couple of years ago, I did not feel comfortable him riding it on a long trip. I figured, since Chris and I were heading up in late May for his daughter’s High School graduation, I would haul my 2004 up to him, and let him ride it.

When I was taking the bike off of my trailer, I could smell what smelled like coolant from it. NOT GOOD! Two days later, I woke up, thinking I needed to work on his bike! I Flushed the clutch, and brakes and a few other things. In two and a half days, I was able to get his bike as ready as possible. And obviously I did good! He was able to do the 1,300 miles he rode, with only one minor issue!



Day One (Aug 4): Brett coming up I15, from Murrieta, CA, to my place. Besides some hot temps (105F), he rode about 435 miles.

Brett arriving at my place in Cedar City Utah.



As for Justin, because he had his girlfriend and her kids, he had to trailer his bike to Kalispell. He bought a cheap trailer, modified it to work for his bike and I guess he didn’t have any real issues with it.



Day Two (Aug 5): meet in Idaho Falls, Brett and I coming up from Cedar City, Utah, and Bobby & Justin coming down from Bobby’s in Kalispell, Montana. We all met at a Holiday Inn. One that Chris and I stop at, anytime we are heading up to Bobby’s.

Brett’s & My ride would be straight up I15. We left around 9AM, Our first stop was Maverik gas station in Fillmore UT, around 104 miles. Our next stop was Tremonton UT, around 220 miles. We continued up I15 into Idaho and rode up to our off ramp where the hotel was, about 147 miles.

Total miles for our day were 471.

In the meantime, Bobby and Justin were coming down I15 and arrived about 30 minutes after we did.

Total miles for them were about 425.



Day Three (Aug 6): Up early, breakfast at the Hotel restaurant, load the bikes and off we went to Jackson Wyoming. The path we took was to catch Hwy US26 taking Hwy 31 to Victor, then Hwy 22, running into US191 and to Jackson.



While climbing a steep hill on Hwy22, Bobby informed us that his bike was hesitating. Justin and I had him open the gas cap, I poured in 2 oz of Seafoam, then I rode his bike back down the hill and back up and it did fine. We figured it was a vapor lock and by opening the gas cap, it took care of it. Bobby did complain one more time of the bike acting that way, but it wasn’t near as bad and we didn’t have to stop because of it.



In Jackson we found a gas station to fill up and shade to take a break in.



We then followed US191 north through Teton NP



and then into Yellowstone. Just as we were getting close to Yellowstone Lake, we stopped to look for something to eat. Everything, but the General Store was closed, so we settled for a quick bite there.
As we were leaving, I saw a large puddle of liquid coming from Brett’s bike. At first, we were afraid of it being gas. As Justin got down to where it was leaking, we discovered it was water, from his saddlebag, because he left the valve open to his Camelback.

We continued through the park towards Cody and that required us to go around the north side of Yellowstone Lake. That’s a big Lake! We did have to take a couple of minor breaks, due to camera chips filling up. As we left Yellowstone and before Cody, we found a nice place to stop. We were there for about 30 minutes or so and then off to Cody.



We arrived at Cody’s Comfort Inn at around 7:30PM. We got settled in our rooms and then went for some dinner. An older joint not too far from our hotel. While sitting there, waiting for our food, we saw two deer just outside munching in the plants next to the parking lot.



We then headed back to our rooms and called it a day!

We did about 280 miles.

More to come...

 

[Obo]

Holiday Inn? Cody's Comfort Inn?

Figured you'd be staying at Hampton Inns....

 

[SupraSabre]

Holiday Inn? Cody's Comfort Inn?

Figured you'd be staying at Hampton Inns....

They won't give me a discount, so I don't bother!

 

[SupraSabre]

Day Four (Aug 7): Today was going to be the longest and hardest ride of the trip.

We were all ready around 8AM and headed for breakfast at the hotel (an old saloon), then back to load the bikes and off we went. First stop a ½ block away for gas.

Then north, out of town via Hwy 120. Eighteen miles up the road to Chief Joseph Hwy. This highway is one worth taking.



Back in 2016, when Dave and I were in Cody, we decided to ride back through Yellowstone and hit Beartooth Pass from that direction. As we rode Hwy 212, we passed the sign for Chief Joseph Hwy, and missed it altogether. Then last year as I was on my way to Billings for WeSTOC, I saw the sign off Hwy 120, and decided to go up it. But I thought I was on the east side of Beartooth Pass. I found I wasn’t, so up the pass I went. Then when I was leaving WeSTOC, Drew, one of the guys I was riding with at WeSTOC, wanted to ride up Chief Joseph Hwy as we were leaving and also ride back through Yellowstone. So, I rode up it, twice. The second time was as good as the first time, and this time, with the boys, was just as good.

Now when it comes to roads like this, I have no problem running them a little on the fast side. But I was a little surprised when Justin decided I was going too slow for him and he passed me. The challenge was on. I’m sure he thought he would be able to leave me behind. But I fooled him and stayed with him the whole way, right to the construction site that had stopped traffic a few miles before Hwy 212. Somehow, Justin and I were first in line. Not long after we stopped, we could hear Brett, about 5 vehicles behind. We told him to come up with us. After a few more minutes, I decided to go back and find Bobby. I did a U Turn and started back. I only went a mile or two and I could see Bobby coming, so we both went back to the construction site and joined Justin and Brett.



But this was ONLY the beginning of the ride. Our next challenge will be Beartooth Pass. I warned the boys to be careful going up it. I also thought we would run into more traffic than we did. But there was still a lot of it going and coming. Once we got to the Pass, 10,947 feet up, the pull off pad was empty.





It then filled up as we were there. Including one group we talked briefly to and the one guy was telling us his 74 yr old dad was “driving” a three wheeler (with a steering wheel) with them. See boys, your old Dad ain’t off, as bad as you think! LOL



We then took off for the downside of the pass and off to Red Lodge we went. And although Justin and I didn’t think we were hot rodding it that much, we had to pull off and wait for the other two boys. Brett showed up first and then a long wait for Bobby.

We all rode into Red Lodge and stopped at the gas station at the end of town. The boys decided that eating there would be fine. After gassing up and eating, we took off for Beartooth Pass again. Only this time, from the East. Due to the weather getting nastier and some folks we had talked to when riding through Yellowstone, I was afraid of getting rain, hail or snow. But it was cold, but the bad part was the wind!

As we were going through the turns, the wind would catch you and you had to fight it to stay in your lane. It was pretty wicked! We managed to get back to the pass, but this time we didn’t stop, we kept going for quite a distance. We continued to ride until the town of Cooke City, just before the East Gate of Yellowstone.



We took a bit of a break at that point, but we were soon on our way again into Yellowstone.

I told the boys that in this part of the park is where you’ll see the Bisons. And sure enough the herds were there. At one point the vehicles in front of us, came to a stop and a Bison was walking on the opposite side of the road. Thank goodness it was just walking and it walked right past us.


Yep, that's me on the bike.

We continued and there were a lot of them out in the area, but not that close to the road, as that one. Bobby needed to put in a new chip in his camera, so we stopped at a paved pull out. Some guy from CA, parked just in front of us, asked if he would like to take our picture, so we said sure, and he got us with our helmets on and it turned out to be a good group picture.



We continued past Tower Junction and on to Mammoth. It was pretty non eventful, other than I got tired of following these two cars that were traveling 10 to 20 miles an hour less, than what the speed limit was. I found a good place to pass and once the boys could safely pass, they did too. That helped quicken our pace and getting into Mammoth, there were a lot of vehicles ALL over the place. The boys found a open parking spot and I found one near them, and I went in to get something small to eat and drink while they just relaxed a bit. That was until the rain started.

It was time to go and we headed north, like it seemed everyone else in the park did too. As we continued heading north, it continued to rain on us. It wasn’t a hard rain, just consistent. We took US89 north to I90, then took it west to the Country Inn & Suites in Bozeman, Montana.



The rain had lighten up once we got near the Freeway, but then a few miles before Bozeman, it started raining on us again. As we pulled into our hotel, we were able to park under the entrance and unload the bikes. Then Justin found a good spot to park the bikes for the night, just a few yards away. When I pulled my bike over to the parking the rain had stopped and I was able to get my cover on it. Of course, the rain wasn’t over just yet. As we headed next door for dinner, it was raining again!

We rode 326 miles for the day.

 

[SupraSabre]

Day Five (Aug 8): Originally, I had planned a longer ride back to Kalispell, but we were all tired and the wind was blowing pretty good and the temps had dropped to the upper 50Fs, so we decided to just make a as straight line to Kalispell as possible.



We had to catch I90 for about 30 miles, then exit at US287. At one point on US287, we stopped for gas and a break, then continued on US287 up to Helena MT. There we had to work our way thru the city. We could see construction up ahead on US12, and decided to take a route to get us around the construction. I was just following my GPS, telling me to make a right turn, when everyone told me I took a wrong turn. As I made another turn to correct us, I could see Brett already at the street we’ll be turning. We caught up to him, when he was caught at a light and we were back on US12, taking it out of the city.

We continued on US12, through some really nice valleys and mountains. 30 miles down the road, in Avon, we caught Hwy 141. It was also though valleys and mountains and it was even COLDER and the winds were picking up! We stayed on Hwy141 for another 30+ miles to Hwy200, were we turned west for another 23 miles to Hwy83. Somewhere along this route, I found a paved pullout, so we stopped for a quick break. I grabbed my rain coat and put it on, so I could warm up a bit.



Once on Hwy83, I was informed by Bobby, that they have a lot of deer hits along this route. Since his fire department often comes out here, due to deer hits, I figured we better keep our eyes pealed and watch out for them. Well, we made it to the end of Hwy83 without any sightings at all. (The very next day, Bobby got a call from one of his BILs, that lives in the area. One of his friend’s dads got nailed broadsided by a deer on that section of Hwy83. Bobby checked on it and said that the guy, got a broken leg from it.)

Hwy 83 was 91 miles and by the time we got to the next Hwy (36), we were only 17 miles from Bobby’s home in Kalispell. We decided that we’d just get there, then worry about eating after we got our gear off.

We made it to Bobby’s workshop by avoiding some construction near his home, so we took the back route to his home.



Once there we jumped into his SUV and went down town to eat.



Justin's girlfriend & her two kids joined us for the meal.

We had traveled 302 miles.

 

[SupraSabre]

Day Six (Aug 9): This was the day for us to ride through the east gate of Glacier NP. Well, being flexible is a good thing.

Justin wanted to drive through with his girl friend and her two kids. Bobby and his wife decided they were going to stay home and wait for their daughter to come home from her 2 week camping trip, she had take with one of her girlfriends, out to Oregon. I decided I was fighting a cold and didn’t want to go anywhere. And Brett decided he was going to ride his motorcycle up thru the park.

Justin, the night before had gotten tickets to enter thru the West gate (East gate like we were going to do, did not require the “Enter Tickets”, just your Park Pass). Before Bobby decided to stay home, he also got a ticket for the West Gate, so Brett got himself one too.

Justin and his group took off and did their thing. Brett took off and actually did the opposite direction that “we” were going to do. He had a great time, so I’m glad he went. All the pictures are what he took.



Bobby and his wife went looking for garage sales, and I was there doing my laundry!





Brett taking off.





Brett said at one point, he did run into his brother, Justin and Justin's group.



So, except for Brett, nobody else rode that day.

Brett did about 212 miles for the day.

And this pretty much ended the “Main Ride” of the four of us.

By this time, both Bobby & Justin had ridden about 1,300 miles each. I had ridded about 1,770 miles and Brett had ridden about 2,200 miles.

Justin trailered his bike back with the GF & kids, back to Oregon, while Brett and I continued thru more states.

 

[SupraSabre]

Day Seven (Aug 10): Main Ride was over, it’s just Brett and I taking the Long Way to our homes.

Taking the day off before was the right ticket for me. It helped me recover and get over the crud, I had been fighting for the last several days.

We were headed for Hwy2. That would lead us into the upper part of Idaho, catch US95 down through Coeur d’Alene to I90. On I90 we went southwest through Spokane, WA and caught US395 to Umatilla, OR. Where we would stay at the Quality Inn.



Brett and I got our bikes loaded and we left Bobby’s around 9AM. The ride was really nice once we got past the Sunday drivers. The road was pretty much open, after that, until we hit US95 south. That part of Montana was beautiful and the roads were not bad at all. Of course we would have to slow down in towns, but the speed limit was 70MPH all the way to Idaho, where it dropped to 65MPH. We had made good time up to that point.

Once on US95 the roads were pretty straight and there was more traffic, which slowed our progression. Just north of Sandpoint Idaho, we stopped at a Wendy’s for lunch. I took a picture of our bikes, up against a field of wildflowers, and after posting it on the website of our trip pictures, Justin was looking at it, and they had stopped at the same exact place to eat! They were about an hour behind us. This is also where I started looking at Brett’s rear tire and told him it was getting pretty thin.



We continued our way down, and right after we got past the lake and bridges, just south, Brett needed to stop to take care of a problem he had with his nose. Once that was done, we rode down through Coeur d’Alene to I90. It was nice getting back on the freeway, since it was just hot enough to make those stop lights a real PIA.

As we got to Ritzville, WA, we stopped and took another break, just before moving on to US395 south.



As we got closer to Oregon, US395 got a little confusing, I was sure glad I got my ZUMO XT2 software & Maps fixed the day before Brett had gotten to my house! It helped me figure out where we were going, pretty well, except for the times the maps disappeared altogether. I need to look into that.

US395 took us to Umatilla OR and where we would stay the night at the Comfort Inn. When we were getting ready to drag all of our gear in, when I asked where the elevator was, the front desk guy, said, oh, let me put you on the first floor. So, he changed our room to the first floor, and what was so great about that was we could park almost to the back, sliding door of the room!



Once we were settled in, we decided to look for some dinner. Close by was a “Family Restaurant”, within walking distance and as hot as it was, we took to the shade as much as possible. The Family Restaurant turned out to be a bar, with an expanded eating area for families. Brett and I just took a round table by the bar and ordered a pizza.



BTW, that's 7Up I'm drinking!

We filled ourselves with the pizza and then walked down farther to a gas station/store, and picked up a couple of items for the evening.

We traveled about 428 miles.

 

[SThammer]

Day Six (Aug 9): This was the day for us to ride through the east gate of Glacier NP. Well, being flexible is a good thing.

Justin wanted to drive through with his girl friend and her two kids. Bobby and his wife decided they were going to stay home and wait for their daughter to come home from her 2 week camping trip, she had take with one of her girlfriends, out to Oregon. I decided I was fighting a cold and didn’t want to go anywhere. And Brett decided he was going to ride his motorcycle up thru the park.

Justin, the night before had gotten tickets to enter thru the West gate (East gate like we were going to do, did not require the “Enter Tickets”, just your Park Pass). Before Bobby decided to stay home, he also got a ticket for the West Gate, so Brett got himself one too.

Justin and his group took off and did their thing. Brett took off and actually did the opposite direction that “we” were going to do. He had a great time, so I’m glad he went. All the pictures are what he took.



Bobby and his wife went looking for garage sales, and I was there doing my laundry!





Brett taking off.





Brett said at one point, he did run into his brother, Justin and Justin's group.



So, except for Brett, nobody else rode that day.

Brett did about 212 miles for the day.

And this pretty much ended the “Main Ride” of the four of us.

By this time, both Bobby & Justin had ridden about 1,300 miles each. I had ridded about 1,770 miles and Brett had ridden about 2,200 miles.

Justin trailered his bike back with the GF & kids, back to Oregon, while Brett and I continued thru more states.

This also where a rogue cow tried to take me out.

 

[SupraSabre]

This also where a rogue cow tried to take me out.

Brett, Feel free to add to the reports of any of the days!

 

[SupraSabre]

Day Eight (Aug 11): We would ride down US730 to I84 and go west, to Portland. Then up I205/I5 to US30 and west to Astoria, Oregon. From there it’s south on US101 to Lincoln City, OR.



After we got up and dressed, we went to the “kitchen” area to see what they had for “Breakfast”. It was so great; I can’t even remember what we had! It really wasn’t that great. Anyway, we went back to the room and started loading up the bikes. As I was finishing up, I started looking for my “main set of keys”. I must have looked around, and including, ripping off the stuff on my bike looking for them! At last, I found them, right where I put them, in my jean’s left front pocket, under my riding pants!

We stopped at the gas station on the corner and filled up, then took off on US730, heading west. US730 runs into I84, which follows the Columbia River. I have been wanting to ride this for the longest time!

Not long after we got on to I84, I decided I needed to stop and adjust my two gear bags. The lower bag was hanging off to one side too much. I saw that there was a rest stop, not too far away, so we stopped there and I got my gear situated and off we went. Following the river was interesting, and I even saw a tour boat, belonging to the company that Chris’s Dad took us on going up the Mississippi River, the year before. When I got home, we got a flyer from them, and I took a picture of the boat and sent it to Brett.



We continued for about 97 miles and decided we needed a break, so we got off at Hood River. We gassed up and had something to eat and drink. We were there for about 30 minutes. Back on the I84, and closing in on Portland, we saw I205 north and took that, taking us into Washington State. I205, later merges with I5. We stayed on I5 until we could get off, take a couple of small (Washington 432, 433) highways on over to US30. US30 was mostly through some hills and small towns and areas, where I was watching out for any deer going across the road, but we never saw any. We stopped in the town of Clatskanie, OR to gas up and get something to eat. We were there for a good 45 minutes or so. Continuing on US30, got us to the Northeast part of Astoria, where we found a nice spot to park and get off the bikes again. This was right on the Columbia River and they had a few ships moored and a trolley rails running through.



They also had a couple of signs about; Kindergarten Cop, Goonies, and a few other movies that had been made in Astoria.



After the break, we continued into town to find US101, that would have us heading south. Going through town was an adventure, all it’s own. The main road we were on turns into US101, after the bridge that spans across the Columbia River, north to Washington. At first Brett wanted to go over it, but I told him it was a VERY LONG bridge and with the winds blowing like it was, would probably be a bit much on the motorcycles. So, I was able to talk him out of it.

Besides, US101 would take us over another very long bridge, but thank goodness, it was not as high up as that other one! As we continued on, we hit some construction, so we checked our GPSs and took a side road to avoid it. We weren’t sure if we saved time or not, but it got us off that area.

To get from town to town, there were several wooded areas that we had to ride through, some nice and windy. As long as we could pass the slower vehicles, we were able to enjoy those parts of US101.

We took another break in Rockaway Beach.



Due to the time (around 5PM), we didn’t stop at the Tillamook Air Museum, that I would have like to have done. Instead, we just continued south, enjoying the fun roads when we came to them!

As we entered Lincoln City, we found our hotel for the night, Palace Inn & Suites.



When I was checking the gal told me we could park, right there, at the entrance of the hotel, under the Cover they had. That made it really nice! Otherwise, we would have woken up to wet bikes!



I don’t even remember what we did for dinner that night.

We traveled about 399 miles for the day.

 

[SupraSabre]

Day Nine (Aug 12): We would ride down US101 to Crescent City, CA



We got up, dressed and hit the “Morning Breakfast” at the hotel. Not very exciting at all. Because we were able to park under the entrance, our bikes were not wet at all. We loaded up and took off.

We came across a Walmart and I wanted to see if I could find something to keep me a little warmer and something for my head because of the helmet on the left side was irritating my left ear. It was getting pretty sore by then. Because their “Winter” stock was not in yet, I picked up a light hunting shirt and a bright orange type beanie, which was way too thick and didn’t work at all. At least the shirt helped a little. That’s what I get for forgetting my warmer riding shirt.

When we got to Gold’s Beach, we crossed the bridge and then stopped and took a break.



There was a little tourist store so we went in to check it out.



This is also where folks take the Jet Boat tours up the Roque River.



We continued on down US101, crossing into CA. We had to ride through the town of Crescent City to get to our hotel, which was the same hotel I had stayed in back in 2017, after I had left the Portland area and left my brother Dave in the hospital with a bad infection, with my son, Justin, watching over him until his wife was able to drive up, from Stockton to pick Dave and his motorcycle up.



I took this picture back in 2017....

We got checked in and rode the bikes, behind the building, where we could see the bikes from our room. Also, they were having a wedding shower at the hotel, with a large group, so it was better for us to park in the back. We unloaded what we needed and then looked for some seafood restaurant, which was across the highway from the hotel.

After finishing dinner, we walked around the marina and looked at the different fishing boats moored.



Then it was back to the room.

We rode 264 miles for the day!

 

[SupraSabre]

Day Ten (Aug 13): We planned to ride down US101, thru the “Avenue of the Giants”, then cut over to CA Highway 1 and then make our way to Petaluma, CA

I thought it would be the same routine: get up, dressed and hit the “Morning Breakfast” at the hotel. BUT NO!

After leaving Bobby’s on the 10th, I was noticing that Brett’s rear tire was getting pretty thin. Well, I woke up at 4:15AM with a very strong thought that we needed to replace his rear tire, NOW!

After Brett got dressed, I told him that we need to get his tire replaced. Brett looked at his phone and found the first bike shop that would open the earliest. Which was 8AM and since it was only 7AM, we went down to breakfast, then got packed up and just about ready to leave.



Brett called the guy (Gary’s Motorcycle Repair) and told him the size we needed was 170/60-17, which he got an answer back that he did not have that size. I told Brett that we could use a 180/55-17, so Brett passed that on to Gary, and he said he would have to go out and check to see if he had that size and for Brett to call back in 10 minutes.

We finished up loading up the bikes and Brett called Gary back, and he said that he did have a 180/55-17 tire that he could sell Brett. So, Brett led us to Gary’s shop, on the north end of town.



It turns out that Gary, was an old guy (yes older than me) and had been working on motorcycles since 1959 and he had converted a Pole Barn, into a shop where he did a lot of tire changes. He told us that before COVID, he would stock certain tires, but since it has just gotten too expensive.

He had Brett ride his bike up on the lift. As Brett was doing that, I asked Gary, what he knew about ST1300s? his answer was, “…Not a dang thing!” Okay, no problem, since I have changed my share of them, it wouldn’t be a problem, I just figured I would have to explain it to him, but about that time, Brett told him, no problem, my dad’s an expert on ST1300s. Gary turned to me and said that if I remove the tire/rim, and put it back on, that he would not charge us for the installation, just for the tire. I told him what tools I needed and got to work.



From the time we arrived, to the time we were done (and that was including, having Brett take about 20 minutes to go find an ATM for some cash to pay him) was 1.5 hours.

We left Gary’s and continued on our way.

We would go through the town of Eureka and then we stopped in Fortuna, where US101 splits away from the coast. In Fortuna, we gassed up and then stopped at a little restaurant, just down the street.

All along US101, I kept telling Brett, “..see that? That’s where Uncle Dave, Justin and I stopped in 2013..” or where Uncle Dave and I stopped in 2017”. Well, this little restaurant wasn’t any different. Dave and I had stopped there in 2017, and Brett and I sat in the same booth, Dave and I sat in.

After eating, we stopped at the convenient store across the street and then made our way back to US101, continuing south.



Brett had heard of the “Avenue of the Giants”, from some one he knew and decided he wanted to go through the Redwoods. And since it started only 16 miles from Fortuna, it was right off Hwy US 101. If you have never been through it, it’s well worth it. Dave, Justin and I had missed back in 2013 when we were riding up to Portland, but in 2017, when I rode home, leaving Dave in Portland, I rode through it. Pretty cool! Some of those trees are huge!

Brett and I exited and rode down thru the redwoods. It was pretty empty of traffic, and anyone that came up from behind, when I found a turnout, we’d take it and let them go by. This made the ride, that much more enjoyable. As we were riding, we came across a tourist trap; drive thru a redwood. So of course we had to do it, along with stopping for a break.





The break was over and due lack of time, we went back to US101 for the ride down thru the western part of CA. The road was one you had to keep your eyes out for, we were still in a forest, and you just never know when a deer or something would jump out in front of you. We made a couple of stops on the way down, but nothing noteworthy. Also due to lack of time, we decided not to go down CA Highway 1. Brett really wanted to, but time just wasn’t on our side!

We stopped in a town and found a restaurant for some dinner.



Then back on US101 to Petaluma for the night.





We had ridden about 290 miles for the day.

 

[Obo]

Always better to drive thru a redwood than to drive into one!!