Friday, June 14th, 2013

I woke up at 6:30 to a surprise. I was warned the night before that it was supposed to get cold but I didn’t expect ice. There was frost everywhere including my motorcycle, but what surprised me the most was the large frozen raindrops all over it.
I dried everything as best I could and packed up my tent and belongings, before starting my frozen motorcycle. I had to warm my hands a couple of times under the hand dryer in the washroom to get some feeling back into them again.
I finally left Yellowstone at 8 pm and headed south towards. The temperature was 2 C ( 34 F ) but it was 20 C ( 68 F ) by the time I reached Jackson, Wyoming just before noon.

The landscape changed dramatically during the day from the vibrant forested mountain tops to lush valley grasslands surrounded by snow-capped mountains near Jackson followed by rocky and barren hills and flatlands as I approached Rawlins.

I took a picture of the landscape that people in the area wake up to and I wondered if they are as unappreciative of the beautiful mountains as I am of Niagara Falls due to its familiarity.

The ride was enjoyable. The roads were not very busy and I was able to cruise with beautiful scenery in the background while listening to Patsy Cline tell me I’m ‘ Crazy ‘ ( true ), the Beatles telling me I need ‘ Help ‘ ( definitely ), Pink Floyd telling me I have ‘ Brain Damage ‘ ( the lunatic is in my head, you take the blade, you make the change, you re-arrange me tell I’m sane ), Linda Ronstadt telling me I move the beat of a ‘ Different Drum ‘ and Michael Smith telling me I have received ‘ Amazing Grace – My Chains are Gone ‘ ( not deserved but I am grateful ). Steppenwolf insinuated that I was ‘ Born to be Wild ‘ but that persona doesn’t match the BMW and the riding gear. It’s more like ‘ Geeks on Wheels’.

It became extremely windy, just before I arrived in Rawlins. As mentioned before, the motorcycle sliced through it without problem but the wind resistance from the rider almost sent me flying to Oz with Dorothy and Toto. ‘ NO ‘ Jim…that doesn’t mean that I would rather be ‘ short ‘ ( or more politically correct, vertically challenged ), because then I would need a ladder and pedal extenders to ride the bike!

I have met a number of interesting people from different walks of life, each with their own story to tell.

On Saturday, I will be heading towards the Denver area to see what mischief I can get into.