Marty Hill Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 Flew into salt lake on monday the 12th to retrieve my bike. Took the twisties to jackson, wy. Mucho construction the last 50 miles but the rest was fun. Spent all day tues. in teton and yellowstone. Saw many bison and a few elk. Hard to believe all the beauty. Sat on the bike and stared at the tetons for an hour while talking to an old cager who used to ride and another who wanted to. Spent the night with steve a and family. Ate a ton of pizza and really enjoyed their hospitality. On wed. I rode to kalispell, fueled up and changed to joe rocket cuz it was hot. Headed into glacier. As I hit the gate it began geting cold. Stopped to put on a sweatshirt and savannah gear. The ride thru was the most beautiful ride I have ever seen. I had no idea there were so many glaciers and snow banks to be seen. Temp went from 80's to 40's as I rode thru. On the way down hit some light rain. If you haven't been and get the chance take it! Continued back to kalispell where I met 3 hd riders from Mass. On thurs. I took all back roads into a small town just inside the wash. border. Plan was to take 20 to seattle in the morning. At 6 am I was ready. As I started the bike 3 fire engines, 2 police cars and assorted others headed west. I large fire had just started up near the road. Slight change of plans. Took a nice road to the slab and into seattle. Cought the ferry to bremerton and met up with doc 47. Doc, S/O and I had a wonderful dinner at a great italian restaurant. Sat. am. doc taught me how to check the valves and he tuned the tb's. Bike ran well before but is even better now. That evening we had dinner with some of his friends who restore old brit bikes. Saw some beauties. Doc can play at least 4 musical instruments and sing as well. What talent. On sun. we said goodby and I headed to world famous kennewick to spend the night with old rider and JoAnn. Wow, did she ever cook a fine dinner for us. Spend a lot of time talking rt's and other things. In the morning I left for portland via back roads and 14 into vancouver then 1 mile on the slab. On the way you go thru a series of small tunnels. Wind was really gusting. In one tunnel a gust hit me and sent me over about 2 feet. For a moment I thought I was going to hit the wall. Nervous, you bet. Took me about 5 minutes to feel right again. Hit portland in the afternoon. Met Jackie from the board and had a great dinner on the columbia river. Fun to see her on that glacier green rt. She is a rider. Parked the bike in a building at the auto auction and caught a bird home tuesday. Spent time with great folks. Saw fabulous scenery. Rode a great bike. What more can you ask for? Hit 20k on the bike in 14 months. Most I've ever put on any one bike. Lots more to go. Next leg starts in 10 days............ Link to comment
ChrisNYC Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 Sounds like a great time, Marty. Washington was a great surprise to me, lots of great roads and scenery ... Link to comment
Bill Poche Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 Marty, before I read your ride tales I would have never thought to ride somewhere, park the bike, fly home, return by air and continue the adventure. I guess for 30 bucks you can go to any secure-looking self storage center and lock 'er up for a couple of weeks. Great story. Thanks for helping me think outside the box(er) Link to comment
Marty Hill Posted August 21, 2002 Author Share Posted August 21, 2002 Bill, The co. I used to work for has 87 locations around the country where I can lock up the bike where it is secure and guarded 24/7. Using up all those miles I earned over many years of travel. I thought about doing this for years and I intend to keep doing it till I can't. Link to comment
Yeeha! Stephen Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 Hey Marty, Great trip! Love the idea of breaking it up. If I ever get to do my dream trip to Alaska, that's how I'm going to have to do it. I would never get approved for a straight 3 or 4 weeks vacation. I'd have to break it up. In the back of my mind I thought I would take a few days & ride to Washington and store the bike, fly home. Later, take 2 weeks, fly up, ride the ferry to AK, take my tour, ferry back, store the bike and fly home. And yet later take a few more days vac., fly up, get the bike and ride home. The ride will most likely be two-up, so that's why I want to ride the the ferry and not the highway all the way up - time will probably be short. My better half will have to coordinate her vac. with me. You think Miss Vicki would let me take that ride without her! NOT! Link to comment
rdfrantz Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 Thanks for the tale, Marty. Glad you got to Glacier, and it's snow. To me, it's rare to see that stuff at this time of year. Even during The Gathering at Gunnison, the mounatin views were at least mildly disappointing -- in comparison to how beautiful they can be. Every chocolate covered mound needs to be topped by whipped cream, right? Look forward to seeing you soon. Link to comment
BMWRich58 Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 Yo Marty, I was just at Glacier couple weeks ago. Rainy and cool,lo 40's. Saw two Grizzlies with cubs. Lot's of Deer in Waterton Glacier Canada. Place was packed with tourists. How 'bout the Glaciers along the road!! People were carving their names in them. One even had a tunnel going back at least 75 feet. Signs warned you to stay out. If and when you head south, you gotta check out Idaho. Thats my favorite state to ride. Just be careful in the morning. Lots of "Big 4 Legged Creatures" standing out in the middle of the road just wandering,especially around curves. Lots of movie stars live in Sun Valley and Ketchum. Saw Bruce Willis in town last year at the Starbucks in Sunvalley. Keep on truckin' Man!!! Link to comment
Marty Hill Posted August 22, 2002 Author Share Posted August 22, 2002 Hi Stephen, I think the ferry would be the way to go. Heck, let me know when your ready. See you in torrey??? Hi Dick, See you at gleno's party. Please sit between me and the monkey. I don't need any more pics with that little monster. Lets spend a moment talking race cars and airplanes since we both love them. Link to comment
murrayg Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 Marty: You take the prize for the most creative mc/airplane tour. I'm glad you're having fun and hope you posts some pics. Once day I'm going to have to learn how to do that. Link to comment
Marty Hill Posted August 22, 2002 Author Share Posted August 22, 2002 Murray, Your state is on my list for next spring. Rode down next to the buffalo river on my hd a couple of years ago. Very beautiful. Coming back to see more. The downside is I had to do my 30 before I could have this freedom. The good news is I survived and found out about the RT. I WILL see you in Ar. Take care........ Link to comment
BMWGreenRT Posted August 24, 2002 Share Posted August 24, 2002 Hey Marty, You got any extra airmiles for a buddy to tag along ;-) Being retired is nice...having the airmiles is bliss! Ride safe young man ;-) Link to comment
Marty Hill Posted August 24, 2002 Author Share Posted August 24, 2002 Jim, I have enough for 1 more year. After that I'll come up with plan B. Retirement is fun, too bad we can't do it sooner. Take care. Link to comment
Buck Posted August 26, 2002 Share Posted August 26, 2002 Marty, Sounds like a great trip so far. Every time I read about Washington I get homesick. I used to live on Lake Washington in Sand point (just north of the U-district in Seattle). Glacier is really something to see too. Keep posting about your adventures! Link to comment
Marty Hill Posted August 26, 2002 Author Share Posted August 26, 2002 H Buck, Hope all is well with you two. Having a great time. Next week oregon/cal. and gleno's party. Hope to see you again at a ride-in. Link to comment
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