Another days riding this last summer it was an incredible experience.
It would be a long ride today, over 300 miles. We would ride through the Badlands with a Stop at Wall Drug. On our way to Sturgis we ride through the Minuteman Missile fields in the plains.
So it's Sturgis for lunch at the Knuckle Saloon. Then we were off to the mountains and Deadwood, then finally Mount Rushmore.
On the way back to the Hotel near the Badlands we have developed a case of scenery overload. We live in a beautiful country one that we take for granted. We started with jagged mountains and desert plains. Then a national monument to presidents with long ride away from a sunset at day's end.
There are so many place we need to see in this area, Wounded Knee and a ride through the Pinnacles Mountains and so much more. The Idea for a return trip has already been planted.
My annual summer trip to Colorado to fish for these marvelous rainbow trout. I always look forward to this trip it is always good to get back to that Colorado fresh air.
Trout fishing in the Rocky Mountains with my brother from a different mother, my brother in law Mike Konczak. We have been doing this for a lot of years now. This guy is a trout fishing, deer and elk hunting machine. He is a heck of a sportsman. It is always fun to get out there once a summer to catch these remarkable fish.
These trips have provided some great moments in my life. We had some great conversations about Ella our inherited Grandmother who made our earlier trips so much fun. She passed a few years ago but lives on in our memories and these mountains.
Ella, who used to own a cabin in the Rockies in Eagle Colorado was always a joy to visit. Not your normal grandmother an eclectic person in her own right. She used to take us to the Brush Creek Saloon and fishing at Sylvan Lake it was always a good time full of cherished memories. Although those days are over back then I fished that next day with a heck of a hangover. Ella was a woman that was full of life who was hard to keep up with at times.
When in Colorado are the main area of operation is in and around the Flat Tops National Wilderness area. In our younger days, we used to backpack to many a lake in those mountains. Lakes called Big Fish, Skinny Fish, and Trappers Lake. On this trip, we stayed close to the road and fished the reservoirs around Yampa and Oak Creek.
For the two days we were in the mountains we stayed at the Oak Tree Inn in Yampa and took our meals at the Antlers Cafe and Bar and Penny's Diner. As promised it turned out to be a great trip, We fished at Stagecoach Reservoir for 2 days and left with a stringer of fish. It is a trip that I can't wait to repeat.
The Antlers Cafe and Bar has a history that dates back to the Silver Mining days of Colorado. One year coming down from the Flat Tops we pulled in and the only person there was the owner. He was a relic from the past who was actually mined silver back in the day. As we talked he went into the history of the bar and the silver mining days. Explaining bars back then, were a franchise for the most part sponsored by the brewery who provided the ornate wooden bar that we were sitting at. It was one of those times in your life that you will never forget.
One of the many rides completed this summer of our year 2016.
We completed the first leg of the loop on Highway 20 over the North Cascade National Park from Everett to Winthrop 2 days before. After spending a day wondering through this small eastern Washington town we take off to complete the loop.
Winthrop my boyhood hunting grounds. It used to be a sleepy cow and hunting town but in the course of 35 plus years it has been yuppified. It is now a tourist destination filled with rafters, mountain bikers and believe it or not motorcyclist. It seems that this ride we are on has a name the Cascade Loop and from the amount of bikers that we see it seems pretty popular.
Now we must finish it up riding from Winthrop to Wenatchee then over the Cascades this time via Highway 2, back to Everett. So after fixing a seat malfunction on Terri's motorcycle it is off to Twisp a short 8 miles south for breakfast at the Branding Iron Cafe. This is a ride following a bunch of rivers. The Methow, then the Columbia and finally the Wenatchee. With long slow turns that eat up the miles through rough mountainous desert country it is a kaleidoscope of scenery. We pass through Wenatchee on are way to lunch in Leavenworth following the Wenatchee River. Leavenworth is an old world German Village so we have a Wurst and German Potato Salad Lunch.
We are now back in the Cascades making our way to Stevens Pass and the long downhill to Everett. Its a series of small mountain towns before we make it back to where we started another Washington State Motorcycle Adventure completed.
Another days riding this last summer it was an incredible experience.
It would be a long ride today, over 300 miles. We would ride through the Badlands with a Stop at Wall Drug. On our way to Sturgis we ride through the Minuteman Missile fields in the plains.
On the way back to the Hotel near the Badlands we have developed a case of scenery overload. We live in a beautiful country one that we take for granted. We started with jagged mountains and desert plains. Then a national monument to presidents with long ride away from a sunset at day's end.
