2006 Summer Solo Ride About – Part 1 of 4

In the winter of 2005 I started planning for a month long “Solo Ride About” across the country.  I had been participating on the BMW Luxury Touring Forum since before I bought Rufus, my 2000 BMW K1200LT, in July of 2005.  This is a forum that was at that time mostly dedicated to K1200LT.  They host an annual event called the Curve Cowboy Reunion (CCR).  It is not your usual biker gathering.  They find first class resorts all over the country and put on a week long luxury touring event. CCR 2006 was being held on August 29-Sep 1, 2006 at the Chateau Elan in Braselton, GA.

I wanted to change or add some things to Rufus to be better prepared for what would eventually become an 8900 mile trek.  In true engineering fashion I had already studied things to death.  Over about an eight month period I purchased a number of accessories and made several mods.

The list at the right shows many of the changes and most items have links to more information.

I also wanted to have a cargo trailer to haul all my photo equipment, clothing, camping equipment, etc. without looking like some kind of circus act rolling down the highway.  I initially ordered a Uni-go Trailer. but the company had just been sold and moved from New Zealand to Monroe, Ohio.  They strung me along for five months and just couldn’t deliver what I ordered in time for my trip.  I had ordered it through one of their distributors, Dauntless Motors, who happen to be located just a few miles from my home.  Jay Giese and his wife are the owners and they went above and beyond helping me get a trailer in time for my trip.  I would highly recommend their products with two thumbs up for their customer service.

I ended up buying a Zenith trailer that is manufactured by Dauntless Motors.  I also purchased their excellent K1200LT trailer hitch.  I had already installed the trailer hitch and wiring harness and I took delivery of the trailer on August 14th.   I would leave on my trek the next day after I got off work .

Here is a picture my wife took of me in front of our house as I was leaving.  She didn’t ride with me on the  trip but she would fly to Atlanta and spend the week with me at the CCR.

I had spent many hours planning my route and researching points of interest that I would want to see along the way.  My actual route stuck to the plan surprisingly well.

Here is the route for this Part 1 of the 2006 Ride About.

Part 1 Route: Renton, WA to Perryville, MO

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My goal for the evening was to get to Lewiston, ID, a 302 mile run.  I wanted to ride US-12 from there through Lolo Pass in the daylight.  I have ridden this route a number of times and is a very beautiful stretch of highway.  There is also about 140 miles of great mountain road between Kamiah, ID and Lolo, MT.  I stayed at a hotel that night and headed out early the next morning.

The ride through Lolo was great but all good things must come to an end.  When I reached Missoula, MT I hopped on I-90 for one of the relatively few super slab sections that I would have on my trek.  I stayed on I-90 a little ways past Butte and then turned South on MT-359.  I continued South after this merged into US-287 .  US-287 eventually turns East and that is where I briefly zigged into Idaho on  MT-87/ID-87.  ID-87 merges with US-20 and I headed NE towards Yellowstone Park.  The highlights of this 475 mile leg of the trip was running the Northwest Passage Scenic Byway and the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway .

Yellowstone National Park was to be the first of many places I would visit that I had never been to before.  Don’t ask me how I could live my whole life 740 miles from one of the most popular tourist areas in the country and never been there .  I stayed at the KOA located four miles West of  West Yellowstone, MT on US-20.  The tent sites were assigned spaces that were almost private with fences and trees on three sides of most sites.

My schedule was pretty tight so I could only afford to spend two days at Yellowstone Park.  I wouldn’t really be able to spend much quality time at any of the incredible sites to be found around the park.  I even made a sprint down to see  Grand Teton National Park.   To say my site seeing was rather spirited is an under statement. I still managed to take almost 600 pictures.  Some of them are in this gallery album.

The KOA I stayed in was very nice and I meet a couple of riders, one was riding BMW R1150GS and the other an R1150GSA.  They were staying a couple of sites away from mine.  They were traveling together and on the tail end of a two week trek of their own.  That was probably my first real examination of a GS.  It was surely the moment that the seed was planted that eventually led me to buying an R1200GS.  I had a very nice stay there and there really wasn’t much in the way of crowds either at the campground or at the park.

I left West Yellowstone very early on Saturday morning, August 19th, and headed East through Yellowstone Park on US-20.  Actually this highway is US-20, US-16 and US-14 combined but who is counting .  I left early because I wanted to be ahead of the bulk of the tourists that might be coming into the park.  This route would put me on the Buffalo Bill Scenic Byway.  Once I was out of the park I stayed on US-20/16/14, passing through Cody, WY and eventually reaching Greybull, WY.   I then continued East on US-14 and passed through the Bighorn National Forest.  I picked up I-90 East at Ranchester, WY.  I turned North off I-90 at Moorcroft, WY and found myself back on US-14.  US-14 turns East at Carlile and I again turned North at Carlile Junction onto WY-24.

From there it was a short distance to the KOA at the entrance of Devils Tower National Monument.  The run from Yellowstone was a total of 464 miles.  The camping area was pretty much just a large open field but there were a few trees in the middle and around the periphery.  There was almost nobody there so I had a lot of area to choose from.  I picked a spot that I could set up and take pictures of Devil’s Tower without having to move from my camp.  My intent was to get up before sunrise and take a series of pictures as the light changed.  The visible side of Devil’s Tower would have the morning sun on it.  This gallery album has a sampling of the pictures of my run from Yellowstone and at Devil’s Tower.  I didn’t manage to capture any strange lights or experience any close encounters. I only spent one night there and after I took my sunrise shots I went on into the park.  I forgot to mention that I purchased a National Parks Pass before I left and I managed to save some money with it on this trip.

The visitors center wasn’t open when I got to the parking lot so I went ahead and walked the Tower Trail.  This is the shortest trail, 1.3 miles, and goes completely around the base of the tower.  It is a beautiful walk and there are many great viewpoints of the tower.  It is not a difficult walk and I highly recommend it.  I didn’t see anyone as I walked the first half of the loop.  The visitor center was on the shadowed side of the tower at that time of the morning so I walked fairly quickly to get around to where the lighting was better.   I wanted to get a variety of pictures with different lighting and shadows.  The trail meanders around through wooded as well as more open areas.  There were no sounds of civilization and the all I could hear beyond the birds and the slight breeze through the trees were my foot steps on the walkway.  I would stop when a picture opportunity presented itself and then move on.

When I got about half way around I heard voices. I didn’t see anyone at first but I moved down the trail a little and I got a good view of the tower.  I finally spotted a rock climber on an ascent.  This picture was taken with a 400mm lens.  I continued around the loop and got a lot of great pictures.  I did see a few people as I was walking the second half of the loop.  There was considerably more activity in the parking lot then when I had arrived.

I went to the visitors center and spent a little time there.  Then I was packing my camera gear and getting ready for a relatively short distance run, 139 miles, to my next destination.  I had wanted to spend a little time in the Black Hills because there was just so many things that I had never seen before.  I had decided not to camp while I was there and I researched various accommodations in the areas.  I eventually made reservations at the Hillside Country Cabins located fairly close to Mount Rushmore on US-16.

When I left Devil’s Tower I went South and picked up US-14 East.  When I got to I-90 I headed East for the short run to Spearfish, SD.  I turned South on US-14A and onto the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway.  As luck would have it there was a women’s marathon race being held in the canyon so traffic was a little slow.  Unfortunately there wasn’t any place to pull off and take pictures because of all the activity.  It is a beautiful canyon.

I continued on US-14A to Lead, SD and then turned SE on US-395.  I stayed on US-395 to the junction of US-16, which is also Mt. Rushmore Rd., and then to the Hillside Country Cabins.   These are log cabins that are set up very nicely at a reasonable price.  I spent four nights at the cabins so I could do a little sightseeing.  I will only touch on some of the highlights.  You could probably spend months in the Black Hills and never see it all.

The next day was a very full one.  I managed to visit Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park, ride the 1880 Railroad in Hill City and fit in a ride on the Needles Highway.  This gallery album has some of the pictures from this day’s travels.

On the second day I visited the Badlands National Park and the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands.  Yes I did make an obligatory stop at  Wall Drugs .  This Gallery Album has some of the pictures from this days travels.

On my third day at the cabin I decided I needed to do a little laundry and take a little break from the frantic pace I had been keeping.  This was supposed to be a vacation after all .  I did get out and take a look around Keystone, SD and I made a quick trip into Rapid City as well.  On the way back from Rapid City I spotted Landstroms which is a large Black Hills Gold jewelry maker and store.  I ended up buying a watch.

When I got back to the cabin I packed up everything except what I needed for the morning and hooked up the trailer.  I got to bed at a reasonable time so I could get an early start in the morning.  I wanted to beat the heat running past the Badlands if at all possible.

It was Thursday morning and I was on the road by 5:30AM.  I was back on US-16 heading for Rapid City.  I picked up I-90 East at Rapid City and settled in for a 525 mile travel day.  By 6:30AM I was North of the Badlands just past Wall, SD.  There was a stiff cross wind and it was still 85 degrees.  So much for beating the heat .  I ran a little ways past the Badlands and then turned South toward Nebraska on US-83.  I realized there wasn’t going to be a lot of scenic wonder in my route today.  I did find on the Internet that there was a scenic route called the Outlaw Trail in NE Nebraska so I figured I would check it out.

I crossed into Nebraska and turned East on NE-12, supposedly part of the scenic Outlaw Trail.  I followed NE-12 until it merged with US-20 just West of Sioux City, IA.  I must have blinked for a little over two hours because all I saw was corn fields and pastures filled with cattle the whole way.  I guess I am a little spoiled living in the Northwest.

I crossed over into Iowa and picked up a piece of the Ohio River Scenic Byway.  It was only a short distance from there to Onawa, IA and the KOA located there.  The goals for today and the next two days are basically just putting miles on to get someplace else.  The next morning I hit the road and continued to follow some back roads heading South.  I eventually picked up I-29 South around Council Bluffs, IA.

As I drove towards Kansas City I could see some serious thunder storms and lightning moving in from the East.  I kept thinking I was going to get hammered with bad weather but I just kept skirting the edge of the storm.  I eventually headed East on I-70 at Kansas City and I was thinking that I had really dodged a bullet.  Wishful thinking on my part.  Shortly after turning East I ended up in a real gully washer complete with some awesome lightning displays.  I got Rufus and myself grunged up pretty well with all the rain and the nasty 18 wheeler spray.  A less dedicated rider would probably have found some place to hole up and try to wait the storm out.  If there is one thing that is for certain, I am a dedicated rider.

The storm didn’t start to let up until I got to St. Louis, MO.  That was were I turned South on I-55.  About an hour later I arrived at that day’s destination, the KOA at Perryville, MO.  This leg ended up being about 610 miles.

This finishes up Part 1 of 4 of my 2006 Solo Ride About.