Couldn’t wait to leave Evanston Wyoming. I had repeating dreams that the bike was stolen and stripped. I kept waking up but was so tired I couldn’t go check on it, just decided to torture myself with theft dreams all night, and dreams of river runs and banjos.
I broke camp in record time and crept past the rooms dare I be invited in for a tall Budweiser with an egg in it or trout benedict. I do appreciate the hospitality though. Probably really nice people when their sober.
Going to Jackson
Johnny cash wrote a song about Jackson Tennessee but his song “Jackson” was in my head all day and now I pass that song to your head. I’m headed to Jackson, Wyoming that is. Also known as Jackson Hole, because as I learned from a local….”we are in a hole surrounded by mountains”
On the way there I stopped at the country store in Randolph Utah for a quick break and met these two fine ladies.
Both big fans of movies I’ve worked on. The young lady actually asked me for my autograph for her kids. She as a real sweet heart. For the rest of the trip I decided when asked for my ID at hotels I’d say,
“Don’t you recognize me?”
I love this sign.
No helmet law in this state. I deduced that by observing that absolutely no one was wearing a helmet except me. Some guys even had cowboy hats, probably kevlar cowboy hats.
So I decided to torture my dear mom in heaven for a while.
https://vimeo.com/138442641
I took a chance and did not book a hotel, I usually book midway through the day as I’m never sure where I’m going to be. I rolled up to a Motel 6 deciding to go on the cheap.
“$150 a night, and wifi extra” said the Ukrainian desk clerk.
“Holiday weekend but why so much, you guys are usually pretty cheap, even on these occasions?”
Then another one thickly accented Ukrainian woman appeared, she looked like boss and said with great enthusiasm.
“Wait later, we go to 200 dollar”
Jackson Hole. I found everything to be on the expensive side. Jammed packed to with tourists. Not sure why. I’d seen prettier country before and I’d see it after….the power of branding. Hollywood should learn a lesson and protect theirs with more vigor, maybe hire more Ukrainians to run the place, they seem to get it.
I checked my iPad and indeed they were the cheapest in town except for the youth hostel, but they charged one liver or kidney along with $75.00. If you’ve seen the film HOSTEL, the single most intensely film ever made, you’ll never stay in one again…even in the Hole, plus I’m too old I think to have generation X and Y crawling all around me in bunk beds.
So I got the extra Wifi, unpacked and went to purchase a new GoPro. First I needed food and decided on a local BBQ joint. Nicest waitress ever, she even read my blog while on her break making her either the single greatest tip master or a genuinely sincere and loving person.
She got a huge tip. I did not get a photo, not sure why I didn’t ask. Maybe it was her natural appeal that made a photo unnecessary to remember her by.
I picked up the latest and greatest GoPro, this was of course after I tried to be sensible and buy the lesser model. Who needs 4K anyway? Can’t really view it yet readily. Takes up huge disk space, but the high rez fever kicked in and as i returned to my Hotel with the 2k Silver I kept dwelling on what a loser I was, 4K, 4K, 4k was now in my head like the song Jackson…….I began to formulate a series of high end rationalizations. Finally armed with a bundle of them I returned and traded up.
Next up was to get the screw fixed that came out during the rage across the desert.
I walked into the local hardware store and found Tim the Tool Man’s love child. Tony… he was not only totally into the bike but was willing to fix it himself with the plethora of hardware at is avail, not exact match, a phillips and some locktite, but good for now. I tipped him and was off.
I local in the parking lot of the Hardware store said could make the sunset up top if I hurried. So I did.
The new screw blew out pretty much right away, I heard it plink plunk off the bike while climbing the mountain. Tim would have been disappointed. No need to bore you further with the rest of the screwy details. Tony would fix it the next day with a lock washer..it’s held ever since.
I came back and met up with an old toothless biker on a Road King right off the factory line. He’d rented it and we shared bike stories.
He gets the quote of the day.
“..once I rented me a Dodge Viper out in the desert. Was goin a buck sixty, the whole while my old lady just a sittin there drinking a pepsi, like it were nothin.”
Again no picture but this is close.
Funny looking, but he was a nice guy and I appreciated his company very much.
I was dead tired and hit the sack early only to wake up at 2am to write Day 5. Getting behind on these days. Today is Day 8 actually and I’m about to pack up and leave…but I’ll get caught up, the days in-between were by far the best on the trip as far as adventure goes…