Gardiner, Montana has been a popular destination for me because my daughter and her family live there. I now have two grandchildren, one, Rowan, just over two years old and his little sister, Piper, at four months.
There were no close calls on the whole trip and only a few rude motorists, all in Utah. I am beginning to think that driving pick-up trucks makes people into jerks. On this trip, there is very little non-freeway type road. In fact, there are a couple sections that have 80mph speed limits. People don't go any faster in the 80mph zones than they do in the 75mph zones. The 80mph zones are marked "speed limit test section".
Something happened on the second day on the way up there that surprised me. I hit Idaho Falls about lunch time and decided to eat at the little sandwich shop I had been to with a friend who used to live there. The year before, I had stopped there for lunch as well. When I walked up to the restaurant, and was fixing to sit down at an outside table, the waiter asked me if I live in town. I said no and he said he remembered me. I thought he must be mistaken because I had been there only twice before and there was at least a year between my visits. He said, "You ride on an old BMW, right"? I said yes and he told me he really likes older bikes. I went back to my bike and got a picture if my cafe racer to show it off. The waiter took it in to show the cook. We had BMW bonding. Also, by far, it was the best meal I had on the road.
I stayed in St. George, Utah after the first day of the return trip. In the morning, as I was mounting the bags on the bike, a man came across the parking lot to ask about the bike. He had a German accent and told me that he had a R80RS back in Germany. He said he also had a 450cc airhead. I told him I didn't think that model had been imported here. He and his wife and teenage daughter were on their way to Yellowstone after having visited LA, San Diego and Las Vegas. As I rode away, I had big time remorse for not having invited him to join us on Boxerworks. Wouldn't that have been cool? Sorry.
The bike ran great all the way there and all the way back. I've put some pictures on the "Picture" forum.
Chuey
