Motorcycle Trip 1992
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Trip Dates: Friday, July 31, 1992 -
Wednesday, August 5, 1992 Travelers: Ernest Lenertz, Mel Gefroh and Richard Becker Transportation: 1984 Honda Interstate (Mel's bike) 1985 Honda Aspencade 1200 (Ernie's bike) 1986 Yamaha Venture Royale 1300 (Richard's bike) Richard's Figures Below: Miles Traveled: 2,038 Gas Used: 47.63 Gallons 42.8 MPG $62.20 Spent on Gas $1.30 Average Paid for Gallon of Gas Lenertz and Becker left Minot, ND, Friday, July 31, 1992, at 7 AM. It was a nice sunny morning. We stopped in Makoti, ND, for breakfast. Then we checked out the Sanish Bay area and toured the Four Bears park. Nothing left of the Four Bears park but empty buildings. Next stop was the Tobacco Garden Bay area. Again nothing left but empty buildings. Watford City, ND, was our next stop for gas and lunch. After lunch it was off to tour the North unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We arrived at Medora, ND, early afternoon in 80 degree temps. Got our tickets for the Medora Musical and off to find a campgrounds for the evening. We stayed at the campgrounds just West of Medora, ND. After tents were up we went and ate and then toured the South unit. Found some (wild) horses here to pet. Arrived at the Medora show around 8:15 PM to find our other riding buddy Mel Gefroh. Gefroh road down after work to meet us. Lenertz and Becker went to the show, while Gefroh went and set up his tent and relax. The show lasted until 10:30 PM, but was very good and the weather was perfect. Day two (Saturday, August 1, 1992), we started riding at 8 AM. Filled with gas and off to Glendive and Miles City, Montana, stopped for pop at Colstrip, Mont., then gas at Lame Deer, Mt., (here Becker got into a full service gas pump and paid $1.25 a gallon). Next stop was the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monuments. Then it was off to Hardin, Mont., for our second night of camping. Lady at campgrounds told us to just pick a spot ($7.28 a piece for tent camping). We just started to set up our tents when the Harley riders started coming. They kept coming all night. They were on their way to the Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, SD. We didn't get much sleep that night, because of the noise. Day three (Sunday, August 2, 1992), again started at 8 AM with nice weather. We headed for Billings, Mont., for breakfast , then Laurel, Mont., and Red Lodge, Mont. for dinner. Then it was off for Beartooth Pass (10,947 ft.), Colter Pass (8,040 ft.), Cooke City, Mont., and the Northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Set up our tents at Tower Falls. No showers here. After the tents and the gophers fed it was off to Canyon Village. At Canyon Village we showered at a public showing place. It was well worth the $1.25. Canyon Falls was very pretty. Took pictures around here of a herd of Bison near the road. Headed to Bridge Bay, West Thumb, Grand Village and Old Faithful. All in the Yellowstone National Park area. We arrived at 7:30 PM and Old Faithful went off about a minute after we arrived. Some folks had sat there for nearly an hour waiting. A quick sandwich here and off to our campsite. This time we took the West road. Went to Midway Geyser Basin, Madison, and Norris. Arrived at our campsite at 10:30 PM. It rained some during the night, so we |
packed our gear wet this morning. Very rough roads.
Day four (Monday, August 3, 1992), began at 8 AM headed out of Yellowstone National Park. We followed the Grand Teton Mountain Range to Jackson, Wyo. Stopped at a campgrounds on the East edge of Jackson, Wyo. The lady wanted $15 each for us to tent. We talked her down to $10. (Ernie is very good at this). Nice stream behind our tents. Set up our tents early in the afternoon, since we wanted to look around Jackson, Wyo. Had a sandwich at the A&W and then went up town. This is a very expensive town to shop. It was crowded with tourists. One place which we thought was neat was the Cowboy Bar. All the bar stools have horse saddles for chairs. The beer was $2.25 each. Had supper up town and off to bed early. Day five (Tuesday, August 4, 1992), began again around 8 AM. The radio said it was 40 degrees, as we headed out. We rode a few miles than stopped for coffee to warm up. Becker was freezing, so he put his rain suit on to help keep warm. More coffee and soup to get warm, as we headed to Moran Jct, Dubois, Wyo., and Riverton, Wyo. for gas. This was a very pretty ride in and out of the mountains and the roads were greet. Off to Shoshani, Wyo., Thermopolis, Wyo., Worland, Wyo., Buffalo, Wyo., and Gillette, Wyo., to spend the night. Nice supper and off to bed early, as the sun sets. Day six (Wednesday, August 5, 1992), we hit the trail by 8 AM and headed for Sturgis, SD and the 52nd annual Motorcycle Rally. Arrived in Sturgis, SD, around 10 AM. Got gas and parked our bikes on the West edge of town. We found some t-shirts marked down to $8. The crowd was large on the West edge of town also. Hundreds of bikers riding and walking around. We took the Honda bikes for test rides. We didn't take the time to wait to ride the Harleys. Then it was off to try to get uptown. Again thousands of bikes and people everywhere. We found main street and rode down it. Found some places to park on the West end. We decided to split up now and check back at the bikes around 3:30 PM. It was very hot (90s) and vendors everywhere you looked. Becker decided to look for a new leather jacket, since he was freezing in the early morning hours. The bikes and people you see up town are something you can't describe. Need to be there in person. Becker found a good leather jacket. We met at the bikes around 3:30 PM and decided we better head North and find a campgrounds. We knew there wouldn't be any sites for miles around Sturgis, SD. The radio said 70,000 bikes were in the area Wednesday. Stopped at New England, ND, for gas. It was cool and looked like rain. Now what should we do? A board meeting was held and we decided to drive to Dickinson, ND, and then decide on a motel or on to Minot, ND. Supper in Dickinson, ND, at the DQ we decided to head on home to Minot, ND. We arrived at 12 midnight. Along day of riding. Another safe bike trip with two great riding friends. |
