Day 12 is DUN, done. 245 miles thru the High Desert of Idaho, and settled in at the AmericInn in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Last night we quickly showered and dressed and made our way to the world famous Million Dollar Cowboy bar. We didn’t get to belly up to the bar in one of the saddle seats, as it was 6:30pm on a Friday. But Hedgehog did help a couple tourist by using their camera phone to take a picture of them sitting in the saddles, but no such luck for us. We swished down a couple cold rocky mountains, and headed to dinner at the Snake River Grille, a favorite of mine, for our 7:30pm reservation.
Dinner was fabulous, as usual. I had the Ribeye, Hedgehog and Monkey had the Bolognese and Ski Doo had the chefs special 8oz duck breast. Pre-dinner drinks were old fashions, a Jameson, and the customary double double Grey Goose and soda water, however, on the advice of our server, the double double was a single cuz the bar tender has a heavy hand. We indulged in desert this evening with 3 rhubarb pies, ala mode, and one strawberry sorbet.
After dinner, we got the customary picture under the antler arch in the square, and headed to the Silver Dollar bar, where we bellied up and enjoyed a few night caps with the local band playing in the corner. We had a great evening in Jackson Hole.
This morning, we were kinda lazy, the altitude what affecting us (wink, wink), and we wondered around town trying to find a breakfast spot, that didn’t have a line out the door. The place the front desk recommended wasn’t open as suggested, so we wondered down the block and came across the Harley retail store. Had to get the customary Dealer T-shirt, sticker and shot glass, you know. After our morning shopping, Stick & Monkey grabbed a breakfast sandwich from the gourmet store across from the Antler so I could finish my stupid blog, and Hedgehog and SkiDoo went to The Hatch diner for a 41$ breakfast that consisted of 2 breakfast burritos, hashbrowns and coffee. Jackson is not the place to pinch a penny.
It was approaching 10am, we only had about 4 ¼ hours of riding, so we made one last stop at the souvenir store a block away from the motel, grabbed our Jackson Hole stickers that we are covering our saddle boxes with, and were on the road by 10;30am
There was only 3 riders today, as I mentioned earlier, Monkey’s brother Rick, missed his connecting flight yesterday, and spent the night in L.A. He was scheduled to land in Jackson around 1:30 today, so long as didn’t miss another flight. Monkey chose to stay behind, and pick Rick up at the airport, and get him acquainted with his new wheels for the day. I got a text around 1:30pm local time, that Rick did indeed make is flight and they were hightailing it to Sun Valley to rally with us.
So, Ski Doo, Hedgehog and Stick headed west our of town and to first fuel station to top off our thirsty rides. And this is where the day took a kick. While re-mounting his stead after fuel, Ski Doo says his hard box bags connected with Hedgehogs hard box bags, and next thing Ski Doo was jumping to the left, and the bikes were falling in unison to the right. Now I had to make a decision… Do run to assist, or do I get a picture first. Hedgehog was already on his way, a guy working in the parking lot was in a jog to assist, so my decision was pretty easy… pictures. I consider this a two-fer and Ski Doo now has only one more bike drop to catch up with my 3. No serious damage done, a bent highway peg on Hedgehogs bike that they quickly pried back into position, and a bent brake lever on Ski Doo’s KTM, that they quickly remedied as well.
We were finally headed into the mountain road of Hwy 22 leading to the Idaho boarder. We made our customary stop at the state line for a quick picture, and mounted back up headed west. Our first stop in Idaho was at the local Harley Dealer, in Idaho Falls, Grand Teton H-D, for the customary Dealer T-shirt, shot glass and sticker. Plus 2 stickers, by request, for the Monkey.
After enjoying the cold A/C in the dealership, and our shopping complete, back on the road headed west. For the next 50 miles it was a long hot stretch, but made enjoyable with the mountains on both sides of us. We passed the Three Buttes, with them on our left, and came into Arco, Idaho. We topped off our thirsty rides, and then went to the Pickle restaurant, where we all had the Atomic Burger, hamburger with grilled mushrooms, grilled onions and cheese. Pretty good, as we were hungry.
After walking out of the Pickle, as I was putting on my riding gear, I glanced across the road at the rock mountain, and inquired with Hedgehog what he thought the large painted numbers were that defaced the rock mountain. He said, well there’s a sign over there, lets ride over and see if it tells us. It wound being that since the local high school class of 1920, the graduating class has a tradition of scaling the mountain and painting there graduating class year on the rock!
After a couple quick pictures, we motored down to the two little sheds that housed, respectively, a nuclear submarine museum and next door a history of the local significance of nuclear power. The kind veteran gave us a quickie tour, and it was fascinating to learn that the nuclear testing facility we had just passed was where all United States submarines that are nuclear powered, which since 1999 the entire fleet is nuclear, were built. Further, Arco was the first town in the USA that was nuclear powered, way back in 1955, I think (I am working from memory here, google it yourself if you think I’m incorrect).
The Sail of nuclear submarine
Our trip continued thru the High Desert, and the heat was rising. About 96 degrees according to my dash. Our next scenic stop was Craters of the Moon National Park. It is a vast area of lava flows from, I assume millions of years ago, with scattered islands of cinder cones and sagebrush. For you conspiracy theorists’, this is probably where the moon landing of 1969 was filmed (it’s a joke). Pretty cool thing to see, that I am relatively sure I will never see again.
On thru the desert highlands again, with another about 50 miles to go in the blistering heat. We made one stop at a road side rest area for a quick gulp of water for hydration, and back down the trail to Sun Valley.
We got in around 5:30 to the AmericInn, Monkey and Brother Monkey were about 60 miles behind us rolling hot, to catch up. Because it is Saturday night in Sun Valley the room accommodations were limited. One 2 bed suite with a pull out couch, and one room with 2 beds. I got short straw, and get the pull out couch.
It is now about 7pm local time, Ski Doo Matt has secured us sink full of ice with cold rocky mountains, and Monkey and Brother Monkey have just arrived.
Monkey Brother Rick, the new Truck/Trailer Driver arriving at the Jackson Hole Airport… finally.
We haven’t discussed tomorrow nights city yet, but it may be in Oregon.
We shall see.
Bye for now,
Stick