2015 Harley Road Trip: Part 6, Sturgis, Road Tripping With Anthony “Drifter” Landis

2015 Harley Road Trip: Part 6, Sturgis, Road Tripping With Anthony “Drifter” Landis

“The best memories begin with insane ideas”….unknown

Anthony and I left heading south after grabbing a casino style breakfast and, as always, we took the rural highways instead of the interstates. Our route started out basically the same as the route Hotrod and I took the year before when we left our dad’s house;  beautiful mountain roads, forests, lakes, rivers, and valleys.

One of the must go to stops was that slowest greasiest cafe ever with the best burgers that I wrote about in my 2014 ride in Ukiah, Or.. The burgers was just as great as I remembered and the service still sucked.

 After a day’s ride, we made it to Eugene, Or. where the I-5 cuts through the city. We found an Appleby’s restaurant for an early dinner.

During dinner, Anthony decided he had had enough of winding mountain roads and that the thought of several days along the coastal Hwy. 101 just didn’t appeal to him. He said he would rather just hop on the I-5 and head south back home in the morning. My initial thought was to continue with my plan along the coast but decided it would be better to stay together just in case of an accident or a breakdown. After dinner, we found a cheap motel and each got a room for the night. 

At 5:30 AM the next morning, we gassed up at the truck stop across the street from the motel, bought a 20 oz. cup of nasty-ass truck stop coffee and choked down some prepackaged mystery muffins.

For the next 18 plus miserable ball-busting hours, we travel the 825 miles south on the I-5 making it home just before midnight. To date, that is the longest ride I have every done in a single day. Doesn’t quite qualify me for the “Iron Butt Club.” That requires 1000 miles in a day…….I just don’t ever see that happening.  

2015 Harley Road Trip: Part 5, Sturgis, A Visit With My Dad

2015 Harley Road Trip: Part 5, Sturgis, A Visit With My Dad

 “That was when the world wasn't so big and I could see everywhere. It was when my father was a hero and not a human.”
― Markus Zusak, I Am the Messenger

Being in Northeastern Oregon, I had the opportunity to go see my dad, which was really the whole reason for the trip in the first place. Sturgis was just icing on the cake. The year before, I was able to ride to my dad’s in Milton Freewater, Or. and spend a few days with him and Peggy. This time, however, was an unannounced  surprise visit.

The ride to my dad’s was less than a 4 hour trip. I made my way to the Umatilla Indian Reservation and got a room in the White Horse Casino, about 12 miles from Milton Freewater. The White Horse Casino is where I met Marshall and Butch (two from Hotrod’s tribe) the year before in a chance encounter at the gas pumps.

I unloaded Dorothy and packed everything in my room, a very nice room indeed in the new wing of the hotel, and headed to see my dad. When I arrived, my dad was gone for the afternoon at a group meeting for vets. It was his only real social activity at this point in his life. Jeff, Peggy’s son who was now living with them, told me he would be back around 3PM.

I rode back to the hotel to get a bite to eat and also to wait for Anthony “Drifter” Landis. Originally, Anthony was going to ride with me on the whole trip but his boss, being a real prick, decided to cut half of his vacation time. (BTW, "boss spelled backwards is "Double SOB" and I guess this jackass took that literally.) Instead, Anthony rode north from SoCal and met me at the hotel. Our plan was to ride from the Reservation straight west to the Oregon coast and then south along the Oregon and California coast.

Sometime just after lunch, from my room on the 4^th floor, I could hear the rumble of Anthony’s bike out in the casino’s parking lot.

Anthony "Drifter" Landis arriving at the White Horse Casino

Looking out the window, there was Anthony, on schedule. I met him downstairs bringing him up to our room. After about an hour of sharing our trip experiences, I headed back to my dad’s house.

I spent the afternoon and early evening with my dad. It was such an enjoyable time surprising him, especially considering when I left him the year before I thought that might be the last time I ever got to see him, hug him, and look him in his eyes and tell him I love him. Leaving him was not as emotional as it was the year before but it was still sad, knowing that this might be our last time together. It wasn’t. A year later, on another ride, we did say our final goodbye.

2015 Harley Road Trip: Part 4, Sturgis

2015 Harley Road Trip: Part 4, Sturgis

With Sturgis in my rear view mirror, I headed west towards the Devils Tower, made famous by the movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The Black Hills are a beautiful place to ride but as I discovered, during the Rally, everything (and I mean everything) is just too impacted for my liking.

I took back roads to get to the Devils Tower and every inch of the way was beautiful. The moment when one gets their first glimpse of the formation from afar is a moment they’ll never forget. Absolute amazement!

It is another tourist destination but since I got their early, I was able to find parking.

Back on the road, I planned on heading west through Wyoming and make my way to Yellowstone. The plan was to find a campground just outside of the Park for the night where I could pitch my tent and then take my time riding through and exploring the Park in the morning. Little did I know that the campgrounds just outside of the park prohibit tent camping……something to do with wild grizzly bears. Ok then.

Arriving at the entrance to Yellowstone, I knew I had just enough daylight left to get me through the Park and into the Grand Tetons.

Luckily, I made it in time to see the Tetons just before the sun set.

Majestic! The problem was though, I had nowhere to sleep and then there was that whole hungry pissed-off grizzly bear thing. Because there was also a chance of rain, I made the decision to ride to Jackson Hole and find a room for the night.

It was around 9pm and dark when I made it to Jackson Hole. My first stop was at some yuppie looking lodge. It looked pricy but I was desperate. They had one room left for a mere $1400 for the night. Thank you but no can do. The receptionist also informed me that there were no other vacancies in the whole town. As I rode farther into town, it appeared she was correct. I rode through town and as I approached the very last motel, the “No Vacancy” sign switched to “Vacancy.” I guess timing is everything. I pulled in a second before a car did and got to the door a step and a half before the woman in the car got to the door. Normally, I would have been a gentleman and opened the door for her and let her in first but not tonight. No, tonight I am a real prick. They can sleep in their car if need be…..I’m getting this room! And, I got it. Of course, I had to kill chivalry… Made it my bitch!

After a great night’s sleep, I loaded up and made it to the local Starbucks in downtown Jackson Hole. Jackson is a beautiful destination with a vibe that it’s really for the rich and famous. Kind of a pseudo-cowboy Nirvana or an “I’m too cool for Aspen” kinda place. Whatever dude, I’m making tracks outta here.

For the most part, the day was uneventful. I did discover the best bacon on the planet at a small diner called "Pickles Place."  The pancakes were delicious too.

I spent the whole day traveling across southern Idaho. At a rest stop in the middle of Nowhere, Idaho, I got photo gang-banged by a group of Japanese tourists rushing out of their tour bus to get pictures of me on the Harley. That was weird.

I ended up at the Oregon / Idaho border and found a room for the night. It was a long ride and a long day