There comes a time...

[Fordf350]

My parents were born and grew up in The Netherlands, most of my extended family still lives there. I have been eating those stroop waffles my whole life. Available at Walmart also.

 

[LaserDave]

Available at Walmart also.

Aw man, did you HAVE to say that?? Hope our intrepid travelers aren't getting wet out there.

 

[tex68w]

@Tourmeister Small world, my buddy and his family were at the Dude Ranch in Bandera with that same couple lol. Stroopwaffles are fantastic and gravel is all about confidence. Loving the story, thanks for bringing us along.

 

[Texas T]

Aw man, did you HAVE to say that?? Hope our intrepid travelers aren't getting wet out there.

They are. Rain predicted for most of the week as a result of Hillary.

 

[Tourmeister]

Day eight: Sunday, August 20th

I forgot to do a review video for today, but we didn't do any riding, so...

Today was a rest day in Heber City, UT. We tried to do laundry. That was an adventure… but we finally managed to get it done. Sarah and Daniel did some walking around town. I tried to get caught up on minor bike stuff and the ride reports. The beds as the Swiss Alps Inn were quite comfy and I slept better than usual. Amazingly, despite all the crazy stuff that has happened all week, we are essentially back on “schedule” with the routes I had planned. We did miss Skyline Drive because of the rain and mud. So maybe another time…? But we still did Hwy 12, Bryce Canyon, and Zion. Tomorrow we hope to head out of Utah and into Idaho.

They were "bored" As if they know what it was like sitting in laundromats before the days of cell phones

Gratuitous bug/flower pic from walk back to the hotel after doing laundry

This place is a mad house when open. It is a local landmark. Their milkshakes are fantastic!

Lots of businesses around here have nice landscaping!

Decent food, really good shakes, over priced.

It hurt, but she was able to lift both arms for the shot!

These fuel trucks and also double dump trucks rolled through town both directions non stop. I mean literally ever minute or so several would go by. Daniel stopped counting at 50 in the space of 25 minutes. The cruising scene was quite strong in this town as well, big trucks, sports cars, fart cars, motorcycles, and RVs!

Killer home cooking! Scones to DIE for with some kind of secret sauce.

Hotel office. Wi-Fi was fast!

Shoulder is doing better and she is able to lift the arm with a little tenderness. It hasn't stopped her from fixing her hair before we go out for dinner, just in case she sees some cute guys The bruising is also already starting to fade.

We aren't great at the early to bed early to rise thing. Sarah inherited my night owl nature. We do well to get everyone in bed by midnight and then get up at 7:00-7:30am, but are on the bikes and moving by 9:00-9:30am. I have never been one of those people that likes to be on the bike early. Those that have traveled with me know well that my general rule is KSU 9:00am every morning. So know we will see what tomorrow brings...

 

[Tourmeister]

So... Day nine...

Monday, August 21st.

The first half of the day was awesome. We ran up Hwy 150 through the mountains to Evanston, WY. The run over the mountains was nice, cool, and sometimes damp. Everyone really enjoyed the nice twisties and scenery. We stopped to check out Provo River Falls not far from the summit. The hike to the falls was very short and not difficult, except for that whole breathing thing We were around 9400 feet or so. I had to walk a bit, rest, rinse, repeat... We stopped to take pics at the state line of Wyoming and Utah. I'd swear the moment we crossed into Wyoming the winds started howling at a sustained 30-40mph crosswind!! It was kind of crazy. The kids handled it well. My neck was getting sore from the constant buffeting. We stopped for gas and lunch in Evanston, WY. Out of Evanston we headed up WY 89 to UT 16. A bit South of UT 30, we tried to cut the corner West on a dirt road, It started out nice, wide, and smooth. Sarah really liked this one. Then we came up on some workers that we grading the road surface. We got passed them without any issues and continued, but it was not long before we reached a locked gate because I had missed a turn. We back tracked a quarter mile or so to find the actual "road" and that quickly became a hard, "NO!" So we ran back to the highway just as it started to rain. We zipped up and continued West on UT 30, which is actually a scenic byway. It was really nice. At Garden City on Bear Lake, we stopped for gas and then headed West on US 89. This was pretty nice as well. US 89 Runs over the mountains generally to the West and then makes a bend SW to Logan, UT. Right about where that bend is, you will find Franklin Basin Rd., just before the Logan River. The plan was to run this NW to ID 36. Yeah, me and my plans...

We turned off the highway onto a very nice and well maintained gravel road that wandered off into the woods. There were camping sites all along the road, many full of nice RVs. This was clearly a popular spot! The road generally followed the Logan River back up into the mountains, gently climbing and twisting through the woods. Somewhere alone the way we crossed into Idaho. Not all the maps show the same name for the road. It might be Franklin Basin Rd., Hillyard Canyon Rd., or even Cub Basin Rd. Essentially, it is the only road running North and South that crosses the state lines and connects US 80 to ID 36 and is about midway between US 89 and US 91 on the state line. The camping areas started thinning out, or at least there were fewer RVs the further North we went, but there were still some. The valley opened up and became wider and flatter. I think we were just over 8000 feet. The road was lined with Aspen trees and big white rocks. Not ALL of the white rocks were rocks! There were a LOT of sheep in the area and one had to pay attention to see if the rocks moved or not! Somewhere in the valley we crested a summit of sorts and the road started gently descending. The whole time we were riding I was constantly praying for the road to stay like this and to go all the way through.

Daniel was leading with Sarah in the middle and me bringing up the rear. We came around a corner and Daniel had stopped. There was a good sized erosion crack running with the road on one side and he asked if we wanted to continue. It looked like it went away not far down the road and the right side of the road looked fine, so we pressed on, but I changed places with Sarah. Daniel took off and got out front pretty quickly because I was trying to keep a slower pace to allow Sarah to stick close to me and so I could talk her through what I was hoping would be a short slightly technical section. Everything was going pretty good except that Daniel was already out of sight and the trees were causing his communicator to drop in and out. I could tell he was trying to say something, but couldn't make it out. Meanwhile I was trying to keep Sarah calm and moving. We were just picking our lines and focusing on being smooth, letting the bike roll to maintain balance. There was a typical erosion rut down the center of the road that wasn't deep, but was a bit rough because of the occasional big rock. Embedded in the road on each side in the tracks were also the occasional large rocks that gave us a good jolt if we hit them head on. I heard Daniel trying to say something again as I was coming around a corner, but then ALL of my attention was immediately focused on the road in front of us...

The road suddenly got very steep, much looser, and much rougher with many large rocks. Now I was concerned! I wasn't able to stop my bike. Sarah was close enough behind me that by the time I tried to get her to stop, she was already descending behind me. I was still hearing Daniel's communicator crackling and I could only get the occasional words, "STAND UP! STAY LOOSE! KEEP YOUR EYES UP! YOU'VE GOT THIS!" and then silence. I was still trying to calmly talk Sarah through the same lines I was running, keeping my speed in check, and picking my way through the biggest rocks... and then I heard the unmistakable sounds of her going down!! It was hard not to panic because the worse case always seems to pop into my mind! Is she hurt. Will she be able to continue? Will the bike be able to continue? Where the heck has Daniel got to and is he okay? How on Earth am I going to get this bike stopped!? I somehow managed to slow the bike just enough that I was able to stop in a VERY precarious position, with my right tip toe just touching a big rock and barely keeping my balance with my left foot unable to reach the ground at all. I was also pointed toward the edge of the road and a creek below. I was unable to raise Sarah on the communicator to see if she was okay. Now both kids had gone silent and I was stuck. I could see in my mirror that back up the hill Sarah was up and moving around but the bike was sideways on the ground. Fortunately, she had gone down near the top. I was several hundred feet further down at least. Daniel was gone.

I sat there for a minute trying to catch my breath. We were still right at 8000 feet. I was thinking that perhaps I might be able to move the bike just enough to at least get to where I could hold it up more securely. The thought had barely formed in my mind when the bike just started going over to the right and there was nothing I could do but EJECT EJECT EJECT! IF you ride the big bikes long enough, you learn that there comes a time when you simply have to let it go and get clear as best you can. I wasn't able to get totally clear and the momentum of the bike still tossed me to the ground, but I wasn't under it. I sort of rolled to the side and came back up my fee pretty quick. The bike was laying down hill with the wheels off the ground. I wasn't going to be getting this upright without help from Daniel. About the time I got back on my feet I heard the communicator crackle back to life, "Are you okay!?" It was Daniel. I could just see him down the mountain a ways, standing in the road. Where was his bike!? He was huffing and puffing HARD! He must have left his bike wherever it came to rest and run back up to check on us. I was fine. As far as I could tell, Sarah was fine. Daniel said he was fine. I took off my helmet, surveyed the scene and realized we were going to be there a while...

It was a beautiful spot. It was a rugged spot. There was no cell service. We had seen several RVs with vehicles nearby, so worst case scenario, we were in for some walking to go get help. Daniel said he had reached a spot where it looked like most of the Jeeps or other vehicles just turned around because it got rougher. That spot was maybe another 1/4 mile down the mountain. Sarah came down and joined us at my bike. I pointed out some nice flowers and we stopped for a nature appreciation moment, which always helps the adrenaline come back down to reasonable levels. I made sure they knew we were in a potentially serious situation, but if we kept our heads about us we should be fine. I didn't want them to panic, but I didn't want them goofing around and being silly either. I needed them to listen to me and stay focused. I removed the large duffel bag on the back seat of my bike and then we managed to get it upright and pointed back up the hill. There was no immediately obvious damage other than some dings in my right side engine guard. With my bike secured, ee walked up to check on Sarah's bike. She was annoyed, but not as upset as I would have expected in light of her recent get offs. We got her bike upright and looked it over. Guess what was messed up... Go ahead. I'll wait...

The BRAND NEW rear brake lever had hit this one perfectly placed rock on the side of the road and the end of it had snapped clean off without even bending the lever at all!! :headbang It had barely lasted 24 hours!! There was no bending this so she could use it. It was simply gone. Her right hand guard was toast and the right blinker had broken where it mounts to the dash. We zip tied the blinker into place and left the guard where it was for now. The clouds had grown darker during all of this and there was a sudden bright flash followed quickly by deep booming thunder rolling through the mountains... and then the rain started. Why not? The rain was coming down pretty good and the road was getting quite wet. It would not be long before we would be fighting mud, not just slick rocks! We decided to turn back. There was no argument from Daniel. His bike was fine, but parked way down the road below and he said it was even rougher down there! We had to get the bikes moving soon if we were going to have a fair chance of getting back to the top of the mountain and back to the highway.

Sarah walked down to Daniel's bike to help him get the luggage off of it so he could more easily ride it up to where we were. That was a LONG walk! They were taking a long time so I started walking down as well. I got about half way when I heard the bike coming. He did a really good job of getting back up to where I was parked. I walked further down to join Sarah and help carry his luggage back up. It took a while for us to make the walk up to join him. Once we got back up to my bike, we decided I would try to ride mine back up to where Sarah's bike was parked. I was still high centered slightly and holding the bike upright when the rear tire tried to slide out from under me when I fed it power was difficult. Daniel was holding the back of the bike to stabilize me while trying to avoid being pelted by the rocks being spit at him! The rear of the bike flopped back and forth several times before the rear finally hooked up enough for me to get up on the pegs and get the some momentum. I then bounced and banged my way back up through the rocks, hoping the tires would grip in the loose wet conditions, until I reached Sarah's bike and managed to come to a stop without falling over. I was quite relieved! However, I was still in a bad spot where I was unable to get off the bike to do anything else. Sarah's bike was on the good line and getting around it would be tough. I finally decided to duck walk my bike around hers and try to make it all the way back to the top and then walk back down to help with the other bikes. No sooner than I got around her bike, my front tire came to rest up against a big rock. I needed help because the back tire just spun if I tried to push on over the rock. Daniel arrived and gave me a good shove. That allowed me to get back up on the pegs and on the gas. At that point, I just never let off. The bike bucked around and slid here and there, but it kept going up. I was trying to stay on the gas without spinning up the rear tire. The rain was really coming down and water was running down the center of the road in that rut. I tried to stay in the tire tracks as much as possible. They were slick and occasionally I simply had to cross from one side to the other to get the better line. It was a great relief when I crested the top to find myself back on mostly level ground!

I quickly parked the bike and started the walk back down to the kids. I had not gone very far when I heard the sounds of one of the bikes coming up the hill. The engine was revving and I could hear the bike smacking rocks and getting kicked around. I stepped out of the road just in time to see Daniel coming up the road on the gas, sliding around, and using his youthful reflexes to keep the bike moving. It was fun to watch and he did great! He parked near my bike and then walked down to join me. Another flash and more thunder and the rain started coming down even harder. We walked about two thirds of the way back down to Daniel's bike and found Sarah walking up to meet us. Daniel continued down to get his bike and we waited for him to come by us to make sure he didn't have any issues. The road was really getting nasty now. As he was passing us he went off line into the center rut and bottomed out his suspension pretty hard on a big rock. It made the back end hop pretty good, but he stayed on the gas and made it to the top. We continued walking and he eventually came down to find us sitting on a big rock taking a break. Then we all walked up together. It was a great relief to have all the bikes back at the top and everyone unhurt. We still had to get to the highway and weren't sure what the road would be like between here and there given the rain, but at least it wasn't steep and rough! Sarah's handle bar had twisted in the mounts again so we had to bust out the tools to fix that, but otherwise we were good to go! The kids celebrated by eating their left over pizza from lunch and I walked around taking pictures of flowers.

The ride out to the highway wasn't too bad. I had a few moments where my back tire tried to go sideways and I still don't know how I saved it each time. I was up on the pegs with my weight forward, so I guess the rear had enough weight from the luggage to eventually hook back up and get in line. The closer we got to the highway the better the road surface was, more gravel and less mud. The rain had stopped and the sun was poking through here and there. It was still pretty cold and we were all quite wet at this point. I spotted a home made RV project in one place and had to check that out. The kids kept going and I later caught up to them at the highway. We stopped to add a few dry layers under the jackets to make sure we did get to chilled riding down out of the mountains. I had decided that we would drop down into Logan, UT., and get a hotel for the night where we could dry out our gear, get warm showers, and grab a nice dinner. Then we'd have to see what we might be able to do about Sarah's bike... Sarah actually said she had fun the last few hours. She said it was all going great until the front wheel tried to ride up the side of the mountain at the edge of the road, causing the bike to just slide out from under her as she stepped off. It was just freak luck that the rock took the brake lever apart She was in good spirits and we all enjoyed the nice twisty run down through Logan Canyon into town.

Logan was a very nice town. It is obvious that it has grown a LOT in recent years because of the prevalence of newly constructed shopping centers, hotels, office buildings, and more. We stopped in a Burger King parking lot so the kids could run inside to use the restrooms while I looked for a hotel. I found a nice Best Western just back up the road for less than $150/night with taxes! The room was very nice. AND!!! The hot tub worked!! We got there, unloaded, cleaned up a bit, and then decided to get dinner. We were exhausted. I ordered an Uber can and we had dinner at a Texas Roadhouse, always a favorite! Once back at the hotel Sarah got her ice bags on her shoulder, Daniel started editing and uploading videos, and I did my daily review. I figured I'd get up in the morning and Daniel and I would take her bike to see what we could do with it and let Sarah sleep in. I also needed to come up with a plan for where to go from here. That was becoming a daily thing since so few of our days were going according to plan!

We were beat. Getting back up the hill took a LOT of energy! But, in the end, we all agreed it had been a good day. Sarah's bike was taking a beating and we would have to figure out what to do about the brake lever as there were none to be had! We planned to look for some hand guards with the metal bars, which I had considered doing before the trip but was trying to stop spending money like a drunken sailor prepping for the trip! Other than her brake lever, the bike was good. We decided to spend an extra day in Logan, an unplanned rest day, but probably needed. More tomorrow...

First planned dirt road of the day, a bust. It ran up into a VERY pricey neighborhood and dead ended. So we just took the paved road.

The camping spots along UT 150 are endless and nice. This was a cool overlook along the way. It also had nice vault toilets in the parking lot, something we've all come to appreciate!

The water fall near the summit, Provo River Falls at 9350 feet

Looking down stream of the falls

The stepping layers of the rocks were really cool. I guess I am just a nerd

We passed the Wyoming sign and had to turn around. We missed the Utah sign the first day, so we killed two birds with one stop

We saw a LOT of this! This is Bear Lake on Idaho 30 South of Garden City.

Bear Lake is HUGE and pretty. The properties around it are $$$$!

What most of Franklin Basin Road looked like on the Utah side of the border and just after the Idaho border...

Had to watch for these critters on both sides of the roads, Laying down, they just look like the white rocks that are scattered everywhere.

The views opened up as we climbed into a wide high valley near the summit.

Ominous clouds in every direction, but no rain so far...

And then things went a bit sideways... or down hill... We should have stopped, but it looked like just a short bad spot. Once we were past it, we rounded a corner and then we were rolling whether we wanted to be or not. There was no where to stop and it was steep. Daniel was leading. I was second. Sarah was following.

Here is the footage from Daniel's GoPro

Cameras lie. It is very hard to get them to show just how steep a road is. This looks flat. It was NOT... and my front tire was pointing at those rocks lower left! My GPS tracks shows this "flat" part of the road as being anywhere from a 13-16% grade. I was worried, for all of us!

The dark spot in the road in the back ground is Sarah's bike. This was a stand still tip over.

Here is a crop of the above shot that shows better how rough the road was between Sarah and where my bike ended up on its side. Those rocks are bigger than they look in the full size photo that makes the road look nice and smooth. On a dirt bike, or even an unloaded adventure bike, probably not an issue. On heavily loaded adventure bikes... Yeah, not a lot of fun!

No matter how bad things get, never forget to see the beauty around you. Important life lesson for the kids

Daniel helped me lift it after we removed some luggage

The view looking down from Sarah's bike

Given how far she made it, she was feeling pretty good about her performance.

Yeah... So about that new brake lever There was this ONE rock, perfectly placed

I think the entire foot peg assembly is pushed back a degree or two... Something is out of whack, just not sure how/where...?

This kind of shows the steepness. It started leveling out a bit past her bike up to that next corner and then started climbing again.

There were some serious rocks in the road! I've learned from experience that sometimes big rocks can be your best friend because they can be used as braking surfaces to help slow you down if you time your braking right!

These were everywhere!

Daniel and Sarah trekking down to his bike, somewhere way on down below. She went to "Share the load" by carrying his tail bag so he would have a better chance of making it back up to where our bikes were.

It would take a bit of maneuvering to get the bike rolling from that position! Note the big rock under the side stand...

They were gone a while and I was getting worried. Eventually I heard the sounds of him revving out the 390!

After Daniel got up to my bike, he helped me stay steady until I could get my bike moving and I rode up to Sarah's bike.

I made it to the top, followed by Daniel on Sarah's bike, and eventually Daniel riding up his own bike

The point where we should have just turned around to begin with, but it was short and did not look to bad beyond it... It was also dry at that time. The rain started after we were way down the hill wondering how we were going to get out.

All safe and sound back at the top, I just can't help myself

Still having fun despite the unexpected!

I had to stop when I saw this beastie! Unfortunately, the owners were not present so I could not talk to them.

Looking pretty good despite the rough day, rain, and mud.

Little oil seepage under the bar. I'll have to keep an eye on that!

Didn't last one ride

Someone had the time of his life despite the circumstances!

It got a little messy

Can you spot the missing pieces?

Yeah, we have to do something about this...

and this...

 

[tex68w]

JB Weld should get her brake lever back in business.

 

[LaserDave]

JB Weld should get her brake lever back in business.

Maybe. My "Southern Engineering" kicks in and I think of a couple different things at Home Depot that might work. Just need something sticking out for the boot to get on. As torturous as that day seemed there, that was invaluable team building and spirit sharpening.

 

[Cycledelic Relic]

Shame yall hadta suffer all that I70 slabbing ta get to Provo for a new brake pedal...only ta have it break again. Arrrgh!
Mt Nebo Loop was just off of I70 near Nephi & the Alpine Loop was near Heber City.
Both are highly rated although Ive only been on Mt Nebo. I was planning on doing both loops on my trip back in June....but ran short on good (cool) weather & time/$

Keep the good stuff coming....at least we can read about it.

 

[William Wolfen]

I can't believe that bike has a cast brake pedal! Even a piece of stamped steel would hold up better.

 

[Cagiva 549]

cast aluminum brake pedals are a problem on my Cagiva too , once damaged it can’t be repaired . A winter project will be to fab a steel one and when I get it right I will need 4 of them . I rode 150 south from Evanston on my way back from Montana , beautiful ride , about this time of year and still a big snow bank up near the summit . After 150 ended I took 35 back east and caught 40 back into colorado . The ride the day before from Darby down to Evanston was a good one too , all pavement through Salmon Idaho then across to Wyoming in potato land . crossed the border several times that day going south .

 

[Cycledelic Relic]

A quik trip to a cycle salvage place might yield a donor steel pedal of similar shape that could be adapted easily

 

[charliez]

A hole drilled and a bolt to make a stem or place for the foot would get you by. But how can you drill a hole on the road. Stop at small bike or auto shop maybe? By a drill and bit then get the job done then return it?

 

[misterk]

what a great experience for a dad and his kids!

 

[leeroy]

Will ya'll be in Montana on this trip?

 

[Cagiva 549]

If you have time to detour to north central Wyoming I’ve got my truck and tools , I’m sure we can rig something to make it better than it is , even patch up the old one if you still have it for a spare .

 

[KsTeveM]

Man, I stepped away for a few days and a lot has been happening for yall. Had some thoughts on Daniel's nose bleeds.....I fought this a lot when I was younger and riding desert in Arizona. Learned to carry some lotion for my hands and this sounds weird, also stuff some up nose. If it gets bad enough, the remedy is to pack vaseline up your nose at night. It is really enjoyable, or maybe not. Also, most amateur nose bleeders lean over and let it bleed out, or tilt their head back and wait for it to clot. I have found I can carry on with my life by just putting a little toilet paper wedge up the nostril and ride on. I think it clots faster this way. I also avoid blowing my nose, asking for trouble when in dry climates. Take care of this after you get out of the shower after breathing in the moist air. When you live in humid places, none of this matters.

I've never done something of this size with my kids, but have been on mini trips with the three of them on their own bike and it is a lot to put on ol Dad. I know you are managing a lot of factors, way to keep the trip alive and moving Scott....my hat's off to ya. And thanks for thinking of me and including that pic of the 58/59 Chevy truck....I hope you left my number on the window . Positive uplifting vibes sent your way for more super hero dad power!!

 

[LaserDave]

When I had the bleeds back when, I had vitamin B capsules that I'd break one open and put the goo in there. Really helped with getting some viscous moisture in there not to mention the vitamin. Or, it was just an excuse to stick a finger up my nose, I don't recall.

 

[StromXTc]

The v logs are great

 

[charliez]

When you get a chance, can you explain how your vlogging this as your on your way. I'd like to do this/do better at it next trip. Maybe include hat kinds of things your packing along with you.

 

[Tourmeister]

Day Ten, Tuesday, August 22nd

An unplanned rest day in Logan, Utah.

We all slept in. We found a really nice Best Western at a great rate. When I got up, I grabbed my phone and did a quick search for "aluminum welding Logan Utah" and found Ryfab. It was a shop on the outskirts of town. I got Daniel up and moving. It had been raining but had stopped. Daniel and I took Sarah's bike out to the shop I'd found. It was out on the edge of town down a long dirt road. We pulled up outside some big open garage style doors and there were some people inside that saw us. We definitely got some strange looks from the guys in the shop and they were curious. Once I explained our dilemma, the owner was more than happy to help us. He needed us to remove the brake lever so he could take it inside. Daniel and I got the lever off and gave the pieces to the owner. He gave it to one of his guys and then we got a nice shop tour. These guys make all kinds of after market stuff for side by sides. A short while later, we had a welded brake lever. It wasn't perfect, but it would work! I tried to pay the owner but he refused, telling us to just have a great time on the trip and to be safe. That was cool. We spent the rest of the day goofing off. The weather turned for the worse and we didn't feel like getting back on the bikes after returning to the hotel. We got an Uber to a nearby Chikfila for lunch. Then it really started to rain! I found a nearby indoor rock climbing place where Daniel could burn some energy, but we didn't want to walk in the rain and the cost for an Uber had gone up significantly in the time we had been eating!! So we waited, hoping the rain would let up. Eventually, we just gave up and ordered another Uber. It was much cheaper now for some reason. We spent an hour or so at the climbing place watching Daniel do his thing. Sarah has done climbing, but with her current shoulder issues decided not to press her luck. I don't do rock climbing. When Daniel was finally done, we ordered another Uber and headed back to the hotel for some hot tub time. Later in the evening we went off in search of the BBQ we were smelling from the hotel parking lot. After wandering all over the place for many blocks, we realized our noses had failed us and eventually found ourselves at a diner called Angie's. OMG... Good food! We all had breakfast, and it was amazingly good. They had these MASSIVE cinnamon rolls that were probably 10" square and a few inches thick covered in a very thick layer of white sugar icing. That looked a bit too much, but they were selling them like crazy. Sarah and I decided on having a scone for dessert, thinking it would be similar to the one we had a few days ago at the Chicks Cafe in Heber City. No. This scone was insane, the size of a large Texas chicken friend steak that hangs off each end of the platter! It was incredibly good, especially with Maple syrup on it... Sarah and I polished that off... I justified it by all the walking I've been doing We slowly walked back to the hotel so I could try to get us back on track route/schedule wise. Then it was off to bed to dream of smooth roads and bikes with nothing wrong with them

It didn't help them look any cleaner

Lever removed

Oh for the days of mild steel that could be easily heated and bent...

WHOLE lot of pink and "girl power" on the side by side in the door there, it belongs to the owner's wife and is getting a new sound system installed.

Daily driver for the dude installing the sound system. Looks like years of salted roads have taken their toll on the lower parts of the fenders.

Tacking for fitting before final welding

Final welding

CNC controlled sheet bender

Good enough to get the job done and they pressed the bearings back in for us

Getting it reinstalled

That will do just fine!

Being self employed and billing by the hour, I know what it is to have people take you away from work you can bill for, so I offered to pay for their time and help, but Gail (owner) refused. He was just happy he could help us continue our adventure and wished us safe travels and a good time!

Daniel doing Daniel things, getting "checked out" by the cute college girl before he can start climbing

 

[Tourmeister]

Will ya'll be in Montana on this trip?

If we can survive... Details to follow as I continue the report, but things have gone wonky again

When you get a chance, can you explain how your vlogging this as your on your way. I'd like to do this/do better at it next trip. Maybe include hat kinds of things your packing along with you.

I have mostly just been shooting videos with my phone. I have been doing GoPro style videos and also the 360 videos, but just don't have time to edit them and get them uploaded. That will likely have to wait until I get home. At the end of each day, I try to do the review videos, more for me than everyone else just so I can remember what we have done. It doesn't take many days on the road before everything starts blurring together and you start forgetting things. Also, we've been staying in hotels much more than we had hoped because of all the issues we've been having. That affords me more time with good wi-fi for uploading and working on the reports. When camping, we don't generally even have cell service.

 

[Tourmeister]

Day eleven, Wednesday, August 23rd

We just want one trouble free day!

The new plan was to head to a local dealership here in Logan to see about new hand guards for Sarah's bike, aftermarket guards with the metal bars in them, like the ones I should have installed before we left The dealership was on the South side of town and REALLY nice, but they didn't have any guards in stock This area is like dirt bike central, so that was a bit of a surprise. They did mention a dealership in Pocatello, ID., that had some. So for now, we just removed the broken guard and headed out of town on US 89 back through Logan Canyon the way we came into town. It was a great ride back over to Garden City on Bear Lake. Just West of town we stopped at the Bear Lake Overlook on US 89 to take in the views. Then we dropped down out of the mountains into town and continued North on 89 along the shore of the lake. There were vacation homes everywhere with many still under construction. In the tiny town of Ovid, we turned West on ID 36 and cut back over the mountains. This was just a really nice scenic way to get North of Logan without having to ride through all the urban sprawl. ID 36 was a really fun ride as well. A few miles before reaching ID 34, Birch Creek Road comes up to ID 36 from the Southeast. This is where we would have come out if we had managed to get through Franklin Basin Rd., a few days back on day nine. At ID 34 we cut back Northeast toward US 30. However, we cut the corner to 30 on a bunch of little paved backroads that run around the West side of the Bear River. If you had been there you would have thought Moses had called down a Biblical plague of grasshoppers! They were all over the roads... just sitting... waiting... until we got there! Then they would jump up and splatter into us. I could feel them hitting my boots, knees, chest, shoulders, and helmet. Riding behind Sarah it was like watching a bow wave of grasshoppers flying away from her bike like a boat smashing through waves. It also got a bit on the stinky side because they were cooking on my jugs... Sarah enjoyed the road because it was paved, but it did eventually turn to gravel and she soldiered on, doing very well. Her confidence was not what it once was, but it was coming back. Also, her shoulder was doing better after the rest day in Logan and more icing.

We eventually rolled into Lava Hotsprings, ID., hoping to camp. However... at $120 for a site that would hold three tents, we opted for a $120 room at the Lava Spa Motel right on the Portneuf River on the main drag. It was old, so old the sign still bragged about having RCA Color for the TVs! However, it was nice, clean, and the shower was hot! Our tents were still damp from the rain a few nights ago so we set them up in the parking lot of the hotel to dry. The building was a large C shape with parking inside the C and we were the only ones there, which protected the tents from blowing away in the wind. We grabbed a quick lunch at a street side burger shack and then Daniel and Sarah immediately wanted to go tubing on the river. There were shuttles running back and forth from where you put in to where you get out, and each run was about 10-15 minutes, so they just did as many runs as they could get in within about an hour and a half. I soaked my aching feet for a while in the ice cold river water just behind the hotel and watched tubers float past me. Eventually I wandered around just a bit and found a really cool micro brewery being built. The owner game me a nice tour and we had a great visit. He had previously owned and run two restaurants on the River Walk in San Antonio but moved his wife and kids back to Idaho to be home again. After the visit with him, I found Sarah and Daniel returning their tubes and we decided to find the free hot springs that were on the river rather than soak in the pricey touristy hot spring park in town. A small path behind the hotel ran along the bank a few hundred yards and eventually came to a place where two hot springs came out of the hill side and ran down the banks into the river. Rocks had been placed in circles to collect the hot water. We were able to control our temperature by sitting different distances from the hot water coming off the banks. I stayed there for the better part of 2-1/2 to 3 hours Eventually we got hungry and wandered down the main drag to find dinner and ice cream before heading back to the hotel and calling it a day.

Cool maps at the Bear Lake Overlook

You can't really see them until they move. Up to that point, the grasshoppers just look like gravel. I don't know if they were getting into the nearby wheat fields...

Amber waves of grain...

Who ya gonna call!?

A palace by some standards...

Manager was a biker, very friendly!

Eventually a few other folks showed up and we had to get the tents put away, but they had already dried thoroughly, so no problem. That is our room between the bikes.

Tubing is a major business here in Lava Hotsprings! They would be closing next week though as it was the end of the season.

I had to chase down Daniel's tent and get it closer to the walls so the wind would not catch it

One small issue with the motel room was quickly resolved by the manager! (this video got over 11K views within a few days )

20 feet behind the motel

Hot water pours out of a pipe just behind the hotel. I soaked my feet just upstream

The big rock hump build up over who knows how many years from minerals in the hot water

There is a breeze way at that little porch that cuts through to the parking lot of the hotel

This is what tipped me off about the micro brewery - Eruption Brewing and Bistro... coming soon!

Waiting for the kids to appear from around the bend

The fancy hot springs, $10 every time you enter during the day

Put in point is just below these falls. They don't want people going above them because they get flipped by the falls. The river bottom is sharp lava rocks that WILL cut you.

Hot spring right behind the hotel

Inside the brewery, a big oven and cool fixtures

The brew room, future home to 15-16 of those big stainless kettle things

Restaurant area

This will stay open and have accent lighting up in the rafters

The ends of the gable will have glass between the 10" x 10" beams. The beam joints will all have the custom made steel brackets you see in the lower right corner of this shot.

Seth - one of the co-owners and the one from San Antonio. He and his partners have been doing the bulk of the work on the building

Back patio area right on the river

Path to the free river hot spring behind the motel

They have BIG Dandelions here!

Just a trickle at each spot, but still gets the pool area HOT!

Sarah trying to find a spot with "just the right" temperature, not too hot, not too cold.

This would turn out to be the perfect spot, where I sat for hours. If I got hot, cold water sat at the bottom having come in under the rocks and I could just swirl it up to the surface to cool myself.

This stuff likes the hot water!

There were two ropes attached to big stakes in the ground so you could get down the steep bank safely

Looking back up to the put in point for the tubes

Imma nerd

Daniel "chilling" This lady and her husband have lived here for 40 years and this was their first time EVER to come to this hot spring!!??

Daniel doesn't stay in one place for very long. It was not long before he was up at the put in point for the tubes helping to push people out into the current so they could get started going down the river. Once he got bored with that, he started exploring all over the mountain side on the trails... barefooted! He hounded us to come see what he had found on the trails,

More pics in part two

 

[Tourmeister]

Day eleven, part two,

The water coming out of the hillside

5 or 6 different pools of different temps

He refuses to use the rope, or wear shoes...

The small right pool is HOT, the middle one is just right...

We wanted to sit on the roof of that bar, but they would not let minors in, so we did the hill side instead

These sun flowers are everywhere up in this region!

Looking down the main drag. The last week or two of August is the end of their busy season. Tube rentals end after Labor Day because kids are already back in school. Most of the businesses shut down at 9:00am.

After dinner, we found a place that sells Gellato. Whatever the blue stuff was, it was good.

She couldn't finish hers

Neither could I!

I don't like mixing flavors, or my taters and peas

And then it was off to bed. Tomorrow would be a busy day of heading to Pocatello and hopefully finding some hand guards for the 390s!

 

[Texas T]

Nice metal bracing on that wood construction.