Ride Report- Mississippi to Alaska & Back - Pic Heavy

[DK Custom Products]

Today, 6-29-13, we are about 7,000 miles into our Trip up to the Arctic Circle and back. I have been posting daily ride reports with pictures elsewhere.

Going to copy them all here, and then be updating this thread pretty much everyday.

Estimated total mileage is 15,000 by the time we get home.

We are having a blast. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Kevin & Mary

[DK Custom Products]

Mary and I are headed up to Alaska.

I am going to try and keep this up to date every day or so. We'll see how that goes!

We are in Pigeon Forge right now for a wedding of some good friends.

Here's a pic of a dog riding on the back of a scooter at 70 mph headed toward the Smokies



Marys view-



View from the cabin deck above Pigeon Forge

[DK Custom Products]

The reason we went east to Pigeon Forge before heading northwest...some friends, Al & Lisa, got hitched.



After the wedding we headed downtown...visited the Ole Smoky Moonshine shop



Had to taste all 12 flavors! :icon_lol:



Woke up this morning to the reason they're called the Smokys-



A few minutes later...



Packed up and headed out thru 3 hours of rain til we finally hit some sunshine.



Went thru a good part of Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois. Meant to get further, but 3 hours of 45-55 mph instead of 70-80 mph had us stopping about 100 miles short of expected.

[DK Custom Products]

Left out of Frankfort, IL yesterday morning.



Serious road construction happening in St. Louis.



The Gateway Arch-



The closest we got to downtown St. Louis.

The weather was great...not cold, not hot. Last time we were in St. Louis it was sweltering...hot and humid.



A lot of steel in this bridge...did not see much rust. :icon_beerchug:



A totally different bridge!

We are just pounding out the miles to get to Beartooth Pass, and then to our son & grand daughter in Missoula, MT.

After that we will begin taking some time and seeing new sights.



Some long shadows in Nebraska



We were getting pretty bored and tired at the end of a 540 mile ride through mostly flat land.



Stayed in Council Bluffs, NE last night.

Did not even turn the computer on last night. Got something in my eyes along the road, so we had dinner, put some drops in my eyes, put some ice on to get the swelling down and hoped that I would not need to go to the doctor today.

I think it was something they were spraying in the fields.

Wore goggles today instead of sunglasses. Eyes are almost back to normal.

Back about 15 years ago I looped a bike doing some hill-climbing. Landed in some poison ivy face first. Ever since then my eyes have been a bit sensitive to irritants.

[DK Custom Products]

Left out of Council Bluffs NE this morning. It was a bit wet, dreary and cold.



We hit a few drizzles here and there, but missed the thunderstorms all along the way. :icon_beerchug:



Early afternoon it cleared up somewhere in SD. But it got colder and when we turned west we were running against a 20+ mph headwind.



Gotta mention after running thru Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota these last 3 days...The folks that live in the areas we rode thru grow a lot of food! Thank you!!!

We stopped in Mitchell, SD at Klock Werks. Makel showed us around their shop.



Triumph Trike that Brian is building to attempt a Trike Land Speed Record. Got to hear it run, sounds wicked.



Poster they had up on a wall that Mary really liked.



Mary at the Dyno room.



Mint Green Road King-



Back on the road toward Spearfish



It might not look it, but it was cold!



We're in Kadoka, SD for the night. Will hit old Spearfish Canyon road tomorrow on our way to BearTooth.

[DK Custom Products]

It's been a busy 3 days.

Leaving out of Kodoka, took a pic of some of the stuff sacks that fit in the trunk. It's amazing how much it holds.



Long road from Kodaka to Rapid City. We bypassed the Badlands, we were there last year and we wanted to take our time on 212 (Bear Tooth Pass).





We hit the dealership in Rapid City. We had a vibration that had developed and gotten a bit worse over the last 3500 miles.

I could not identify what it was, neither could my dealership back home. All told, better than 10 hours had been spent checking every fastener, steering head bearings and fall away, engine mounts, wheel bearings, tires, balance, etc.

I thought with all the bikes that pass thru the Rapid City dealership that someone there might have had experience with this on the Tri-Glide.

Fortunately there was a tech, Alan, that had spent a few weeks at Lehman and he is now the go-to Tri-Glide guy at Rapid City.

He checked all the things that we already had gone thru, then called me back and said the only thing he could find is that the front stabilizer had a little play in it, but he did not think that could be causing what we were feeling. We had already identified that in Mississippi and came to the same conclusion.

Plus, Alan said he had never even seen one of the new solid ones go bad.

But, by process of elimination we went ahead and replaced it.

That did the trick.

We continued on our way, 4 hours later. Since we were a bit behind schedule we blew right past Sturgis and Spearfish.

Making our way to Sheridan on the 90, those are the Grand Tetons in the distance. Our camera was not good enough to capture the snow covered peaks that we could see, but we had a nice view of them for a couple of hours.



We hit Sheridan as the sun was setting and stopped for the night.

[DK Custom Products]

We just spent the last 2.5 days with our son Craig, and granddaughter Lydia. Had a great time!

Gonna try and get caught up on the pics tonight before heading for Canada tomorrow morning.

We left out of Sheridan for Red Lodge and then Beartooth Pass!

Those are the Grand Tetons in the distance...camera does not do them justice.





We've ridden close to 2500 mile to finally get to "the beginning" of our trip. Some elevation and some twistys!



Some local art somewhere near Red Lodge.



Red Lodge is on one side of the Beartooth Pass. We stayed here last year after riding BTP, they have a nice outdoor hot tub that was a great way to finish out a spectacular day of riding!



Here are a few pics starting to head up the pass. They don't really do justice to how awesome this ride is.











More pics in the next post!

[DK Custom Products]

Mary took over 250 pics just of BTP! I've gone thru and picked a few that follow in the next couple of posts.

We arrived at this first "scenic turn-out" and immediately distracted as the chipmunks came out looking for food. lol





I should have mentioned before, Mary is a great riding partner. She doesn't even complain with a few wheelies and slides every now and then, and she'll ride as long as I can each day. :icon_lol:





Back on the bike, taking pics as we make our way thru the pass. It is about 60 miles from Red Lodge to Cooke City. Much of it at the 8000-10000 ft. elevation.





Starting to get into the snow.



I stopped on the side for minute while Mary took a panoramic pic.

More to come in the next post.

[DK Custom Products]

Another couple panoramic shots that show the vastness of the Pass and the great roads!





Yes, we are wearing mesh jackets. But under them are our Gerbing heated jackets.

Since the first leg of our trip was mostly warm, and our space limited, we wore the mesh and shipped our leather to Craig in Missoula. For Canada and Alaska we will have our leather and Gerbing jackets and gloves.

Coming back thru Missoula we will switch back the the mesh and ship the leather home.



Back on the bike and headed down below snow level.



Beartooth Lake



Stopped again at a little turn-out.



Mary is taking pics with a little FujiFilm point and shoot camera. There is a Drift video camera that is mounted on the handlebars & sometimes the engine guard.

The Drift has an option to take pics every few seconds. Here is one we took at this stop.



A deer along the side that Mary caught a pic of at 50+ mph



Getting close to Cooke City. It is located at the bottom of BTP and right outside the North entrance to Yellowstone.





Great roads, great views, a fun time!

[OldBay]

Kevin, great pictures and report. Thx so much for sharing with us. Looks like you guys are having a really great time. I hope the rest of your journey goes as well. Keep us posted when ya can.

[Nana]

What a wonderful, wonderful trip! I will be eagerly watching for more pictures. Thank you so much for sharing them!!!

[2002Trike]

Wow, this is AWESOME. Please keep up the updates. Looks like you guys are building some GREAT memories together!!!!!

[Blondie Gal]

Loving these pix! Sort of like a guide to a proposed trip to Yellowstone next summer!!

[Rod69]

Great pictures. Probably the only time i'll see the place.

[87Trike1200]

Thank you for the commentary and great pictures. Have a great trip with lot's of wonderful memories.

[Lakemaker]

Wow...what a trip!! Thanks much for posting.

[RdKnB]

WOW that was great, enjoy your adventure and thanks for sharing with us.

[Bikerbozo]

That really looks like a fun trip. Enjoy.

[skuuter]

WOW...what a GREAT Trip.....

[DK Custom Products]

Thank you to everyone for the well wishes...we are making some great memories for sure!

Kevin, great pictures and report. Thx so much for sharing with us. Looks like you guys are having a really great time. I hope the rest of your journey goes as well. Keep us posted when ya can.

Will keep this threaded updated as time and internet access are available.

What a wonderful, wonderful trip! I will be eagerly watching for more pictures. Thank you so much for sharing them!!!

Posting a bunch more tonite.