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Ok, I’m calling the Day 5 because the week of work
in between doesn’t count, so there. In the morning, I run to the post
office and ship papers and my first laptop home. It doesn’t make sense
to try and carry these on the trip, even though I seem to have the room.
Then it’s a trip to the Suzuki dealer to get my new tire and an oil
change. Even though it’s early for an oil change, I’m not sure what I’ll
find open 2 days from now, so it makes sense to get it out of the way.
The head technician is gaga over the accessories on my bike. After the
service he takes it for a test ride to see if everything is ok. I
believe he wanted to see the GPS in action. It takes 2 hours for the
service to be done, which seems like a long time, but I’m finally on the
road again with all due apologies to Willie.
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North Fort Collins has a few nice little lakes and I route
by them on the way out of town. It’s not long before I’m in
Wyoming. There’s a reason why Wyoming starts with the same
letter as wind. When I see a sign that states “Strong Winds Next
5 Miles” I cringe and wonder what the heck the winds that I just
drove through were. At one point the wind is so strong that it
picks up my magnetic tank bag and tries to send it sailing. The
electric cables I have coming out from it act as mini-tethers
and I grab it before it sails away. |
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The population in this part of Wyoming is spars. I know I
misspelled sparse, but there aren’t enough people out here to
justify that last ‘e’. Whoopee also is spelled Whoop for the
same reason which explains why the phrase “Whoop it up” came
from Wyoming. |
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| Hwy 287 leads to 487 and 77. I spend a great deal of time
going much too fast. There just isn’t anything out here. On Hwy.
77, which is a 2 lane road that cuts a few miles off Hwy. 487,
I’m riding spiritedly. This is open range county and I slow down
for the grating that separates open and closed ranges. In
Arizona I came across a gap in the grating that could easily
swallow a motorcycle tire. At speed that would be somewhat
painful, if you are conscious long enough to feel the pain. |
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As I crest a hill the local asphalt grazers are out and
about. For some reason the tastiest grass is at the edge of the
road. Hitting one of these guys would be a whole lot worse that
hitting the prairie dogs I’ve been dodging all day. What
surprises me about the prairie dogs is that they will feed on
road kill. For some reason I thought they were herbivores. |
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It is supposed to rain today and the clouds appear to be
ready to do just that. Above are those steel gray clouds that
are heavy with water. A very serious bolt of lightening strikes
downward. Off to my right I see a significant little storm
dropping bucket loads of water. This storm is so close I believe
I can touch it. In reality it is probably a mile or two away. On
the road, there are some large drops of water coming down, but
not as a group. Within 10 miles I’m out of the storm, but know I
was lucky and that luck won’t hold all day. |
| As I get closer to Yellowstone, the prices start to climb.
If I go too much further I’ll be priced out of the motel/camping
market. With the wind and storm coming, I opt for a
much-too-expensive motel early. As I’m in the room typing this
rain is striking the window. I celebrate for once taking
advantage of the witching hour. |
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