In The North is Montana...

 ... and in Montana (and Wyoming ha ha) are the rivers...

One of the difficulties I've got with working as a "writer" is... having to sit inside for so long to do the writing. I'd much rather be out with the wind in my face, the scent of the pines... or the ocean... or the rivers.

Last night a Montana Thunder Boomer was slowly building out of the southwest just before sunset. I looked out the window and something tickled me to step outside just as the clouds lit up. I Captured a couple photos as the clouds moved in... looking across the Yellowstone.

The first was a capture off my phone. Not to bad. Then I ran back in and grabbed my camera. Lightning was flashing off to the left a ways. It was almost as if the clouds themselves were set on fire. An awesome display.

The rivers. Somehow they reach deep inside me. One of my favorite films is a "River Runs Through It". There is so much unspoken yet flowing through the words of that film. It stirs me to wonder a lot... The last lines of the film;

 "Eventually all things merge into one and a river
runs through it. The river was cut by the worlds great
flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time.
On some of those rocks are timeless raindrops.
Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are
theirs. I am haunted by waters."

I'm not a boatman at all... but water... has always had some sort of a draw. Not so much to play on it or in it... but to live with it. There is something alive there in the rivers.

Somehow I make maybe an odd connection inside. Something in my soul bonds them all together into something that makes sense to me. The wind. The rivers, the waters... and a motorcycle. The most joyous rides I've made have been along a narrow twisting road that followed a river.

Sweeping through the wind on a bike, twisting and leaning as a ribbon of asphalt follows the river running over the rocks from the basement of time... Somehow it feeds my soul...

And sometimes, I get lost and hide from the wind and run from the river... but I always find my way back. The sound of the waters always brings me home.

Montana is blessed maybe more than any other place I've been with waters that touch the spirit.

The Blackfoot. The Gallatin. The Madison. The Yellowstone. The Bitterroot. And so many others. I don't fish them. I don't boat them. I let them fill my eyes and my heart. I breathe in their scent... and when I'm blessed... I split the wind beside them on a thundering motorcycle and feel whole.

Today I couldn't stay at my writing. I needed Out! From my mistakes I've been made a pedestrian with nothing but an old truck. But that'll do. Arlo and I loaded up to drive down along the Yellowstone River past Gardiner into the park.

We drove along the Gardiner river, the Gibbon, the Madison. We captured the poor photos here of the Firehole river.

The waters soothe the hurts of the soul and give it strength just as they feed the land. As the author wrote; "I am haunted by waters."

*The Madison is there, just at the far edge of the grass below the timber*

We rolled along those joyous waters to the lil' burg of West Yellowstone for some junk food... had to do the driver through 'cause it was too warm to leave Arlo settin' in the truck...

He doesn't seem to mind...

As long as I share a lil' with him... He's pretty much a hairy garbage disposal.

Turns out he kinda likes salty french fries.

It's actually a fairly infrequent thing for me to share groceries with him. He's got a bad habit of beggin'...

... trouble is, I have a bad habit of not bein' able to resist those beggin' eyes.

After lunch I had to make a stop for desert... The West Yellowstone Dairy Queen!

It's kind of a family tradition.

Buuuut... I maybe should have gotten the smaller one...

... and bein' as it's got chocolate in an M&M Blizzrd... poor Ol' Arlo couldn't get to share none!

He don't get no beer neither...


On down the road a ways, on top of Craig Pass is another small bit of water called Lake Isa.

I've been trying to capture a decent photograph of it for years.

I think maybe it's one of those places where it's better to concentrate on the small parts than the whole thing...

Montana... and Her Rivers... It is a Joyous, soul healing place. (and uh... Wyoming too! Since a lot of these photographs are from there! ha ha ha)

- Brian

Working On Fresh Ambitions and Controlling The desire To... Um... Respond...

Recently re-read a book "Flying Through Midnight"... there's a quote of a fella in there. They were meant NOT just in the particular situation they were in, but to address life in general;

"Break some rules, Make something Up. Do as you please. Pos-si-bil-i-ties."

Those words struck a cord with me when I first read 'em. It was a good thing to be reminded of them now. That's pretty much how I'm thinkin' goin' forward. I keep trying to do what I want yet still find myself "playing by the rules." It don't work.

The trouble IS... the RULES were wrote by a tiny percentage of civilization and spun for THEIR benefit to the cost of ever'body else. Worse, they've got real good at getting a person's self doubts to jab 'em good and hard whenever they go about pursuing any of their own interests that don't serve soh-sigh-uh-tee.

Now, I'm not talkin' 'bout dumpin' on anyone or taking advantage of anyone... less of course they're members of that tiny percentage or government; And THEN it's Open Season! :)

Last year and some, I got kind of stupid. Fell right back into the same old traps we all do. Got to thinkin' wrong 'bout most everything. Talked my self into things that turned out to be wrong and Built up a fresh pack of burdens way too heavy that gives too little back for the effort.

"I can see clearly now the rain is gone" :) Music always has a way of clearing out my brain pan__if I stop long enough to listen to it.

The future I'm looking at is "outside the box". It's austere enough it's even got ME spooked looking at it. Bwahaha. So that tells me I'm likely on the right trail... since the "System" works on us all to scare us away from doing what's good for us but Bad for the "benefits" it squeezes out of us.

Now all I got left is to cut away those foolish burdens I took on and Crack Out again!

Took the day off yesterday and made a circle through the north half of Yellowstone. Word is last year was a record for people there and this year is running ahead of that. I know for sure that there's more people than I've ever seen in the 50 years I've been wandering through there.

Takes a special effort to see through all that noise - and deal with it in socially acceptable ways.  Especially for those that are diplomatically disabled... like them such as me!

... from the__ahem__"foreign guests"__corking up stairways to take pictures of each other. Posing and RE-posing and posing again; While backing up all the people trying to just get on with their own days, who meekly accept such behaviour... and getting huffy when the old grump refuses to accept such rudeness and diddy bops right on through their picture...

...to the ruder mutts walking shoulder to shoulder across the sidewalk, laughing, joking, plowing along and pushing people off both sides; who get huffy when ONE refuses to get shoved to the side. Who just stops and squats down in the middle to photograph a small flower off to the side... forcing THEM to split around...

To the bikers, riding ten under in a four hundred foot slug of scooters nobody can pass... who get huffy when they come up on the "Pot stirrer" who goes even slower than them in his wore out ol' Dodge along the windy river... where THEY can't pass...

Wave and blow 'em a kiss! and thanks for saying I'm number one! That's what holding up that single finger means... Don't it? :)

Do Unto Others fools... most folks just duck their heads and don't want to "cause a scene"... Me? I am tee totally willing to Do Unto Them as scenically as possible! Just as their behavior requested! I'll even tip my hat and say; "You're Welcome!" :-D

But, you know what? I've come to realize that being in that sort of "stuff" and dealing the best with it is a lot like Photographic composition! Really!

See, to get a decent photograph you have to focus down on details and crop out all the rest of the BIG picture. That BIG picture is too much to deal with usually and just clutters things up, so crop it out!

The beauty is in the details...

So... dealing most efficiently with all those wastes of space is really learning to focus on the gorgeous details all around and let the "Useless Clutter" just slide on by unacknowledged... like an insolent kid you ignore.

Yeah... I might take a good photo once in a while... I'd not hold my breath waiting on the "slide on by" part to happen very often... hahahahaha.

Had a morning that promised some awesome pictures. It dawned with a lot of "personality". Stormy weather adds so much to photographs... but alas, it broke off clear and I've not unlimbered the camera much in a while. My skills are rusty, but I got some so-so...

As the day passed along I did get better at just floating through the "noise" and letting it flow on by like it wasn't really there... most of the time. ;)

But when I was sitting on a rock just gazing out at the scenery and capturng this last photo I couldn't resist. I tried but I couldn't do it. Bein' a wise ass must just be a genetic thing. I sure have little ability to control it.

An old guy screeched into the little pullout I'd parked in and jumped out. He come stomping up with his camera in his hand and blurted out; "See anything?"

"Yup." I said and looked back into my camera.

"What?" he asked all excited looking around real quick trying to spot what I'd seen.

"Yellowstone" I answered. He got kinda huffy himself. "Yellowstone!" he says kinda sarcastically making one of those "Harumph!" noises, and wearing one of those "I just tasted something sour" scowls on his face.

One of those 'Can't see the forest for the trees' sort of fellas...

I got in my truck and rolled slowly away... knowing I got it and he never will.

It's funny really. I get labeled all the time with grumpy, negative, pissy and several more colorful descriptions of what folks take to be my many faults. But there I am, soakin' up the joy of being alive in Montana and Wyoming... and some of the folks slingin' the labels are... pushin', shovin,' cussin' and nastyfyin' life... while the grumpy old negative bastard is smilin' and loving the day... It's curious to me...

- Brian

Chores Done so... Montana Bound

Finally got the VA to let go... and I ain't dyin'... this week anyway... so, I'll try and catch up a mite...

Moved over to Vadauwoo west of Cheyenne to make life easier (cheaper) for all the appointments... even with the camp fees...

It also has some nice hiking around the base of the "major" rock pile/Mountain. Made the 3+ mile walk with Arlo four times in different directions.  Pushed pretty hard a couple times to add some extra effort to the deal. I'm still on the gain from last winters shoulder crunching and pneumonia... but juuuust about there.

*Along Turtle Rock Trail*

This place is a go to spot I guess for rock climbers in the area...

Now... they all call ME crazy for rumbling a big Ol' Red motorcycle through the wind at upwards of 130 miles an hour (yeah... bustin' the rules I know... so sue me) ... but these guys are WHACK!

Hangin' by a thin lil' cord that's strung through some aluminum bits you wedged in a crack in the rock? Um... No.

Then... there's another issue... Have you ever seen what comes-a-rushin' out of a 20 pound scairt goose? Uh Huh...

Standing directly under a guy doin' an imitation of a fly... is not my idea of wisdom... If you should ever be in a sitchy-ashun where ya'll talked THIS fool into climbin' in such a way... Never, EVER stand under me. I might not fall... but use your imagination here... multiply that scairt goose by 'bout 8 and extrapolate what might could come-a-rushin' your way...

Stand Back! and DO NOT look UP!

*On top at Vedauwoo*

Yeah__ I'll leave scrambling up a rock face to the lizards and rock climbers... and shroud myself in the safety of splitting the wind at 130mph on two wheels :) ...assuming I someday Regained two wheels...

The big fire over west a hundred miles or so contributed some smoke to add a bit of color to the sunsets... when it wasn't blowing straight at us. Smelled like a giant campfire some nights...

Got my VA stuff out of the way and headed north. Spent a night at one of the Wyoming State rest areas south of Meeteetse. Too far to make the haul in a day and I wanted to be pretty fresh for the haul over the mountain between Cody and Cooke City anyway.

That's not a real tough haul. (if you've learned proper mountain driving ways) It's a stiff climb up the east side and a steeper twisty drop on the west... but easy peasy if you've learnt the right ways to brake and such...easy except for the Moh-Rons that populate the highways and insist on making life difficult...

Left out of Meeteetse and promptly played some "lets see if that guy can turn his 18,000 pounds or stop quick enough to not kill me" games with a hundred bicycle pedlers along the highway.

Is the physics really so hard to understand for those folks? I mean... dart out from the side of a U.S. highway, across the shoulder stripe, into the traffic lane...20 feet in front of a 50 foot long, 18,000 pound rig traveling at highway speed... and Expect him to not blast you into the next world?

Courtesy by drivers is a fine thing... but I have to say my "courtesy" can't make that rig turn faster or stop quicker than physics will allow. No matter how much walt disney has taught me to want to... or how hard I say "pleeeeeeeeeease" through gritted teeth while I try!!!!

Then... there's the sweet lil' wrinkled up fart of a fool that followed me down the mountain in his lil' blue compact... I get to the bottom and bump into fourth when I finally get to where I can start rolling again... and... Yup... he darts out and passes, cuts back in less than a car length in front... still on the down hill... and BRAKE CHECKS ME! for__I guess__ coming down the mountain in a LOWER GEAR! .....

Um... Physics people... I very nearly had a 2500 Pound medium blue hood ornament...

Well... we survived those moh-rons and one fool of a Biker (motorized)... that passed to cut back in and grab the binders__ because he SAW A BUFFALO! ... not a hundred... or twenty... ONE! Missed him by inches... Hope he got his picture... and some clean shorts....

Fun day... but we got here... my fine camp on the Yellowstone River in Montana!!!

Couple of small ranches across the river... and a few lil' homesteads and houses... but off there just over that far ridge is the Lee Metcalf wilderness... North of here a goodly ways is the Bob and the Scapegoat. Northwest is the Salmon and the Frank Church wildernesses... and all around are several more that escape memory just now... Montana... God made it last when he'd perfected his skills!

The views here in just about any direction wash away all that crap you stumble through on the way to get here... and being as close as I am to Yellowstone herself... with her waters flowing just a few feet outside my door... awesome.

Few hours each day writing... a couple of days a week to go do some hiking and picture hunting... and the time I'm allotted here will race away much too fast!

Buuuut... I've got two more sweet camps I know about... over to Sula and up on the Clearwater... So the middle part of the summer is looking pretty fine...

One thing that run yesterday has driven home is that at this point in my gypsy livin' I've grown pretty weary of pushing what amounts to a "Big Rig" around... I'm really wanting small, light and what most would consider minimal... Filling a book with sketches... It promises to be an interesting fall and winter after the Harvest in September/October...

I'm kinda impatient for that harvest to come and go... Got great plans to make up for and clean up all the boneheaded mistakes I made last year.

But for now... I'll just write my stories and enjoy the Yellowstone rustling by... while the scent and sound of that river makes for good sleeping.

-Brian

Beware the Black Hatted Buffalo Nudger

Yeah... I didn't know such a thing existed either.

So there I was after a few days of fighting ee-lek-trawn-icks... struggling to get a book published... The sixth western novel and the first to cause difficulty uploading...

Well, after multiple crashes, regroupings, re-Nuking and reformulation I surrendered and sent the manuscript to a computer geek lady who had it fixed and back in the time it takes to write a couple emails... and refused compensation claiming it was too small a job to bother.

One tiny little missed "click" in the formatting process on a used to be clear and open and now hidden screen... crashed the whole deal. ALL attributable to Microsoft's penchant for taking working software and improving it into cumbersome, awkward NON-intuitive malware...

SO! with the thing fixed, uploaded and published - FINALLY - I decided to reward myself with a drive through the northern end of Yellowstone before I pull out in a day or so...

Hmmmm... traffic has thinned considerable__but there's still plenty. I came to a patch of it where folks that normally live in concrete pastures were busily building a Buffalo Jam. Now__sitting on the asphalt for who know how long watching townies take pictures of Buffalo cows silhouetted against somebody's church van is not my idea of a well spent afternoon... so I kept moving.

Yup... if you idle along the Buffs will generally move out of the way. 'course if they stop you've no option but to stop too.

Well, these didn't stop... I moved... and they moved and I was on my merry way... for about 15 miles... and then the flashing lights behind me said; "Tsk Tsk Tsk... you were a bad boy!" except, I couldn't for the life of me figure out what I'd done... seeing as I was rolling 10 miles under the limit.

I pulled into a wide spot and this dang near 6' blonde Amazon Ranger walks up and wierdly... was really looking at and all over the truck.

"How are you doing?" she asks...

"Well... I -WAS- doing ok. What's up?" I say.

"I stopped you because we got a report phoned in that you were "Nudging Buffalo" ...

"Um... " I friggin' cracked up... "Are you serious? ummm... if I HAD BEEN you wouldn't be stopping me HERE! You'd be responding to the disabled truck sitting in the middle of the road with it's front end torn off!"

"If you Nudge Buffalo... those buggers Nudge Back!"

Well she grinned and laughed... and Agreed. "That's why I was looking at your truck so close... looking for damage."

Fact is... I DID... exactly what the Park Boys and Girls WANT you to do... keep moving... NOT cork the road...

We talked for some little while and she checked out my "Papers" to ensure that I wasn't some heinous jihadi looking to terrorize not only the american sheeple but a deviant terrorist hoping to sneak around NUDGING BUFFALO...

Laughed my way all the way back to camp... Walt Disney educated nature lovers are like somebody walking on a treadmill... they put out a lot of effort... they just don't get anywhere.

- Brian

P.S. Leather and Stone is now working through the distribution channels and is or soon will be available for Pre-order at Smashwords (and it's retailers) and Amazon! (I'll get an Amazon link up as soon as it's live)

I Think Some Might Not understand me...

 So I offer a feeble attempt at explanation.

I am a man born for the open country. The open road... and possessed of a Passion for Liberty.

Born in Ohio and raised in Arizona, I started Cowboyin' at the foot of the Catalina Mts. North of Tucson. My Cowboy education continued in the Santa Rita Mts. East of Green Valley. From near the Mexican Border to the Southern reaches of Montana I've chased cows, trained horses, hunted coyotes, mined copper, bucked off broncs, packed mules and rustled mustangs. I've sold hardware, cleaned carpets, hauled tractors and even raised sheep! I've lived a glorious life.

I admit to being... abnormal. Possibly an anachronism. I admit that in my words I express the belief that there is more to life than Healthcare. That Freedom Trumps Healthcare. That Liberty is of Greater Value and Treasure than Life itself. I freely admit that few hold that belief any longer, and that maybe my attempts to get that point across leave others as dumbstruck as I often find myself.

Do I have regrets? You bet. There have been heart ripping sorrows that still wake me in the night. Would I like to be able to go back and wipe those from my memory? At times, when I feel close to choking on them? I would... but then I think... it is those scars that have carved me into who I am. With all my many faults, I still like... Me.

For all of my life I've heard and been told that Cowboys were a dying breed. I should take on something more acceptable with my life. It would appear from some comments of the past couple of days that there's those that don't think I've done that and would appreciate the loss of one more of us. Sorry to disabuse ya'll of that idea... but I think I'll hang around and keep stirrin' the pot a mite more.

I love this land in ways I cannot put into words. I've served not only this land with my sweat, and my blood. I've placed my life in service to the people of this land, on more than one occasion. I've paid taxes since I was 14. I have NEVER complained about or tried to duck my fair share, and take offense at that Idea, made by implication. I do however complain when effort and success is punished and parasitism is rewarded.

I as well am astounded by the claims of those who try to tell me that I am required to seek the permission of a bureaucrat to wander around the lands not within the city limits fences. While the Wolf and the Coyote are "Granted" the right to go where and when they please, without permit or fee.

I claim the RIGHTS granted to Wolves and Coyotes. I will by God set my camp on uninhabited land without seeking the kings permission. The King does not, contrary to popular belief, own all the land and everyone on it. I will camp my rig on the Boss's land, where I choose to.

There is something I have noticed in conversation when the subject of service is discussed; Most of those, a heavy majority, who seek the entitlements that I have spoken of for the past few days always seem to have found such service inconvenient when it was their turn. They expect to be defended, hell they demand it! But lo and behold, when it's their turn to place their lives on the line in defense of their community, or just an individual within it... they are remarkably absent.

I have sacrificed my safety, my income and my future in defense of friends, and even on occasion in defense of those I never knew simply because it was the right thing to do. I don't say this as boast, but merely to define the code of behavior I was taught.

Does my ego, ideas, or intelligence make me in any way a person I believe worthy of climbing up on some pedestal ?... well, you bet!... If you set the damn three foot thing in a ten foot deep hole first.

Before I get back to straight up conversation about Yondering through the land I love, and a Life of Glorious Liberty... Granted to me by the Boss I serve as well... let me leave you with this film...



It is the amazing work of JD King, a young fella from Southwest Montana who has an amazing future ahead of him. Do Him and the states of Montana and Idaho a Favor. Get as Many of your friends as you can to watch this man's work. It contains lessons about far more than wolves. Amazing for a man of his youth.

I'll bet you didn't realize that the Wolf you tried to see in Yellowstone was all tied up in this mess too did you?

The film not only discusses a few truths about the Wolf in the Intermountain States... but opens a window through which you can glimpse the face of the resident evil I have described.

There is something to consider. All we have, is each other. The government doesn't care about us. It cares about it's power. It is simply a tool of the real unseen power that owns it. What we are left with is each other.

The divisiveness you see around you these days is no accident and it is The Threat. It is the tool used by those in power to keep us fractured and fighting each other. It is cliche'd but no less true - Divide and Conquer. Those doing the dividing have exhibited exquisite skill.

All of us together are difficult to control. But if we can be kept fighting against each other the smaller groups are easy to manipulate. We are used against each other, to control each other. We are serving as our own Jailers.

All we have, is each other. If you can SEE the cage we are keeping ourselves in, the bars disappear. Your awareness is your greatest strength. Our greatest strength. We have divisions and disagreements. And, we have two choices.

We can either work together to achieve solutions. We can Force Government to obey the will of the people and regain some honor and integrity... or...  we can all give each other a big hug, bend over and kiss our backsides good bye, because the game will be over.

Some Days You Just Have to Stand With Your Mouth Hanging Open in Amazement
Brian

It Starts Downhill... Struggling for Traction... On a Slippery Slope...

***I did two posts Saturday night... go to the previous post first... if you want to read the catchin' up in chronological order... and as soon as I crawl out, Sunday Morning, I'll do my best to get it all caught up***

So... We're unhitching and I do my customary lookaround at things as I'm unhooking... and there, I find three cracks, where there weren't cracks before... and shouldn't be cracks at all... aw shucks... :(

Now, cracks in a window, or a tire sidewall, or some other such place is nothing catastrophic... when you find 'em in a pin box... you start sweatin'.

And right here is where the risk of eatin' more crow comes along... 'cause I'm knowin' for sure and for certain that there's folks out there that are gonna claim the culprit is the gooseneck converter I've been using since 2001... the hitch that's pulled that fiver without an issue for better than 10 years and nigh on to 70,000 miles.

Now... I can't say... considerin' I broke the the trailer, that it didn't have a part... but it's still my feelin' that whatever part it might have played is way down in the minority.

How-some-ever... the responsibility still resides with the nut behind the steering wheel... 'cause the issues that I believe DID do the deed are largely the fault of that bald headed word whittler I have to endure in the mirror every morning.

The main issues are these... first, Jayco built the rig with too long a hitch box... too long a lever... That'd been fine, mostly... until a redneck, cowboy engineer flipped the axles and hung 550+ lbs of batteries and equipment in that front compartment...

Try to bust a 2X4 over your knee, you can't do it... but... hang it out there 8' and you can snap that sucker with a good hit...

So... When I flipped the axles almost ten years ago, and Didn't catch the poor job they did, leaving the rig with just about a rigid suspension (From horrendously bad shock mounting)... it had me hauling it for the next many thousands of miles with all that road shock getting pounded straight through the hitch... WHAM!

Every bridge joint, every hump in the pavement, every pot hole... WHAM! Until, from a bit too heavy load with my batteries up front? and bad suspension, all hung on that long nosed pin box... metal fatigue took it down..

Ah well... life goes on... you make your best guesses at the time... some pay off... some knock you down...

Well, with a bad feeling in my gut, we decided to try and salvage the rest of the day... and took a drive with the truck, up toward Norris and the geyser basins and such up that-a-way...

We took a lil' stroll, in the late afternoon to the Artist Paint pots... Now, I've no idea... likely a lil' boy thing... throwin' rocks into mud to watch it splatter and such... but... the mud pots there, kinds make me giggle...

Must be a guy thing... I didn't see no women types takin' much notice... :)

Along in there somewhere, we were walking along, on that trail to the Artist Paint Pots... and we heard 'em coming...

so... Heidi took one of the Pedestrian Turnouts the Park Service has so considerately provided, along the way...

The perfect thing for slow walkers to clear the trail... for the Fast Movers! :)

After they passed... we kept moving... and found another Yellowstone resident... without all the surrounding crowds and hullabaloo...


We were just enjoying the scenery in the Virginia cascades area... soft views in this wild country...

When this guy come walkin' along the treeline... kept comin' closer and closer... a couple of other picture grabbers... grabbed their cameras and retreated to their cars... I'm thinkin'; "Aw,he's clean over on the other bank... Not a problem!"

But, I come to find out... problem there was... I was standing right at the point of the creek he wanted to ford... uh... guess who won that lil' discussion?

Caught me a bit off guard... One second he was on the other side of the stream, gettin' a drink... and the next... Kersplash! He popped into the water and was comin' across... which at that point... all he saw was hip pockets for a bit!

 Like in all the places we go... there's grand views... but as always... there's closer up things to see as well...

So... I made an appointment for Saturday morning with the only game in town... I guess... and then got up the next morning, which was Thursday... and climbed in the truck to go do some sight seein' in the park...

Right... woulda done it too... if not for the electrical smoke in the cab!

Jumped out, and popped the hood... and found... a crispy, smokin' Alternator... Suh-Wheet! The hits just keep on comin'! :)

So... the next several hours were spent on parts and tool runs to NAPA in West Yellowstone... replacing the cooked alternator and the serpentine belt...

But all these repairs have been an opportunity to meet a couple of really fine fellow travelers...

One helped me get that belt on... That chore is kinda like threading a 2000 lb sewing machine! :) but with good help and the right tool, we got 'er done.

The other helped me with some pretty good suggestions on the hitch... and I might end up "pittin'" for him at the Bonneville salt flats next year... how cool would that be?

In an effort to turn that day around, we rode in together on the Raider for the second of the two parts runs... Figured we'd walk the town a bit... and get some West Yellowstone Ice cream, a fairly successful effort...

Now... it's Friday... and the rig can't go to West Yellowstone till Saturday... so... We climbed back on the Raider and took a run up to Lamar Valley and back... Nice ride... No sparks, no flats, no missing oil, no cracks... didn't even get run down by a crazy tourist, gawkin' at a rock chuck! :)

*North Side of the Pass North of Canyon*

*The Lamar Valley*

It's hard to explain... in fact... it can't be explained... but when things are the worst... for some guys... just the simple act of putting two wheels... on a Ribbon of Asphalt... makes all the difference... it's in our blood, it's in our soul... and it makes all the rest... somehow... endurable...

*Nuthin' like viewing the world through handlebars*

Came home tired and ready to take on the rig repairs... Saturday morning... or... so I thought...

The rest of the story... Sunday morning...
Brian

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