Wednesday, December 31, 2008

$100 Rooms For Rent... Each Couple Please.

We sat in the corner of the crowded little bar in Daniel, slowly enjoying our hard earned beer while we talked over the events of the mud-bog, the bentanite farting bike, the rain, the newly acquired bruises, and the caution in which we seemed to be employing during the trip to Daniel. We talked about the angels that must be following us, the road gremlins that kept trying to get us and how it all started with a bad intake, flat tire and a dead guy on the highway.

Nearly a thousand miles under our leathers in the past few days. It felt more like a million.

The beer went down smooth, the conversation was cathartic for all of us. The rain had slowed back to a mist so we paid our tab, left our tip and headed to Bonduraunt.

The road to Bonduraunt was slow going. The group was still a bit skiddish from the earlier events. The drivers might have pushed it harder had we been riding solo but we all knew that our passengers would have none of that at this point. The sun sets quickly when you're riding in the valley's of the Rocky Mountain range and before we knew it we were riding in to the night. The worries had gone from mud to animals. Deep in the mountain ranges miles from anyplace larger than a ranch house the game was sure to be running free and wild. Our pace reflected our concern over the possibilities of wandering deer and antelope, slow but sure. As the sun set the temperatures dropped quickly adding to our riding pleasure - damp clothes and leathers, cold temperatures and a self generated 55 mph wind.

Bonduraunt hunting and fishing cabins - Bonderaunt Wyoming - on the Road Ride White LinesWe pulled in to Bonduraunt, not much more than a small vacation spot on the highway with a general store, a bait shop and some fly-fishing cabins. It must have been near 10:30--I don't remember exactly, and didn't write it in my journal, but I do know it was late enough that we pulled in to the fishing cabins to see what the price of a room would be for the night. The shop keep was just getting ready to close for the day when we walked in, tired, hungry and just wanting a place to crash.

We checked on availability and found there were two cabins available that would sleep all of us for about a hundred dollars a couple. I'm not certain, and I didn't care at the time, but I think that the room rates increased two fold when we walked through the office door. We agreed to the rate, got our cabin keys, unloaded and then went back to the office to grab something to eat. The sign out front said Snacks, Beer & Bait--we assumed that there would be something we could build a sandwich from, or microwave or... nope, nothing, nada. So we asked the shop keeper if there was a place around that may still be open for a meal. The closest place was about 25 miles on the north end of Canyon, but if we were lucky...

Obviously This Guy Hasn't Read Our Story...


The General Store might still be open and they had pizza and a microwave.


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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to hear the rest of this story. Pretty good one so far. I usually have to write a story right away or I will forget some of the important details.

Anonymous said...

This one, while it took only a week to live, etched itself deeply in to each of us...

Thanks for taking the time to read our journey.

Ride safe!

Anonymous said...

I actually sat here and read the whole thing from beginning to this part. Then I started trying to find pictures of the bike you started the trip on. I need to know, did you get it fixed and then keep it or did you fix it and sell it?

I was hoping to do my first trip to Sturgis this year but thanks to the Army they decided to send me to a month long course during the Black Hills Rally and I will probably be deployed again in 2010 so I guess we are looking at 2011. Only 9 more years until retirement!

Anonymous said...

I wish I could find a picture of the old bike - would have loved to have posted it in the opening... I'm sure I have one around here somewhere --- I'll ask to see if anyone from the trip has a digital ... at worst we may come up with one when it was loaded on the hauler in Utah :( !!

I did get it fixed -- I had it hauled back by some friends that happened to be going through Salt Lake City just after we got home.

My intent was to keep it but after about 6 months - 1 year... my wife got tired of seeing both bikes in the garage --- so begrudgingly I sold the bike... have to admit it was the hardest thing to do - I was really attached to that bike. I don't think I talked to anyone for a couple of days after "she" left.

Sorry to hear that Uncle Sam decided to send you off to training during the rally. Hopefully all will calm down and your deployment in '10 won't be needed - doubt it... but one can hope.

Thanks for your service.

Ride safe.



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