Waves of amber grain.....Do you suppose this is what Katherine Bates had in mind when she wrote America The Beautiful?

UNDER SIEGE

So...Yesterday it is hotter than hell, and as I pull into town I see a sign flashing a temperature of 107°. I need to get off the bike and cool down. Fortunately, I see my favorite 5-Star motel (Motel6) down the street and pull in to get a room. Unloaded the bike and got the a/c in the room going full blast. While sitting there watching the news on television, and guzzling all the free ice water I could, I saw three guys carrying rifles run past my picture window.
Jeez!...What the hell is happening. I go to the window and look out. Cops everywhere. Bunches of them, guns in hand and running every which way. Looked like a Chinese fire drill.


About an hour later, they capture some guy on the second floor and as they are bringing him down, I'm jumping up and down screamin' "Save the tax payers some money, shoot the bad guy. C'mon, shoot, shoot!!! What the hell's wrong with you sissies. Gimme a gun, I'll shoot the bum. So, I get arrested for causing a commotion, and it's off to jail we go.I don't know where they took the bad guy, but I ended up here.

Broke out the next morning and headed west. Actually, I went east. I said west initially just to throw off the cops.

Yesterday, I'm flying down an Idaho 2-lane byway connected to my ipod and listening to The Rolling Stones screamin' in my ears "You Can't Always Get What You Want," when I notice all the oncoming cars pulling off the road onto the emergency lane. What the heck, I'm not that wide, and I don't think I fell asleep and crossed the center line, so what gives. Finally, I have presence of mind to look into my rear view mirrors and see a bunch of flashing red lights on my tail. Three police vehicles, one ambulance, and two fire trucks. Crap!!!
All that fuss for this.....

THE OFFER

The other day I'm out cleaning the bike when a group of people, maybe a half a dozen or so, walk by on their way to the beach. One of the women sees the license plate and asked how I got the bike here from Hawaii. Told her the pontoon story but this one seemed smart enough to not believe it. She told me she would love to go to Hawaii, and I said, "I've got room on the back seat and your welcome to come with me." Some guy at the end of the group pops up and says, "Here, let me give you some gas money." "Whose that?" "My husband", she replies.

WHAT THE.......???

Does the engineer sounding his horn loud enough to wake the dead after seeing me mean he doesn't plan on stopping...??? Geez, run!!! OHMGAWD!! Don't trip you clumsy buggah!!!

I'M STOKED!

I can't believe how great the weather has been during my trip. It's even clear, sunny and cool in Seattle. Spent a few days in Canada, mainly to see the Banff area. The Canadian Rockies are just as impressive as the Colorado Rockies, maybe better. Unbelievable views.










Traveling towards Banff and surrounding area.










































Took a gondola to the top overlooking the Banff area. I started to hike up the mountain but quickly changed my mind when I started gasping for breath. The mountain was infested with mosquitos, which sucked! The main street in Banff was dug up for repairs and the place looked like L.A. during morning traffic.
If you can get past me, the view in the background is pretty good as well. I feel pretty, oh so pretty......










Lake Louise.






Stopped here for a quick fix.









And woke up here the next morning.









And who can guess the name of this mountain????

I'VE DECIDED, I DON'T LIKE OLD PEOPLE

Couple of pictures from Yellowstone NP. Not impressed with what I saw of the park except for "Old Faithful". Presently in Helena, MT and heading north trying to get to Canada.
Like most guys and old guys, it was over in two minutes.