Travel day! So, of course … it rains. I heard it pitter just before I went to bed last night. Grrrrr. Luckily, it did not rain hard (yet), so we get out without getting soaked, or muddy. Yay. I’ll take small victories.
After we leave, it starts to rain, but thankfully not hard, and I’m glad the roads are not slick. Mostly it’s just pittering. Everything goes swimmingly until we get to Jackson, WY. A lot of folks are stopped, parked off to the side of the road, looking at something in the river. I don’t care what it is, I just want to get going, but there’s a dark blue Ford something-or-other SUV parked half on the road. REALLY? It’s a two lane road, and this is at the entrance to a bridge. I CAN’T get around him, and NOBODY is going to get past me, there’s just no room. Ok, he’s walking back to his car. So’s his passenger. Ok, that explains being parked half on the road (did I mention that that is illegal as all hell here?). And he sits. I think he’s checking out the photos in his camera. I honk. I’m completely ignored. I sit, trying to be patient. He’s still looking down at something on his lap, I guess (HOPE!) his camera. After a minute or two, with traffic stacking up behind me, I honk again, just a short toot. He looks around, wondering what the commotion is, I guess sees traffic stacked up behind him, so he starts to move ahead. Flashers are still on, and it ;looks like he’s looking for another place to park … passes several, so that’s not it. Still got the flashers on. He’s a Canuk. From Alberta. I thought Canadians were half-way intelligent. I guess every country has their idiots. I hope they take him back soon. After a minute or so of wandering left and right on the roadway, he turns off his flashers and heads on down the road – FINALLY! Now he looks like he’s racing out of here. He’s not going all that fast, because I can barely keep up with him, and we’re starting up the pass over the mountains, from Jackson to Victor. He decides to pass a small pickup in front of him, and does it in a no-passing zone. Yup, right-hand blind curve, yellow stripe firmly on our side. he doesn’t care – NOW he’s in a hurry. Go figure. Good riddance. Oh yeah, there was fog close to the pass at the top:
Luckily it didn’t last long, because it was THICK! Just past the fog, I catch the guy from Canukistan. Great. Just prior to a construction zone. It vaguely crosses my mind that one short mis-application (or rather, non-application) of brakes, and he’s off down the mountainside, a lot of the worlds little problems quickly solved … but no, that would not be right. Hopefully he’s going elsewhere from us. Most of the way down the hill … BRAKE light. Great! Just had the front brakes done last week or so! I have brakes, so I’m not worried, but it just … ARGH. Oh, well.
The rest of the trip (all 15 miles of it, or so) is uneventful, and we get checked into our campground. Yay! Immediately, we head for the bike shop, to get The Bear’s front wheel re-taped. I actually remember where the bike shop is from last year! Yay! We whip in, and … they’re closed on Mondays. Great. Gotta love it! Off to lunch, at The Big Hole BBQ. Ate there last year, good stuff. Only sandwiches for lunch, but that’s ok, I can deal with it. Then, off to a brewery! And IT is closed! REALLY? Until 16:00. ARGH. Guess the beer will have to wait. Well, that’s ok, we can get our growler to take with us, in case they have good beer.
Brake light – had it checked out. Low fluid. Ok, the fluid was so high it looked like it was out, but obviously it’s not, so we’ll ignore that one until we get to Bozeman, MT and get it looked at.
Beer – hit two places. First one was Wildlife Brewery. They had no stouts or porters, but they did have a Bear Claw Black Ale that was pretty good. Ok, so I’ve found ONE ale I like!
Next place was the Grand Teton Brewing Company, and they DID have a Stout – their Black Cauldron Nitro Stout. Quite good! Not quite up to the Stout at Moonlight Pizza in Salida, CO, but pretty close. Not growler worthy, though, I’m afraid.
Off to home and maybe Longmire if we can get the Tailgater to work.