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Road Trip 2003
Kansas City to Banff British Columbia
By
Steve Phillips, Gloria & David Bross
It all started about a year ago when we started to talk about planning a road trip to Banff National Park of Alberta, Canada. Here is the story of our 2-week adventure.
DAY 1 We left KC on September 12 around 7:30 a.m. and met Steve at Cabela’s around 8 a.m. Due to the weather (raining of course) we decided to head west on the turnpike and drive out of the rain. The weather cleared just west of Topeka when we found out that Gloria had already lost a Highway Peg. We stopped in Junction City and installed a new pair then headed further west to Colby, KS.
We cut north ending our first day at Imperial NE. A Great Day. A local stop at the Nebraska State Line showed us that we were in the Buckshot State according to the sign.
We ended the day with a Metal Cup of Makes Mark.
DAY 2 Hit the road about 7 a.m. (45º - 80) and went to Ogallah NE for breakfast and to let things warm up a bit. We traveled NW through Scottsbluff and finished the day in Shoshoni WY around 50 degrees. The huge ant trying to get into our room fascinated Gloria. No way, says Gloria, he lost. It was sooo big, I was looking for a nuclear plant.
We ended the day with a Metal Cup of Makes Mark.
DAY 3 Left around 7:30 a.m. (39º) and headed west to Riverton WY for breakfast. Just outside of town a huge elk passed in front of us. This is the first day of really cold mornings. Finished breakfast and headed for the Grand Tetons. We traveled to Jenny Lake, Signal Mountain, Jackson Lake and pitched camp at Colter Bay campground.
We ended the day with a Metal Cup of Makes Mark.
DAY 4 We got no sleep, the temperature dropped to 23 degrees according to Steve’s digital thermometer oil dipstick. We were the only people in the whole campground. Gloria was sure there was a bear outside our camp last night. We walk to the camp restaurant, which warmed use up a bit. Later we packed up camp and headed to Yellowstone National Park. We rode through the park stopping at Old Faithful and on to West Yellowstone to get a room for a couple of days. We ended the day with a Metal Cup of Makes Mark.
Finally some sleep.
DAY 5 We spent the day riding through Yellowstone NP. The weather changed from warm to cold, rain, snow, wind that blew trees across the road, and in a flash warm again. We saw animals galore from eagles nesting to a herd of elk. The most interesting thing today was the traffic jam in the park for 40 minutes due to a herd of Buffalo on or near the road. As we approached our turn to pass by the Buffalo, Steve putted by, and then Gloria with her stealth pipes (stock) made it safely by.
However as I approached to pass the herd a large Bull decided to charge at me at which one point I could see his head in my mirrors and gave chase for about a block until traffic thinned out enough to twist the Throttle and gain some distance. Don’t know if it was the pipes or the Orange colors.
Later that night we watched “Dances with Wolves” on the tube. After a little drink I kind of wanted to get on the ground and make horns with my fingers. “TATANKA”.
We ended the day with a Metal Cup of Makes Mark.
DAY 6 We left West Yellowstone after a hotel breakfast and pulled out of the parking garage into blowing snow. After a brief Kodak moment we headed north and rode out of the snow after about an hour, but the most beautiful clouds danced just over our heads. Needless to say the temperature forced us to stop and warm up a few times. We stopped in Belgrade Montana H-D for their only pair of heated grip installed on Gloria’s bike. After about 3 hours and a charge card we were on our way to Missoula for the night. As we headed NW we lost track of time changing 2 time zones and we almost ran out of gas on David & Gloria’s Bikes. After about an hour outside of Butte we ran into some rain, sleet, hail, snow and sunshine all in about 30 miles. We spent the night in Deer Lodge MT.
We ended the day with a Metal Cup of Makes Mark.
DAY 7 We left Deer Lodge (30º) and headed for Glacier National Park rumbling past Swan Lake. We arrived at Glacier NP on the west side to begin our ride on the “Going to the Sun Road.” This is a 50 mile road that in about 6 miles will take you up to about 6600 ft. and back down with a temperature change from 70 to freezing and back. The road was closed yesterday due to snow in the higher elevations. This road is a must to do for all motorcyclists with breathtaking drop off, no guardrails, switch backs and tunnels. What a rush. After ending up on the east side of the park we stayed the night at Saint Mary, Montana, an Indian village which fed us very well at their restaurant. The wind was picking up out of the north around 30 gusting 45.
We ended the day with a Metal Cup of Makes Mark.
DAY 8 We left St. Mary’s with a strong head wind (33º) and headed for the Canada border. We came upon some rangeland with cattle on the road and we lended our hand at driving cattle on our bikes for a while. We arrive at the Chief Mountain border crossing early and the gates were closed. After a short wait we rode to the gate and were greeted by Karen the Mountie, with no sense of humor. She acted more like a schoolteacher and scolded Steve for not listening to here questions. Bad Steve. We entered after questioning into Waterton Lakes NP of Alberta. We came upon the Prince of Wales Hotel for an attempt at breakfast. The hired help scattered when we looked like we might be staying the night. Needless to say the waiters in Kilts and us in leathers looked like a stand off at the OK corral. After a few questions like “You want to eat here” we were seated and served with a great view, great service and great breakfast. We hope that by the size of tip we left they had a better perspective of bikers.
We ended the day with a Metal Cup of Makes Mark.
DAY 9 We continued NW over Crowsnest Pass, with rain, cold, hail, snow and sunshine to Radium Hot Springs, British Columbia for the night which is on the west side of Banff NP. The town was packed with an antique car show and hot rods of all ages were cruising the strip. It rained and hailed and lightening but it did not seem to bother the car guys. Steve and Gloria stayed put while Dave went in search of a motel for the night. He returned shortly with the only 2 room’s left and grabbed them without delay. Most everywhere we stopped, the same question was asked. “Where are you headed?” Banff Canada. The next reply was that we were either stupid or lucky. We think lucky.
We ended the day with a Metal Cup of Makes Mark.
Road Trip 2003
Kansas City to Banff British Columbia
By
Steve Phillips, Gloria & David Bross
It all started about a year ago when we started to talk about planning a road trip to Banff National Park of Alberta, Canada. Here is the story of our 2-week adventure.
DAY 1 We left KC on September 12 around 7:30 a.m. and met Steve at Cabela’s around 8 a.m. Due to the weather (raining of course) we decided to head west on the turnpike and drive out of the rain. The weather cleared just west of Topeka when we found out that Gloria had already lost a Highway Peg. We stopped in Junction City and installed a new pair then headed further west to Colby, KS.
We cut north ending our first day at Imperial NE. A Great Day. A local stop at the Nebraska State Line showed us that we were in the Buckshot State according to the sign.
We ended the day with a Metal Cup of Makes Mark.
DAY 2 Hit the road about 7 a.m. (45º - 80) and went to Ogallah NE for breakfast and to let things warm up a bit. We traveled NW through Scottsbluff and finished the day in Shoshoni WY around 50 degrees. The huge ant trying to get into our room fascinated Gloria. No way, says Gloria, he lost. It was sooo big, I was looking for a nuclear plant.
We ended the day with a Metal Cup of Makes Mark.
DAY 3 Left around 7:30 a.m. (39º) and headed west to Riverton WY for breakfast. Just outside of town a huge elk passed in front of us. This is the first day of really cold mornings. Finished breakfast and headed for the Grand Tetons. We traveled to Jenny Lake, Signal Mountain, Jackson Lake and pitched camp at Colter Bay campground.
We ended the day with a Metal Cup of Makes Mark.
DAY 4 We got no sleep, the temperature dropped to 23 degrees according to Steve’s digital thermometer oil dipstick. We were the only people in the whole campground. Gloria was sure there was a bear outside our camp last night. We walk to the camp restaurant, which warmed use up a bit. Later we packed up camp and headed to Yellowstone National Park. We rode through the park stopping at Old Faithful and on to West Yellowstone to get a room for a couple of days. We ended the day with a Metal Cup of Makes Mark.
Finally some sleep.
DAY 5 We spent the day riding through Yellowstone NP. The weather changed from warm to cold, rain, snow, wind that blew trees across the road, and in a flash warm again. We saw animals galore from eagles nesting to a herd of elk. The most interesting thing today was the traffic jam in the park for 40 minutes due to a herd of Buffalo on or near the road. As we approached our turn to pass by the Buffalo, Steve putted by, and then Gloria with her stealth pipes (stock) made it safely by.
However as I approached to pass the herd a large Bull decided to charge at me at which one point I could see his head in my mirrors and gave chase for about a block until traffic thinned out enough to twist the Throttle and gain some distance. Don’t know if it was the pipes or the Orange colors.
Later that night we watched “Dances with Wolves” on the tube. After a little drink I kind of wanted to get on the ground and make horns with my fingers. “TATANKA”.
We ended the day with a Metal Cup of Makes Mark.
DAY 6 We left West Yellowstone after a hotel breakfast and pulled out of the parking garage into blowing snow. After a brief Kodak moment we headed north and rode out of the snow after about an hour, but the most beautiful clouds danced just over our heads. Needless to say the temperature forced us to stop and warm up a few times. We stopped in Belgrade Montana H-D for their only pair of heated grip installed on Gloria’s bike. After about 3 hours and a charge card we were on our way to Missoula for the night. As we headed NW we lost track of time changing 2 time zones and we almost ran out of gas on David & Gloria’s Bikes. After about an hour outside of Butte we ran into some rain, sleet, hail, snow and sunshine all in about 30 miles. We spent the night in Deer Lodge MT.
We ended the day with a Metal Cup of Makes Mark.
DAY 7 We left Deer Lodge (30º) and headed for Glacier National Park rumbling past Swan Lake. We arrived at Glacier NP on the west side to begin our ride on the “Going to the Sun Road.” This is a 50 mile road that in about 6 miles will take you up to about 6600 ft. and back down with a temperature change from 70 to freezing and back. The road was closed yesterday due to snow in the higher elevations. This road is a must to do for all motorcyclists with breathtaking drop off, no guardrails, switch backs and tunnels. What a rush. After ending up on the east side of the park we stayed the night at Saint Mary, Montana, an Indian village which fed us very well at their restaurant. The wind was picking up out of the north around 30 gusting 45.
We ended the day with a Metal Cup of Makes Mark.
DAY 8 We left St. Mary’s with a strong head wind (33º) and headed for the Canada border. We came upon some rangeland with cattle on the road and we lended our hand at driving cattle on our bikes for a while. We arrive at the Chief Mountain border crossing early and the gates were closed. After a short wait we rode to the gate and were greeted by Karen the Mountie, with no sense of humor. She acted more like a schoolteacher and scolded Steve for not listening to here questions. Bad Steve. We entered after questioning into Waterton Lakes NP of Alberta. We came upon the Prince of Wales Hotel for an attempt at breakfast. The hired help scattered when we looked like we might be staying the night. Needless to say the waiters in Kilts and us in leathers looked like a stand off at the OK corral. After a few questions like “You want to eat here” we were seated and served with a great view, great service and great breakfast. We hope that by the size of tip we left they had a better perspective of bikers.
We ended the day with a Metal Cup of Makes Mark.
DAY 9 We continued NW over Crowsnest Pass, with rain, cold, hail, snow and sunshine to Radium Hot Springs, British Columbia for the night which is on the west side of Banff NP. The town was packed with an antique car show and hot rods of all ages were cruising the strip. It rained and hailed and lightening but it did not seem to bother the car guys. Steve and Gloria stayed put while Dave went in search of a motel for the night. He returned shortly with the only 2 room’s left and grabbed them without delay. Most everywhere we stopped, the same question was asked. “Where are you headed?” Banff Canada. The next reply was that we were either stupid or lucky. We think lucky.
We ended the day with a Metal Cup of Makes Mark.
