Beartooth Highway Tandem Ride, July 2010

How do you follow up an 8 mile ride up the Going to the Sun Road on your honeymoon? Hiking up to Grinnell Glacier on your 1st Anniversary? Climbing the 2nd Flatiron on your 2nd Anniversary? You do a 12 mile ride up the Beartooth Highway on the tandem on your 10 year anniversary! Crazy. I know. I'm kind of nervous about the 25th one...

At the 11th hour, we were still trying to figure out what to do. Should we camp, hike, drive a long way to see friends for a few hours? What should we do? We really like Red Lodge, so we decided to do something there. I suggested we take the tandem and do a little cruising around the area. You know, find a nice road and cruise?! Right. We foisted the kiddos off on family, then headed out to Red Lodge with the tandem in the back of the truck and the camper hooked up. We found a campground Friday night, finagled our way into a spot by a creek, and relaxed. Here's a collage of our campsite...If you click on the collage it will expand into approximately a 5x7 photo. Then you can click again to further zoom...

The next morning, Michael went out to get the bike ready. He found a flat tire. We had forgotten to let out the air before the climb in altitude. oops. Then we discovered we didn't have a spare and all the tire fixing goo was really old and dried up, and now what? A woman walked by on the road of the campground. Their little doggy ran off and she was retrieving it. She asked if we were going cycling and we told her our dilemma. She said they were going to ride up the Beartooth Highway too, and she'd check with her husband to see if they had a spare spare tire. (yes, you read that right!) Soon, her husband came back with two spares and an offer to ride with us. Really nice couple...totally forgot their names. They are in the collage below...she's the one holding her bike overhead. She doesn't do well with heights, so this was a great accomplishment. He drove their rig up, rode down on his bike, then we rode up and she took the rig down. Riding up those switchbacks was enough; she didn't want to ride down them!

I really thought the ride was going to be tortuous. After all, I had spent the summer sanding and refinishing, and that's what we did every weekend too. The only time we had ridden was the Sunday previous when we coasted down into town, got an ice cream treat, then rode one mile uphill to home, a grand total of maybe five miles. Good thing I lead cycling classes at the Y. At least I have some endurance. We figure we averaged 8mph on the climb. That's good for two 40+ people on basically their first ride of the season. Here's a collage of the ride...If you click on the collage it will expand into approximately a 5x7 photo. Then you can click again to further zoom...

And now, a map of the switchbacks...

We rode to the "Vista Point" where we took the photos of us by the tandem. This was about an 8.7 mile ride from the campground area we started from. We took a break, then decided to ride further up the road. (Don't ask me why... really, don't!) So, if you look at the map above, we figure we rode off the upper right corner of the map...to a total of 12 miles.

We enjoyed a fruit leather and Clif bar, then started the descent. The tandem has a drum brake on the rear wheel and I, the stoker, run it on the captains' command. So, I set it where he told me to and we cruised. One switchback before reaching the vista point again, Michael said, "Uh oh, that doesn't look good. The front tire is starting to bulge." great. I was already freaking about the next 9 miles downhill. (Trust me, I'd rather ride uphill.) We rode into the parking lot of the Vista Point, I hopped off and went over to one of the two trucks parked there. We knew at that point there would be no more riding. Just as I started talking to the woman in the truck, explaining our predicament, telling her our tire was bulging, Ka-POW! It blew! Sounded like a gunshot. She was the support truck for a motorcycle group...eek! Anyways, she brought us down to the campground where our truck was. That may have been scarier than riding down on the bike...she was a little crazy. Some pics of the tire follow...

So, all is well that ends well. We didn't crash. We didn't die. And we are getting a new front tire this year. And we'll carry extra tubes. And we'll make sure we don't do such a strenuous ride again on a 10 year old tire. I promise.

Back to July...Mt. Rushmore

When we were in NZ in 2004, we spent a couple of nights in the yard of a very nice couple, Kaye and Alan. That time was an absolute treat! Then they came to America to tour around in 2006 with another couple, Neil and Barb. They stayed with us a couple of nights. Well, Kaye and Alan gave our names to this third couple, Walter and Olive. We began corresponding via email with Walter and Olive this spring planning to meet them in South Dakota at Mt. Rushmore sometime during the summer. As the summer progressed, the dates were chosen and it landed on our anniversary! So we had a nice time with some very fun friends. These first pics are of Sylvan Lake. It was an approximate 1 mile hike around the lake...wonderful views, interesting rocks, very cool...

Here's Michael helping Jonathan down climb a rock. He did really well. (Jonathan, that is!;-)

Jonathan and Annisia enjoy their Camelbaks. We like them too except they seem to need to hike slower and stop to drink lots, and then we need to find an outhouse or little boys/girls tree...you get the picture.

Walter and Olive with the kids by the dam at Sylvan Lake.

Then we drove the Needles Highway. Here's a blip from the National Scenic Byways Program:

"Driving through rock tunnels and winding past rock spires, the Needles Highway was labeled impossible when it was constructed in 1919. That didn't deter Governor Norbeck, who supplied more than 150,000 pounds of dynamite and the determination needed to construct the roadway.

The Needles Highway curves and winds through 14 miles of magnificent rock formations called 'needles.' One of the most prominent rock formations on the Highway is the Needles Eye, reaching 30 to 40 feet in the air with a 3 foot wide slit."

The eye of the needle...
Check out how Annisia is standing...like father like daughter!

Walter and Olive on the way in...

Crazy Horse. This is a sculpture of what the finished product will look like.

This is what is currently done...

...a zoom in on the excavator for my son!

Then on to Devils Tower. We walked around the monument,

saw about a dozen climbers in different spots, like these close to the top...

then continued on to home where Leilani had prepared a delish meal for all of us. We finished up the day with a wonderful Bible study...Happy Anniversary to us...way back in July!

Happy 50th Anniversary!

Michael's parents celebrated 50 years of marriage in February. We all went to a guest ranch south of town for dinner. It was wonderful! Lillian showed up in the coat Mike bought for her for a wedding gift. It looks like fur, but I think they called it "muton" or mutton. I think it's actually sheep? Anyways, it is lovely and she was/is lovely, and Mike was/is quite the dashing romantic fella! He did things for her all week...roses, breakfast cooked and served by two of the boys on the morning of the anniversary...romantic things, you see!

Look at these two! Aren't they beautiful?!

This is the family photo we had taken in December, along with the photo of just Gramma and Papa, a frame that said "We did..." under their wedding photo and "We still do." under the current photo, wine glasses from the grand girls, a gold cake cutter and server from Mike and Ang by the anniversary cake with a photo of Lillian in high school and Mike in the Marines (a combination of photos they both love), and truffles Kayla made.
Setting up the family photos we had framed for them...there's Heath, Jon, Angila, and Brady.

Kayla and our dear family friend, Jean, (and Angila's MIL), sharing a laugh.

Something funny is going on at that end of the table!

Brady read a letter Mandi and Jami sent to reminisce as they couldn't make it home for the party. Here, Lillian is sharing some story...probably about when the four grand girls were little! There are plenty of those!

Then laughing so hard about it because so many of the things the girls did were so funny!

Annisia enjoying her Shirley Temple (served in a shot glass, of all things!)

Uncle Mike and Jonathan discussing important things, like probably anything about horses or tractors!

Aunt Marti and Jonathan engaged in another discussion...(she's probably telling him to continue obeying his elders so he doesn't get in trouble like the kids she helps in Juvy!)

Then some family pics...This one is my favorite. Michael is tickling Annisia and Jonathan is having a ball, giggling about something!

Daddy and me!