Mackinac Island. No cars!!

Thursday Sept 22nd
Mackinac Island Michigan


Had to come here on way home. For over 100 yrs there have been no cars here (except for emergency vehicles). It is sooooo tranquil when cars are removed. But car fumes are replaced by horse manure fumes. And I do wonder about getting all that poop cleaned off the streets. They do it somehow. I will find a place in the state park to camp in the woods for the night. Pretty wooded. Should be ok.




Salad pizza for dinner. Tossed salad on a cheese pizza! Pretty good!

Earlier this week I spent a couple of days with Bacon and Meander of PCT fame (they finished last year!). Geese and chickens took over the yard! Made me rethink chickens, but I think the geese are the messy ones:). And the vegetarian meals they served so delighted my palate. Goat cheese and beet pizza! Marinated tofu! Salads using fresh local veggies! The rumors are true: Bacon and Meander can cook!! Great team in the kitchen.

From here I'm headin across the north shore of Lake Ontario to the Adirondaks to visit Fuat (remember him from Oregon?). Sadly he shipped his bike via USPS and only the label made it home. How do you lose a large, plastic, belted bike box with a return address on it? Our govt has managed to. They say they can't find it anywhere. I feel so bad. He seems to be taking it in stride.

Then on home later next week unless I stay away until the ALDHA meeting in Oct. I have options!

Stuffed BagLady

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Heading Home

Saturday September 19th
East of Pierre, South Dakota (in a cornfield)

Left Riverton yesterday after the most delightful week of doing very little except enjoying time with Steve & Sandy & Alexa and the granddaughters and the new puppies. Whew. Felt right at home. Such a pleasant place:)

And enjoyed attending, not one, but two book club meetings. Most interesting woman, for sure! Too bad I hadn't read the books. Oh well.

So now I'm driving. And I wish I were biking. Too fast. I can't see everything. Can't read the signs. Can't easily pull over, like I could on Blaze. Everything seems so much harder and a lot less fun. I'm more bored and more exhausted. On my bike, I looked forward to every day with baited breath not knowing what would unfold, but knowing I'd enjoy whatever it was. The road never looked too long. And once I accepted the slow pace, I preferred it. Not with driving. I've had to accept that I'll see very little and miss so much. I'm finally able to go over 50 mph. But it's do tiring, not invigorating. There are no endorphins when driving. No calories burned. A lot of concentration required. Exhausting. Yup. Give me my bike any day.

I slept last night next to a church. Only place in Lusk WY without street lights. I stayed in town so I could get breakfast in the morning. Good thinking, ya? I don't usually cook when car camping. Don't know why that is. Maybe I'll make some coffee in morning.

Drove through Custer State Park today and saw more bison. Felt like I was back in Yellowstone for a brief moment. I drove the Needles Highway which was incredible: rock spirals and a road winding through them! Loved it.

But I'm done. Enough beautiful scenery. Enough museums. Enough sagebrush. Enough cowboy boots. I'm ready for green grass and leafy trees. I can feel fall in the air. And it feels good.

Tonight I'm sleeping in my car in a cornfield with winds 20-30 mph and they're rocking it. Do you know I have not had an ear of corn this whole summer? I hope I'm not too late. And oh, a fresh tomato would taste wonderful. There's just not the farm stands like back east. I think I'm sounding homesick:)

Time for sleep.

Rockin' BagLady

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Arrived!

Sunday September 11
Riverton Wyoming

I pulled in the driveway at my brother's house a little after 10 am. Can't believe I biked out of this driveway 3 months and 1 week ago. What a journey! It went by so fast!

This afternoon Sandy (my sis-in-law) and I drove back to Thermopolis to retrieve my lost sac and profusely thank Steve the good samaritan. He's a guy from Oklahoma that's working on the building of a gas unit here for quite a long time without going home. Amazing that I got all of it back. Cash included. What have I been saying? Believe me now?

Gonna stick around here until Friday, then head towards Wisconsin to visit Bacon and Meander (PCT friends).

I should be home the following weekend I guess.

Tomorrow I'm gonna start unloading Blaze and taking an inventory of all that I carried, making special note of anything that wasn't used like my watercolor kit (once). Hope that and my notes will make repacking in a few months a bit easier.

Next stop: New Zealand!!!!

Satisfied BagLady


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Last Night?

Friday September 9th
Thermopolis WY



I'm camped just off the roadway up near a rock formation and in red, red clay. Beautiful spot except for the traffic. In the morning I'll roll right down into the Wind River Canyon!

I have about 50 miles left and I just don't know if I'll roll in tomorrow night or Sunday morning. Depends on what tomorrow brings my way.

This finishing is such sweet sorrow. I've had such a blast on this trip. Met so many wonderful new friends. Played with so many old ones. Not old, old:). It's been a full, rich, fun-filled summer! Hiking and biking!! A great mix.

There's only 2 things I'd change. I'd bring more audiobooks and I'd learn how to adjust the shifting cables so the click aligns with a gear change. I need to know how to do that. And I still need to adjust how my gear goes on the bike. I'd like to be able to grab a bag and have all my cooking gear and food together. Now it's in the pods on each side. Have to rethink that. I've been really looking the part of bag lady lately with all the rags and bags tied on. I like things handy. Maybe too handy:).

My wish is that more women try doing things on their own. People shouldn't be so surprised that I'm alone. It shouldn't be such an anomaly. I see so many women on the backs of motorcycles, like an accessory. "I got my hog and I got my babe!". Although some are on their own cycles, but then they're always following the man. He has to lead. That requires testosterone, I guess! And even in the RVs that pass me: the guy is always driving with the gal sitting faithfully in the passenger seat. What gives? Are we still second class citizens? Do we need a man to protect and guide us? Really? I love men I really do! But we need to figure out this partnership role. Men need to find out how to be strong enough to take the back seat sometimes without it affecting their ego. I'd love to hear some feedback on the subject because I think it's a complicated but important one. Why don't more women do things on their own? Why don't women share the leadership role? Why don't women ride on the front with the man behind? Why don't the girls drive the RVs for awhile? Could I ride on the back? Yes sometimes. As long as I got to ride up front too!

Ok. Off my soapbox. Just wanted to share something I've been noticing a lot out here.

Steering BagLady


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On the Road Again...Sorta

Thursday September 8th
Middle of No Man's Land, WY

Playing with Yellowstone in Yellowstone is over. Back to pedaling 10 hours a day to go 40 miles. 8:30 am to 7:00 pm. Break for lunch.

Y and I went to Cody to play too. She didn't want me biking on the roads in the park and there's the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody that she hadn't seen either and I heard it was great so off we went. The drive from Yellowstone to Cody was so beautiful down the Chief Joseph highway through Sunlit Basin! I kept wishing to myself that I were biking it. Cars travel too fast to really absorb the beauty and see all there is to see. Too fast. But it took 4 days off of biking. September is clipping by. I do need to head back east. That us where I live.

So we spent yesterday morning at the museum setting Y's departure time so that she could get back in time for a park party. But the best laid plans... After I got Blaze out of the back of her truck where she'd been resting for the week, and all loaded up, I found that the back tire had blown. Problem now. No more spares. Only brought one and it was on the intrepid right front. Called bike shop. The 20" they had was bigger. Called Walmart. They had a 20" a bit bigger but smaller than bike shop's. Now Y is getting late. She takes me to get tire. I have a tube the same size (1.75) and get everything all fixed and mounted all my gear. Say goodbye to Yellowstone and finish seeing the museum, getting groceries, getting air in tires, and leaving town. Not 3 miles down road. It's flat. Ugh! Take it off. Patch it - pinch flat. Remount. Wont inflate. Have to inflate after mounting because otherwise too big to get past the brake. 2nd puncture? Remove drone bike. Remove from rim. Pump's got problem. Fix it. That was why it wouldn't inflate. Remount tire on wheel. Remount wheel on bike. Inflate. Success! Pedal on. 1 mile. Pshhhh. Flat again. There's a reason I've been hauling that punctured and mended thorn resistant tube for months. That thing's too bulky to pinch. Put that baby on there. Yup. It worked! Gotten pretty fast at changing that rear tire. Sure appreciate Hieke's tip about resting the rear end rack braces on my panniers so that it's off the ground and not resting on the rear derailleur. Works well. So now with less than 90 miles to go, I should be able to make it. But that rear tire sure is FAT!

So tonight I'm again camped along side the highway next to the barbed wire fence. The prairie grasses are quite bristly. Thank goodness my ground cloth protects my tent and ME! No one bothers me. There are few places to get off the road except for the turnoffs to the pastures. It works for me. And the road should quiet down soon not that it's very noisy now.

It's been a pretty remote area I've been biking through: rolling ribbon of a road, yellow grasses and sagebrush on both sides the road, rocky outcroppings, and mountains in the distance. So beautiful to be a part of the scenery. The long road stretching out ahead delights rather than intimidating me.

It feels good!

Sleepy BagLady




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Headwinds

Tuesday August 30
Quake Lake MT


I lied! Today headwinds are killing me!! They're blowing north up this valley and it's a gradual uphill climb too. Not moving ver fast today. 3-4 mph at best. And it's getting pretty tiring. But it would be awfully hot out here without them. No umbrella today. It would pull me to Canada!

I found bar not on my Adventure Cycle map at about 4:30. I'd only gone about 22 miles since 9 am. Does that give you an idea of how hard today was? So I stopped in for ice water in my bottles and a root beer. Stayed for dinner! Soup and salad bar. Nothing to write home about, but saved me from cooking:). That left more evening hours to bike.

And I did another 14 tonight. Had a wee bit of a hard time finding a campsite because I pushed on and them got to an area of avalanches (dirt) and no flat spots. I camped 15 ft from the white lime on the side of the road on stones. But it's flat. And the road is mostly empty. And once I'm set up you can't tell who's in that tent. And Blaze is all nestled under her cover so she doesn't glow when headlights hit her and create curiosity or interest. It's really a good set up.

On into West Yellowstone tomorrow. Hopefully noonish.

This trip is winding down and sadly so. I'm not tired of it at all. It's just been a blast...except for all the stuff I've littered along the way. But hopefully I've spread some joy and inspiration to others to go out, be fearless, and live this life!!! Fully!

Exhausted BagLady. Off to bed...


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Yellowstone!

I have been visiting Yellowstone National Park and my friend, Yellowstone for the past few days.  She's a guide in this incredible park and has given me the best tour possible!!!  What a treat to see not only Old Faithful but all the other thermal features as well as bison, elk, and wolves (through scopes).  Way cool!  And then we did a 3 day backpacking trip with some friends up Mt. Holmes, over 10,000 ft!  Delightful time...and my partner and me won at cards... both nights!  A game called 500.  Similar to Euchre, so I had a bit shorter learning curve.    But I did manage to get sunburned.  You'd think that after spending all summer on Blaze I'd have been good, but it must have been the altitude.  And my sunscreen was on the bike...ouch!

And I've been meeting a slew of folks that work in the park...her friends.  What a great place this is!  I've loved being able to spend time with Yellowstone and catch up.  

Tomorrow we're heading to Cody where we'll see the Buffalo Bill Museum and go to Sierra Trading Post (floors of stuff on sale!).  We'll also have dinner and spend the night.  Then Wednesday I'll get back on Blaze and do the final leg of my amazing summer journey.  Don't think I'm ready for this trip to end, but it's time....I guess.  All good things must end, and so must this trip.  But it's not my last...oh NO!  Blaze is definitely my RV:)  We're gonna see some fabulous places together, yessireee!!!

Sunburned BagLady