Back To The USA ................ Part One

Crossing the border into the US. Well not quite. They could not come up with a computer programme that would accept a New Zealand rego plate. After asking those stupid mundane questions the computer threw a fit. Two more border guards arrived to try and sort out the problem but neither could come up with a solution. It looked like we were going to be stuck in No Man’s Land or having to return to Canada.


After I explained that we had already crossed the US border, twice, they thought they had better try again. This time someone came up with the idea of entering the VIN number of the bike. Bingo. It worked. Seems this border does not get any NZ vehicles coming across.

So, back into the US State of Montana and we headed for Glacier National Park and the Road to the Sun. The scenery was again spectacular but the road was closed at the fourteen mile mark due to road works and snow. It was still a great ride and well worth the time.

Soon we were moving south but the weather took a turn for the worse. We ended up riding for three days through torrential rain, snow showers and high winds. With the time frame for getting the bike back to L.A and the tornado warnings being issued for the area we were going to, we decided to quickly cover the ground in a rental car. Five days and two thousand miles later we had taken in Yellowstone Park, twice, Cody, Little Bighorn National Battlefield Monument, Big Horn Mountains, Medicine Wheel Park, The Devil’s Tower National Park, The Black Hills, Deadwood, The massive Crazy Horse National Monument, The Bad lands National Park, all in the states of Wyoming, South Dakota and Idaho. It was great to get back to the bike, touring in a car is not the Dust Devil way. But at least we were on schedule for L.A. Next it was back to the Bonneville Salt Flats to see what speed the Numb Bums could set. It was good to see the salt flats without the layer of water on it that was there the first time we visited. There were a few others out there racing across the expanse of salt and covering themselves in a layer of white.

Soon we were back in Reno with friends Scott and Joanne. After riding through and around massive thunder storm systems, increasingly high winds, the ever increasing amounts of holiday traffic, we were glad to be back in a quiet rural setting once again. We are now finishing at a good time, as the weather is hotting up as are the crowds in the Parks and Byways.