Day 8

Got a signal in the park! Last night I was not able to check my emails
but this morning the cell phone connection went through.

At the Old Faithfull Inn – a very large and interesting log building
with 300 rooms next to the famous geyser.

Going to walk around a litlle this morning and then head south to Salt
Lake City. It is freezing – and supposed to get worse so really glad
to be heading south now.

In 3 or 4 days I will reach LA and meet up with Marc, give the bike a
major tune up, new tires and head down towards Brazil πŸ™‚

By the way – was at the bar last night and started talking to a guy
who is cycling from Seattle to Indiana! He's been on the road for 2
weeks already! Then I told him I was going to go to Brazil… Turns
out he was raised in Brazil!!! Manaus more precisely!!! His parents
are missionaries and lived there for a while.

What a coincidence!!!

Update

Cold but dry. Can see the mountains already with snow!! Almost ran out
of gas – a guy at a rest area had 2 gallons to spare for $10 – would
not have made it! The next gas station was 35 miles down the road –
well – might have made it but not worth risking πŸ™‚

Now off to secondary roads to Cody, WY. Right now in Buffalo, WY.

Day 7 – better get a move on

Going to do a lot of miles today – have to get to Yellowstone before a cold storm arrives!
Here is what the Weather Channel is saying:

… A MAJOR CHANGE TO COLDER AND SNOWY WEATHER IS HEADED FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL AND WESTERN WYOMING THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY…

… A COLD STORM SYSTEM OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA IS FORECAST TO DROP INTO THE GREAT BASIN ON THURSDAY AND THEN STALL OUT OVER THE SOUTHERN IDAHO… NORTHERN UTAH AREA FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY…

… SNOW WILL LIKELY DEVELOP IN THE MOUNTAINS BY THURSDAY NIGHT…

… THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING WILL ALSO HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY…

… HUNTERS… TRAVELLERS AND OTHERS WITH OUTDOOR INTERESTS SHOULD PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE WEATHER FORECAST OVER THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS. THE MILD… EARLY FALL WEATHER IS ABOUT TO COME TO AN END WITH A SUDDEN SWITCH TO WINTER CONDITIONS.

But then again – the Weather Channel OFTEN exaggerates in their forecasts – SEVERAL times in NY they would forecast rain one day and the rain would never get there.

In any case – don’t want to risk being caught in snow… probably one of the most dangerous things on the road is black ice… the bike simply “disappears” from under you.

Wish I had a thermometer on the bike to see if the temperature is at or below freezing point – I guess I will have to feel it πŸ™‚

iPhone

At a very nice Italian restaurant in Spearfish, SD and was
contemplating on what a great tool the iPhone and the applications
that have been written for it are.
Besides the obvious email checking and map/routes I can read about the
place I am in, update my location straight to a map, check what my
friends are up to on Facebook, play Backgammon and many other geeky
stuff.
But most of all at the moment is the companion it is while I'm eating
alone πŸ™‚