District 5 is located in Southern Colorado 

DISTRICT 5, VFW WARRIORS

“Warriors Corner”

November – December 2009

District 5, VFW Warriors Gear Up and RIDE!

How do memorable rides come about?  It starts with a dream.  While watching Charles Kuralt one Sunday morning, he said that the Beartooth Highway in Montana was one of the most scenic rides in the United States.  Since that day I have been dreaming about making the ride to Red Lodge Montana to do this ride.  While sitting at the VFW last November with Bear and Lobo, the discussion of running the Beartooth Highway came up.  Both said that they would love to take the trip.  That was enough to put the wheels in motion.

We set the date for July 21^st.  I made reservations at the Cody KOA for a cabin for 3 days thinking that this would give us enough time to do the Beartooth and see Yellowstone National Park and other sights in and around the grasslands of northwestern Wyoming.

Well as the date got closer, Lobo had to go to California and backed out, so Trailboss stepped up and said he’d like to go.  In addition, I invited a friend of mine so the final tally was Renegade, Bear, Trailboss and Paul.

Paul and I left Colorado Springs on July 20^th.  I wanted to get in ahead of everyone else to scout out the area and put together a “things to do” list. The list included Chief Joseph Highway, the Beartooth, the grasslands out to Grey Bull and a day in Yellowstone.  By the time we arrived in Cody the sun was beginning to set so we set up camp in a hurry and jumped on the bikes to do a quick ride.  We headed west on highway 14 toward Yellowstone alongside the Shoshone River, past Buffalo Bill State Park toward the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park.  And just like Colorado, the threat of afternoon/evening rains loomed ominously over the park.  We continued west until we were certain that the rains were here to stay.  At that point we decided to turn around and head back to camp for a late dinner.

It rained hard that night and the tent took a beating in the wind and rain.  But I slept like a baby.  I love sleeping in the rain as long as I am dry.  The sun rose early over the grasslands and I woke up to a promising new day of riding hard.  Fist in the wind hard. The smell of coffee and morning dew made my mind race with anticipation. After a quick breakfast, we jumped on our bikes and headed north out of Cody on Highway 120 toward the Chief Joseph Highway.

Highway 120 is a beautiful uncluttered ride north of Cody through rolling hills and grasslands.  The highway is well maintained and continues northeast into Montana.  About 30 miles out of town Highway 296 breaks off to the left and heads northwest toward the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park.  As we were headed back to camp I got a call from Bear saying that they had finally made it to the KOA, so Paul and I headed back to camp for some beer drinking and hell raising.

The morning of the 22^nd was an absolutely beautiful morning.  We all got together for a group photo before the ride.   

We were all going through our pre-ride checklist when I noticed that Bears tire was completely bald.  We headed into Cody to see if we could get the tire replaced a t the local Harley Dealership but they had too much of a backlog.  Right around the corner we found an Indy store and got the tire changed there.  They owner was fast and efficient and just a really nice guy. 

Since we were getting a later start, we decided just to head into Yellowstone National Park and do some cruising through the park.  Once again, we headed in toward the east entrance along the Shoshone River past Buffalo Bill State Park and into Yellowstone.  The wild life was amazing.  We saw Buffalo, grizzlies, antelope, back bear, elk... The list is endless.

The following days were filled with riding Chief Joseph Highway, Yellowstone and the Beartooth highway.  

If you get a chance to make the trip to Cody Wyoming or Yellowstone...  make sure you take the time to do the Beartooth.  You’ll love it

Article by: Renegade

CO D5 VFW Warriors, Vice President

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Yours in Comradeship,