In 1998 I got to thinking about another motorcycle trip with Dad. He is an former railroad telegrapher and current steam train enthusiast, so I thought a ride through the Colorado Rockies riding on all of the steam trains we could find would be fun. Anyway, he fell for it!

In April of 1998 my Dad called from Kalispell, /\/\onTana! and told me he had found an immaculate 1984 GoldWing Aspencade with low miles for me. Even my non-motorcycling wife thought at $3,000 it was a pretty good idea. So at the end of the month I went up to get it, and I sold my 1975 GoldWing (definitely NOT immaculate!) for $1,500, a $1,005 profit. That doesn't happen to me, so I was thrilled by that, too.

I was over at my step-brother's house helping fix a errant computer when the call came in: Dad got hit by a U.S. Mail truck...while he was on his bicycle! He had a cracked pelvis and a big chunk of meat out of one arm. He was OK otherwise, but this was only six weeks from when were were leaving!

Dad really wanted to go on this trip, too, and in mid May he asked his doctor about it. “If you can ride, take the trip!” So Dad and my step-Mom Sarah spent the next three weeks practicing his getting onto the 1989 1500 GoldWing he rode then. It worked, even though I spent the whole trip laughing at him when he'd get on the bike, but he did it!

So Dad went to a Christian Motorcycle Association rally in Kanab, Utah, and I was meeting him there a couple days later.

On my way down I came the closest I have ever come to just quiting motorcycling. The cross wind was blowing extremely hard in Idaho north of Idaho Falls, to the point I had to stop under every underpass to rest. Of course, the Interstate was under construction, so it was down to two lanes, too, and I was using both of them.  That didn't make on-coming drivers very happy!  But I finally made it to Idaho Falls, and the road changed directions just enough to make it drivable. I spent the night in Park City, Utah, with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. I took a couple great shots of there boy Paul on my bike, then up early and off to Kanab! Then you will see why this is narrated and not illustrated.