Picto Diary - 30 July 2020 - Cody Redux
Above: TIMDT and LT outside of Perret's Restaurant, Riverton, WY. 30 July 2020.
Escaping the Insanity Tour Part Deux.
Out and about on the LT
Eating good in the hood. At the top on trip advisor for Riverton, WY. Make a reservation or be prepared to wait.
Old geezers riding old bike. 2005BMW K1200LT.
WY Pop: 550 thousand
WY Corona virus deaths: 26
WY 2019 traffic deaths: 111
WY 2019 flu deaths: 115
Total trip miles Park City to Cody: 430 miles. Pit stops: Kemmerer, Riverton, and Thermopolis. Kemmerer to Riverton segment was 170 miles.
Above: Sprinter at Ponderosa Campground, Cody, WY. 30 July 2020.
Escaping the Insanity Tour Part Deux
Out and about on the LT.
Check out the Sprinter. Not ours. But, soon, we expect to be staying in places like this.
RV park is sold out, not that it matters to us right now because we're on the LT and staying in a drive-to-your-door Best Western.
But, the plethora of RVs here comports with anecdotal scuttlebutt that boomers are moving away from cruises and overseas travel to RV's. After all, there are no mask requirements ie. Fewer germs...less risk of catching something.
NOTE: Until Covid, drive-up-to-your-door motels had become passe... on the low end of the lodging food chain. With the increased incidence of disease, more people are going to be wary of big lobbies, community breakfast rooms, and elevators. Look for the return of premium drive-up-to-your-door motels.
TIMDT has never been a motorcycling aficionado, rather, she has been a motorcycling good sport. She's more inclined to join on a ride for a five star destination or to hook up with good friends. This time, Bull Halsey and Heat, who are visiting with their daughter and son-in-law in Billings.
Maybe more than a "good sport." In 2012 we rode around Turkey together on a BMW R1150 GS, and in 2014, through Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Chechnya, and North Ossetia, on a BMW R1200 GS motorcycle.
The Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody is one of TIMDT's favorites (and mine)....also an incentive for her to do another ride. We'll see the museum for the umpteenth time, tomorrow. Two years ago, while visiting the museum with Mr. Z3, the live raptor presentation was my favorite.
The firearms exhibit at the museum is fabulous.
Speaking of guns, open carry in Wyoming is de rigeur. I love being around the open carrying cowboys and workers at the Irma bar (Cody) during Friday happy hour. Wyoming, retaining many of the values of the Old West, where people were often responsible for their own security, is still a place to feel safe today because of widespread open carrying of firearms.
I mentioned Mr. Z3. I have many wonderful motorcycle memories of our joint motorcycle visits to Cody:
1. Staying at the confining (no windows in half its rooms) Irma Hotel in late September, circa 2009, Mr. Z3 and Mwah (sic) woke up to find five inches of snow on the seats of our motorcycles. We booked another night at the Irma, and spent the day shopping for extra warm clothing. The next day forecast was clear, but cold. We bundled up to the nines and rode north to Red Lodge, MT. The thermometer read 22 degrees as we rode out of town. A guy in a Corvette drove along side us, while we were stopped at a light. He looked our way and started rotating his finger around his temple.
2. Then there was the time, 2011, when we were riding tandem with several friends, and spent the night at the Irma. The next day it was so cold riding out of Cody that, on reaching Lander, the girls refused to ride any further. The three of them, the two Donnas and TIMDT, rented a U Haul truck and drove it from Lander to Park City.
3. 2018. Mwah (sic) and Mr Z3 were having breakfast at Granny's in Cody. Mr. Z3 noticed a group of ROMEOs and walked over to their table to talk to them. Here's what I overheard: "You're from California!!!?", one of the ROMEOs said to Mr. Z3. "You guys are the ones trying to start a revolution in this country!!!" The ROMEO laughed and exclaimed, "But that OK, we've got the guns."
Ah yes, Cody motorcycle memories!
"Go to the woods to lose sight and memory of the crimes of your contemporaries." Jean-Jacques Rousseau"
Above: Concert in the Park. Cody, WY. 30 July 2020.
Escaping the Insanity Tour Part Deux
Deux Magots Walkers
Concert in the Park. A lot country. Not a bit rock and roll.
4.5 miles up and down Sheridan Avenue.
"Go to the woods to lose sight and memory of the crimes of your contemporaries." Jean-Jacques Rousseau"
Above: Geezer musicians. Irma Hotel, Cody, WY. 30 July 2020.
Escaping the Insanity Tour Part Deux.
Deux Magots Walkers.
If Geezers rock, do they also country? As in, "geezers country?"
WY coronavirus deaths: 26
WY 2019 traffic deaths: 111
WY population: 550 thousand.
"Go to the woods to lose sight and memory of the crimes of your contemporaries." Jean-Jacques Rousseau"
Above: Cody Steakhouse. Cody, WY. 30 July 2020.
Escaping the Insanity Tour Part Deux
Deux Magots Walkers.
Been coming here for years. Great 18 oz T-bone tonight.
Owner laments just breaking even. Separated tables mean reduced seatings, Owner says he can't get workers because many now are living off the government dole. So, he's closed two days a week.
"Go to the woods to lose sight and memory of the crimes of your contemporaries." Jean-Jacques Rousseau"
Addendum:
Steve,
This picture brought up a “mental wandering”: does deprivation (dictatorship, slavery) create artistic growth- the “blues” came from the Africans being transported into slavery outside of Africa from which comes jazz abd rock and roll, Vincent van Gogh’s artistic talents were the product of certified madness, etc. ???
Your thoughts?
Ahn Rhee,
Larkspur, CA
Excellent observation. There seem to be plenty of examples where artistic creativity and entrepreneurial inventiveness derive from personalities "out side of the norm." Some important successes I had as a manager were enabled by "crazy people" I had hired. Repression and enslavement may force a culture into a type of "craziness" where "outside of the norm" musical creativity, allowed by the repressor, thrives. There is a reason to go to Cuba, a country whose people remain virtual slaves, even after slavery was outlawed one hundred fifty or so years ago: It's the music. An ongoing response to continuing oppression?
You will have to let me know how Sturgis was.
Bridge,
Palm Beach, FL
While our Wyoming and Montana ride is somewhat timed with Sturgis, that's not our scene. For me, Sturgis is (I went once, twenty years ago) more of a religious pilgrimage than a motorcycle experience, though ten percent of Harley riders are more into riding for its intrinsic enjoyment than for cultural kicks. Ten percent of Harley riders in the US is equal to all of the riders of all other marques.