I ended up with a free day between my pre-prep and the next few days of final prep for our family camp. So, I texted Diane Sandau and asked if they would be around. They had a trip to the slash pile, but other than that they would be at the cabin. And thus began the impromptu ride to Henrys Lake.
I quickly got the bike ready, then got me ready, and with the exception of a couple things I forgot, I was ready to go.
And I was off.
The bike had a little over half a tank, and I had my new 1.25 Gal gas can. I decided to wait until Rire before filling up, but until then...
I had to slow and stop in the narrows, where they are doing construction on the bridge, but just as I was stopping at the end of the line, we were moving again. The ride through the rest of the valley was fairly uneventful.
Going around Palisades Reservoir I came up on a couple slow moving vehicles, but traffic was light enough that I was able to past them. And then on through Swan Valley and over Antelope Flats and finally stopping to fill up in Rire. It took 3.87 gallons and then I was off again.
I went through Rire and on the back roads both North and West until getting to Highway 20. I inadvertently turned onto the Yellowstone Highway, that runs parallel, instead of the on ramp to 20. I just went on to the next on ramp at the south end of Rexburg.
Now on highway 20, I headed north through Island Park and then turning onto 87. Going north again until the turn off to where the Sandau Cabin is. Following the road past the other cabins in the area, using the waypoints on the GPS that I had set the first time I visited. And then there was a nice Sandau sign that wasn't there the last time I visited. I also noticed a nice new layer of gravel on their driveway.
I pulled up to the cabin and took a few moments to remove my helmet and jacket, getting my phone from the jacket pocket. Also, pulling my water out of the trunk and by about this time Diane stepped out as I made my way to the door.
We went inside and sat down to chat and I learned that Curt was helping a neighbor clean up some water that had flooded a room.
Just a few minutes after we sat down, I got a call from Misty (sister-in-law). I mentioned to her that if she had called earlier I wouldn't have answered and explained where I was. She asked a quick question and let me go.
When Curt got back, Diane got out fixin's for sandwiches and we ate a late lunch, while the conversation continued.
As we finished up eating, a couple computer and camera technical questions came up, and I was able to do a couple things on Dianes computer for them.
My plan was to go back a longer way, and time was slipping away, so I said my thank yous and good byes, taking my leave.
I did stop as I got to the bottom of the steps to take a picture.
I got the GPS setup for the trip back and off I went, slowly making my way back to the highway. Traveling back the way I came, the closer I got to the turn that would have taken me through Driggs, over the Teton pass, to the south edge of Jackson and down the snake river canyon, I noticed what time it was going to be before I got home. So, change of plans, I reset the GPS and just went back the same way I came.
I checked my GPS for the distance to Rire and check the bike for the estimated distance for fuel and decided I could make it.
The GPS was the first to say I was running low on gas, but I have it set that way on purpose.
Then the bike said I was running low on gas.
And then I kept going, and going, until finally I made it to Rire.
The bike said I had about 20 miles left:
It took 4.805 gallons to fill up, so I was pretty close to fumes.
The ride the rest of the way back was uneventful.
I was pretty lucky again around construction, although I did have to way 3-5 minutes in the narrows.
I arrived home at 19:41 totaling 371.0 miles.
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