The long anticipated FJR Gathering (WFO) (info here clicky) in Park City Utah was here and I was forunate enough to have some time to put a nice road-trip together with WFO as the focal point.

Tuesday I left Reno USA on a back-road route through Nevada.  A great opportunity to see my friend Tommy who has a big (and very rustic) ranch out in central Nevada.  Always great to see Tommy, we always have good fun, great dialogue and his perspective on life is always full of interesting insight.  And of course we both share a love of silliness.  His ranch has no electricity or the comforts that we all are accustomed to.  Hard work every day.

Helping Tommy with a pump:

And feeding the cows ....this Dodge Powerwagon is the bomb!

Wednesday I continued east and though occassional rain showers made my way through Great Basin National Park.   Always a great site, and this day was interesting as very few people and rain!  At the high elevations the clouds were thick and obscured the great views.  Still a nice jaunt.

Wet and Cloudy --GPS says about 10,000feet elevation

Came down and went into Utah where I aimed for Park City.   Hit some HEAVY rain but it was fun.   A day before the offical kick-off of WFO, there were lots of folks already here at the fancy Marriott Hotel, including the organizers of the event who did a great job putting on this shin-dig.

You can see the heavy rain in the parking lot ....and yes that is a factory Yamaha truck full of new motorcycles of all flavors for WFO attendees to take demo rides on.

Knowing I'd be at Park City the next few days, after a few hours of socializing, I rode (in the heaviest of rain) into Salt Lake City for the night.  I really like that town, and this was a good chance to abuse it.
 

Thursday
I rode to pick up and mount a tire that I had ordered and had shipped into Salt Lake City.   I left Reno with a brand new front tire and a descent rear tire.   My hopes were that by putting a new rear tire on in Utah, I could likely get through the trip.  In hindsight, I would have done this different as I cut it too close.  However this day in Utah, it was nice to have some brand new rubber on the bike as the next day was going to be the start of some intense riding.
 

Back to Park City Marriott -Ground Zero of WFO.  The weather was splendid (very warm) and what fun and excitement as FJR's rolled in from all over the nation as well as Canada.

Kathryn had opted not to do this trip, we had just finished a huge loop of OR, WA, ID, MO and NV a few days before.   She was signed-up and paid for WFO, but we had been lucky enough to have time for a more intimate vacation before WFO and that worked out better.
While sorry she wouldn't be on this trip, I decided that since I had a nice motel room and would be doing some good riding I should replace her.   So a day earlier I called my buddy Monte to see if he wanted to come to Utah to ride a challenging BBG (Bun Burner Gold; 1500miles in under 24hours).  Monte is always up for a ride and quickly agreed -and early this afternoon he showed up.  In spite of riding a BMW, Monte blended in well and knew many of the LD (Long Distance Riders) folks.  Won't comment on whether he's a better kisser or dancer, I will say that Monte can snore like nothing I've ever witnessed ....WOW! ...Stay with your strengths Monte, that is what I always say.

This afternoon was spent socializing and having fun with the great group of folks ..as well as preparing for the next day's ride which I knew was going to be something special.