We have been looking forward to today's big ride since we left the Black Hills of South Dakota. Weather report last night called for a bright sunny day with temperatures in the 70's. Imagine our disappointment when we woke up and looked outside and it was 48 degrees and raining. But the clouds were going away, and the weather report still showed it was going to be a sunny day. We waited an extra half hour after breakfast for the rain to stop. It was still 49 degrees, but at least it wasn't raining. We donned our rainsuits, turned up the seat warmers and headed out. US-191N was right outside the hotel, and we would be riding on that road for most of the day as US-191N takes you right through Grand Teton National Park right into Yellowstone National Park.
    First stop was Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a beautiful little skiing village in the winter, and tourist town in the summer . There were plenty of upscale shops, but we just headed over to the Visitors Center for the Greater Yellowstone area. Verified we were headed out on the right path, and checked on road closings to makes sure we could follow our plan. The weather was picking up, still a little cold, but the sun looked like it was trying to make an appearance. We were now in the middle of the mountains that had been looming ahead for the last couple of days and the scenery was breathtaking.
     From Jackson, only a few miles later and we were at the entrance to Grand Teton National Park and the Visitors Center. So we checked out the map, watched the obligatory 20 minute movie, and bought a couple of t-shirts. The cashier overheard us talking about getting another cup of coffee, and told us where we could get some only a couple of minutes away. Warmed up by the coffee and the ever burgeoning sun, we were in awe of the size of the mountains, still covered with snow at the tops. To get a closer look, our next stop was the Jenny Lake Boat Landing .
     It turns out that Jenny Lake is a good sized calm, clear, beautiful lake set right next to the Grand Tetons. You can get a boat ride across the lake, and there are a couple of hikes you can do once you get there. We took a bunch of pictures crossing the lake, and when we got to the other side we did the hike to Hidden Falls. There are actually a lot of hiking trails in Grand Tetons National park, along with bicycle trails, and rafting. We didn't have a lot of time to hike, and remembering that we are at about 7500 ft of altitude, and the thinner air becomes a little noticeable on a long uphill hike. And rafting of any kind in sub 70 degree air temperature, never mind water temperature, is just too much for a couple of Floridians.
     Hidden Falls was really beautiful, and worth the long hike uphill into the woods. There were actually quite a few people doing the boat ride and hiking, and the weather had warmed up enough to take off our rainsuits and coats.Most of the rest of the afternoon was spent continuing up Grand Teton Road inside the park and stopping at the various turnouts along the way to take pictures .I can't say enough about how beautiful the scenery on US-191N and Grand Teton Road are. Eventually, we reached the end of Grand Teton Road, and rejoined US-191N at Jackson Lake.
    We knew we had a lot packed into today as we wrapped up in Grand Teton National Park about 3:00. We were now headed into Yellowstone National Park at the South Entrance. The plan was to enter at the South Entrance and just follow Grand Loop Road from the South Entrance to the East Entrance where we would exit the park and head over to our hotel in Cody, Wyoming for the next four nights. We started by checking out some of the overlooks and taking a few pictures, but we noticed that the sky was beginning to darken up and it looked like we might have a little more rain. So by the time we got to the Grant Village Visitors Center, we decided to get one more cup of coffee, gas up the bike, and put on our rainsuits and see if we could make it back to the hotel before the rains came. It was 4:30 and we had about a hundred miles to go - we thought we might have a shot .
    We didn't make it. As we began Grand Loop Road around Yellowstone Lake, the sky darkened, the temperature dropped, and the wind began to pick up. Now, wind picking up is not anything unusual, except when the wind is coming off Yellowstone Lake. Even if it wasn't raining yet, the wind was blowing droplets of water at us from the whitecaps on the lake. As we were struggling to lean into the wind and keep the bike upright, the rain began to fall. No big deal again, we've had wind and rain before, besides by looking at the GPS, we could see we were almost past Yellowstone Lake so the worst was bound to be behind us.
     We turned east on US-14E, only about 70 more miles to go. The lake was behind us, but we were beginning to climb. We had started about 7000 ft, but we were now approaching 8000 ft and the temperature of both the air and the raindrops were beginning to fall. By the time we reached the peak, we were at 8600 ft, the temperature had dropped to 54 degrees, and we noticed a plinking noise on the helmets . The rain was beginning to hurt, because it had turned to hail! We were really glad that we always wore helmets when we ride, because if we thought the hail hurt now when it occasionally hit your hands or face, it would really suck to be pounded in the head with hail without the benefit of a helmet.
     But the latest overlook sign said something about a peak, so we were finally beginning to come down, and down, and down, and down. The temperature warmed up a little and the hail turned back into rain and eventually stopped. It wasn't until we saw the Cody sign with an altitude of 6000 ft that we realized we had come down 3500 ft. US-14E from the Yellowstone East Entrance to Cody looks like it would be an awesome motorcycle ride in good weather, but by the time we were on the last 50 miles to the hotel, we were just tired and cold. We got to the hotel at about 7:00 and we were ready to eat. Luckily, there was a place called Bubba's BBQ right in front of the hotel, so it was pulled pork tonight.
    When we checked into the hotel, we knew it was an upgraded room, because that's all that was available when we booked. So we expected something nice, but it was much better than we expected. We got the Chief Joseph Suite, complete with gas fireplace, in-room whirlpool tub and dual sink vanity. It was exactly what we needed after our long, tiring day.
     Tomorrow is expected to rain all day, with great weather expected for Wednesday and Thursday. So tomorrow we will run some errands and then head over to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West for some indoor fun, with a return to Yellowstone via US-14 in much better weather.

264.2 miles today
5489.0 miles total

3.484 gallons today
133.12 gallons total