Flip Burger Flashback... Plus Eugene...

Flip Burger Flashback... Plus Eugene...

Dinner from Flip Burger that evening and darned good! Ross (RNFWP) rode down and got a to-go order for us; then he also swung by and picked up an additional sweatshirt for himself and me (with a hood) from Eugene's Pizza near the place from whence dinner that night had come – both places had been highly recommended to us by that lady we chatted with earlier in the day. Maybe I need to back up here just a bit.

Following our farewells with Dusty Roads in Greybull, WY, back in early October '23, Ross and this gypsy rode to Buffalo, WY, then northward towards US HWY 2 where we'd make the turn in Malta, MT, back eastward towards home. Dusty was in a big hurry, while neither of us were at all. Plus, Ross wanted to ride that particular stretch of road due largely to all the bragging he'd heard from a few others and me over the years.

He and I had already agreed that a stop/dismount every 60-90 miles or so would extend our comfortable daylong riding range while still providing us with a sufficiently productive pace for long distance travel. We reaffirmed the appropriateness for us of that conclusion all the way back to South Carolina. We also agreed paved roads were clearly our best option...

Ross and his relic riding companion spent two nights in Buffalo, and we did encounter some adventure. It was not, however, well documented by this writer, so other than our meal of Elk Burgers at a steak house across the road from our motel, not much can be offered, I'm afraid... Other than our ride eastward from there was altered to a nearly due north direction.

Along our trek northward somewhere in the middle of nowhere, we stopped at the only building within sight in any direction, which was a small store/gas station. I had an urgent need to acknowledge and cope with another unwanted but rapidly escalating in urgency visit from 'Lucy', so I went inside as soon as I could place our girl upon her side stand. Ross just hung around outside and patiently waited for me to complete the 'paperwork' following my explosive but mercifully timely pause in our travels.

When I emerged from the building following my triumphant close brush with a serious laundry problem, I spotted Ross chatting with an older lady. She was curiously inquiring about two riders passing through there that time of year.

During that chat, he'd told her of our plans, prompting her to give him some prescient advice on where to stay in Glasgow plus where to dine. Her recommendations turned out later to be very good suggestions indeed!

We arrived in our target town late that afternoon, got a room at the hotel suggested to us, and we pondered our situation. Up until that evening, a weather window had seemed to offer us a late season opportunity to make the ride we'd had in mind. By the time of our arrival at the turn onto US HWY 2 in Malta however, that window had slammed shut!

It was noticeably colder than what we'd expected, and light showers were now forecast to arrive that night and last through the following day with even colder temps to follow. We took our room in Glasgow for two nights, and we earnestly began to consider and discuss alternate routes... all back southward of course!

Before pulling the trigger on any adjustments, though, the need for dinner had risen to a more pressing level... That's when Ross volunteered (bless his heart!) to make a grub run for us to Flip Burger, as our friendly acquaintance earlier had assured us would be worthwhile...

I'd begun this story months ago, but for various reasons it had never been completed. I'm only resurrecting the incident now to make another point... The sweatshirt from Eugene's Pizza that Ross had brought me (he wanted to have it be a birthday present for this rider/writer, so, I now consider it just that - Thanks, Ross!) did the trick and got me back to more reasonable temps.

I was still riding in my summer outfit since I hadn't been 'home' since back in August, and what I did have was proving grossly inadequate for the conditions with which we were now faced. That additional sweatshirt when combined with everything else I had had along got me by...

It also became an identifier word for coldness of a more extreme nature… Henceforth I’ve called the sweatshirt ‘Eugene’ and when reference to ‘Eugene Cold’ is made, well, it’s intended to mean way more than simply uncomfortably cool!

I thought of all that when the temp in Del Rio recently kept falling to a point (low 20*s) where I finally had to dig out ‘Eugene’ from my Trout Dude travel bag. I was sure glad to have it still with me, too! It is likely I’ll need Eugene again when we leave here and head back towards east Texas in a couple of days… In case I do, let me say, “Thanks again, Ross”!!!

DDT (12)