I tried to write about the beauty of Yellowstone National Park, however words cannot do it justice. Please enjoy the photos.
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- Bison
What I can write about is my most embarrassing moment of this adventure so far.
Starting out early whit the intention of viewing wildlife and taking lots of photos, I set off on my motorcycle for the park entrance at 7am. Within the first 10 minutes I saw Bison right at the side of the road, close enough to be dangerous. A little further down the road cars are stopped photographing a Grizzly Bear, safely off in the distance. Deer, more Bison and eagles are easy to see. As I turn a corner and begin to descend down a mountain side, I notice a small tour bus stopped at the side of the road. Everyone is out photographing, but I could not see what it was that had their interest. I slow down, drop a few gears and decide to use the engine kill switch to silence the engine and not startle the photogenic wildlife.
Rolling up beside the other tourists I notice that they all appear to be in their twenties. A quick head count reveals that the women outnumber the men. Can this day get any better? I have photographed enough wildlife time to have a conversation with a nice young lady. Conversation is going well when a park ranger asks me to move my bike off the road. No problem.
Turn the key, hit the start button – rrrrrr, rrrrrr,rrrrrr, My bike is not starting. Turning the key off, wait a minute and try again rrrrrr, rrrrr, rrrrr. What is going on? Why won’t this bike start? It was running fine yesterday. Nothing has changed.
My New Lady Friend: What is wrong with you motorcycle?
Me: I don’t know. Never happened before.
Lady : Oh no. We were photographing wolves and bears today. I hope you’re not out here alone all day. Your bike does not sound good.
Try the engine again. Rrrrrr, rrrrrr, rrrrrr. Ok what is different, inspect the bike. Everyone is watching me. This is so embarrassing. Middle of the park and I am having bike issues and the tour group has lost interest in the wolves and found my situation to be their new form of entertainment. Then I notice the kill switch, I forgot to set it back to the “on” position. I flick the switch and press the start button, the engine fires up right away!
Yeah!! Good Job! Followed by a big round of applause from the tour group! Some of them were jumping up and down.
Lady: You OK now? Your motorcycle is working!
Me: Yea I am ok now. Just a bit embarrassed.
Lady: Its ok we are all happy for you.
Me: I did enjoy the jumping.
I truly did laugh out loud at the last line. It makes you seem like a dirty middle-aged man.
My brother did something very similar with his boat in Lake Ontario last weekend. Took his new girlfriend and her kids out tubing and accidentally hit the kill switch when they were stopped. He got towed into port and the mechanics were looking at the boat when he thought to check. Embarassing moment when he had to say – “um, I accidentally forgot that the kill switch is on.” Much cheaper than engine work though.
Sense of humor thawed embarrassment, you are a innate comic!
Can’t wait for your next post!!
lady??? Dude get the name! You gotta up your game before I get there. Yellowstone is amazing, I have been there and love it. the parks are great out west. hope you figure out the deal with your ignition.
Hi Greg–sounds like you are having the time of your life now!! Good for you. Are you sure the gal you were chatting up didnt hamper the “memory lol. Have a great and safe trip Will check on daily reports! Lorna-Coldwater
Greg forget the picture of the wildlife where is the picture of the young lady? Get your priorities in order man!