The Adventures of a Pony Express Rider

By

ND Pony Express Coordinator

dakotam@polarcomm.com

The Legacy Run is over and as a Pony Express Rider from North Dakota, I just wanted to write about how much fun my brother DJ and I had.

First, we met in Bismarck and on Sunday morning on August 20^th, we left to meet with the other North Dakota PE Riders at National Vice-Commander Seb Roll’s house in Mott. Upon arriving at Seb’s we were treated to a breakfast and received the pouch to be handed over to National Commander Tom Bock when we would meet up with the Legacy Ride. The breakfast was excellent, we had a group picture of all of the riders with NVC Roll, and then we left on our journey for the first day, which would take DJ and I to Cheyenne.

Along the way that first day, we went through Spearfish Canyon in the Black Hills of South Dakota and then followed US 85 through eastern Wyoming until we branched off to see Ft. Laramie. During this leg of the trip we had to wait for about 15 minutes as we watched a thunder shower pass across our route about two miles ahead of us.

The twisting road took us into Wheatland to where we got onto I-25 and went on to Cheyenne. Upon arriving in Cheyenne, we finally found a Hotel to stay in, the Historic Plains Hotel is in the downtown area and is very quaint and a very nice place to stay. On Monday morning before we left we had breakfast and while packing our bikes in preparation for the day’s journey, we chatted with a fellow traveler who was waiting for his vehicle to be fixed. With the bikes packed and everything in order, we strike off to meet up with the Legacy Run at Kremmling, Colorado. We unfortunately start a half-hour behind schedule, but we are on our way and will go through Rocky Mountain National Park as a short cut to meet the Run.

Big Thompson Canyon is something you have to traverse to get to RMNP on our route. Scenic- Yes, twisty- Yes, scary for a first-timer- YES! A very enjoyable ride, once you are in Estes Park, but until then, I think I gained a few more gray hairs. Anyway, we are now going through RMNP and I am concerned about my Harley as it has a carbureted engine as opposed to my brother’s fuel injected Victory. With the altitude approaching 12000 feet, the Harley still ran fine, rich but fine.

After following tour buses and meeting a group of Model A’s & T’s coming the other way. We finally get out of the Park and intercept Route 40 and call in to see where the Run is. It is determined that we are almost a full hour behind schedule and we take off for Kremmling with the intent of filling on gas and heading on for Craig to try and catch up with the Run.

We arrive at Kremmling, fill up the gas tanks, and use the restroom facility and we are getting ready to take off for Craig when we look up and here is the Run coming into town.

We then learn that due to traffic accidents on I-70, the Run had been delayed and that the people at Legacy Run HQ had not been in contact since the Run had left Longmont that morning. Therefore, instead of being behind, we were actually ahead of the Run. Now we could relax and we went to the refueling site and grabbed the bag that NVC Roll had given us to carry the donations and we went looking for Commander Tom. We find him and present him with North Dakota’s donation pledges. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

From handing off the donation bag, we then headed off to Craig for the Post Dedication Ceremony there. Because we left ahead of the main Run, we arrived early and relaxed and chatted with a helicopter crew and some of the fine service members from my old division, always enjoy talking to “Ivy men and women”. Quite the assortment of bikes and more importantly, ALR patches.

After the ceremony, we again headed off ahead of the main group and went to the Rock Springs KOA so we would arrive before darkness. The plains of Wyoming and Colorado are beautiful in their own unique way and the scent of sage was in the air. Beautiful does not do the scenery justice. We arrived in Rock Springs and after unloading our gear at the campground, we head to the Holiday Inn and meet up with the other riders and we all head to the Legion Post and our evening meal and program. Very enjoyable camaraderie and excellent food and beverages and more importantly, the donation that the Rock Springs Post and its ALR made to the Legacy Fund.

DJ and I head to the campground to get some rest, in two days we had traveled over 1100 miles and had seen lots of scenic America. The next morning we got up, packed the bikes, said goodbye to the Ride, and began our own journey through Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado before we would head for home.

However, we saw something that made us stop to think. When we left the café where we had our breakfast the morning of the 22^nd, a short distance away was a piece of art that we both agree is indeed "ART". Nearby was a flagpole, Rock Springs, you do know how to do it the right way. Thanks for the memories of the ride and the experience. I am already looking forward to next year.