Best Cinnamon Roll (so far) Lil Jon's Belleview, Wa.
The hubcaps on my Acura are 1/2 the size of Lil Jon's gooey masterpiece.
Best tulip festival before the bike ride started Skagit County, Wa. Tulips almost as big as Lil Jon's buns.
Best pork chops
Mondo's Tomato Pie, Iowa City
Best trailer
BOB
Nicest people
Nebraska
Worst trailer
BOB
Best angel of mercy
(see picture)
Best golf course (so far)
The Works - Anaconda, MT
Worst headwinds
Ennis to West Yellowstone
Prettiest single day
West Yellowstone to Old Faithful (day after windiest day)
Best Motel
Red Roof Inn Iowa City, Iowa (service beyond any reasonable expectation)
Worst Motel
Pine Creek, Oregon - Hell's Canyon RV Park
Cheapest Motel
Drummond, Montana - Ryan's Motel $37...across the street from the main line of the Northern Pacific...ran every 30 minutes, minimum, 24 hours a day..
Best Beer
Moose Drool (Geezerpalooza Webmaster can attest to this)
Worst Wine
The selection at the liquor store next to the Comfort Inn, Huntington, Indiana. The only wine in the cooler was Boone's Farm and on the shelf there were three Chardonays and two Pinot Grigios plus some non-descript reds...The clerk said "We don't get many wine buyers in here." No kidding. There were five customers and two clerks in the store. I was the only one not smoking. Neat place...
Best Bike Shop
...that's not the Board N Buckle in Grand Junction... (I have to go home, you know, and Bob is bigger than I am and Royce is tougher.) ...Mountain Sports in Casper, Wyoming. All bike shops along the way have been most helpful and willing to get a trans-am guy in and out as soon as possible no matter how busy their service facilities were. But Mountain Sports did about $150 worth of work, on a Sunday, and charged me less than twenty bucks. Good guys. If you are ever in Casper give them your business.
Best Mashies
VIPS restaraunt in Watseka, Illinois. Passed the fork test (fork must stand straight on its own in mashies) Unfortunately, the mashed potatoes came with gravy that had thickened on top and meat loaf so salty I was drinking water for two days after. (I only drink water when it is a matter of life or death.)
Best Weather
Nebraska
Worst Weather
Anywhere we were that wasn't Nebraska
Best Pie
Deep dish dutch apple at The Wild Bunch in DuBois, Wyoming. Jan and I had two meals out of one piece of pie. MMMMMMM...Good pie.
Best Sag Wagon
The Sal and Greg Schaefer Mothership. Come back! Come back! And bring the custard with you. (See picture)
Best Chamber of Commerce
When it comes to helping strangers find their way around, Columbus, Nebraska. 2nd place - Everybody else.
Ugliest Motel Desk Clerk
Second place goes to the Harlan, Iowa under forty female owner who came to the front desk with no shoes and no teeth in a tank top. First place...her husband...Lurch lives!!!
Best Breaded Pork Tenderloin
Blue Moon in Grand Junction, Colorado. Nobody else even comes close.
Best Mexican Food
Arceo's in Baker City, Oregon
Best Brew Pub
Barley Brown's Brew Pub Baker City, Oregon. Baker City has great restaraunts.
Toughest Climb
Brownlee Summit from Snake River to Cambridge, Idaho via the Brownlee Resevoir. There were some nine percent grades and it was a 12 mile climb. Secnd place went to White Bird Summit out of Whitebird, Idaho, also some nine percent but just a nine mile climb.
Toughest climb between Kewanee, Illinois and Defiance, Ohio. Stepping into the van to go to dinner. It was an absolute table top for almost 300 miles.
Best sailing on a trans-am bike trip
Sailing Lake Erie, with Sue and Chris Backus.
