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| Day 1 - Santa Clara, CA Day 2 - Lee Vining, CA Day 3 - Baker, CA Day 4 - Las Vegas, NV Day 5 - Las Vegas, NV Day 6 - Grand Canyon, AZ Day 7 - Durango, CO Day 8 - Glenwood, CO Day 9 - Highlands, CO Day 10 - Highlands, CO Day 11 - Estes Park, CO Day 12 - Craig, CO Day 13 - Jackson, WY Day 14 - Cody, WY Day 15 - Mammoth, WY Day 16 - Choteau, MT Day 17 - Kelispell, MT Day 18 - Sandpoint, ID Day 19 - Omak, WA Day 20 - Anacortes, WA Day 21 - Anacortes, WA Day 22 - Poulsbo, WA Day 23 - Poulsbo, WA Day 24 - Poulsbo, WA Day 25 - Astoria, OR Day 26 - Lincoln City, OR Day 27 - Bandon, OR Day 28 - Eureka, CA Day 29 - Anchor Bay, CA Day 30 - Martinez, CA FINAL THOUGHTS |
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| Today was probably the best day for weather we’ve
had since we started, in the sense that it wasn’t all that hot. We
rode in shirtsleeves all day and didn’t get hot until late in the
afternoon when the temperature reached 83 degrees. A piece of cake.
If the last two days have been a day of mountains, today was a day of lakes and rivers. We didn’t actually get started after buying gas, ice, etc until about 11:00 a.m. I can hear the gasps from you seasoned travelers but there were chores that had to be done. I finished up transmitting pictures and text to Brian from yesterday (photo 1), and that took time, but we were generally just a little lethargic this morning.
We had a change in route last night. Since I did Hwy 2 last year, Linda thought taking Hwy. 93 south, to 28 west, to 200 west the rest of the way to Sandpoint might be a more scenic route. On the map, it has a dotted line next to that route but is also shows it as a smaller local road than Hwy. 2. This re-routing worked in spades. This was a great ride, all day. Our first lake was just a few short miles out of Kalispell, MT and it’s called Flathead Lake. This is one big lake (photos 2 & 3) with cabins and homes built around the lake. What a great location for a home, just a half-hour from Kalispell for jobs but far enough away from town to feel somewhat isolated. As we continued, first south, then west, we traveled by more ranches and farms. The cattle, based on their experiences from the last several weeks, gathered under some trees to try and capture some shade from their fellow cows (photo 4), while just down the road, we continued to see those giant sprinklers watering the crops. In this picture, I think you can see how long this rig is (photo 5). How they manage to get it to go where they want it to go, I’ll never know. Hell, I can’t even get that little water tractor I use, to follow along my dad-gum hose at home. We passed through some nice canyons with interesting rock formations all along the road (photo 6). I couldn’t help but think that all along Hwy. 28, we saw mile after mile of beautiful scenery. At the base of a spectacular cliff would be a trailer home with an old car or two outside. Now these folks, obviously of modest means, had a view from their front door that we urbanites would kill for. We would have to go to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park to see anything that remotely resembled it, and then it would only be a weak imitation. I think of all of those million dollar homes in Los Altos Hills and believe I could get a far prettier view, with property for about $130,000. Of course, it’s a long way to your local Seven-Eleven.
Today is Tuesday, so that means most folks are working. While we were stopped, looking at a historical marker, we saw a farmer getting on and off his tractor, working his fields (photo 7). He didn’t seem to have time for a motorcycle ride around the country. We finally stopped for lunch in Thompson Falls, at a brand new Subway Sandwich shop. They were doing a brisk business. Seems like most of the working folk in that little town stopped by for a subway sandwich. I have discovered the secret to success. Buy a fast food franchise and locate it in a small town with no other fast food stores around to compete with you. Of course, you might be putting the local restaurant out of business but what do you care. You think Sam Walton worried about such things. A little further down the road, we came to Thompson Falls Reservoir with a small place to pull off the road so you could picnic and take in the scenery (photos 8 & 9). As we continued west, we seemed to come to one river or lake after another. We no sooner left Thompson Falls, than we came to the Vermillion River Recreational Area. There were some boats in the water, kids swimming, and adults sitting under the shade just watching the lake. It was just a generally nice spot to be. (photos 10, 11, & 12). We didn’t have far to travel and so weren’t in any great hurry. Still, at the rate we were going, it would take us all day to get to Sandpoint, ID if we didn’t get a move on. Who am I kidding, when we saw the turnoff to see Noxon Dam and reservoir, we took it, even though it was a gravel road and I don’t like gravel roads (photos 13, 14, & 15). I thought that this must be one of the most scenic small lakes in Montana. I got pictures of the reservoir, the dam, and the downstream flow. OK, so the picture of the dam is really a picture of my motorcycle. So sue me for misrepresentation.
When we weren’t stopping to look at some lake or river, we seemed to be stopping to look at some green farmland or fertile crop, usually with a mountain range waiting off in the distance (photo 16). I saw a lot of old barns and other relics of past farms (photo 17). We finally crossed the Idaho border and went a good long distance before we came to another lake; this one was Pend Oreille (pronounced Pond O Ray) (photo 18 & 19), the centerpiece for our destination, Sandpoint, Idaho. We also got back an hour of time, as we moved back into the Pacific Time Zone. When I was here last year, I stayed at a little local motel, right on the water, called the Lakeside Inn (photo 20). I decided to take Linda there and we were fortunate to get a room on the water for $84. When the desk clerk told me the price, he said it with a question in his voice as though it was too high a price to pay. Hell, chain motels ask you for over a hundred bucks a night as though they were actually worth a hundred bucks a night, just to sleep. I took the room. Linda and I went over to “SPUDS” for dinner (photo 21), another repeat from last year, and we had a wonderful meal, which was what I had hoped for. You could see our room from the Spuds balcony (photo 22). While we were enjoying our meal, I would stop to take pictures, as different activities would happen at the marina or surrounding waterways (photos 23, 24). Just a side note. For those of you who know me well, you know that I once worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Sometimes you poke a little fun about me telling stories about my times at the “railroad.” Back then, we used to joke that we should just take over the Santa Fe Railroad and be done with it. On this trip, I’ve noticed that the Santa Fe has been the one to take over things. In Arizona I saw lots of Santa Fe engines that once were Southern Pacific and up here in the north, you can see that the once proud Burlington Northern is now the Burlington Northern Santa Fe. It’s sometimes hard to tell who will end up being the big dog, (photo 25).
As we walked back to our room, there were some kids swinging on a rope attached to a tree, and then dropping off into the water (photo 26), and it reminded me of times when I was a kid doing the same thing in the California Delta. Man, those kids were sure having fun and it made me want to get my swimming trunks on and join um. We strolled by the local beach, a small cove next to our room, and we watched some geese swim around the marina (photos 27, 28, 29 & 30). This was supposed to be just a commute day but it turned out to be another special day for Linda and I. Back in our room, I noticed that they rent small boats and they are right outside our room (photo 31). I think I may try to rent one tomorrow. Meanwhile, Linda posed for me so I could round out my photos. Thanks babe (photo 32). Now I have to mention, while I am sitting here in an air-conditioned room writing to you, Linda is stoically sitting in a hot laundry room washing my dirty clothes. Not only that, but she almost set the place afire, from the heat of the dryer. She set the smoke alarm off and everything. If she burns the place down, it’s hard to tell where I would find a room at this time of night, and I don’t have the money to bail her out of jail. Tomorrow we enter Washington. |
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