Made it to Kalispell, MT
I'm in Kalispell MT this morning, enjoying a breakfast bagel, spiced chai, and wireless internet access at a Wheat Montana Bakery & Deli. The connection's fairly slow, so I'm probably not going to try to post any pictures.
In any case, yesterday I made it to a little campground next to a lake, somewhere north of Plains, MT. About 550 miles or so, I think. A fairly nice ride, and there was some pretty places along the way. I can tell you, though, that western Washington State wasn't one of them. Uggggh. Dry & desolate. At least it had so rolling hills to break things up, but not too many trees. I was happy to make it to Spokane, where I started seeing trees again. I turned off the interstate at Coeur d'Alene (sp?), took US95 north to Sandpoint, and SR200 east towards MT. Lake Pend Oreille was stunning. Wow - what a place. I had dinner at a tiny cafe in THompson Falls - the teen-aged waitress was stunned that I was wearing my jacket in the heat. The bank sign was stating 100+ degrees, but I think it was getting affected by the pavement. Still, it was pretty hot, and only doable by soaking my t-shirt in water when I stopped for a break. In any case, I'm glad I chose my heavier gear - the wet t-shirt cools me down just fine, and I would have been freezing my ass off this morning with the mesh. Always a compromise, I guess.
Today I'm on to Glacier National Park. It's a short ride from here - 44 miles according to my route planner. I'll play tourist for the day, camp overnight, and be on my way to Canada tomorrow.
The bike is performing great. I'm getting a bit over 40 mpg while cruising between 75 & 80 on the open roads. Sure beats the 15 mpg I'd be getting in the PPZJ. My butt does get a bit sore, so I take that as a sign to stop. The throttlemeister (throttle lock) allows me to take my right hand off the bar for stretches, which is a relief.
Overall I'm having a great time, and am not *too* lonely. We'll see if that changes.
B
ps - thanks for the comments. It's nice to see that some folks are actually reading this!
posted by An Arkansas Traveler @ 8:36 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Hello Brian! Great you've made it to Montana so quickly. I'm headed to Colorado this Wednesday and return who knows when. Paul, his mom and Linda (ranch horsewoman) are anticipating your visit ~the 12th. Stay long and we'll meet up.
Ride Safe! Kim R.
Hi Brian - I'm happy to hear that you're travels are going well so far. Take care, Toni. :)
Funny as it be...I worked in Thompson Falls and Plains for two summers with the Forest Service. Those were the best two summers of my life. BTW, which cafe did you stop at? I lived w/ some friends down by the dam on Thompson River...where the falls used to be. Great country...except the grizzly habitat is not far from town :D
Good to hear you are still doing well. Hope Glacier was wonderful and cool after the dry plains. Also glad to know you are wearing your safety gear. We continue to swelter here with close to 100 every day. Yuck and double yuck. Hugs, Mom.
Okay, here goes. My name is Nancy and I check Brian's blog every day. I didn't think it was a problem before...but they say the first sympton of a problem is denial.
:-)
B - Glad you are enjoying MT. I LOVE it out there. You'll love Devil's Tower and the South Dakota sites too!
Hey Bri,
Glad to here that you are ok. David and Lyida start school this week.Be safe and call us somtime.
Nancy
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