Thursday 8/6 – Transition between Helena, Montana and Spokane, Washington and there sure seems to be a whole lot of space between the two. Especially if you take the scenic route, that pretty much doubles the length of the ride.
I had heard great things about Lolo Pass, and didn’t figure that I’d ever be closer to the pass than I was, so I went for it. Highway 12 runs between Missoula MT and Lewiston ID, and is 100 miles of mountain road. In various stages of disrepair, but even more so on the on the western end of the road in Idaho. Loose gravel. Stupid speed bumps about every quarter mile, which serve no apparent purpose (okay, maybe, just maybe they were there to slow me down). Precious few passing lanes. But my , oh my it was pretty! And here’s a hint for the Montana – when ya send the pilot car through with the parade following it, you really should shut down the construction while the parade is going on. It’s awfully disconcerting to have the front end loader pushing his way into the parade line. And once the parade starts, please let us finish!
After Lewiston is was straight up Highway 195 to Spokane. Where I was greeted by more lightning storms and soon enough, you guessed it, another monsoon. Until then, I had been toying with the idea of getting my last two Washington dams that night and taking I-90 straight home that night, but the monsoon beat that out of me very, very quickly. Home would still be there tomorrow. Besides, my eye was bugging me just a little bit.
Friday morning was beautiful and sunny. I loaded everything up for the last time and headed out for my final two dams. Personal note, the “interpretive center” at the Upriver Dam in Spokane sounds much more glorious than it really is. Evidently something at the “complimentary breakfast” at the Comfort Inn did not agree very well me and I arrived at what I thought was the public restroom at the “interpretive center” just in time. But on second look, it was very, very clean, there was a lovely scented can of air freshener in the stall, and a security guard with a handgun and radio waiting for me upon my exit. The conversation went like this:
Guard - “what’s wrong can’t you read the sign on the door?”
Mark - “yes, I read it, it says use other door, so I used the one that was open”
Guard – “no, not thaaaat one, the one that says all visitors must check in with the dam operator”
Mark – “sorry, buddy I missed the 1/4” tall letters under the sign in 2” tall letters. I was in a hurry”
Guard – “blah, blah, blah, private bathrooms, blah, blah, blah”
Mark – “I said that I was sorry”
Guard – “blah, blah, blah, private bathrooms, blah, blah, blah” as he locks the door behind him.
Maybe I should have offered him a dollar? Taken off my sunglasses and glared at him with my puffy eye?
The rest of the day was great. Got the last dam that I needed just inside the Spokane Indian Reservation, rode up the east side of Lake Roosevelt, got to take the free ferry across the lake. Yes, there is such thing as a free ferry, had lunch at Sarge’s Burger Bunker in Tonasket (complete with camo curtains and camo netting outside the building). Took Highway 20 to Twisp, crossed Washington, Easy and Rainy Passes (where I was as cold as I had been on the entire trip) and finally made it home at 11pm.
Trip recap:
9,510 miles
72 gas fill-ups totaling 222.4 gallons of gas, $621.64
Washington state has the most expensive gas, costing even more than the most remote places in New Mexico or Colorado
Best ride: I-15 from Great Falls MT to Helena MT
I went through a motorcycle battery, a folding camping chair, an air mattress, a replacement air mattress, a cookstove, and had to adjust the valves on the motorcycle once. The u-joint went wacky once, but spontaneously healed itself and gave me no more grief for over 8,500 miles. No flat tires or other equipment failures.
Over 1,500 decent pictures, 60 postcards mailed and a giant package of souvenirs mailed home.
I used everything that I brought with me, except for the air compressor, the spatula, my emergency nylon cord and my duct tape. I lost one sock in a washing machine at the Grand Canyon. I have a 3” thick wad of National Park/Monument brochures and enough memories to bore most anyone! What a ride!
And my eye is just fine, 100% recovered!
The road destruction line on Highway 12 in Montana:
These guys were everywhere in Idaho and Washington
and they don't share the road very well:
The ferry line in Gifford WA
The free ferry:
actually Sarge fixes a pretty darn good bacon cheeseburger!
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