Day4 - June 19, 2013, 342.0 Miles Travelled Lo 40°F Hi 80°F
Yesterdays plan to arrive in Missoula, MT went to hell in a hen basket! Missed the "Plan B" exit to the Challis Hot Springs Campground. Plan B executed due to heavy winds with storm front coming in, I received Weather Alerts warning of 70mph winds and 1.5 inch hail between Challis & Missoula - a no brainer, quit while I was ahead.
Two reasons I fell so far behind were:
- Burnt out headlamp
- Witness to a phenomenal accident.
Starting with number 2, I was 25 miles from Twin Falls, ID when passed by a California car, we waved, and then the red Ford Excursion in front of them veered off the right side of road into a cloud of dust. Then it popped out and went across hwy. to left side, then the driver recovered and continued to swerve down the road a mile or so. Then once again it left the hwy. went through a wire fence, across a irrigation trench and valeted the water pipe into a wheat field. Our estimate was 0.5 miles from the hwy. till he stopped. Brad, the California guy in front of me, hiked out to check the driver, I called 911. In ten minutes there were a number of police, fire & rescue vehicles on the scene and then the authorities called in a helicopter. WOW! The driver suffered a diabetic shock and was not injured - UNBELIEVABLE!
And my fellow Californians from Riverside, Brad & Billy and their two boys:
My second problem was the plastic hook (under lwr. rgt. screw) holding the spring which restrains the $27 H7 Bulb in place broke:
Hmm, how long will this bulb last rattling around in there?
Stopped for gas in Carey, ID at a Dairy Queen Gas Station. Decided to have a can of soup & banana for lunch. Sat down in a booth and a woman walked up to me and asked if I was riding the motorcycle from California. Yes I said, and then Terry, 66 years old (looked 80) sat down and proceeded to tell me about her two dogs and life story of leaving WI for CA, worked in the film industry, moved to SunValley, ID because of the great music and you can smoke great pot.
Also visited the Craters of the Moon National Park. Did capture a video of the Loop-Road, boring!
Called it quits in Challis, Mt. as I previously stated.
Today, Blah! RAIN & then more Rain!
This morning met Dave Berry from WA packing up. A young guy like myself, he rode a 883 Sportster and was on a 1,800 mile week long ride with basically the shirt on his back. Dressed in a nylon jacket, jeans, shorty helmet, coke bottle glasses, and equipped with 2-hearing aids I don't believed worked all that well. When he pulled into the hotel lot last evening, he was dirt encrusted, his flowing beard was pinned back by the road grime, and he was cold. But before he could go in, he had to have a smoke, one of many more I noted. A real minimalist, he had a rain slicker in the box, and when it rained he put it on and stored his bag, which wasn't waterproof, in the box. HARDCORE! I notice there are many folks up here who smoke like chimneys, seems to be a significant issue; wonder what the cancer rate is. Hard to believe with all this great fresh mountain air...
Riding up RT93, went over the Lost Trail Pass at 7,104 feet in elevation, noted some snow flakes, it was cold, and a good time to stop and put on the heated vest & rain gloves.
Arrived in Missoula, had lunch then moved on to Kalispell. As I was coming out of a gas station in Arlee, MT (5) motorcycles passed by. I caught up with them a short while later and when they pulled over to a roadside bar & grill, I followed them. From Lethbridge, AB, they've been touring the US, heading home. So Gilbert, Tracy, Lester, Brenda & Brenda, and Bernie invited me in for coffee and dry off from the rain. I was great to share road experiences with them. Down the road we stopped at the Miracle of America Museum in Polson, Mt. It was just some guy's collection of too much...
I said my good-bye and moved on to Kalispell. Weather was foul! Heavy rain & hail. Made it a few miles past kalispell Airport on my way to Glacier National Park, but it was too much, I wimped out & turned around. It was time to find:
Found a room at Econ Lodge and who do I find there: The Lethbridge Gang and a new guy Chris, who was also from Alberta. We all went to dinner together and had a great time; and they do cheer for the Boston Bruins. Too bad, but the Bruins put up a good fight tonight.
What we got to look forward to tomorrow... There is no escaping it!
With that, good-nite.
No comments:
Post a Comment