When we arrived at the BirchGlen Motel last night rain was threatening and the lady who runs the place made sure that we had a place to shelter our motorcycles from the rain. When we moved them this morning each of us found a washing and drying rag on our bike seats. This lady really made an effort to help us out, much more than the usual motel manager usually does. I asked her if there had been a motorcycle in her past. She didn't but she has made a connection with veterans from Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. She hosts an even for about three hundred veterans at the motel on Veteran's Day, so she will have a group coming in next weekend.
Our bikes, ready to roll. Lonnie & Sharon in the background
Sharon Bixler and her partner Lonnie Chiles have some pretty strong opinions on how their government is only too willing to send their soldiers off to war but when they return damaged in mind and body help seems to be hard to find. There is money for weapons but not for the people who are damaged using them. These are two average Americans with limited means who are doing what they can to help those whom they feel need it. It was a real pleasure to meet them.
Sharon & Lonnie at the BirchGlen Motel, Cascade, ID
We left the motel under cloudy skies and headed toward Boise and the highway which runs along the North Payette River. On the opposite side of the river the Thunder Mountain Railroad runs scenic tours on the well maintained track between Cascade and Boise. The highway snakes its way south toward Boise passing through small towns along the way. For a motorcyclist, this is a fantastic road to ride. There are very few straight stretches for much of the way.
Riding along the Payette River, south of Cascade, ID
We began our ride at about 5000 feet and lost altitude until we arrived in Boise. Earlier in the run we had pulled over but Jim continued on to Boise. We pulled in to the first gas station but he wasn't there. As we arrived in Boise we saw Jim by the side of the road with a police car just pulling out with flashers on. We figured that there had been a problem but Jim said the police officer had stopped to see if everything was OK and they had had quite a good chat before he left.
We regrouped at Starbucks and this was one of the more eventful stops of the trip. First, Tom who has been going to Starbucks with us but never having a coffee, decided to have one. Since he was a Starbucks 'virgin' I offered to buy his first one, thereby bringing him over to 'the dark side'. This conversation was taking place in front of a middle aged woman who suggested that, because it his first time, I should buy him a 'fou-fou' drink. She explained that a 'fou-fou' drink was one of the fancy drinks like frapuccinos or macchiatos.
She then explained that she was a bicycle rider and when someone asked her describe the size of a dog she said it was a 'thump[thump' size. That was the sound a dog a certain size would make when she ran over it with her bike. This lady was hilarious. She livened up our visit to Starbucks. And, as a bonus, Tom actually liked the coffee so I have made another convert.
As we were sitting and chatting a sixties aged woman stopped and asked us if we owned the bikes outside. When we told her that we owned them she struck up a conversation and suggested that we should go to Las Vegas and take her with us since she liked Harleys. She said she was a 'Jack' Mormon which I take to be Mormon who doesn't follow the beliefs any more. She told us that we had made her day and she provided a few laughs for us as well. She also told us that she was the only Linda Jackson in the Boise phone book and we could call her if we decided to head to Las Vegas. Kerry noted that the women who stopped to talk to us seemed to be a lot older than they used to be.
Meanwhile, Jim whose favourite type of Starbucks coffee is their Blonde roast, went to order a large coffee to put in his thermos. When he told the young lady at the counter that he wanted a 'big blonde', she laughed and said, "A woman?" As I said, it was an amusing visit.
We rode the six miles to I-84 and headed east when I missed a turn and had to exit I-184 and try to get back to the right road. Near the exit I found myself in the wrong turn lane but Garry bailed me out so we finally made our way to the right highway and rolled east to Mountain Home, ID.
Occasionally I like to wind my Harley up. Not often but it helps to keep it running smoothly, I think. However, today is the first time I have ridden my Harley at 80 mph - legally! The speed limit on I-84 outside of Boise is 80 mph so I took advantage of it for a mile or two. It was fun but not a speed that I'd like to run at for too long.
At Mountain Home, which has a large US Air Force base nearby, we left the main highway and rode east on Highway 20. Outside of Mountain Home the road makes several climbs to reach 5500 feet and the high prairie. There are some spectacular vistas along the way and we stopped at one of them to look back on the road we had ridden far below. The highway was built on an old wagon road that was built in the 1860s to avoid conflict with the Shoshone as settlers moved into the Boise area. I can imagine what it must have been like to climb and descend these hills in ox drawn wagons on a narrow, steep dirt road. It is amazing what the early settlers to the western US endured to make better lives for themselves.
The oad we had just ridden far below
Our first viewpoint stop
Another view of the valley we had just traversed
Kerry, Garry & Tom at the viewpoint
Our bikes under threatening skies
Tom points the way
There isn't a lot to see on the high prairie except miles and miles of miles and miles. Occasionally the ride was punctuated by small villages one of which is named Hill City. We stopped and I took some pictures of Kerry at the saloon in his namesake city. Unfortunately the saloon, like so many other places in this part of Idaho was closed. I think that when the five of us stopped to take these photos we immediately doubled to population of Hill City, ID.
Kerry at the saloon in the city that bears his name.
Close up of the saloon sign
'YOU ARE NOW ENTERING HILL CITY TIME'
To the north a range of low mountains parallels the highway for many miles. This land is beautiful in a stark kind of way, but I can't figure out how the people who live here make a living. This is one of the most sparsely populated areas of the United States and the people who live here are a very long way from any sizeable city. I suspect that for most of them this is just the way they like it.
For much of the day were travelling with a dark cloud hanging over our heads. Despite the fact that this part of the world is experiencing a drought, we have been bedeviled by rain, threatening clouds, and strong winds. Despite some breaks today the skies to the east were threatening and we were riding right into them. Somehow we managed to avoid getting wet.
Further on we passed through the Craters of the Moon National Monument. As we were trying to make it to Idaho Falls today unfortunately we were unable to stop. The landscape is striking and quite barren in places although the most recent large eruptions happened about 15 000 years ago. These features are connected to the large hot spot that underlies Yellowstone Park, but I don't know enough about it to explain it, other than the continent is moving southwest over the hot spot and the features we see are the remnants of the activity that happened during that time.
Craters of the Moon National Monument, near Arco, ID
Threatening clouds over the mountains
Ancient cinder cone on the way to Idaho Falls, ID
Scenery on the way to Idaho Falls, ID
As we approached Idaho Falls the skies to the east became darker and darker and rain was evident across the horizon. Our hope was to reach Idaho Falls before being rained on. I watched my GPS closely and as the miles ticked down I was hoping as I saw the numbers 9.2, 7.6, 5.9, 4.5, 3.1 indicating the miles to the motel that we escape being rained upon.
Alas, it was not to be. After almost 350 miles we were hit by a steady rain only 2.7 miles from our destination. The weather forecast seems to be deteriorating and we are hoping to catch a window tomorrow morning during which we can scramble north to Butte, MT, where the weather forecast promises us some better and dry weather. We seem to be racing to escape the worst of the weather that seems to be coming our way and this is limiting our choices quite a lot. Where is the drought when we need it?
Today was our longest ride so far, but all of our motorcycles are running strong as are the five 'vintage gentlemen' who are riding them. We hope that will continue for a long time to come.
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