Last day, Port Angeles to Home

Turns out I slept like a rock in my room at the Sportsmens Motel in Port Angeles. I drowned the noisy traffic out with a fan even tho I couldn't leave the window open due to the noise. 

I rode down the road a couple of miles and had breakfast at Precillas. It was part  of an old bowling alley... Food was good tho!

Worried about my front tire, I called the only place in town, Port Angeles Powersports. They had a tire, but when I explained that I was traveling and would like to get back on the road asap and that I would remove and reinstall the wheel on the bike (a big part of the work) his reply was that he thought they should be able to get it done by the end of the day, probably.... I wasn't real happy with that answer. With a machine, changing a tire takes all of about 10 minutes max. Maybe 15 with a spin balancing, 20 if you're just plain slow. The answer he should have given me was "we should be able to have you on the road in an hour or so max and we thank you for paying $50 more for the tire than you can get it for, plus another $30-$40 for mount and balance". I took a good look at the tire and decided to go ride Hurricane Ridge and back and then see how my tire looked. 

Hurricane Ridge costs $15 for a guy on a motorcycle to get it. My reaction was similar to my reaction at Glacier...huh??? But remembering the Going to the Sum road I paid the fee. Goiing to the Sun road it was not, but it was pretty damn awesome!! I got on the road early so traffic was minimal. Good thing cause the road up to the ridge was super twisty. You didn't even have to go very fast to enjoy the heck out of it! I took it extra easy tho on account of my front tire. 

The view from the top was absolutely epic. This is a panorama shot. Looking out over the Olympic Mountains really did make you feel like you are on the top of the world. 

That valley down there full of clouds was particularly cool. 

Back down the hill I went and when I got to the bottom I took a look at my front tire and decided to take my chances see If I could gey home on it. Nearly all of my route was in areas where people would be driving by all the time and mostof it  included cell phone reception...so getting stranded in the middle of nowhere was unlikely. I also cut some of the curvy extras out in hopes of making it last. 

I headed West thru Forks and out to the coast. 101 going down this part of the coast is kind of crappy. The road has about 200 yards of dense forest between you and the ocean (plus the beach) so for the most part you really don't even know you're following the coast except for an occasional glimpse. 

Almost at the end of the section that follows the beach there's a great little pullout where you can actually see down the beach a ways. 

After this 101 heads inland again. I had no idea there were so many long straight stretches anywhere on hwy 101! Seemed to go on forever. 

Ended up eating lunch in Aberdeen, WA. When I came out I looked at my front tire and much to my dismay I round it almost flat. Not knowing how long it took to get that way I figured I'd add air and see how long it took to go down again. I made it and 10 miles before I could feel it getting low so I pulled over at a 7-11 with an air pump and a shady picnic table and weighed my options. 

First, I called Annie and ask her to hook the atv trailer to the truck, push the 6x6 off of it and head this way. 

After. Moment or two I figured why not se if there were any bike shops in Aberdeen that had a tire. There are very few bike shops in Aberdeen period and none with a tire similar to mine. I did however find Alfies Motorcycle shop. The guy there had a used tire (the right size and style) that he said I could have, I just needed to pay to have it changed. When I got there the shop was one of those that looked like it had been there for 100 years. Crap everywhere. The guy behind the counter showed me the tire and I said where do you want me to work on the bike? (I had to remove and reinstal the wheel on the bike.) I ended up doing it right on the sidewalk in front of his store. He gave me a stool to sit on which makes it much easier and I whipped out my tool kit which I already knew had everything I needed to pull either the front or rear wheel. 10 minutes later I handed him the wheel. He changed the tire by hand and checked it for rough balance and I put the wheel back on the bike. All done in about 45 minutes without a tire changing machine and including a lot of time yacking about motorcycle hill-climbing. Apparently the guy (yes I forgot his name...) is pretty well known for that. 

He asked for $30 and I gave him two $20's and bid him a'due. 

Nice guy. I'll bet he's changed thousands of tires by hand like that. 

So from there I took the less scenic route home and arrived at about 7:00 PM

So here's the stats from my trip via my GPS:

2521.9 miles total over seven days. 55 mph moving average (that's only while moving). 46 hours and 4 minutes riding (moving time). 

The max speed was on the first day down on some long, straight roads with rock and barbed wire free ditches in Eastern Oregon. They say this thing will do about 155 mph, but I'm not planning on proving that out any time soon. I did feel comfortable pushing the bike a little though. It was smooth and comfortable at that speed and it had a lot more to give!

These are what 2500 miles of bugs and dirt look like. The dirt on the wheels is mainly from those sections of gravel and/or chip-sealed road I ran into. Bugs...I wiped the headlights off the first couple of days but gave up because I could see my glass cleaner that I primarily use to clean my helmet face shield and the upper part of the windshield was going to run out. It did, this morning. I added water to the bottle and made due.

Tires... In hindsight, since I have a brand new set of tires sitting here in my garage I should have just put them on before I left on this trip. Thing is, the tires that are on the bike had about 2800 miles on them. On my old bike I would usually get 5-6000 miles from a rear tire and more than twice that from a front time. Being that this was my first set of new tires on this bike I did not know how long they would last...however, these tires are of different construction than my old bike's tires and they are specifically supposed to last a little longer. Plus the majority of the folks on the FJR1300 forums I frequent said 6-8000 miles is normal for these tires on this bike. With all that in mind I figured leaving on a 2500 mile trip, plus 2800 miles already on the tires should leave me with a total of 5300 miles. That should have worked out just about right. 

What I didn't count on was speed limits in Idaho and Montana and several days of riding curvy roads at much higher than Oregon and Washingntons 55 mph speed limits. That and being a slightly larger than average guy on a fairly heavy bike compounded and significantly accelerated the wear on the tires, especially the front tire. 

In hindsight, I'll just throw the new ones on next time (I change my own tires in my garage.) and save the half used ones for a time when I'm short on cash or the time it takes to order a new set and have them shipped to me. 

I sort of missed out on fully enjoying some of the best curvy roads due to having to baby the ailing front tire. Kind of defeats the purpose. 

In the end I got home safely and had an awesome trip. I got to see and ride thru a bunch of the roads and places I've had on my list for many years. This is the longest ride I've ever done and definitely the longest by myself. I was concerned that I would be lonely or bored but In the end I wasn't. Spending some time visiting with my Aunt Carol and Uncle Charlie and thier kids helped with that of course.

Honestly I feel like I could hop back on the bike tomorrow morning and keep going....but not until change both tires, change the oil and filters, and wash off all the bugs and dirt and crap off of my bike.  Then I'll be ready for the next adventure.  

 

Day 6, Oroville to Port Angeles

A little stressed about today because I'm headed back to the crowded city areas. However, the day was not all bad. 

Left Oroville at 8:15 and road about 30 miles to Tonasket and had breakfast at Shannon's Cafe. Crowded, and the food was just okay. I ordered a "Meat lovers" bacon and sausage which included onions, peppers and mushrooms. Unfortunately it was all veg and very little meat. I left a pile of junk on my plate. 

This sign is on the road into Twisp. Amazingly I only saw a few Deer in this area today. No near misses either!

South to Twisp and then West to Winthrop and over the Cascades via Hwy 20, the North Cascades Highway. 

Beautiful road both in curviness and scenery. 

This area had caught fire at some point. 

This on the West side near Ross lake. 

Ross Lake. 

After trudgung through Burlington and across the I-5 corridor I made my way out through Anacortes, over Deception Pass bridge and on to Coupeville to catch the ferry across to Port Townsend. 

They called me in first and put me right up front. This was my view for the 30 minute ferry ride. I had some video but since this app updated I haven't figured out how to add those yet. 

Once across I left Port Townsend headed for Port Angeles for the night. The traffic between the two towns was horendous. 

I stayed at the Sportsmens Motel in Port Angeles.  Bad choice. It's in the 80's this afternoon and amazingly this place has no AC. I can't remember the last time I stayed in a motel without AC. I think I was a little kid then. I never even thought to ask. 

The place is also right next to the main highway. The walls are paper thin and you can here eveything driving by. Hope I can sleep thru it. 

On the plus side it is cheap and the room is clean and in decent shape. A cheap window AC unit would make a big improvement. 

Being on the coast I searched the internet for a good place for fish and chips. 

Ended up going to "Jig and Lure". Very expensive, fish was two tiny, dry pieces that had absolutely zero flavor. Clam strips were over cooked and had 4 times as much breading as meat. (I ordered the cod and clams combo). The clam chowder was thick gravy style which I am usually ok with, but again it was very very bland with zero clam flavor. Some sort of herb over powered even the potatoes. 

All this for $23!!! What a ripoff.

I keep asking myself why it is that these coastal towns can't produce a little place with inexpensive fish and chips and good porions. The Bowpicker in Astoria is the only one I've found that really fills the bill. A man sized portion of deep friend albacore tuna and steak fries for $10. We make the fish run several times per year just for that. They really should expand and conquer the entire Oregon and Washington coastlines. 

I'm going to put in some ear plugs and see of I can get some sleep now.

Tomorrow is up to Hurricane Ridge (and back) then out toward Forks, WA where the vampires live and South toward home. 

My front tire is about shot. Hopefully I can baby it home. 

Day 5, Carols to Oroville.

Rolled out of Coeur d'Alene at about 8:30. Definitely catching a cold so I slept in a little bit. 

Ate breakfast in Newport, WA along the Pend Orielle River (pronounced Pondoray), then followed the river up toward Ione, WA. 

I followed a loop out around Sullivan Lake which brought me out at this intersection 10 miles from the Canadian border. 

From here I headed back South, then West over a mountain pass to Colville, WA then headed back North again. I ended up here:

That's Canada just across the river. That river is the Columbia River just as it enters the United States. 

Down the hill below where I took the picture of Canada was an offical looking building. Turns out it's a customs office for cars traveling the little road between countries along with a small rail line that connects the two. 

Down river a bit, just outside the town of Northport I took a better picture of the Columbia River. 

Well a little better anyway. Those dark clouds would let out a few huge rain drops once and a while. Not even enough to see on the ground, but they smack when they hit the shield on my helmet. 

After lunch it was South to Kettle Falls and then back North to Curlew and West to Chesaw and then Oroville for the night. 

The Chesaw and Orovile areas are markedly different from were I've been so far. As you can see by the picture of the Chesaw area, it's wide open yet hilly with a lot less trees. 

I followed a deep canyon from Chesaw most of the way to Oroville. The walls of the canyon were so steep that at times I could see my headlight beams and it was about 4:00 in the afternoon. 

The canyon opened up into more of the hilly, open area similar to Chesaw. As the sun was getting lower on the horizon it created some nice contrasts and shadows across the landscape. The road   down to Oroville was steep and had some great curves. A nice finish to a great day on the road.

Oroville is also just a few miles from Canada (seven I think). They grow a lot of apples here too. 

I'm staying at the Camaray Hotel. Not really very many options here, but it looks clean enough and it was cheap. The two most important factors when I'm on a bike trip. 

The guy at the hotel said I only have two choices for dinner (Sunday). Good Mexican and OK Mexican. I chose the good Mexican which was Trino's down the street. He was right, it was fresh and good and the service was excellent. 

That cold I was feeling yesturday is making me congested. The spicy salsa and Carne Asade helped with that!

Tomorrow it's back down to Hwy 20, through Winthrope and over the pass back into the heavily populated areas. I'll head out toward Anacortes and Deception Pass and catch a ferry to Port Townsend and on to Port Angeles for the night. 

Day 4, Going to the Sun road, and on to Aunt Carols

Beautiful morning in East Glacier. Had breakfast at Two Medicines and was on the road by 8:00. 

I chose the scenic route from E. Glacier to the entrance to the Going to the Sun road. A lot of it was 25 mph, but the views were worth going slow for. 

 

When I pulled up to the entry point for the Going to the Sun road, the lady at the gate said "$25 please"... I was a little shocked it would cost that much for one guy on a motorcycle. Turns out it was worth every penny!

The scenery was spectacular to say the least. 

There was a fair amount of traffic on the road, it was a Saturday morning. i didn't have any trouble maintaining a reasonable pace....which was fairly slow because I was taking it all in

A couple of these pics were taken while I was riding. They look a little hazy due to the widnshield being in the way. Pardon the bugs on the windshield....

This last one is a panorama pic...but a truck went by while I was taking it. Kind of an interesting effect. 

There were some dark clouds brewing but it never rained a drop while I was there. 

If you don't want to deal with driving the Going to the Sun road, you can ride on one of these shuttles. They were all over the place and some have open tops you can look out of. Might be a good way to go. Driving some of the very narrow sections of road while trying to see the sights in a car would be almost impossible. Of course a bike is narrow enough that it wasn't an issue. Plus I had no windows....

All and all Going to the Sun was definitely worth the trip, and the $25. 

After exiting the park, I headed North on a loop through National Forest lands. 

Garmin GPS software showed the loop as paved all the way through...obviously it was wrong. Great pavement about 2/3 of the way, then about 15 miles of really crappy gravel road. No good on a street bike with street tires. I was glad to get back on the pavement and came out at Whitehorse, MT. 

Had lunch in Eureka,MT and then made my way to the Yaak River Road. The mountain road took me all the way up to within and couple of miles of the Canadian border. The road was very curvy, very scenic, and had very little traffic on it. It also had a 15 mile section that was recently chip-sealed on which the gravel had not been removed. More slow going for a while but I got through it. 

If you want to live in the middle of nowhere, this is pretty close. 

I took a picture of our new home on the Yaak River. No neighbors for miles! Also no power, phone, internet, or automobile access during the Winter. Sounds good!

Later in the afternoon I made it back to Northern Idaho. I travelled South thru Bonners Ferry and into Sandpoint. 

A lot has changed since I was last there. There's a road around most of the town now. I also visited Dover where my Dad grew up. There's a much bigger road heading out to the tiny little town. A bunch of new houses out on the bluff. Kind of ruins the view. Still a special place for me though. 

After leaving Sandpoint and Dover I rode to my motel in Coeur d'alene. When I got there I went to open my side-bag and found that one of the two screws that hold the metal tab on the lock had fallen out and the other was barely holding on by a few threads. One or two more bumps and my laundry would have been out on the road!  Luckily the local Ace Hardware had some tiny metric screws that fit and I Loctited them in. Never had an issue with them before, but I've heard of others having this problem on an FJR forum I frequent. All the bumpy roads today must have helped it along. 

I went and had dinner at my Aunt Carol and Uncle Charlies house. It was nice to get to visit with them and their Daughter Melanie and her Husband Doug. My cousin Matt was supposed to be up from Phoenix but his twins came down with the flu or something and they had to postpone the trip. His Wife and Daughter made it though.

 I realized it has been a long time since I have been there. All the surgeries and medical issues I've had have taken longer than I realized. 

Have little bit of a scratchy throat tonight. Hope I'm not catching a cold or something. Still have just under 1000 miles to ride over the next three days. 

Tomorrow it's off across the top of Washington state to Oroville. 

I'll go right to the edge of Canada on this leg. Can't go in though. They don't like my guns. Plenty to see right here in the good ol' USA. 

Off to bed. 

Day 3, Kamiah to East Glacier

Todays route...

The room at the Clearwater12 Motel in Kamiah included free breakfast which included sausage and scrambled eggs anong other things. I ate breakfast there and was on the road by 8:00. 

Todays ride began with the famous (among motorcycle enthusiasts) Lolo Pass. This road winds along several different rivers and eventially takes you over Lolo Pass and into Montana. It is well known as a scenic and curvy ride, although not in a technical twisty way...just miles and miles of sweapers. 

The thermometer on the bike read 43 degrees when I left Kamiah. It went up to about 50 for a while then went back down a bit going over the pass. I was prepared for a chilly ride and had all the right gear on. The only issue was a couple of my vent zippers broke on my jacket. Junk waterproof zippers....

This sign is about 50 miles in. That's when the curves got curvier! That's what I like to see. 

This sign talks about the fun times Lewis and Clark had getting over Lolo Pass. I think I probably enjoyed it a lot more. 

The ride was in fact very scenic and one to check off the bucket list. 

When I started the bike this morning it seemed a little sluggish when starting. It occurred to me that the battery is most likely the original battery...now 4+ years old. So after crossing Lolo Pass I call the nearest Autozone (in Missoula) to see if they had an AGM battery for my bike. They said they did and it was on my route so I stopped and bought one. Unfortunately the battery they had listed for my bike was almost 3/4" too wide to fit in the battery compartment. They listed another but not only would they have to order it but it was $266!! I said I'd pass and put my old one back in and take my chances starting the bike in colder East Glacier. Hope it starts in the morning! 

This is my old battery. May have to order one when I get home. 

Stopped for lunch in Seely Lake, MT at a place called Pops. 

I had the Montana Salad complete with chicken and bacon. Big sucker! Maybe ot will make up for all those potatoes I've been eating that I shouldn't have. Idaho used to be famous for potatoes!

After lunch I continued on North toward Kalispell and then East to East Glacier. 

I almost forgot. The typical highway speed (two lane) is 70 in Montana! Yeah! Makes getting someplace a whole lot easier. They actually have caution signs on the corners with speeds like 55, 60, and even 65 mph! Oregon and Washigton really need to get with the program!

About thirty miles out of East Glacier I crossed the continental divide at Marias Pass. The rest area there had a huge monolithic monument to Teddy Roosevelt...

I took two pics of it but the light was wrong. All these yuppy liberals could have learned a thing or two from him. There's enough nature out there for everyone to enjoy. 

This is another panorama shot of the mountains from the same rest stop. Pretty magnificent! Definitely big sky country. 

Staying at the Circle R Motel in E. Glacier tonight. Looks pretty decent so far. All the lodging is expensive here. This was one of the less expensive places at just under $100 per night. 

Unfortunately there is an Amtrak station right across the street....

This the case for all the local motels tho unless you want to spring for a room at one of the fancy lodges out of town.  The Circle R built a second insulated wall across from the original front wall of the motel to help insulate from the sound.  Been here while several trains have passed and barely noticed them. Good deal. 

Decided to work on my blog while waiting for a table at the Mexican place (Serano's) next door. It was packed so hopefully it's worth the wait. 

Turns out is was. Probably the best Mexican food I've ever had. I ordered Chile Puerto which was slow roasted pork in a spicy red chile saice. Everything was super fresh, no signs of microwave here. Just like homemade...if I was Mexican.  

I haven't figured out how to reorient pics using this app yet so pardon the out of phase pic. This is where I ate dinner....circa 1909. They believe it is one of the first buildings built in East Glacier and it is the only original building left standing. It has been added on to multiple times, but you eat dinner in the original log part. I didn't feel comfortable taking a pic of the inside because it's pretty small and the place was packed with people. Very cool tho. 

The waiter also gave me a hot tip for breakfast just down the street. Two Medicines Diner. It's open all year and that's where the locals go. 

Tomorrow I'm going to get on the road fairly early in hopes of beating most of the masses on the Road to the Sun. That'll be another bucket list road for sure. i promise to remember to stop a take a picture or two. If my bike battery holds out and my phone doesn't freeze. It'll be chilly in the morning. After that it's across the too of Montana and Idaho and then down through Bonners Ferry and Sandpoint and on to Coeur d'Alene to visit my Aunt Carol, Uncle Charlie and their four kids...and enough of their kids kids to start a new town. 

Off to bed soon. Oh wait, clocks say 8:39, but it's really 7:39 my time. TV, then off to bed. 

Tomorrow (Day Four) route. Long and short options...

Day 2, Elgin to Kamiah....

The old Stampede Inn in Elgin isn't what it used to be a few years ago. My room was dirty and not well taken care of all the way around and I noticed a HUGE spider web in the corner above the curtain...big! Like the kind that had been there for months. 

All this downgrades the room from a $68 room to a $45 room, but they are still charging $68. I tend to stay in budget hotels on my rides, but the Stampede Inn is getting a little too budgety for the money. 

I got up this morning and rode about an hour to Joseph, OR. I picked a spot for breakfast that had lots of cars in front of it and the place was packed which is usually a good sign. Just after I sat down at the only available table (@ the time), two other riders walked in and scanned the place for an open table. Having plenty of room I waved them over. 

Turns out these two were down from British Columbia. I forgot their names...I really need to work on that. We'll call them Hans and Frans for now. Nice guys. The one on the left has been riding for years and knew most of the roads in Or, Wa, Id, and Mt. Great to have some conversation while scarfing down a good breakfast. 

Left the motel at 8:00, got to breakfast place at 9:00, didn't get out of there until quarter after ten. Busy, but worth the wait. 

Jospeh is not at all like it used to be 15 years ago. It looks more like 23rd in NW Portland than a small country town now.  There are so many little boutique shops you can't hardly tell what is what. I suppose that makes the money. 

I headed SE out of Joseph over the mountains and down into Hells Canyon near Halfway (the town).  

This is a panoramic view from a viewpoint on the way down from the West side. 

At the bottom there's a big dam. You follow the river a ways and cross over another (below) and then you're in idaho. 

The road leading up out of the canyon on the Idaho side was paved with a yellowish colored rock. Wierd stuff. It also proved to be a little slicker than most pavement. I broke my rear tire loose a couple of times in the sharper corners. I wasn't expecting that on dry pavement. Maybe that explains the 25 MPH speed limit that went on for miles. Apparently a power company owns the road and the land so they make the rules. 

Even at lower speeds that road out of the canyon was endlessly twisty. 

Once you get out of the canyon, your on to Idaho highways. In many cases that means 65 mph speed limits on two-lane highways. Whoo-hoo! The FJR gets to stretch it's legs again!!

I stopped in Riggins,ID for lunch. The big Salmon and Little Salmon rivers meet in Riggins and they have jet boat races up the Salmon River. Unfortunately not today tho... 

The next bit of fun came with White Bird Grade. 

(Another panorama pic)

White Bird used to be the main route over the pass, but has since been replaced by a more modern highway that pretty much goes straight over the pass. Old cars couldn't pull those hills, so White Bird has a ton of super tight hairpin switch backs leading up the hill. To make it even better, most of the corners were pretty steeply banked. The tightly banked corners and pretty good pavement made for an awesome ride. Whitebird may even be better than The Old Spiral Highway over near Lewiston. Glad I took the scenic route!

This is part of White Bird on my GPS. Those corners are sharp!

I pulled over near the top to take a break and noticed the whole area is laden with these bushes. They produce some sort of fruit that is slightly larger than a cherry, and has an orange-yellow color to it. This particular bush was hanging out over a fairly steep cliff so I didn't risk trying to pick any of them. Maybe my Aunt Carol will know what they are. 

After White Bird, I took the North Idaho Grade which took me down into the Clearwater River valley. Even after the curvy downhill grade, the road following the Clearwater River was nothing but sweapers for 30 miles all the way out through Kooskia and into Kamiah where I stopped for the night. 

While riding down the Clearwater valley, I had a medium sized Black Bear run up out of the river and splash across the road in front of me and up the bank into the bushes. As I rode further I realized that I've seen more Bears on my bike than all the other times combined. Cool to see but I didn't stick around long. Never know where Momma or Papa Bear mighy be. 

Staying at the Clearwater 12 motel in Kamiah. Huge step up from the Stampede Inn, yet it only costs $7 more. I'll sleep better tonight. 

$18 ribeye for dinner again at The Hub in Kamiah. Ready for bed now. 

Tomorrow it's over Lolo Pass and into Montana and East Glacier for the night.