The Clark Fork River in MT along Rte 200.
Jim's home | Motorcycle home | 10k Home
Well, it's my last night on the road. I'm camped at Perry Gin State Park just outside of Winthrop, WA. Came from Missoula, MT today, logging approx. 475 miles. Very little of it was on interstate highways, so I was happy. I actually like riding this much so long as I'm on a 2 lane road. I had 2 destination roads today. One was Rte 50, aka St. Joe Scenic Byway. The next was Rte 97 that winds along the east side of Coeur d'Alene Lake. Both were spectacular. Curvy, curvy curvy, and so beautiful. The first required driving 14 miles on gravel road. Prior to this I'd done a few miles at most searching for a campground and dealing with road construction. I couldn't remember in the road description I read whether it was 8 or 12 miles. Now I know. It was ok. Did 30 to 40 mph when possible. Got her done. Then came sport bike heaven next to the fairly violent St. Joe River. All the rivers I've seen on this trip are running high due to spring snow melt and runoff. Most rivers in the Midwest have been silty and muddy. This one and another earlier in the day (Clark Fork River) ran clear. Based on the vehicles with kayaks and other floaty things it's obviously a popular river running place. But those curves, whoo boy. Velvety smooth pavement too. Crossed a fun suspension walking bridge for a break. Will do that one again with friends some time. Then it was time for Rte 97 on the lake. What pavement! What engineering! What light traffic! So fun.
The Clark Fork River in MT along Rte 200.
The beginning of the 14 mile stretch of dirt/gravel road part of St. Joe Scenic Byway.
Where the pavement resumed. Whew!
At the suspension bridge.
Google found Crafted Tap House + Kitchen in Coeur d'Alene where the IPAs and food were excellent. Last night's dinner was excellent, except I'm pretty sure I got a small bout of food poisoning. Not so with this lunch. Then I headed east on Rte 2 across the wheat fields When I was a hang glider pilot I learned of a saying to remember the towns on that road; "hawk doctor". It stood for Hartline, Almira, Wilbur, Creston, Davenport and Reardon. Pilots in events where you just want to fly as far as possible would launch from Chelan, ride thermals up to cloudbase and the glide downwind, eastwards with the prevailing wind, to the next thermal. Repeat until the lift dies in the evening. I never got that far in hang gliding, but friend Paul can tell you all about it. He flew from Chelan to Pullman.
Fabulous lunch at the Crafted Tap House + Kitchen in Coeur d'Alene.
Anyway, the wheat fields looked healthy, the roads were predominantly straight until I reached Grand Coulee dam, where I popped into the visitors' center. That dam can make more power than any other dam in the US. It's big. The sun was still high in the sky, though it'd been cloudy and cool (mid 50s) all day, requiring me to wear my down parka under my leather jacket again for the first time in a while. Was beautiful riding up the Methow River valley on the way to Winthrop. Normally on rides I see Winthrop during lunch time when there are throngs of tourists. Nice to see it quiet on a Sunday evening.
The Grand Coulee Dam.
Heading north up the Methow river to Winthrop.
My campsite by Perrygin Lake, 3 miles from Winthrop.
A neighbor took a picture of me making dinner. Zatarins red beans and rice.
Tomorrow, home. Will ride across the North Cascades Highway, then down Whidbey Island, then take the ferry across to Pt. Townsend and should be home by early afternoon. Today my odometer showed that I broke 10,000 miles. It feels like it.