Yellowstone to Spokane

(I know, I know. I'm behind in my postings. I'm working to get caught up. This is was I did on the 23rd. I'll get up to date soon.)

So the day started off with me waking up in a bad mood. Despite my exhausting day, I somehow didn't sleep well. Go figure. I did however start to improve after a couple cups of coffee and a look at the view out of my hotel room. Not bad for stumbling into the last hotel in town well after dark.

I got on the road pretty early and headed for Spokane, my planned endpoint for the day. It's also where I grew up and where my parents and one of four brother's still live. The seven and a half hour drive is less then some of the day's I've done so far so I wasn't too worried about not making it that far.

I was still pretty cold when I set out. Something like 55 degrees or so. That's a guess on my part but I think it's pretty close. It was cold enough that when I got to Belgrade, MT I stopped at the Harley dealership there to get a face mask (a little cloth thing that covers the lower part of my face so I don't get wind burn). That along with a short sleeve shirt, a long sleeve shirt and my jacket made the trip fairly comfortable. I know 55 doesn't seem that cold but keep in mind I was riding at about 75 MPH so add that wind chill to it and it's a bit cold.

I stayed on I90 pretty much the whole way to Spokane. Not my first choice but there aren't really many ways to go northwest from Yellowstone. I could have gone up to highway 2 but that's really far to the north. It's the route I would have taken if I had gone through Glacier. I also could have taken highway 12 but that would put me pretty far south of Spokane and add on quite a few hours. So instead I stayed on I90. That said, I90 through western Montana, northern Idaho and into Washington is not a bad road at all. There's lots of scenery as it twists through the Rockies. Plus, I've taken that road so many times in the past that I'm pretty familiar with it. It felt kind of nice to be on a known road after so many uncertain routes that I've been on in the last week or so.



I stopped in Butte, MT for lunch at Trimbo's Pizza. I kind of had to look for a bit before I found it. I wasn't looking for Trimbo's specifically when I pulled into Butte, I was just looking for something that looked interesting. I just rode around town for a bit before I came apron this place. I didn't want to wait for a pizza so I had the Italian beef sandwich which was excellent.





Continuing on, I stopped next in St. Regis, MT. I have to admit that I always stop in St. Regis whenever I go through this area. St. Regis is just this tiny little town but they have a shop there where you can get all kinds of things with huckleberries in them. Now, believe it or not, I've actually met people who have never seen nor tasted a huckleberry before and actually think that they don't exist. They think of huckleberries like the Loch Ness monster or Bigfoot. Well, let me tell you, they exist and taste wonderful. They kind of look like a blueberry but taste so much better. They only grow in high elevations so I don't think anyone has ever domesticated them. People have to hike up into the mountains and fight the bears for them. (Bears like huckleberries proving what I already knew about bears having good taste. I mean, come on. They like all kinds of berries and salmon and the occasional deer. All good stuff.) Anyway, I got some huckleberry jam and chocolate and then sat outside and had a huckleberry shake. You can only get huckleberries in certain parts of the country at certain times of the year so when whenever I'm able, I get as much as I can. I just wish I could have gotten some fresh ones and made my Grandmother's huckleberry cream pie, the epitome of huckleberry products.

I continued west, stopping only at the top of Lookout Pass on the Montana/Idaho border for a quick picture. To me, Lookout was always the point where I knew I was close to home. So naturally I had to stop.



Up to this point I had mostly been climbing up the Rockies. Now it was time for some downhill. If you've ever been through this area you know that there's very little need to step on the gas. You just let gravity do it's thing and try to hold on. It's pretty fun.

I rolled into Spokane at about 5:30, just in time to clean up for dinner. I'll be taking some time off and spending a day and two nights in Spokane. I'm really looking forward to just hanging out with family and friends and not riding anywhere for a day.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:E Crown Ave,Spokane,United States