Day 5 of My Trip...Day 1 of the iMBC 2012

I woke up this morning to a beautiful, clear day in Riggins. It looked like it was going to be a great day for a ride! This was the view from the motel.

A few miles down the road I stopped for a few more shots of the hills.

I crossed the 45th parallel, on US-95, just north of New Meadows, ID.

Just before Council, ID I spotted a few tractors for sale... An Allis-Chalmers single front tire CA, a Framall A and a Ford-Ferguson.

US-95 runs through Weiser, Id and into Oregon.

A few blocks into OR, I got on 201 and followed that out to I-84. I rode the interstate up to Baker City. I was here by 10:30 local time. I pulled into the hotel and asked about my room. I figured it was way too early, but they had it ready.

I unloaded my baggage and called home to check in. Then I called one of the 3 other bloggers that I knew to be in town. After a few calls, Bob, Richard, and Karen showed up at my hotel, and we went for lunch.
After lunch, we all went back to the campground where Karen was staying. We sat around in the shade, on the picnic table, waiting to hear that the other 4 bloggers had arrived. Around 6:15 p.m., the 4 of us rode into town to meet the others for dinner.
During dinner, Sonja provided each of us with the patch shown at the top of the page. Thank you Sonja, what a great idea!

The following bloggers are here. Click their names to be taken to their blog...

Karen from Ontario, Canada.

Richard from Fairbanks, Alaska.

Brandy and her husband, Brad from Oregon.

Bob from British Columbia, Canada.

Sonja and her husband Roland, from BC, Canada.

I didn't bring my camera to dinner, but I'm sure there are pictures on the other blogs, and there will be more pictures taken this weekend.


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Trip to the iMBC, Day 4. Lincoln, MT to Riggins, ID

I spent a quite a bit of time last night standing around a fire pit eating somores with the motel owner, his wife, and her parents. We were talking motorcycles, touring, heavy equipment and gold.

I spent some time this morning repacking my gear and that slowed me down. I didn't get going as fast as I thought I would. That's OK, I'm in no rush
I left Lincoln on highway 200 towards Missoula.

I took highway 12 out of Missoula and headed for Lolo Pass.

It was nice and cool up at the visitors center, but the temps slowly climbed throughout the day.
I didn't stop for very many pictures along highway 12.

Ahhhh... SHADE!!!!

I had originally thought I'd camp in Kamiah, but the weather made me change my mind. I turned left onto 13 and rode to Grangeville. The lowest price room was $71.00, a bit much for my budget. Before I left town I had a late lunch at the Mexican restaurant, Palenque.
I headed south on 95. In Riggins I saw a sign for an affordable room!

I've put 1510 miles on so far.
Tomorrow, I'll be in Baker City, OR to meet 7 other bloggers.
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Trip to the iMBC, Day 3. Glasgow to Lincoln...

It rained last night. That made for comfortable sleeping, but a wet morning of packing. I wasn't in a rush, so I laid things out in the sun to dry.

By 0830, local time, I was packed and ready to go. It felt warm in the sun already! Neither weather.com and intellicast.com show much of a chance for rain today, but both show highs in the lower 90's.
Just outside of Glasgow is a hill with animal sculptures on it. Here's a few...

I followed US-2 to Havre and turned to go south on US-87. I had been on 2 for the last 944 miles. A new road was a welcome change. I had been fighting a head wind on 2, it turned into a cross wind on 87. I think I have located all of the nations railroad flat cars made to haul semi trailers. There must have been over 500 of them along 87. I quit counting at 200!
There was this new Caterpillar D9T. According to the Cat web site, it weighs 110,447 Lbs! The blade, laying face down in front of the dozer, is 14.1' wide. I'm kind of a heavy equipment fan. Years ago, I used to work on and around them.

I also had the opportunity to get some "middle of no where" shots.

Like I don't have enough projects as it is... but I think it would be fun to find an old farm truck or pick up and fix it up a bit. I don't mean restore it or even hot rod it, but make a nice old truck out of it. In every small town, in every farmer's yard and sometimes just sitting in a field are trucks waiting for a new life...

Along 87, at Fort Benton, there's a nice pull out with a view of the Missouri River.

I rode through Great Falls and got gas. I took 200 out of Great Falls. I had to ride on 7.7 miles of Interstate Highway to do it. Add about 2 miles of I-35 near Duluth, and I'm right around 10 miles of Interstate for the trip.
The scenery really changes after about 30 minutes on 200. Gone are the open fields, hello hills!

The temperature was nice and cool up at 5610' at the Continental Divide. Not quite as cool at the record coldest spot in the 48 contiguous States...

I had breakfast in Glasgow before hitting the road. During the ride today, I drank 6 and a half Liters of water and Gatoraide. I felt pretty good considering the 90+ degree heat all day. Staying Hydrated is the key.
I pulled into Lincoln, MT and stopped for a burger and a shake. I contemplated moving on to Missoula, but decided not to. I was going to camp tonight at the campground in town, but thought I'd try the Three Bears Motel. They had the "NO" sign on but it was hard to read so I thought I'd ask. They had one room left, but it wasn't one of their "remodeled" rooms. It has no air conditioner, but it's very cool in here. The price was right too! I'm going to try to get an early start tomorrow. It should be easy with no gear to have to dry in the sun!

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Trip to the iMBC, Day 2. Towner, ND to Glasgow MT...

The first day was a good day....today, not so much. The head wind was gone, but it was replaced by a side wind, rain, heat, and road construction! The day started nice enough. With low overcast skies and coolish temps. I was headed west and the weather was coming up from the south. It looked like I'd be able to stay ahead of it.
In Minot, I stopped for a picture of the American Locomotive Co. 4-6-2.

After Minot, the truck traffic on US-2 got heavier and there was a lot of road construction. The oil boom in northwestern ND is obvious, there are oil wells everywhere. Big drill rigs too.

In Williston, I got caught in a heavy down pour. With all the road construction, my bike is a muddy mess. Five miles later the skies were clear, and the temps were climbing.

In Montana, I ran into even more road work. Near Poplar, MT the entire surface had been removed and lightly packed, wet, muddy gravel was all there was for a road.
I snapped a few picture of roadside oddities.

I stopped early at the Shady Rest RV Park in Glasgow, MT.

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