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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Trip to the iMBC 2012, Day 1. Cable, WI to Towner, ND.

Last night I packed my clothes, gear and a few tools. I had everything out on the living room floor and put it on the bike this morning. I was all set to go when I tested my XM radio.....Dead.... I got my multi- meter and found 13.8 volts at the end of my battery tender plug, and 0 volts at the dual lighter plug end. Good thing I had a reserve double end lighter plug. Swapped it out and 13.8 volts at the plugs! Thumbs up! I now have XM and a GPS! I managed to get out of the driveway by 0750. A quick stop in town for fuel and cash at the bank, and I was on my way.

I headed for Duluth. Once there, I stopped at Aero Manufactuing, maybe better known as Rider Wearhouse, home of Aerostich riding gear. I picked up a t-shirt and a Go Cruise throttle lock. It's a cool place, but the sales floor is very small. They probably do 99% of their business over the internet.

They have a neat thing on the display floor, it's an old Honda Ascot frame, seat, tank and handle bars mounted on a side to side rocking horse kind of chassis.

After I left there, I continued west on US-2. In Proctor, MN, just out side Duluth, I stopped at the same fighter plane as George. I also got a few pics of the large locomotive and tender in the parking lot.

A "Yellowstone" class locomotive. 2-8-8-4. The locomotive weighs 695,00 pounds and the 7 axle tender weighs 436,635 pounds, it was loaded with 25,000 gallons of water and 25-26 tons of coal!

I also took a picture of the same fish too... The Big Fish Supper Club and Resort on US-2 in Bena, MN.

I only stopped for fuel after that. I was fighting a head wind all day, add the 70 MPH speed limits in ND, which was really more like 75-80, and I burned a lot of fuel.
My original plan was to stop for the night in Leeds, ND. I drove through town and decided to continue. I stopped in Towner instead. There's a nice city park in Towner with free camping.

The GPS says 513 miles and the odometer says 515.3 miles. Tomorrow should be easy. I was planning to go as far as Glasgow, MT.
I've got to get busy and set up my tent. There's a nice cool breeze blowing through the park now!

Here you go John, just for you...
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