Day 13. Making the Turn Towards Home.

Day 13. Tuesday the 16th.

This morning, we left the Motel 6 of Coeur d'Alene and headed to Rathdrum, via ID-41. The further north we went, the more Idaho looked like a place I'd like to live. The panhandle area looks a lot different than southern Idaho. In the south, there was a lot of sagebrush. In the north, it's pine trees. It reminds me of western Oregon. We followed ID-41 all the way to US-2 on the ID-WA border. We took US-2 east to Sandpoint.

John wanted to ride hwy 200 from it's start in Sandpoint, ID all the way across MT, ND, to the end in Cloquet, MN. We Got on 200 near the east side of Sandpoint. We rode 265 miles of it today. We stopped for the night in Lincoln, MT. We checked in to the Three Bears Motel, unpacked, and went to The Montanan for dinner. I had the best bacon cheeseburger I've ever had.

Visitors outside our motel room near sundown.....

Day 12. Grangeville to Coeur d'Alene

Day 12. Monday the 15th

We made today was a much slower paced day. We stopped a lot, and I managed to take a bunch of pictures and experiment with different camera settings.
I've been north out of Grangeville on ID-13 to US-12 to Lolo, 2 other times. The ride is one of my favorites. This time, we turned left on 12 to go west.
We crossed over the Clearwater River on ID-7 and into Orofino. We took county road P-1 and stopped at the Dworshak Dam.
In Kendrick, we had lunch at Archie's Place. The weather was turning colder, and by the time we got to Troy, via 99, we had to stop and put on another layer of clothing.
We turned to head west and rode through Moscow and into Pullman, WA. We went up WA-27 to Palouse. Then back into ID.
We gassed up in Potlatch and went north on ID-6, the White Pine Scenic Byway. It's a short ride, but the scenery is great!
Out of St. Maries, we turned left onto ID-97, the Lake Coeur d'Alene Scenic Byway. It's a nice 35 mile ride that takes you along side Lake Coeur d'Alene. The views are nice, but maybe I was tired, but it seemed to take forever to get to the end.

Day 11. Arco to Grangeville

Day 11. Sunday the 14th.

We checked out of the D-K Motel, gassed up, and left Arco. We headed west on US-20. This interesting building was in downtown.

We stopped at the overlook just before the Craters of the Moon N.M. Neither John nor I felt like taking the time to drive through the park.

After passing through Picabo, we turned north on Gannett Road. Gannett Road meets up with ID-75, just south of Bellevue. That section of ID-75 is the Sawtooth Scenic Byway. The view was nice but there was a lot of traffic. The area is a huge tourist attraction. The prices for real estate in the Ketchum and Sun Valley area must me outrageous. One yard had a helicopter parked in it.

We stopped in Stanley for lunch and fuel, then left town on ID-21, the Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway. In Lowman, we got on the Wildlife Scenic Byway, also known as, NF-24, or, Banks-Lowman Road. That 33 mile section of roadway is awesome!

In Banks, we headed north on ID-55, the Pyette River Scenic Byway. Our original plan was to stop for the day in either McCall, or New Meadows. Motels in McCall looked too expensive for our budget. In New Meadows, we gassed up and decided to go all the way up to Grangeville.

We stayed at the Super 8. It was the same place we stayed last year on our trip through the area, and the place I stayed on my trip west in June. After being quoted a rate for the room, I asked the clerk if she'd give us a deal for staying with them 3 times in the last year. She knocked $11.00 off.

I was so tired from the 400 mile day, that I fell asleep in my clothes watching TV. I didn't wake up and go to bed until 0400.

Day 10. The Long Way to Arco. Saturday the 13th.

Arco is only 67 miles from Idaho Falls. So John and I decided to take the long way, 302 miles. We stayed with the theme of riding the Idaho scenic byways.
We left Idaho Falls on I-15 and got off at exit 143. We went west on ID-33 to Mud Lake. Then north on ID-28, the Sacajawea Historic Byway. The road runs up between 2 mountain ranges, and along side a couple of different rivers.
We had lunch at Subway in Salmon, and then gassed up. We followed US-93 out of Salmon. The first section follows along side the Salmon River, and is the Salmon River Scenic Byway. In Challis, US-93 becomes the Peaks to Craters Scenic Byway.
We got a room at the D-K motel in Arco.

Day 9. Worland, WY to Idaho Falls, ID August 12

We left the Days Inn around 0945 after doing our laundry and eating breakfast. We headed south towards Thermopolis, home of the worlds largest hot spring.

We continued south from Thermopolis. Hwy 20 runs through the Wind River Canyon. It was kind of a weird optical illusion, but both John and I thought that the road was going down hill, and it looked like the river was running up hill as it flowed north. If it weren't for the GPS telling me that we were gaining altitude, I wouldn't have believed it.

Further up stream is the Boysen Reservoir Dam.

We passed through Shoshoni, over to Morton, and up hwy 26 to Dubois, where we stopped for lunch.

John and a cardboard cut out of Gene Autry, his hero.

We turned left at Moran Junction, and headed for the Grand Tetons.

My favorite pic so far.....

We rode through Jackson, then west on WY-22, over the Teton pass and into Idaho.

Near the Teton Pass.

We spent the night at the Motel 6 in Idaho Falls.
We were thinking of trying to make the coast, but we only have until the 20th. We have changed our plans and will most likely be spending the next few days exploring the many scenic byways in Idaho.