Once again, left at daybreak. Another glorious sunrise pushed us along the road. Weather was cool to cold with temperatures ranging from the 50s to the low 40s depending on location. We almost didn't have enough clothes when we left. By the time we stopped though, we were very warm as the day was sunny and dry.
Headed north into Missoula. Missoula seemed like a pretty nice college town, but 97% of the cars we saw were Subarus and 99% of those had a bike rack on them. Those not driving Subarus were riding their bikes. Ahhh, the granola lifestyle. Don't get me wrong, I do admire the bike riding. I even considered buying a Subaru once, but they quit making the one I wanted.
We headed out on US12 through Lolo and Lolo Pass. The first half of the day, the smell of smoke from the many large wildfires ranged from minor to overpowering. Many times, smoke could be seen as a haze covering the horizon. Many motorcycle roads are great until you get behind the dreaded RV. Lolo Pass has to be one of the best motorcycle roads since the road is in great condition, turns are a mix of sweeping and hard, but with ample passing opportunities so getting behind a truck or RV is not a big issue. Switchbacks and technical riding is fun, but not what I'm looking for when I'm thousands of miles from home in a fully loaded touring bike.
US12 itself follows along the Lochsa river. The views are gorgeous and the road goes on for 10s of miles. I thoroughly enjoyed this ride. Probably one of the best motorcycle roads I have been on. Not sure what it would look like in July, but near the off season it was wonderful.
After going through the mountains, we crossed into Washington and had a quick lunch at Sharps Burger Ranch. It was billed as Lewiston's answer to fast food. Overall, pretty good for a quick lunch.
After lunch we went through Washington's Central valley. Scenery isn't much in comparison to Lolo Pass, but the ride was nice, if a little warm. Some of the construction areas seemed to be done by Montana construction crews (see post from yesterday if that doesn't make sense). It was surprising that the elevation of this part of Washington was below 1000 feet in places. The valley was covered with fruit trees and many, many vineyards. The range of agricultural species seen on this trip is staggering. The huge fields of grapes and fruit trees were amazing in light of the fact that they are harvested by hand. I couldn't help but think of the movie Sideways as we rode through the vineyards.
Once through the valley, we stayed on US12 through Cascades. Traffic was tolerable and the views were again dramatic. There was one long delay at a construction zone where we struck up a conversation with a couple who were in the car behind us. They seemed very surprised we were in Washington only four days after leaving Ohio; we only have so much vacation. They gave us some tips on things to see and places to stay.
After passing through the construction zone which was right at White Pass, we descended in elevation and stopped to see Mount Rainier. The couple we had been talking to laughed when I asked if we would be able to tell which one it was. The view was stunning.
We continued on US 12 to Packwood. There were several hotels there, but they must have been in cahoots since the high price was the same everywhere. We continued on until Interstate-5 up to Chehalis where we found a room at a much better price. When getting unpacked I noticed the front tire on the Goldwing was wearing in an odd way, which means in a normal way for a Goldwing. Perhaps pushing the limits for hours on Lolo Pass was taking its toll. Good thing we are nearing the turning around point.
Dinner was great at Kit Carson's followed by Zingers in the Hotel room. There were no Cakesters available.
Mileage for the day was 653.8.
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