2023 TOUR - FINAL

 

Again no breakfast as we began our usual early departure north on Hwy 34 which was another new road for me. We passed the Blackfoot Reservoir and about 20 miles out the highway turns due east and after another 20 miles it enters Wyoming. Shortly after entering Wyoming we turned north on Hwy 89 for about 10 miles up to Alpine Junction. We stopped at the Junction at a large convenience store and bought some warm ham and cheese breakfast sandwiches. They hit the spot as a later than usual breakfast and we had been having the usual good weather and nice riding.

We proceeded into Idaho along the beautiful Palisades Reservoir which had been my first sight of Idaho 57 years ago and I remember camping there. Just before Swan Valley we turned northeast on Hwy 31 up to Victor where it merged with Hwy 33 going north to Driggs and Tetonia. At Tetonia Hwy 33 turns west and after a brief Interstate jaunt to Rexburg continues west across the desert. At Mudlake we got on Hwy 28 going northwest toward Salmon. This is a long stretch of highway up to Salmon and we began to get into wind and rain off and on. This was the first bad weather of the trip not counting the hot and cold. This off and on weather continued past Salmon and all the way up Lost Trail Pass in Montana. After that it was sunny and hot again.

Painted road geocache

At Hamilton our Super 8 was the opposite of the Riverside Inn at Helper. It was a huge room almost the size of two normal double rooms and very nice. I don’t know how we got that because we didn’t pay any more than the regular price.

After getting settled we hiked down to a Pizza Hut and had a nice dinner consisting of a salad bar and a personal size pizza which was delicious and just right. On the way back to the motel I saw a small leather article on the sidewalk. It was a card wallet that had a man’s many credit cards, health insurance card and driver’s license. He had a local address but now as most folks have cell phones we couldn’t locate a phone number for him. We ended up riding the three miles or so to his house and leaving it in his mailbox with a note as he and his near neighbors were not home. All told this turned out to be the longest leg of our tour at 435 miles.

After a good Super 8 breakfast the next morning we were off toward

Picnic stop at small urban park in Vernal

Lolo. The rest of the trip was just a backtrack of our first day. Again it was beautiful weather and we were home well before noon having traveled 247 miles and 3,190 for the trip. I even had time to get my bike washed and cleaned that afternoon.

The most important thing I learned on this trip was to be very careful where I stopped my bike. Even though I have the low seat on it, if I stop on a sideways slope it can get out of hand so that I’m unable to keep it upright. Otherwise, the bike was an absolute delight leaving me with not an ounce of buyer’s remorse. I look forward to more trips with my riding partner, Sam, and hopefully my boys. M/W