Motorcycle road trip days 1 and 2

"AMGtech - now with more recalls!" (amgtech)
07/12/2018 at 16:45 • Filed to: AdvMonster

Or more like evening after work and day 1. The plan was to meet my dad in Coeur d’Alene, ID around lunch on Friday 6/22. Well that didn’t end up happening. First hiccup of the trip, knew they would happen. But it was a good hiccup! He hauled ass his first day riding and did 850 miles and made it to Coeur d’Alene before I even finished my last day of work! Awesome! So I leave work a little early, jump on the Monster and book it as far as I safely can that night, Thursday 6/21. Ended up camping at an RV park near Kennewick, WA called Charbonneau Park. It was fine. Nice even. But it was still a busy RV park. Not exactly what I had in mind, but beggars can’t be choosers!

Rather than have him wait hours and hours for me to get to Coeur d’Alene, we decided to meet at the Harley dealer in Lewiston, ID the next morning since it was about an equal distance for us without anyone having to backtrack.

Enter hiccup number 2. For some reason his phone was still on the central time zone! And naturally he hasn’t yet adjusted to the time change, so he was up early and made it to the dealer about fifteen minutes after I hit the road and way before they even opened! Again not a big hiccup, just a kind of funny one.

I started have phone charging issues during that stretch and my phone almost died thanks to my USB adapter that came with my Ram mount. Luckily, the Harley dealer had a few to choose from so I got that sorted pretty quickly.

And one of the employees have us a food recommendation. Lochsa Lodge, up towards Lolo pass. It was a good distance away but on a beautiful road we were already considering taking.

So we get back on the road, and stumbled across this:

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It was a sobering reminder not to ride hard on the street, especially when far from home.

We pressed on.

Up highway 12 we went, a beautiful, curvy, mountain road that followed the Clearwater river for most of its length.

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Along this section my dad was leading on his 98 Dyna, not exactly known for its handling. So eventually a group of ADV riders came up behind us and grew impatient before my dad had to change to even notice they were there. A few of them passed dangerously. One of them seemed to have a death wish and passed in the oncoming lane around a blind right handed sweeper! But a cop happened to be hiding somewhere and saw that happen. He must’ve been pushing that F150 harder than it’s ever been pushed before to keep up with the rider, but he eventually caught him, some ten miles down the road!

Eventually made it to the beautiful Lochsa Lodge for an early dinner and like a dumbass didn’t take any photos, so their own website will have to suffice. The good was delicious, the staff was friendly, the atmosphere cozy and nice. Definitely worth a visit if you’re ever in the area.

http://www.lochsalodge.com

Then it was time to continue onward! Up and over Lolo pass, and down along the southwest border of Montana to Hamilton, where we were unable to secure a hotel room because of local events! Hiccup! Oh no!

Expedia to the rescue, we found one room available at Trapper’s Peak Lodge thanks to a last minute cancellation. The room itself was fine, but the location and the views it offered we gorgeous! Again, not enough pictures, because yours truly is a dumbass.

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/made-it-to-victor-montana-last-night-1827073593#amp-qJXKRi1ZI8BadbsDsKh_t2hVo7qioCNOvNkMwSnzTpt08TduP2PR_da-fN_faYfR

https://www.trapperpeakoutfitters.com

General impressions of Idaho and Montana away from the interstate... Both are absolutely stunning in their own ways. It pays to get off the interstate if you have the time to spare.

And so ended the first two days. More posts with more action and more photos and more more more yet to come! Yeah, I may have gone overboard taking photos in some places...

Hope you enjoyed this! I know I did!