Day 6 - August 11 New Home and Home Again

It was decided by the group that we would leave at 7am as today was a day when the time zone works against us and we lost an hour.  We thought it might be a little cold this morning, but it was very comfortable riding at 59 degrees.  Highway 2 is a wide open road.  It's a completely different riding experience than what we rode on the coast.  It's less technical riding which allows for a greater opportunity to take in the surroundings.

 

We fueled in Coulee City, WA and then headed for the Idaho Border.  The road had a familiarity to it, although this is our first time riding up here.  Feels like home as the scenery is that which we have the most experience riding in.  Throughout the riding today there were many opportunites to go to Canada.  It's a strange realization that we are so close to the Canadian border.  We grabbed our state border pic as we crossed the Idaho line and the group eagerly strapped the helmets to their bikes.  Free to again feel the wind in their hair. 

 

The Panhandle Historic Rivers Passage provided beautiful scenery and lunch and fueling was handled in Priest River, ID.  It had warmed to the 70's by then.  Next it was on to Sandpoint and the Wild Horse Trail scenic byway to Bonners Ferry and the Montana border.  It was there that we lost an hour.  On through Troy (the Kootenai National Forest),  Libby (the Lolo National Forest) and into Kalispell (the Flathead National Forest) in time to get a dealer pin at Glacier Harley Davidson.  This is another road we suggest you add to your priority list if you haven't made it here yet. 

 

Notably, no one bailed for a Southern exit towards home.  I think this means we're in it for the long haul.  However, we've joked that it's hard to tell if we are more like the Wild Hogs or the Sons of Arthritis - Ibuprofen Chapter. 

Stats for the Day - Total Miles today: 440;
Time to travel that distance: 10 hours
Total Cumulative Miles: 2418
No poker today either.
Tomorrow: Cross Montana after Visiting Glacier Park and riding Going to the Sun Road