Bigfork to Coeur D'Alene

Today KC and I began our motorcycle tour, but before we could start it was also the day that Karen and Sherry flew home.  Since their flight departed Glacier International Airport at 6:00AM (that's not a typo), we all agreed on a 4:00AM departure from Echtra Cabin, which meant wake up calls between 3:00-3:30AM.  We all managed to comply with this and at 4:02AM we were headed for the airport.  Sherry, still nursing her bone spur, hobbled into the airport and was able to order wheel chair service for much of the trip.  Her injury also allowed them to board the planes ahead of the masses, which both Karen and Sherry felt was befitting women of their status.

At 4:30AM KC and I agreed that we'd return to the house and dive back into bed for a few hours.  Both of us caught 2-3 hours additional sleep and at 8:00AM two refreshed versions of our previous selves headed south to Bigfork to have breakfast and to prepare ourselves for the ride ahead of us.

Near Big Ern's place we pulled into The Echo Lake Cafe, a breakfast spot that enjoys a nearly perfect 5.0 rating.  And we found out why...it was that good.  My Eggs Benedict and KC's grits, eggs, bacon and Kielbasa were fine.

Around 9:00AM we pulled into Ernie's place and began the process of unloading bikes, repositioning the trailer, loading the bikes, getting dressed to ride, saying our goodbyes to Ernie and Liisa and at roughly 11:00AM we headed out their driveway bound for Coeur D'Alene, ID.

Our route today was gorgeous, some of the most scenic roads we've ever ridden in.  Here's the rough route:

At Eureka, MT we were less than ten miles from the Canadian border.

Heading north on Hwy 93 the skies were threatening rain, although we knew the rain would probably come and go throughout the day, which is exactly what happened.  While we had rain 3-4 times none of the showers were all that heavy and they only lasted for 10-15 minutes.

The ride north to Eurkea, MT took us through ranch country in the heart of the Rockies...towering mountains on both sides of the valley in which we traveled.   In Eureka we turned west for a short time, then headed south on Highway 37 along one of the most scenic lakes I've ever seen...Lake Koocanusa.  It is a reservoir formed by Libby Dam impounding the Kootenai River.  We saw no human signs along the lake, on the lake or in the lake.  Pristine setting that ran for nearly 40 miles.

At the southern end of the lake (Libby Dam) the Kootenai River emerged from the bottom of the dam and highway 37 followed it's course in to Libby, MY and beyond.  Even KC said it wanted to make him learn to fly fish.  We did see several fishermen in drift boats along the way.

Just past Kootenai Falls we turned south on Hwy 56, another gorgeous route that Butler Maps rates highly.  Again, the valley road skirted past beautiful ranches, several with meadows that the intermittent sun lit up in bright yellows and oranges which contrasted against the slate blue mountains.  Skies were partly cloudy, at times brilliant blue skies, at other times they were so dark it looked like a night sky. We skirted around small thunderstorm cells all day long, occasionally catching the edge of one long enough to dump rain on us.  Temps were in the 50's most of the day, although at times we saw mid 60's.

Hwy 56 eventually dead ended into Hwy 200 which took us west through the Cabinet Mountains along side the Clark Fork River as it heads to Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho.  At Sandpoint, ID we turned south on Hwy 95 and in an hour, having ridden through a brief downpour with 25 MPH wind, we had arrived in Coeur D'Alene, ID and our Hampton Inn.

Its now 7:25 AM and I've been up since 5:00AM having had a pretty miserable night's sleep.  Sometimes when I'm overly tired, as I was yesterday, and have a lot on my mind, sleep eludes me.  The rotten bastard.  And so, I am planning a short, straight route for today,  It will, hopefully, get us to our hotel by mid afternoon and allow me to properly decompress.

Later.