After a good nights sleep I am up early and get sorted for the days ride to Coeur d’ Alene in Idaho.  I will be staying a few days with Dan and his wife Brenda.  Both are Police Officers – Dan works for the Spokane County Sheriffs Department and Brenda the Post Falls PD.  

The reason this came about was that I met Pat Knight (Dan’s brother) in 2017 when I called in at the Post Falls PD – Pat has since been promoted to Chief and when I contacted him he arranged for me to stay with Dan given we are both motorcycle travelers.

I head off on Stan and its a cool 11’c so I have the thermals on.  The ride takes me back past the Washougal Motocross track.  Traffic is non-existent and the conditions are perfect;

I get on Highway 14 which is the same road that I took in 2017.  The difference this time is that after 40 klms I continue on and don’t cross the Columbia River at the ‘Bridge of the Gods’.  Crossing the river takes you over to Oregon and on to Highway 84 which is much faster but no where near as interesting;

At the 200 klm mark I cross the river and pull up at the Bulldog diner to have breakfast – the sign was a bit worse for wear than in 2017;

After breakfast I stay on Highway 84 and make good time to Kennewick.  I call in at the local PD however the front office is closed so I continue on.  As I cross back over the river I see an air show in full swing.  I had completely forgot that the same event was on when I came through last time.  The river was lined by a big local crowd and there were heaps of boats on the water.  I had fun watching a tiger moth go nuts over me;

The landscape has flattened out and its straight road.  After a while I saw something that brought back memories of farming from long ago;

I pull up at a rest stop that has a volunteer coffee stand.  I have a coffee and a couple of cookies – the ladies were great but couldn’t understand my accent! 

Not much further up the road I go past Sprauge where I camped last time near the lake.  This time I keep going and it’s not long before I pull up in Coeur d’ Alene.  The GPS coordinates are off so I approach a lady who was watering her lawn to ask directions.  She goes and gets her husband and we work out that I am only 2 streets away.  Dan had warned me that I may have a bit of trouble as his house is in a brand new estate.  A couple of minutes later I pull up in the driveway;

We do the introductions and I park Stan in the shed next to Dan’s pride and joy.  Dan took delivery of the first water cooled GS 1200 in the US;

The house is brand new and they have only been in it since it was completed in February this year.  I get shown to my room and can’t believe how fortunate I am again – I even have my own bathroom!

I meet Brenda who is a pocket rocket.  She runs half marathons and did a 11 mile run this morning and now she is shoveling gravel!  I get myself sorted and have an early night.

Next morning I am up early but do my best to be quiet as Dan worked until 5 am.  Brenda is off to go paddle boarding which makes me feel like I should be doing something!  I decide to work on getting up to date with my plans.

Later Dan is up and I spend most of the morning talking him into coming out to Australia to ride the Simpson Desert – I think the seed is firmly planted but I will make sure I keep on him.  Dan loves adventure riding and his big bucket list item is to do South America.  I am sure we can do something on the bikes together at some stage.

I head out and swing by the local PD and swap a patch with the front office staff.  Next stop is the Post Office where I send all of the Motocross posters back home – thankfully this time it was no where near the cost as the last effort.

I get taken out to dinner and we meet up with Pat and his wife Shanon.  The restaurant is called ‘The oval office’ and is a favourite.  Dan shouts me a magnificent rib eye steak that was to die for (hadn’t had a steak for 2 months).  We have a great time and a lot of laughs.

We get back home and Brenda wants to take me for a ride-a-long tomorrow but I politely decline – my days in a patrol car are well and truly over! (I am also still recovering from my shoulder recon and don’t want to risk it).   Dan and I spend the rest of the evening talking about all things motorbike.

I decide the next morning to go into the town centre and check out the boardwalk that had been mentioned to me.  The boardwalk is located at the Coeur d’ Alene Resort Marina.  I was surprised just how big the lake is;

The boardwalk is the largest floating one of its kind in the world and goes completely around the Marina;

In the park next to the marina I went and paid my respects at the memorial to Sgt Greg Moore.  Brenda had told me about how he was killed when shot by an offender in 2015 – he was only in his early 40’s and left behind a wife and young child;

I made my way back home and said farewell to Brenda who was on her way to work and I would be gone before she got up.  Dan took over the shoveling duties while I rested up!  The rest of the evening is spent talking bikes and rides we want to do around the world.

Next morning I am out of the blocks early and on my way.  I have really enjoyed meeting Dan and Brenda who have been great hosts – I am sure I will see them again and hopefully it involves riding a motorbike in a foreign land.

Dan gave me directions for a ride that has the reputation as the best in Idaho for motorcycles.  I had intended to just ride directly to Drummond (Montana) where I had camped before.  Dan’s route was an extra 3 hours but it turned out to be one of the best ever rides of my life.

The route is Ceour d’ Alene to Plummer, then St Maries, Clarkia, Orofino and finally Lolo.  You ride beside Clearwater River in the Clearwater National Forest and then through the Lolo National Forest;

This would have to be the best sign ever!

Dan had warned me to make sure that I had plenty of fuel for the final leg as it is easy to get caught out.  I made it through the forest and saw a sign for fuel at a camping resort so I decided to go and fuel up as I still had about 50 klms to get to Lolo.

I ride in and find at least 30 Harley Riders all grouped near the 2 x fuel pumps but nothing was happening.  The power has gone out and everyone is stranded waiting for it to come back on.  Fortunately I still had not hit reserve so off I went again.

I get to Lolo and fuel up.  The ride then is tame and flat – it takes me about an hour before I pull up in the campground in Drummond.  All up I did 640 klms which does not seem a lot until you take into account the type of road.  I break the tent out;

I then go into the local diner and have something to eat.  I just love eating at these country (cowboy) style restaurants;

I finish my meal and head back to my camp.  It had been a very hot afternoon so I couldn’t believe it when the dark clouds rolled in and the thunder let rip.   A thunderstorm dumped a heap a rain in a few minutes but fortunately stopped.   I go to bed and have an ordinary sleep due to constant thunder and lightning (great choice to camp).

Next morning I pack everything on Stan and go back down to the diner for breakfast.  I have eggs, toast and 10 cups of coffee for $6.  I pay the bill and off I go – the temp is a quite cool 11’c so I know I am alive.  The aim is to get to Billings where I have booked a motel for the night.  I knew it was going to be particularly hot so I wanted some respite.

I stop after 250 klms at Bozeman which is roughly the halfway point.   I refuel and have a coffee before finishing the second half and arriving at Billings;

I was lucky as I was able to check in to the Motel early and get under the aircon.  The last hour of the ride was tough as the temp had risen to just over 40’c.  I am starting to see a lot of bikes that are all heading to Sturgis which include a lot on trailers (ha).

I unpack Stan and get all of the gear into the room – I discover that I do not have a bar fridge which is a pain given the heat.  I manage to sort this by getting a heap of ice from the machine in the lobby and dumping it in my washbasin.

I go back out in the heat and call in at the local PD and Sheriffs office to do the patch swap.  I then swing by the supermarket and pick up supplies before going back to the room.   Later that evening I went out and fueled Stan up and I could not believe the weather – now it was blowing a gale so strong I was worried about being blown over!  I manage to refuel and get back without incident.

As usual I am up early next morning (5 am) and go out to the lobby to get a coffee.  The reception girl is busy putting on her makeup and I unintentionally scare the hell out of her.  We have a laugh and she gets a coffee for me.  I pack up Stan and hit the road by 6:30 (I am worried about the heat later).  The aim for the day is to get to Spearfish where I am staying with someone I met back in 2017.

I am riding directly into the morning sun and can’t see a lot (including the screen on my GPS).  For some reason my Senna headset had dropped out with the GPS (never happened before) and I sail straight past my highway turn off.  By the time I realise its too late and I end up doing an extra 60 klms to cut across country and back on the right road.  No big deal except I  ran into 20 klms of road works;

I pull up for breakfast at Crow Agency – it is now 9 am and I have done 160 klms when I should have only done 95 and arrived a lot earlier;

I grind the next stretch of 327 klms out which takes me through Wyoming and into South Dakota.  I stop to have lunch in Belle Fourche.  The road had been flat and straight but the scenery was still good;

From Belle Fourche I ride the remaining 40 klms which takes me past Spearfish and then on a dirt (goat) track up a mountain.  I pull up in the driveway of my next stay and I am blown away by what I find…..

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