One

Riding to the west in the fresh, early sun is the best. The shadows run before you, but you never catch them. It was 55 degrees when I left Dubois this morning and the pleasantness was palpable. So much for the romantic because twenty minutes into the ride an ugly sign appeared, dreaded by motorcyclists, “Road Construction.” I had a clue from an earlier warning to expect delays up to an hour. For five miles at twenty five, I rode a tightrope of single hard packed rut between two piles of gravel. To complicate matters the ruts became wet and soft at times and the road curved in and out of shadows making visibility difficult. Like all discomforts in life, it came to an end after what seemed like an hour, but realistically was probably 5 to 10 minutes. The road beyond was sweet and pleasantness returned until the next road construction, which wasn’t as bad, but did detract from the beautiful views of the Teton Mountains that lie directly ahead. (See photo above) Looking on the bright side of life, it could have been a work day with the promised one hour delays, and…it could have been raining.
I arrived at the South Entrance to Yellowstone about 9 am. A very cheerful park ranger at the ticket booth asked where I was from. I told him and he volunteered that Wyoming is one and a half times the size of Arizona, but the population of Phoenix is larger than the entire population of Wyoming. So much for census trivia. In response to a question, the cheerful ranger referred me to the visitor center at Old Faithful and I was off. I arrived at Old Faithful about ten minutes before she was scheduled to blow. I ate my lunch about 50 yards away with a great view. Unhappily I left my camera in the bike. Not to worry. As with most photos of famous places, you can get better quality on the Net. If you really want to see OF, go to http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/oldfaithfulcam.htm for a webcam courtesy of the National Park Service. Scroll down and click on "Old Faithful" to see the actual spout. It is worth checking out. The ranger at the OF visitor center was very helpful in helping me plan the rest of my day. I was thinking of going out the West Entrance and going through Big Sky, Montana on my way northwest. However, Pam Copeland suggested I may want to visit Mammoth and the old fort that protected the park from 1891 until 1919 when the National Park Service was enacted. She said the road was very nice and followed the river for quite a while. So, I headed north. Sure enough the road followed the river or vice versa and was quite picturesque. I toured the original buildings of the fort and left via the North Entrance around 3 pm. There was so much beauty and grandeur that the I word comes to mind again (impossible). One thing that stood out was the amount of deadfall. The park is strewn with dead timber everywhere. I asked at the Mammoth visitor center and they said it was all the result of fires. One year they had 58. I took a picture (above), but it doesn’t come close to showing the volume of dead timber throughout the park.
Tonight, I am in Butte, MT at a Super 8 where their wireless seems to be compatible with my computer so I get to post. I don’t know where I will be tomorrow, somewhere between Butte and Bellingham. If I can find a Super 8, look for a post for Monday.

Some nice folks from Nebraska took a photo for me.

This was somewhat significant. Maybe I can remember where I was on July 29, 2007

This was minor construction. I didn't stop to take a picture on the other...duh.

I couldn't imagine why I saw so many vehicles pulling boats. Is there water in Yellowstone?

Deadfall was everywhere.

She just took her time and walked casually across the road. I had time to stop and get out my camera.

Alert
I board the ferry tomorrow so there may not be any posts to this blog until after Sunday, August 5.

The story today was smoke. I thought it was coming from somewhere west of Montana, but apparently not.

It was right here in front of me and beside me.

I had some time on my hands so I cruised downtown Missoula.

My old pappy used to say, "If you don't like to wait on road work, or follow creeping, aluminum clad caterpillars, don't ride in the mountains in the summertime." Good advice.

I selected the town of Tonasket (pronounced like don't ask it) to spend the night. It turned out to be a nice little town.

The ride began around 8 with temperatures at the 60 mark. In Missoula, it was a balmy 73, but all afternoon it was in the mid-eighties to nineties. A bit uncomfortable. Gas prices are friendly. In Butte $2.99, Missoula $2.99, Coeur d'Alene $2.77, and Colville, WA $3.05.
Western Montana was more like I expected Idaho to be with high, pine forested hills with winding roads. From the eastern Idaho border to the western was continuous ups and downs and swoopers and sweepers as Curt R would call them. It was a motorcycler's delight. There is really no direct way to get from Spokane in the east to Bellingham in the west, so I let my GPS decide the best route for me. Garmin (my pet name for the GPS) plotted a route that took me within 28 miles of the Canadian border then turned west at the Columbia River. The next hundred miles were more swoopers and sweepers with some twisties thrown in. Tonight, I am in Tonasket about 210 miles from the ferry port in Bellingham, an easy ride. I board at 3pm. I am not sure about Internet connections and I am pretty sure I cannot get cell phone signal, so I will be out of touch for a few days. I will be accumulating photos and stories and will get them on the blog as soon as possible.

I'll admit that I have a lot of time to think while riding across country. Here is an attempt at a haiku poem: shadows, black on black, run ahead into miles and miles of macadam

Surprise, surprise the AMHS (Alaska Marine Highway System) ship "Malaspina" has wireless Internet. Now I have something to help me pass the day. Unfortunately, the "Columbia," the southbound ship, doesn't have wireless, so I won't have access from August 6 to the 10th.

It was unusual to find myself alone on this road. There were frequent occasions when this happened. It is also worth noting that this highway has no cracks nor tar snakes. For a road that is subject to heaving with winter freezing, this is unheard of.

This was my first trip to the Cascades and I had trouble keeping my eyes on the road.

Maybe this is your first time, too, so here are a couple more photos of Diablo Lake.

Don’t be fooled by comfortable starting temperatures, 68 when I left Tonasket. In an hour I had risen 4000 feet and rode for the next hour in the low 50’s. That was after topping Washington Pass at 5466 feet. It was my first taste of the Cascades and I was overwhelmed. I think The Rockies are now my second most favorite. Today, had to be the highlight of my 2360 mile trip from Phoenix to Bellingham. Unfortunately, it was also the first mishap. I forgot to zip a compartment on the bag holding my atlas and notebook. Both flew off somewhere in the Cascades, or on the way to them, and now I am another polluter. Actually, I saw very little pollution along the way, which was very encouraging. I arrived in Bellingham well before the 3 pm boarding time, so enjoyed a cup of the many delicious coffees offered in the state of Washington. It seems since Starbuck’s, everyone wants to invent a better coffee. We, the consumers, benefit. The 3 pm boarding happened about 4:30, which means we bikers stood in the sun for a couple of hours. Gas prices fell in western Washington to $2.71.

After all my time on the road at elevations of 5000 and above most of the time, it is strange to be at an elevation of fifty feet.

The cabin is small but comfortable. Instant hot water and a large shower space are quite unexpected, but welcome. The ship is among the larger ferries I have been on comparing with those that cross the English Channel. The first day out, Tuesday, we were in fog, so the captain kept blowing the fog horn periodically. Very romantic.
It is interesting to see the various classes of travel. There are a large number of people traveling without accommodations as you can see by the photos (tents on the after deck.) However, they come into the dining room, with children, haul out the high chairs, go through the cafeteria line for free hot water, and make their instant breakfasts. Since they are sleeping outside, they remain in the dining room for a long time. The cafeteria crew apparently expects this and all dining crew are very polite and accommodating to everyone, paying customer or not. It turns out that most of the customers bring a good deal of food aboard, so I hauled out my NutriSystem packets and joined in.
This is not a cruise ship so there are none of the perks that associate with that class of travel. However, there is an “Interpreter” on board that gives 15 minute talks on a variety of subjects: glaciers and subsequent forestation, bears, aquatic animal life, etc. They also show movies: Wild Hogs, The Shaggy Dog, etc. Otherwise, most read, walk, sunbathe, visit, or nap (naps are good on board a moving ship.) Unlike a cruise ship, a ferry ride leaves you to entertain yourself, but the fantastic scenery helps pass the time. Just being alone in your thoughts is not all bad either.

This is where we enter the ship. Normally, the motorcycles go on first, but here they loaded us by where we get off.	The Malaspina, an old ship, but in really good condition.
Bellingham Bay, a very nice looking community.	The observation lounge. I plan to spend a lot of time here.
Another lounge. It is used primarily for people to sleep that don't have staterooms.	These are the cheap staterooms :)
The last sight of Washington	We traveled in fog all night and well into the morning, but it has been sunshine ever since.

Day 6, Sunday, July 29 Dubois, Wyoming to Butte, Montana 350 Miles

Day 7, Monday, July 30 Butte, Montana to Tonasket, Washington 480 Miles

Day 8, Tuesday, July 31 Tonasket, Washington to Bellingham, Washington 224 Beautiful Miles

Day 9, August 1 On the Ferry