Montana wheat fields, prairies, and hills

This is the 12th day we've been on the motorcycle, with extra days in Moscow, Idaho for a rest day, and then in Bozeman, Montana to visit our son. The days quickly developed a rhythm: eat breakfast (sometimes after going for a run), load up the BMW, enjoy riding for 5+ hours, enjoy an air-conditioned hotel, hot shower, and hopefully find a great place for dinner. Eat-ride-sleep-repeat. We see something different every day, talk with interesting people, and enjoy time on the BMW eating up the miles.

We left Havre, MT just before 9am, riding south on US Route 87 through fields of wheat, barley and hay as far as we could see.

This area is part of the Golden Triangle in Montana that is a top producer of wheat in the country which explains why we rode through miles and miles of wheat fields the past two days.

After we passed the town of Big Sandy, the landscape changed dramatically from flat or barely rolling  fields to rugged uplands known as the Missouri Breaks where the road curved, climbed, and then descended.

In Fort Benton we turned east on Montana Highway 80 and crossed the Missouri River.

This area is part of the Lewis and Clark Trail, following the route the explorers took in 1804.  We were either riding on a straight road through fields and range land, or winding through more of the Breaks which made the ride really fun.

In Stanford we stopped for gas, a snack and cold drink and chatted with the friendly woman working at the counter, then continued south on US 87/Montana 200 East until we intersected with US 191 and continued south through a valley with the Little Belt Mountains to the west and Big Snowy Mountains to the east, giving us a preview of the twisty mountain roads coming up in the next few days of our trip. We even saw snowy patches on the mountains!

We stopped in Big Timber, once home to the largest woolen mill (and over 3000 sheep) in Montana, for lunch in a bakery/cafe on the main street and enjoyed the meal and air conditioning as the temperature was heading over 90 degrees.

The last 38 miles of today's 330 mile ride was east on I-90 along the Yellowstone River to Columbus, MT, our stop for the night. There just aren't any other paved road options going our direction in this part of the state and since the temperature continued to climb, we were happy to make good time for the last part of the day's ride.

Tomorrow we're looking forward to mountain passes and higher, hopefully cooler, elevations.

A sunny day in North Dakota

Finally - a sunny, gorgeous day on our cross-country motorcycle trip! We started the day in Carrington, ND with temperatures right at 50 degrees, and ended the day 9 hours later in Bowman, ND with temperatures in the 80's. I started the day wearing all of my warm jacket liners, full set of gloves, and raingear - not due to rain, but to keep me warm. By the end of the day everything but the standard motorcycle gear was stowed in the waterproof duffel as we enjoyed the sunshine and warm temperatures.

As we headed west from Carrington the landscape changed from flat farmland to more rolling hills, pastures, and acres upon acres of sunflowers. South and North Dakota produce the largest amount of sunflower seeds and oil in the country.

We passed by several small lakes, many filled with a variety of water birds. We even saw hawks and owls sitting on top of the large round hay bales.

Lewis and Clark came through this area in the summer of 1806, tasked by President Thomas Jefferson to explore the country west of the Mississippi River that was part of the Louisiana Purchase. We stopped at the Garrison Dam on the Missouri River, constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers beginning in 1947 at a spot where Lewis and Clark also stopped. The dam created the reservoir known as Lake Sakakawea, the third largest man-made lake in the U.S. behind Lake Powell and Lake Mead in Arizona. The lake is named for the Lemhi Shoshone woman who met up with Lewis and Clark in North Dakota and traveled with them to the Pacific Ocean.

We eventually turned south onto U.S. 85, and entered the Little Missouri National Grasslands, at over 1 million acres the largest area of protected grasslands in the country.

We often have difficulty finding a place to eat lunch because we prefer to travel on smaller roads in out-of-the-way areas, but today we hit upon a fantastic lunch spot:  The Trapper's Kettle in Belfield. The restaurant is filled with stuffed animals and birds and hosts a Trapper's Hall of Fame. The salad bar is housed in a canoe, soup bowls are small metal cooking pots, and meals are served on metal fry pans instead of plates. The atmosphere was fun and the homemade soup and extensive salad bar made this one of our favorite lunch spots of the trip.

During the planning for this trip we decided to visit the Teddy Roosevelt National Park that is located within the grasslands, and it exceeded our expectations. Our first stop was at the Painted Desert visitor center, where we were greeted by a herd of bison grazing near the visitor center and wandering through the parking lot.

We traveled a few miles further to the southern entrance of the Teddy Roosevelt National Park and rode the 28-mile scenic loop through the park. Roosevelt came here in 1883 to hunt bison and loved the area so much he built a ranch. Living in North Dakota played an important role in developing his interest in conservation, and the park was established in his honor in 1947.

The park features badlands, native grasslands, wooded areas, streams, campgrounds and hiking trails.

We're thankful for national parks that preserve the unique beauty of our country, especially in areas like this that are surrounded by energy development. Riding through the park on a motorcycle, feeling the breeze and the sun and smelling the pine trees was the highlight of today's trip.

About an hour after leaving the park we pulled into Bowman, ND, our stop for the night. It took us longer today than we anticipated, primarily due to several spots where we were delayed due to road construction. During the delays we chatted with the friendly flaggers while we waited for the pilot car. North Dakota ranks #48 in population and #17 in size, so it's no surprise that the towns are small and far apart. One of the flaggers told us that yesterday only 3 cars passed by the stretch of road where she's working. No wonder she wanted to talk to us!

We're looking forward to tomorrow's ride to South Dakota, the last new state on our trip.  Here is today's route

The awesome scenery of Montana, Idaho and Washington on a 327 mile ride

We didn't expect today's 327 mile ride from Missoula, Montana to Walla Walla, Washington would take us through such a wide variety of landscapes while traveling primarily west on Route 12, the Lewis and Clark Highway.

We started riding south from Missoula on Route 93, and quickly joined Route 12 headed west over the Lolo Pass through the Bitterroot Mountains, with views of snow covered 9,137' Lolo Peak.

We stopped at the visitor center just before the Idaho state line, reading about the park, the Lewis and Clark expedition that traveled through this area in 1805-1806, and watched prairie dogs hard at work.

On this part of their journey, Lewis and Clark were searching for a river connection between the Columbia and Missouri Rivers. This area is part of the ancestral home of the Nez Perce who helped  guide the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Route 12 twists and winds its way west through northern Idaho, hugging first Lolo Creek and then the Lochsa River. We knew we were in for fun when we saw this sign:   

 

We zoomed our way through the dense cedar forest, watching the shallow, rocky bottom rivers flow alongside us. Mike quickly passed the few cars and trucks we came upon, giving us the opportunity to enjoy the curving, twisty road.

We stopped for lunch in Kamiah at the Hearthstone Bakery and Tea House on the Clearwater River. This was the waterway Lewis and Clark had been searching for, and they were finally able to build canoes and travel on the river instead of horseback.

The restaurant is beautiful inside, with tin ceilings and Victorian decorating touches. The sandwiches and salads were wonderful, and we looked longingly at the baked goods displayed in the front case.

Not far west from Kamiah we entered Lewiston, an industrial town of about 30,000 at the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake rivers. It's the most inland seaport on the West coast, 465 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. We stopped at the 18th Street Bridge, the first bridge built across the Clearwater in 1913.

As we rode across the bridge over the Snake River, we entered Clarkston, Washington and the landscape changed completely. We were now in the Palouse, a region of large, round, rolling hills that were formed by centuries of wind blowing dust and silt and are today covered with wheat, barley, and grass - but no trees.

The size and scale of the hills is amazing. I spent most of the ride wondering how farmers were able to drive tractors up and over the sides of these steep, round hills. The wind is being put to good use with numerous large windmills scattered over the hill tops.

We ended the day riding into Walla Walla, only 13 miles north of the Oregon border. We're looking forward to tasting local wines and exploring the history of this area before we continue on our journey to Portland, OR.