Sunday Morning Breakfast Club

What a beautiful day for an early morning ride!

My brother-in-law and his wife invited us to go along with them up Hiway 12 to Lochsa Lodge for breakfast and a send off of a friend of theirs from Spokane. He had to leave his BMW with Big Sky Motorsports on his way back from the BMW Ralley in Gillette, Wyoming due to some serious electrical problems. He had rented a car here in Missoula to get the rest of the way home and came back on Saturday to pick his repaired bike up and REALLY complete the journey. He, along with Doug from Stevensville, Jim & Donna and Geri & I met up at Jim & Donna's by 8AM. As we were preparing for the ride, a family of wild turkey came ambling down the hill in the grass next to the house. Apparently foraging for some breakfast themselves!

We had a beautiful ride through the mountains to the Lodge for breakfast and then Jim & Donnas' friend continued West and we headed back for Lolo....

Winding Road Next 77 Miles

The wet cold weather finally gave up for a gorgeous sunny summer day for us on Sunday! Geri and I took Highway 12 west through the Lolo canyon, past the Hot Springs and up over Lolo Pass. We got part way down the other side and stopped for breakfast at the famous Lochsa Lodge. There were several motorcycles there already, some visiting for a meal and others from overnight campers. The lodge owners themselves are motorcycle enthusiasts of the Harley persuasion. The weather was still a little cool coming up the pass but was warming quickly. Geri and I then proceeded further west down the mountain and along the Lochsa River. We saw an abundance of river rafters and kayakers, as well as a lot of other motorcycle riders. The rafters were also in large groups on guided trips doen the Lochsa white water. At one place we pulled off to view and photograph several coming through a famous rapid (don't have the name of this one yet). Several people were perched in the rocks above the rapid. It was fun watching some get through it OK and other not so lucky....

The highway was a lot of fun to ride and winds down from the Lolo Pass summit all the way down to Lowell, Idaho, and maybe beyond but that is where we turned around and headed back.

Fragmentum

Ride to Idaho

It has been a month since our ride up to Seeley Lake, as the weather has taken that long to dry out and warm up! Geri was up for a long ride as I mapped out a route up through some country I had not traveled through before.
We got up earlier than usual for a sleep in day (can you say 7AM…at least for me). I got out of bed earlier than her to get the Harley ready. I decided to change the oil and filter out from the winter oil to the summer oil. I had Harley 20-50 in it from last fall when I put her away, so I changed out to my summer oil, an Amsoil 20-50 synthetic and a new filter. Bike runs a little smoother and cooler with this blend of oil. I also changed out the solo seat to the two up Corbin saddle as well.
We got out of town around 9 and headed up towards Thompson Falls way. We got as far as Paradise and spotted another Harley parked in front of this little café called Kathy's Whistle stop. Talk about your little hole in the wall café. We entered the place and decided to sit at the counter. Place was decorated in all you could think of in trains. Oh, yes, there is a train station across the street from the place. We met the other fellow Harley riders, and they were on their way home after being on the road since Friday. They are from Deer Park, just above Spokane. Their breakfast arrived and I told the waitress, “I’ll have what he’s having”, which is what they called the “Train wreck”. A little of everything in the kitchen with a little gravy on top. Yum, and there was too much for me to eat. Man, I was stuffed when we got out of there. Another couple came in and parked their 1932 Ford Model A pickup across the street. See the photo. What a way to travel!!!! We saw a lot of other bikes on the road all day. Some large groups to other individual riders, and some couples as well. We stopped in Thompson Falls, famous for it’s dam and power plant. We did a little hiking there but could have done more around the two dams and old power facilities. Geri spent a lot of time in Thompson Falls as a youth and had relatives that lived there. Her Uncle was a barber there for several years.
We took a few photos up through this point, then I never took any more the whole trip!
We wound through the hiway that travels along the Clark Fork river, that was pretty well blown out with runoff. We looped up around Lake Pend Oreille and into Sandpoint, Idaho. After a gas stop there, we traveled south to Couer d’Alene where we decided to take a meal at the Red Lobster. We get a lot of Red Lobster advertising in Missoula, but we do not have one of these restaurants here!!! Dang… We ate very well and then got back on the Hog and headed east on I-90 for Missoula. The return leg was a 168 mile stretch back home. We arrived in Missoula with little daylight left, around 9PM.

Mothers Day Humming Birds

Geri and I were invited up to her sister home in Lolo for Mothers Day gathering, and I took the camera along. I experimented with a long lens and some unwitting humming birds for a little 'bird' practice. I did a little post production in Photoshop and a few of them turned out rather cool.

Enjoy!

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Nice day out

Geri and I got out on the Harley on Sunday afternoon after our individual 'chores' were done. I had a friend over that needed a couple of pieces put on her motorcycle to make it more comfy and Geri had a baby shower to attend. We got away after 3 and headed down the Bitterroot and a swing through the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge. We stopped to take several photographs of the Bison, Peregrine Falcon and scenery as well. Trying out different settings on the new Olympus E-510 DSLR and practicing for our upcoming trip to Alaska in September. Hope ya like the shots!

Can ya hear me now?

I finally got some hearing aids on a 45 trial basis after a couple of hearing tests, and agonizing over the miriad of selections and the enormous cost of these things. I was initially amazed at the sounds that I have been slowly getting muted out of my life. I have more of a high frequency loss overall and especially in my left ear.
So I got this set from Lloyd Corporation in Rockfor Il called the iHear Mini Canal for $559 for the pair for only 1/3rd down on a 45 day trial. This was the least expensive way to get into a hearing aid set that would allow me time to try this technology out. True, these may not be the final product for me and my hearing loss. There is a lot better technology out there but the costs go up exponentially it seems. I've worn these now for a few days and fiddled with the adjustments on them nuerous times. There are only two adjustments on these analog devices, volume and high frequency.
Because of the various atmospheres I live in and not a sedintary 'at home' lifestyle, these may not be sophiscated enough for my needs.
I have also discovered there is another set called NaturEar Digital hearing aids that may be worth trying out.

Later...

Puttering

Today was a good day to get into the garage and get our stuff more organized so we could utilize the space in there more efficiently, and get all our vehicles inside.

After about 3 hours, I was able to get some more shelves up on the North wall, move my 4 foot bench over near the Southwest wall, rearrange several belongings AND get both cars and the Harley inside, AND have a little space left over.

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