8-30-17 - (Day 30 - Yaak Attack)

It was a pretty cold morning with pink colored clouds in the sky as we watched the fish and game show.  The ducks were fishing, the ospreys circling, the crows were crowing, the eagles were soaring, and the 2 grouse were grazing and pooping in the yard.

An osprey with a fish in his claws was being chased by another osprey, and then a Bald Eagle joined in.  They went up the river. After a little while the eagle came back and roosted in a tree across the river.  We bet the eagle won.

Ferny Kat and the chipmunks were at it again this morning.  She charged after a chipmunk, I thought she was going over the riverbank into the water. I screamed.  She missed the chipmunk.  Lauren missed the picture. Needless to say, they weren’t very happy with me.

The ranger at the National Forestry office had recommended the "Yaak Attack"  when we stopped by yesterday.  She told us it would be a pretty ride on the motorcycle to an old logging town that use to have a lot of bars.  

It clouded up by the time we decided to ride to Yaak, Montana.  We headed north on Highway 567.  It was a winding, narrow road, with deep drop offs.  We saw more ospreys, another bald eagle, and a bumper crop of turkeys.  Most of the ride, we felt like we were riding on a paved road through the thicket. 

We stopped at the  famous Dirty Shame Saloon.  There was not much going on, except they were setting up for the Crawdad Festival this weekend.  We took some pictures, and continued on Yaak River Road to Yaak Falls.  It was another pretty waterfall.

When we got to Highway 2, we headed west to Idaho.  We stopped at the International Visitor Center in Bonners Ferry and ate our picnic lunch.  We were going to ride the wildlife loop, but it was a dusty, gravel road.  We took a hike to Myrtle Falls and headed east. We saw a buck and doe on our way to Idaho, we saw Big Horn Sheep and a bunch of turkeys on our way back to camp.

It was another 98 degree day today, with a hot breeze.  It had been cloudy most of the day so we cranked the generator, fried some fish in the fry daddy, cooled off the bedroom, and charged the batteries, being the solar didn’t have much help from Mother Nature today.

Pictures are here:

8-29-17 - (Day 29 - Kootenai Falls & Ross Creek Cedars)

We put on our jackets, sweat pants, sweat shirts, and drank our coffee, while watching the river roll by.  Ferny Kat, in her thick coat, was amused by the chipmunks.

We went to town and stocked up while waiting for the temperature to warm up.  We thought we would leave tomorrow.

We took a ride on Amber to Kootenai Falls.  It was a very pretty waterfall. We thought with the drought, that it wouldn’t be very much to it.  It was amazing.

After watching and listening to the waterfalls, walking across the swinging bridge, and being in awe, we continued on.  We stopped at a rest area, had a nice secluded picnic lunch, and Ambered on

We hiked in Ross Creek Cedars, saw the bee bear aware sign, I thought. Oh S***, I don’t have my bear spray.   After we walked the trail a little bit, there were a lot of kids making a bunch of noise.  I knew we were safe.  The cedar trees were huge, similar to the ones in South Mississippi, only there was no swamp water.

We returned back to camp in 98 degree temperatures, wearing shorts and short sleeve shirts.

It was a nice afternoon, sitting under the shade tree, with a light breeze blowing.  We have 2 grouse that have set up camp with us.  Ferny Kat was amused by them as well.

It was a very pretty ride today.  So pretty, we will stay another day, and check out some more scenery tomorrow. Tomorrow is Yaak Day…stay tuned.

More pictures:

8-28-17 - (Day 28 - Eureka, Montana)

I woke up cold this morning, and thought about our big windows being open, and seeing a bear yesterday.  Needless to say, I shut the big windows and decided I needed to get my bear spray out of storage, just in case.

                                                    morning from the river bank

We got up this morning, drank our coffee, and sat outside enjoying the critters and the river flowing by. We waited for it to warm up, so we could go exploring on Amber.

We stopped by the Libby Dam Visitor Center, talked to the volunteers, who were from Monroe, Louisiana.  We discussed the weather, and were told there is a 50 degree swing here.  We agree.

On our way into the visitor center, we saw a doe and triplets sporting their spots.  They must have been pretty green, cause, they kept running back and forth across the road, like they have never seen a motorcycle.  We patiently waited for them to follow momma.

We rode Highway 228 on the west side of Lake Koocanusa.  It is a 90 mile reservoir.  50 miles are in the USA and 40 miles are in Canada.  The name of the lake is a combination of KOOtenai-CANada-USA.   We stopped in Eureka, ate Fish Tacos & CBLT, (aka Canadian Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato), at Café Jax per recommendation of the volunteers at the visitor center.  It was delish!

We took Highway 37 back to camp.  Both east and west views of the lake were beautiful, riding on the mountain roads, watching osprey, buzzards, and turkeys.  And we only saw 2 vehicles on the secluded Highway 228.  This must be one of those hidden gems!

After we got back to camp we decided being the river is just a few steps away, we are conserving water, and it is 90 degrees, that we would put on our bathing suits, get a bar of soap, and take a bath in the river.  I promise you, it was COLDER than the Pushepatapa Creek, especially when I wasn’t thinking and touched Lauren with my ice cold hands.  He screamed like a girl!!   We bathed in the cold river, and survived the frost bite, we think.

We grilled pork chops, corn on the cob, and had black eye peas on the gas grill.  We are in Stage 2 fire restriction and cannot build a real campfire.  Considering we saw another Fire on the Mountain today.  We totally understand.

More Pics right here:

8-27-17 - (Day 27 - Dunn's Creek Flat Recreation Area, Libby, Montana)

We traveled 193 miles west to a fantastic campsite at Dunn’s Creek Flats Recreation Area. We are boondocking on the bank of the Kootenai River.  The only down side to this is, there is no connectivity, (no phone service, no internet, no TV, and no radio stations), a perfect place for a few days.

Ferny Kat went to sleep when we arrived. We forgot and left the back door open.  We heard a thump, and it was her.  She bailed out the back door with no steps.  Another Ferny Kat approved campground.

We sat around all evening watching people fishing as they floated by.  We watched deer, chipmunks, ospreys, fish jumping, ducks, geese, and crows.  When I went to the vault toilet, I had to chase out a mouse. 

Then, we heard a sound, we hadn’t heard in a while.  It was 2 eagles on the bank,  a Bald Eagle and a Golden Eagle.  Our camper neighbors told us that the eagles were fighting over a fish.  While we were watching, a big ole bear showed up, to find out what all the squawking was about.  The critters are amongst us. 

It was a hot 90 ish degrees today; it is going to be 40 ish tonight.  We have our windows open.  Mother Nature will be our a/c tonight.

Click for pics:

8-26-17 - (Day 26 - Going to the Sun Road)

It was a another gorgeous day for a ride.  It was a cool start, requiring layers of clothes, we puttered our way to the St. Mary entrance of Going to the Sun Road.

We were here in 2009, thought we have been there and done that; don't mind if we do it again.  We remembered why we loved this ride before, it is gorgeous. Even with the dry weather, the smoke from the wildfires, a lot less snow, no exciting animal sightings, and a whole lot more people.

The parking lot at Logan's Pass was full for passenger cars, the advantage of riding Amber, there was plenty of  motorcycle parking.  Our camping neighbors from Indiana pulled in, (in their truck), right after we parked and told us this isn't fair. LOL

                                                                  Logans Pass

We stopped for a picnic lunch on the banks of Avalanche Creek and motored on.  We took 2 East, weaving around the beautiful mountains and rivers and stopped at a few boondocking sites.  We started unlayering about half way home.  It really warmed up!

                                                                        Lunch view

I didn't really need to wash clothes, but being the campground had a full fledged laundry a few steps from the back of the camper, it was a no brainier.

 I cooked some Instant Pot Red beans and cauliflower rice.  Our first try at cauliflower rice was a success.   We will head further West tomorrow.

Click for Pics:

8-25-17 - (Day 25 - Alberta, Canada)

Ferny Kat let us sleep until 7:30 this morning.  We woke up to a nice, crisp 44 degrees.  I guess Ferny Kat was too busy staying warm cuddled at our feet to wake us up any earlier.

We layered up, and headed to Glacier National Park and Waterton Lakes National Park, an International Peace Park.  This is the first time we have rode our motorcycle across an international border.

I took bunches of pictures of the beautiful scenery, got pointed at, and told "No Pictures!" by the USA Border Patrol when nearing the border crossing, (OOPS!).  Needless to say, I quickly turned off the camera.

The Canadian officer asked a few questions, and we proceeded on our journey.  And of course, I started snapping pictures again as soon as we left the border.

Canada is celebrating 150 years of  National Parks and all park entry fees are free. The pretty ride continued to Waterton, in Alberta Canada.  It is a quaint, laid back town.  We rode the few blocks around town, saw a police motorcycle and a Canadian Mountie standing outside the police station, and of course I got the picture.

We found a nice picnic table on the banks of  Lake Waterton and ate lunch while watching people playing in the water.

We went back to town and spent the rest of our 2012 Canadian money, along with some American money. The Canadian Mountie that I took a picture of earlier, was walking through town, stopping and talking with the tourist.  He said  he saw me taking a picture of his bike, (and I thought Oh S***). We talked with him for a little bit.  He was very obliged to pose for a picture with me.

We returned to the USA border with the camera turned off, they allowed us to proceed after a few basic questions, (another Whew!)

The Rocky Mountain scenery is gorgeous. As John Denver would sing, "Rocky Mountain High,"  that sums our day up!!


Mo pics right here:

8-24-17 - (Day 24 - Waiting for Better Weather)

                                                                 Campground Views

When we got up this morning, it was cloudy, a mild breeze, and warm.  We would have went riding, but it was rainy, and windy where we wanted to go.  We decided to wait until after lunch to leave.

After lunch, we walked around town in a very light mist with very breezy winds, which by the was was only a few blocks.  We decided to wait a little longer to see if the weather would clear.

                                                                 Cool Fence

                                                                 Midvale Creek

                                                                    Couch in the creek

                                                           the creek downstream of bridge

It rained  a little while and the wind picked up.

The day was spent listening to one train after another go by, while waiting for the weather to clear.

Not many pictures today.  We still waiting on better weather.