Yellowstone Ride Part 4 - Missoula, Montana to Idaho Falls, Idaho - 550 km

The road to Wisdom.

For those who are not aware of US geography, the state of Idaho is skinny at the top (it's called the panhandle) near Canada and gets wider as it goes south. As a result, we ended up go in and out of it during the trip.

The route from Missoula to Idaho Falls

Day four was a big day in terms of kilometerage (is that a word?) or mileage as we did well over 500km.  What better way to start at the day then a substantial breakfast? Well, the hotel had Costco muffins, cut in half, for breakfast and coffee with whitener. Not the best.

I don't know if it's an American thing or just a cheap American motel thing but every motel we went to did not have cream - they had whitener - you know, that Coffee Mate stuff that my parents thought was cool because astronauts could take it to the moon. I don[t know anyone that uses it except for, possibly, camping.  Luckily, most of the motels had cereal as well so I just used the cereal milk (which I think I got funny looks for doing!).

Anyway, after having our exciting half muffin (Dale had three halves), we got on highway 93 which was a good highway. It just got better as we gained elevation with really nice scenery. Unfortunately, it had twisty, edgy roads that were an absolute blast to ride but without any pullouts to take photos.

At the top of the elevation gain, there was a rest stop where we had a break. We spoke to a couple of locals and asked them the best route to Idaho Falls, They told us to take Highway 43 to Wisdom and then 278 down to Dillon where we would finally get the Interstate to Idaho Falls.

Folk art in Wisdom

Coffee stop in Wisdom

Highway 43 was another excellent route and we stopped in Wisdom for a coffee. The woman behind the counter of the coffee/gift/hunting shop was really nice. Her Dad had returned to his childhood town of Wisdom and, after she had gone t culinary school, decided to support her family for a couple of years while they got their business off the ground. I really enjoy how you hear different people's stories on trips like this.

Highway 278 t the Interstate was also a picturesque highway - highly recommended.

Just outside of Dillon

But then we got to the Interstate. It was windy - not just a bit breezy but super gusty - like trying to throw you off your bike gusty! All the way to Idaho Falls there were strong gusts. In one particularly nasty moment, we were in a construction zone and a motor home was behind me in a single lane. He was going close 0t 100 mph (160 kmh) and riding my butt in a 65 mph (100 kmh) zone. I had no where to go and the wind was constantly trying to shove me off of my bike!

Eerie evening in Idaho Falls

Eventually, we were blown into Idaho Falls and our motel.

We asked what was good to eat around the motel and were told that it was prime rib at the local bar. We ordered it and it came in about 10 minutes - not a particularly good sign for fine dining. It was quite chewy and required a fair bit of salt to make it palatable, but the baked potato was nice.

After the high of great scenery and riding and the low of the big blasting gusts of wind, we were pretty tired and, after a quiet beer, I fell into a dreamless sleep.

Yellowstone Ride - Day 3 - Spokane, Washington to Missoula, Montana - 350 km

The sun beaming on Wallace, Idaho.

After an OK breakfast in Spokane, we packed our stuff, checked out and headed up the road.

Today was a three state day - Washington to Idaho to Montana. There were a few different ways to go but we decided to take I-90 because we wanted to visit Wallace, Idaho. Luckily, the first half hour or so was on a secondary highway which was mostly pleasant although it was quite bumpy.

Taking the Interstate is always a difficult choice. The Interstate highways are meant to move people quickly and efficiently and are great if you are in a hurry or if you are in a car. They are the opposite of what you want to be on if you are on two wheels. Unfortunately, the only way to Wallace was on I-90 so we had no other choice.

Wallace has a long and chequered past and we were eager to explore this pioneer town. This excerpt whey our appetite for an interesting Western town:

"A mining community with a "work hard, play hard" attitude, Wallace became well-known for a permissive approach toward drinking, gambling and decriminalized prostitution. From 1884-1991, illegal yet regulated brothel-based sex work openly flourished because locals believed that sex work prevented rape and bolstered the economy, so long as it was regulated and confined to the northeastern part of town. Between 1940 and 1960, for example, an average of 30 to 60 women came into town to work in one of the five well-established brothels. The town currently continues to honor these historic roots, with its Oasis museum dedicated to the history of sex work: housed in a former brothel, curious tourists or nostalgic former patrons can tour the upstairs, which has been preserved as it was when the women left."

Wikipedia

However, when we got there, instead of seeing something like Barkerville or Winthrop, it seemed more like a town that had assembled buildings to look like a pioneer town. I'm not saying this is what actually happened, but it did have that feeling. 

Perhaps we were there too early in the day but it didn't have that feeling of notoriety that we were expecting. Still, it was a welcome escape and we did have a good coffee on the main drag.  

Dale ponders another questionable decision

It was shortly after having Wallace that we began to notice all of the other motorcycle riders without any helmets. It was another smoking hot day and we were sorely tempted to join them but allowed our law abiding nature to take the high road. 

We arrived in Montana to the Brooks Street Motor Inn which was a rather old, slightly dilapidated motel but was actually located near some good places. It was also clean and it was cheap.

Our first stop was  Great Burn  Brewing where we were able to get a nice shady table outside.  I tried a flight and then followed that with two Rum Infused beers which definitely put me in a great mood. It was an amazing craft brewery and we really enjoyed our time there. 

After our beers, we stumbled over to Fiesta en Jalisco for an amazing Mexican food meal.  I had an asada burrito which was perfect. I find it is always quite hit and miss to find good Mexican food in Canada but is much more reliable in the US.

After that, we ended up in Cabela's so I could purchase a 'Cabela's Missoula, Montana' baseball hat and then went back to the room. 

Despite thundering down the Interstate, I ended up having a good end to the day and slept very well.