Day 8-9 - Bill:

I peeled off and headed back to the Salmon River valley south of Riggins for some river time. As the official navigator for the excursions I am known for over-reaching with optional and interesting routes that appear interminable by 5 or 6 in the evening when it becomes obvious I have underestimated mileage. More than one passing word has been uttered in anger at this time of day. The birds came home to roost as I took an impossibly long and "interesting" route along the back way to Hell's Canyon on Saturday trying to cover about 300 miles of very demanding tight, twisty, low-speed roads on my way to a fishing lodge.. 

My four hour ride was a eight hour affair capped by a nighttime white knuckled ride along dear infested roads in rural Idaho. See Route 2 above.

The Last Resort outside Riggins was my welcome home for the night. Jim Blair, guide and host, was a welcome sight and quickly had me fed and settlled in a comfortable riverside lodge that lulled me to sleep with babbling waters. We hit the Salon River early only to find a deluge of mud from flash upstream rains (remember the threatening weather from 2 days ago when we were in Spokane?) obliterating visibility as we launched. The fishing was a no-go on a world class salmon, trout and steelhead river. Shoot!

This is the big muddy Salmon today. Normally this is crystal clear water. Today visibility was measured in inches. The float was spectacular however and the day became one of relaxing sightseeing, Class 3 rapids and beer. This gorge is one of the deepest in the US and rivals the Grand Canyon in depth but is much narrower. I was not disappointed in the day despite the fluke river conditions.

Jim and Bill launching. 

Bobby, our hostess and shuttle driver.

Fellow river traveller and dog on a paddle board. See the water color.

Hot springs we hiked up to and took a dip in. This is where an old mining shaft accidentally hit a hot springs. The flooded mine shaft is what you swim in! On the way down (in sandals) we scared up a rattlesnake on the trail side. No, I did NOT try to get a picture. 

Bath tub hewn out of a log at the hot springs site.

Downriver view towards the end of the float trip. We are hoping the river clears enough for fishing tomorrow. If not, there are options all around. 

Day 9: Craters of the Moon, flags flying, old Packard's still on the road.

We started our ride today by visiting the Patriot Day Flag Memorial, located in Jerome, Idaho.  the Memorial consists of 2,400 American flags, lined up in neat rows and columns to honor those killed on 911.  The Jerome County Historical Society says it it "to honor those who defend our freedoms and remember those lost in the terrorist attacks."  Photos do not do it justice.  It was a breathtaking display.

We rode northwest though Idaho and stopped at Craters of the Moon National Monument.  Craters of the Moon is an 618 square mile basalt lava flow that really does look like it could be on the moon.  It was actually visited in 1969 by Apollo 14 astronauts Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, Joe Engle and Eugene Cernan who explored the lava landscape in order to learn the basics of volcanic geology in preparation for future trips to the moon.

We had an interesting conversation with members of an old car club who were riding their antiques from Boise.  Larry and Paula Pumphrey, owners of a beautiful 1937 Packard, had recently driven the car from New York to San Francisco.

We continued our ride through a flat terrain with individual buttes scattered along both sides of the road.  Although the  road was straight and uninteresting, the scenery was impressive.

We ended the day in Idaho Falls, Idaho.  Our original destination was Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  After nine days on the road, we decided to stop early.

We need help. Send a nutritionist as soon as possible

Patriot Day Flag Memorial in Jerome, Idaho. 

Jim Ellis manages the Patriot Day Flag Memorial. 

View from the bike on Peaks to Craters Scenic Byway. 

Craters of the Moon National Monument. 

More Craters of the Moon. 

A lava hill at Craters of the Moon. 

1937 Packard. 

Carol Pumphrey, Packard owner. 

Heading to Idaho Falls. 

Buttes on way to Idaho Falls. 

Day 8: the fisherman goes fishing, a bald man has a bald tire, statin alert, more west and less Kansas, great niece arrives

We awoke to sunny skies in Baker City, Oregon.  Bill, while out looking for something in his saddlebags the night before, noticed that Bo's rear tire looked a little ragged.  After breakfast (photo below) we checked and saw that the tire had cord showing ... not a good thing.  We called Big Sky Cycles in Boise and found that they had the right tire for the bike.  So, it was a off to Boise.

Bill is scheduled to fly back to Nashville on Tuesday. The renaissance man that he is, he decided he needed a couple of days of fly fishing.  As Jim and Bo left for Boise, Bill was busy booking a fly fishing excursion. We will miss being with Bill and the trout will learn to fear him. He plans to post to the blog from stream side. 

The ride to Boise was slow.  Jim rode behind to keep an eye on the rear tire and Bo gripped the handlebars with vigor.  The worn out tire did its job and the ride was fortunately uneventful. 

The good folks at Big Sky got us back on the road in a couple of hours.

After seven days of great riding it was apparently time for a day of not so great riding.  By the time the tire was replaced, the day was pretty well shot.  We continued on the interstate for another 130 miles and stopped in Twin Falls, Idaho, for the night.  We put ourselves in position to ride to Craters of the Moon National Monument and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Sunday.

Bo and Jim have decided not to ride their bikes all the way back to Tennessee.  Instead, we will spend four additional days out west and then ship our bikes and fly back from Denver.  We have seen enough of Kansas over the years and decided we need to see Wyoming, and some of Colorado.

On a personal note, Bo's great niece, Edith Rae Lasher, arrived today.  Actually, she was born today.  She's 7 lb. 11 oz.  Cannot wait to see her in person.

Have statin drugs available for immediate use upon our arrival in Nashville. 

Old bad tire.  

New good tire.

Big Twin Cycles, our saviors.

Bo checking out a sidecar rig.

Riding into bad weather on way to Twin Falls, Idaho.

A margarita, a manhattan and tempura bacon.  We are serious about the statins.

Day 7: Hell's Canyon, eastern Oregon

Another day of good weather and great riding.

Our goal for the day was to ride to the Hell's Canyon Dam, located on the Snake River along the Oregon/Idaho border.

The final 23 miles to the dam is a very twisty ride on a road carved into the steep canyon along the Snake River.

After seeing the dam, we headed south into eastern Oregon.  That part of the country features very stark terrain and roads with open views, lots of corners and few cars. It is one of our favorite places to ride. 

We ended the day in Baker City, Oregon.  Tomorrow we begin riding back east into Idaho.

The usual. 

Cloudy as we left Riggins. 

We felt special being here.

The Brownlee Reservoir. 

Ride to the dam 

Hell's Canyon

Getting ready to float down river from the Hell's Canyon Dam. 

Hell's Canyon Dam

We stopped in Halfway, Oregon, (Pop. 500) for lunch. The rodeo is happening soon. We cannot explain why Marion Crow's photograph is posted throughout town. 

Eastern Oregon. 

More eastern Oregon. 

Day 6: a pastrami cheeseburger, drunken cowboy, scenic downhill, Lacey Mae, a motel by the river.

We got lucky. The weather cleared up a lot and we decided to ride.  It was cloudy for awhile, windy for awhile. But generally it was a fine day to ride. 

We rode through one of our favorite places today, Clarkston, Washington, and Lewiston, Idaho.  These twin cities sit across from one another on the Snake River. It's our third time there.  To see why we like it so much, look at the top photo on the blog home page.  That's the view from Highway 95 overlooking the cities.

Lunch today included a pastrami, Swiss cheese, grilled onion cheeseburger from the Camos Club restaurant in Craigmont, Idaho.  It was a thing of beauty and had to mentioned.  The Camos Club clientele featured a local rancher/cowboy who polished off several lunchtime cocktails while watching World's Funniest Videos on the bar TV.  

We ended the day with an incredibly scenic ride across the White Bird Grade.

The skies darkened and we received a thunderstorm alert on our GPS. We decided to stop at the Salmon River Motel in Riggins, Idaho.

What can I say. 

Jim and Bill, modern day Magellans. 

Jim being Jim. 

Windmills in the wheat fields. 

The Camos Club Restaurant.  Drunken cowboy on left.

Another roadside attraction. 

White Bird Grade offered some of the best riding yet. 

Riding along White Bird Grade

View from Nez Perce War memorial on White Bird Grade. 

Downhills offer the best riding.

The Salmon River Motel, located by, what else, the Salmon River. Good wifi, interesting owner, strong AC, next to a good local eatery and only $39 a day.  Life is good.

Jim and Bill relax after a day on the road. 

Bo and Lacey Mae

Tom, Salmon River Motel proprietor, fisherman, good guy.