Monday, July 14, 2008
Leavenworth, Washington to Coeur d' Alene, Idaho
Up this morning, everyone bleary eye'd except Garry and, to some extent, me. Everyone else looking like death. Breakfast, everyone pushing their eggs around the plate and drinking coffee. Not a happy crowd. But then, when all seemed bleak, the ride's greatest tradition kicked in. Our coffees in plastic mugs, we went back to Shane and Brent's room and poured out the Bailey's into the coffee. An old tradition, a hair of the dog that bit you as they say. Suddenly, after a bit, the world straightened out a bit and began to look a bit better to all of us. Even Garry partook of the Baileys.
Fortified now, jolly as ever, we packed up, saddled up, started up, looked up at the brilliant sky and sunshine, and hit the road. We are headed east, through Spokane, destination for the night is Coeur d' Alene, Idaho. Who da hoe? You da hoe?? No, I da hoe. OK, welcome to our road trip, we have all regressed in years as well as IQ points. That's a bunch of guys for you.
About an hour after we left the hotel, before even our first rest stop, we ran into a forest fire burning on the hillside above us as we travelled north on hiway 2 beside the Columbia River. It wasn't big but it was burning and out of control in small scrub vegetation. The forest service was on it with crews and trucks, so it was one lane traffic at one spot. Slow going in dense smoke which swirled across our paths and settled ash and black chunks on us. Nothing to worry about, just unusual. Two helicopters were working the fire also, with Bambi Buckets filled from the river. We stopped for a while and took some pictures, then off we went.
From there, north east and then pretty well due east to Coulee City and on up Banks Lake to the Coulee dam. That was worth a stop and lunch and a wander around. Can't go too far from the bikes during the day, as our stuff is lashed down but out in the open for thieves if we are not careful. Amazing and impressive place.
A good riding day, no more delays, a couple of gas stops and lunch, and a conference before we entered Spokane. Brent told us the route into and out of Spokane, and where we would meet on the other side. We knew we would be on a high speed highway, going fast in afternoon traffic, and also aware that we lack the 'gravitas' of a crowd of Hell's Angels, rolling through town like a burst of dirty thunder. Getting separated was inevitable.
Back on the road again, we merged from our familiar, gentle, hiway 2, onto Interstate 98 eastbound, just at the western edge of Spokane. Then we were at a steady 120 kph all the way into town and the afternoon traffic slowdown. Garry and I stuck together, with Danny, and stayed with the overall traffic speed. Some of the rabbits among us raced on ahead. No close calls, no accidents, safe and fast all the way through to the meet-up on the other side. I was pretty focused the whole way, hands on the handlebars and feet on the pegs. Turning and changeing lanes with gentle pressure on the bars, push left to go left, push right to go right. Roll off the throttle to slow, roll it on to go a bit faster. Eventually, through, everyone met up, and we continued on to our destination as we stayed on I98 the rest of the way to Coeur d' Alene.
Again we stooged around town a while, until Brent's GPS got its focus, then it was off to the motel to dump our gear, call Jan, then out with the boys looking for beer. Shane found a bar with sidewalk seating and we settled in for a few hours of getting re-hydrated. Pleasantly pissed, we moved on to dinner where Shane found some more women for himself and the hounds of the pack. Garry and I ate, had a beer, and headded back to the room by around midnight. Not sure when the rest rolled in. They would need the Baileys in the morning.
