God Bless America

George's up close profile








A big eagle!






Big eagle up close

Kalispell to Missoula

I left Kalispell, MT on Friday August 25 and headed south on Scenic Hwy. 83 which is on the west side of the beautiful Rocky Mountains. I passed through the town of Seeley Lake and before turning west on Hwy. 200 I stopped at the rest stop at the intersection. Sorry to mention this, Arizona residents, but it was 2 PM and the temperature was 55 degrees. I ran the truck heater most of the day. I arrived in Missoula around 4 PM. I filled up my propane tanks at Bretz RV for .99/gallon then continued on the the Big Sky Brewery where I had my fill, again, of free samples of Moose Drool, IPA, and Summer Honey.
Saturday morning I hit Costco for one last shopping spree in sales tax free Montana. I bought 2 copies of Pat Buchanan's new book State of Emergency - The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America. $14.39 each. Such a deal!! In my opinion, Pat nails the illegal immigration disaster on the head. I suggest every American citizen read his book. It hit #1 on Amazon the first day it was released.
Then I perused the Montana Harley-Davidson shop looking for a bargain or two. I didn't find any. But I did find Hot Harley Nights going on at the store. They had a silent auction and a live auction where they auctioned off 2 tickets to the Rolling Stones Concert coming later this summer to Missoula. I think the tickets went for around $800. Then they had the usual biker games - the "slow race" and the "bite the wienie" contest. Then they had the "burn out." Luckily the wind shifted slightly just before it began or I'd be smelling burnt rubber in my trailer for weeks to come. The "burn out" is the one thing I just can't understand in the biker culture.
Later today (Sunday) I will head west on Hwy 12 for a day or two of soaking in my favorite Hot Spring. I'll be out of cell phone range for a few days, and I won't be setting up my satellite TV dish but I will have my Sirius radio to keep me up to date on what's happening in the world.

An interesting side note - I parked at the Elk's Lodge in Kalispell for 5 days. The man parked across from me, it turns out, went to the same High school I went to - Birmingham HS in Van Nuys, CA. He graduated about 7 years before me. What a small world. Also, the two ladies that arrived at the Helena Elks Lodge just before I departed there also arrived at the Kalispell Elks. Another friend, Lloyd, was at the Helena Elk's when I arrived there. I ran into Lloyd at an Escapees Park in Florida two years ago. I think that was the last time I had seen him. I thought I might run into him in Missoula too, but.....

Pictures

Big Sky, my favorite brewery, where my
beloved Moose Drool is brewed




















Can you see George's profile?





































My parking spot across from the brewery

Glacier National Park

I left Missoula, MT and headed to Kalispell on Sunday August 20th. The trip was uneventful except for the 20 mile construction zone of dirt, rocks, gravel, dips, turns and curves. I think I will find an alternate route when I go back to Missoula later this week.
Today I hopped on my motorcycle and headed to Glacier National Park. It was my first visit to Glacier. The morning was chilly and the sky was milky white, but no threat of rain. The road to the park offered many opportunities to purchase fresh picked huckleberrys and cherrys. Yum! When I reached the gate to Glacier I renewed my National Park Annual Pass. I continued on to the Going-To-The-Sun Road. I was immediatley greeted by a sign that warned me of the possibility of encountering bears. Well, I didn't see one bear or moose, but when I stopped at one turn-out spot I was charged by a tiny chipmunk. He probably saw my shiny silver helmet, then promptly retuned to his little hole in the block wall. I was later charged by one member of an open-range cattle herd. I throttled my Sportster 1200 and left that bovine in the dust. Other than the critters, Glacier is full of lakes, rivers, creeks, streams, mountians, trees, cars and motorcycles. I got to do the biker wave quite often as packs of wild hogs (Harleys) rumbled by.
Today was my first long (200 mile) motorcyle ride in over a month. It was great to get out on the road again. I'm looking forward to my next ride. I find riding very theraputic, relaxing and a great time to think and reflect. Today I found myself thinking quite a bit about our beautiful country and our wonderful National Park system and how I want to do my part to help keep them that way. Glacier is the 26th NP I have visited, with many, many more on my list to check off.
Ride on, fight on, keep the shiny side up, and see ya down the road!

Go West Young Woman

After having the luxury of having full hookups all summer, I am now having to learn all over again the fine art of boondocking. No more 24 hours per day with unlimited electricy, water and sewer. Oh well, I've done it before. I can do it again.
I left Rapid City, SD on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 and drove to Billings, MT where I spent the night in the parking lot of the Beartooth Harley-Davidson Shop. Wednesday morning I continued west and spent the next two nights at the Helena Elks Lodge. I met up with my friend Marlene and we did some shopping and eating while there. Friday afternoon before we left Helena, two WIN friends, Jackie and Nancy, arrived at the Elks and we had a nice visit. Around 2:30 Marlene and I headed west again and drove to Missoula arriving just in time for a visit to the Big Sky Brewery where we both had our fill of 5 or 6 samples of delicious brews such as India Pale Ale, Summer Honey, Belgian Pale Ale, Moose Drool (my favorite), Scape Goat, Big Sky Crystal Ale.....
Saturday morning Marlene continued her jouney to the Portland, OR area. I stayed in Missoula and headed to Costco for some much needed shopping. At this moment I'm not sure when I'm leaving Missoula, or which route I'll take to Seattle. I'll keep you posted.

Sturgis Bike Rally

The 66th Annual Stugis Bike Rally
This is my 3rd year to attend the Rally

Is it or isn't it Willie Nelson?











Cute puppie on
shoulder









Lots of bikes on
Main Street, Sturgis

Hundreds of my Biker Buddies

at the Annual HOG

Reception in Rapid City.