The Motorcycle Diaries, Kansas Edition, Day 4 (June 29)

(Posted late due to internet issues, and then forgetting about it once I got to Kansas.  This was Monday, June 29)

Well thank goodness I'm out of the bad weather.  That was just horrible. Finally I can now relax and enjoy the rest of my ride.

Is there any way that anyone knows to take a picture of wind?

This morning, leaving Montpelier, ID, I decided to avoid the interstate highways.  I have to be in Abilene by July 1 (have to is strong, but that's when I said I'd be there).  I have two solid days plus could theoretically arrive on July 1, so more than two days.

East on Highway 89.  Otherwise you follow US-30 to the Interstate.  What a beautiful ride.  Sweeping curves, canyons, a KOA campground in which I could have also stayed.  Then you turn right on some little back highway which takes you to ...

... US-30?  Are you freaking kidding me?  But then it gets you off 30 eventually and takes you north and east through Wyoming.

OK, keep in mind that the plan was to poke around, visit little town museums, etc.  Except that the highways going through Wyoming don't have ANY towns!!!!  So I rode an extra 200 miles  to get on the Interstate highway at Rawling, WY.  

Wouldn't have been so bad, it was a nice ride, except, did I mention wind?

The Wind River range, panorama view:

Insert picture here when I have proper internet:  🤔  (Struggling to get things to upload from hotels.)

I should have turned around when I saw the signs saying "Closed to high profile vehicles weighing less than 26,000 lbs due to winds 55+".  What can I say.  I'm stubborn and I process slowly.  By the time it occurred to me that I should go back, it was a long way back and might as well push on. 

Nope.  It was about 200 miles back to the interstate that way, with a howling gale bashing me the whole way.  The interstate was no better, once I reached it, but it was three hours shorter according to Google Maps.  Sigh.  I mean at least it didn't rain.

Well, by the time I reached Colorado it had started to warm up.  I stopped and stripped off all the gear (sweatshirt, jacket, gaiter, beanie, First Gear gloves), just in time to hit Fort Collins rush hour traffic.  I took the toll lanes, no idea if motorcycles are free but the last thing I needed was two hours of rush hour back up.

The Motorcycle Diaries, Kansas Edition, Day 3

Decisions, decisions. Ride over Homestake Pass towards Bozeman, by all accounts the worst pass in Montana for weather; take I-15 down towards Idaho Falls and go through Monida Pass, or just go back to Blaine and get my car, thus losing two full days of travel. Well going back to Blaine would have been pointless no matter what, cause my truck is in the shop and my car threw a cylinder misfire code the day before I left. Homestake eliminated because everyone from my cousins to the gal at the gas station said so. Monida it is. Turns out it's hard to tell that it's a pass, perhaps because you're already so high up. I kept wondering when I was going to get there, and then there was a sign saying 60 miles to Idaho Falls. So that was easy. Uncomfortable as it rained all the way through the pass, but easy.

Behind me:

Before me:

Halfway decent through Idaho Falls and on to US30. Almost stopped at a very nice KOA just down 30, Lava Something Springs Something, looks like a resort, but it was only 3:00 and too early.

Stayed at the Clover Creek Inn in Montpelier because it popped up first on my Google Maps and showed a pretty reasonable price.  I usually stay at Best Western because of the consistency, quality, and points.  However, it's gotten expensive.  CCI was $109 with my military discount.  A bit run down from the outside, it's a three sided compound with parking in the middle.  However the entryway as you drive in had green grass, nice picnic tables, and flowers blooming.  The office and the room were nicely appointed.  Staff super friendly, room clean and smelled nice.  I'm giving it a 5/5 just because of the price, otherwise it would be a solid 4/5.  The only down side at all was the wifi signal was weak in the room as I was across the parking lot, so I couldn't post this update last night.

Gentleman bought my dinner at the Ranch House cause I'm a veteran.  For the record, that embarrasses me, but I also accept that it makes him feel good, so I'm gracious and thank him.

The Motorcycle Diaries, Kansas Edition, Day 2

Friday was a glorious romp in the woods compared to Saturday.

Left my campsite in Newport, WA about 0830.  Only six or seven hours to Missoula, because I'm going up through Kalispell, just to check it out.  It's still nice-ish.  The lake for which my campground, the North Shore KOA was named for.

Does the phrase Winter Storm Warning ring any bells to anyone?  Yeah, I didn't see that at all.  Didn't look at my weather map because, well why would I.  I already knew it was going to be a chance of rain.

Instead, just as I was approaching Kalispell it opened up.  I couldn't see anything.  Including the sign saying "Slow to 15mph for roundabout".  Thankfully I saw just enough out of the corner of my eye to think I should slow down more than I had when the downpour started.

For the record, it's not a good idea to slow down too much in a downpour like that.  Even though you can't see the road, and you can't see enough to get off the road, the people in cars behind you can't see either.  So you run the risk of being rear ended.

So to allay your fears, I slowed down a lot, made it through the inch or so of water that was sluicing through the roundabout, made it down the hill on the other side, and into the first gas station I saw.

Which is when the hail started.  😒

I have no pictures of the storm.  It was the last thing on my mind.   Which is why I don't have a viral youtube channel where I film all the horrible things that happen to me.  

So made it into Missoula, on and off rainstorms but nothing like the Kalispell episode.  Drowned rat is the expression that comes to mind.  Wish I had my full face helmet but I never take it with me on trips as it most likely won't get used and just takes up space hanging from the luggage.  And of course it's Sunday so nowhere that might sell a helmet is open today.

Next steps?  Either push on, chancing the fact that there's a pass with a Winter Storm Warning prominently displayed on every possible way to Kansas, or turn back where the passes are lower.  I could probably get home no problem today but then I'm home and not in Kansas.  So push on it probably is, wishing I had a full face helmet.

And try to remember to take pictures of the worst of it.

The Motorcycle Diaries, Kansas Edition, Day 1

 Not an auspicious beginning.  The weather decided not to cooperate.  I've been watching the forecast which has said "Rain until 11, thunderstorms after".  Gah!  

I love thunderstorms but would love even more to sit in my chair on my front porch and watch the lightning,  preferably with a glass of something in hand.  If you care to comment, what's your go-to beverage for summer thunderstorms?  I've been shifting to cocktails and away from mixed drinks.  Things like Old Fashioneds, Negronis, etc.  When I drink gin it's poured over ice.  Gone are the days of tonic water and lime.

Hit the road about 0830.  Not really raining but threw the rain jacket on and wore chaps, which I wasnt planning on.  On and off rain.  Stopped at the Harley dealer cause they had some special order small parts for me.  Wasnt going to get them now but they open in 10 minutes so good chance for bathroom break.  They have a 260th Anniversary edition which I love.

On down the road.  Highway 2 to Wenatchee and beyond.  All the way to Newport, really, although at some point Google decided I should take a bunch of side roads before getting back on 2.  I assume they had their reasons.  Weather promised thunderstorms as well as rain but the former never materialized thankfully.

Why is that picture upside down?  No idea.  It isn't upside down in my phone.  Oh well.

KOA just outside of Newport is nice.  Ive stayed here before.  Friendly staff, good amenities.  Can recommend.  Tomorrow up to Kalispell and then down to Missoula.  Need to stop at a sporting goods store cause I forgot fuel and refills for mosquito repeller.

The Motorcycle Diaries, Kansas Edition, Day Negative 1, Preparation

Headed for Kansas.  25 days on the road, 5 to get there, 12 days in Abilene, 3 back, and 5 in Richland, WA.

Bike is packed.  First trip longer than 600 miles on the Road Glide.

Not thrilled with the amount of stuff on top but it's light.   Touring bike doesn't have any more room, it's just distributed differently.  The tour-pak limits you because things have to fit.  It's a bit like playing Tetris.

Actually this post could just as easily have been titled Day Negative 1 through 14.  I started by making a list of everything I normally take.  I'll be camping, staying with relatives, and staying in hotels.  It's the first thing that makes it complicated, but it saves a lot of money.  I have to have a tent, a sleeping bag, and because I am getting older, an air mattress and a folding chair.  No more sitting or sleeping on the ground.  I also like to have a coffee maker (Aeropress) and a Jetboil, which I wouldn't need in a hotel.  Some firestarter, a small hatchet, that's about the minimum.  That stuff is mostly in the bag strapped to the top of the tour-pak.

Then I went out, set up a folding table, put everything on the table, and started packing.  Once I had everything in I made a list for each storage container: left and right saddlebags, tour-pak, T-bag strapped on the passenger seat.  It's a lot of stuff.  Then I realized I hadn't packed my sleeping bag and had to start over, which is when I added the small duffle on the tour-pak rack.

How did I miss this?

 Happy Gin Day!

June 13, two days ago.  I will drink three times as much gin tonight to make up for my failure.  😁

On the shelf now:

1) Boodles, the old standby.  The gin that got me to like gin.  Beefeater is NOT the gin that will get you to like gin, neither are most gins served in bars, unless you go top shelf.

2) Bellewood, purchased recently.  Distilled from apples by local farmers here in my Pacific NW county.

Pro tip: Do NOT put tonic into a good gin.  Just pour some over ice and sip.

The Government Economics of ... (short version, mandatory suicide)

 Hat tip to Peter over at Bayou Renaissance Man.

https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2026/06/tab-clearing.html

He links to this study published in Omega about the cost savings to the Canadian government by expanding access to MAID (assisted suicide) to include mentally ill and old people.  Involuntary access would appear to be the key.

Government Economics of Expanding Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying to Vulnerable Populations and the Ethical Implications of Allowing the State to Control Death

It's just a study, and to be fair to the author, he spends quite a bit of the concluding paragraphs talking about the negative ramifications of both MAID and expanded access to the program, but given that the gist of the study, as evidenced in the title, is an analysis of the cost benefits of the program, it seems a bit "too little, too late".

One item that struck me, early in the Introduction, was this sentence:

A rapid increase in immigrant population has exacerbated pressures on affordable housing, schools and hospitals

 

The author does not appear to consider that the solution to these presssures might be to reduce the immigrant population, but instead focuses on the benefits of removing the legacy population faster.  Understanding that the point of the study is to analyze the cost savings of an expanded program, and also recognizing that his conclusions do address some of those concerns, but there seems to be a lack of understanding of what exactly is happening in Canada in this article.  Or perhaps it's just the ramblings of a PhD student attempting to create something that will ensure progress towards his degree.