Day 11: Get up, pack up, load the bikes, get breakfast, get on the road! Sounds so tedious! HA HA. Since breakfast wasn’t great yesterday, even though it’s included, we found a place while we were out walking last night to dinner.
We loaded up and headed to the Outpost Restaurant, our server served, but not much else. Do you ever get that feeling that your server wished they could be anywhere else in the world than standing in front of you? Do you see the one pic in the collage below ‘If you are grouchy, irritable, or just plain mean, there will be a $10 charge for putting up with you.’ Yeah, that was our server, we tried, but cracking a smile didn’t seem to be his jam, oh well….speaking of jam, I did buy a little jar of their huckleberry jam, it is sooo sweet, but you can only get it in some parts of the US and I wasn’t missing out! Small jar, you never know if you’re going to like it and one of the advantages of motorcycle travel…you only have so much room!
We headed out of West Yellowstone towards Missoula, MT. I just realized, well I probably realized it a long time ago, I should get commission from some places, I always add the web address for the place, hopefully it gives you an idea of where to go and what to do when you get there!
Look at that view!
We rode through Drummond, Bearmouth, and Lolo Hot Springs, all cities and towns in Montana. Looking at these websites for theses places makes me want to pull up a chair and stay a while! Especially in the winter! The images covered in snow, quiet and tranquil look amazing! We rode the Lolo Pass, unfortunately, the visitor center was closed, how do I get my patch, magnet, and sticker?! There are a few theories on how the Lolo Pass got its name, one of them is it’s a nickname or ‘corruption’ of a French name, like Laurence or Laurent and used by 18th or 19th century fur trappers. The Lolo Pass is along US Highway 12 on the Montana-Idaho border. Apparently there is a myth about the Montana-Idaho border, which you can check out here!
As we rode, we passed by Earthquake or ‘Quake’ Lake, which was formed August 17, 1959 when a massive 7.3 magnitude earthquake triggered a huget mountain landslide that dammed the Madison River! We also rode by Hebgen Lake, a scenic man-made reservoir, about 15 to 16 miles log and up to 4 miles wide, reaching a maximum depth of 70 feet, and sits at 6,240 feet abov sea level. Don’t you love learning something new every day?!
Riding by Hebgen Lake. Riding the Lolo Pass. Riding the Lolo Pass back. Highway 12.
I know what I haven’t told you, at least I don’t think I’ve told you… The orange bike is DJH, the black bike is VGT, the white bike is PSM, and my bike is the blue one, which you’ve seen Eunice before!
We stopped at the Bear Cave Bar & Grill, which is part of the Lolo Hot Springs Pools Resort. It was the perfect spot for a break, it wasn’t crowded, the staff was nice, the regulars looked like regulars, and the food was decent, exactly what we needed to take a breather!
Back on the bikes for more twists, turns, switchbacks, twist the wick, hammer down on the throttle to our next destination, the Baymont in Missoula, MT. Very glad we had a reservation because they were sold out, along with almost every other hotel in town. Felt bad because there were a few guys trying to get a room after being on the road for work and someone had messed up on their reservations. We found out the next day, there was a Post Malone concert, and he was joined by Jelly Roll and Carter Faith.
The rooms were comfortable and clean, this was one of the places that DJH stayed by himself, we both admitted it would be a little weird! He was going to miss my back scratching to wake him up! HA HA. No pool, but we could keep our bikes under the porte-cochere, don’t worry, I didn’t know what it was until just now! It’s basically the sheltered area outside the front door of the hotel that helps keeps vehichles protected from the elements and when we’re lucky, the hotels have let us keep our bikes there, to protect from potential rain.
After showers and a bit of a rest, we walked across the parking lot to Sean Kelly’s Stone of Accord Irish Pub! You know I love a good Irish Pub!!! The atmosphere was welcoming, the wait staff charming, the food delicious, he boys all had corned beef and cabbage and were not dissapointed, and Guinness for PSM, of course, happy fella! For me… they had sticky toffee pudding! Sticky Toffee Pudding is a gooey sponge cake drenched in warm toffee sauce. I discovered it on The Great British Bake Off, could have been before that, but…I finally found some when I was in Scotland and fell in love with it! I’ll be honest, it’s not always the easiest to make and sometimes I’ve had it when it tastes burnt, which ruins it, but this was grand!
Best part of the evening…walking back across the street to the hotel! No Uber, taxi, long walk, ride, just a nice liesurely stroll, up to our rooms, relax, maybe work on our Relive videos, and lights out!
Day 11: 355.9 Miles, 7.24 Hours, 1 Pass, 2 Lakes, tomorrow…shhh..a surprise!
Peaches Prattlings 