Tonight finds me at the KOA in Missoula, Montana. I like Montana. I used to live farther east from here out of Hardin, Montana and I’ve ridden through Missoula a number of times. I left Pocatello, Idaho this morning under cloudy skies and a cool misty drizzle. It didn’t last long but caused me to don my riding pants, wind stopper fleece and leather jacket. It was cool all the way to Butte, Montana and I finally stopped about 20 miles from Missoula to shed the jacket and fleece. It’s pretty pleasant here at the KOA right now. Shirt sleeves.

Back in Utah on Monday, I met a fella at a rest stop with an interesting looking vehicle on a trailer he was towing. I asked him what that was all about and he said it was a corn cooker, propane fired. They had been over at Pinedale for a week at the Rendezvous and made a lot of popcorn. I took a photo of it for my good friend Pancho Willis who is starting to cook some corn. Here ya go Pancho:

Just before Monida Pass, between Idaho and Montana, is a little place called Spencer, on the Idaho side, also known as the Opal Capital of the USA, or so the sign says anyway. I’ve passed by here a number of times as we did last year on The Long ride North. It’s just off the Interstate just as you start to climb up Monida Pass. This year I made a point of stopping. There were several pretty old run down rock shops, each saying they had opals directly from the mine. I picked one and met Bob and Susan Thompson. That’s what the brochure says though I’m almost positive that the lady called the gentleman “Jim”. Maybe that’s his nickname. Anyway, they are a nice elderly couple and Jim/Bob owns the mine, mines the opals and cuts the stones. Yes I did contribute to their local economy. Very interesting and fun to learn about Opals from Idaho. Jim/Bob said that these two mines are the only two that produce enough fro commercial purposes. The are multicolored opals. different than the milky white I was used to seeing. He said those are imported from Australia but these are different. Iridescent and take on a different color depending on the light.

After I left Spencer, it was a short climb to the pass and into Montana. I can’t quite explain the feeling that came over me other than to say it was a big relief and like a huge breath of fresh air. I’m sure there was a big smile on my mug too. The scenery here is just fantastic. The sky was broken with summer clouds and a shower or two was seen in the distance. There was very little traffic on the interstate so it was uncaring riding. It doesn’t get any better than that. The Montana side of Monida pass opens up into the expansive Beaverhead Valley with Dillon at it’s center. The Beaverhead River is well known for it’s fly fishing. A number of drift boats and fly fishermen were on this great little river.  Butte, Montana was the next town to come up and there I turned left toward Missoula. Not far from there is the town of Anaconda. I rolled into the rest stop to stretch. Anaconda is/was famous for it’s rich copper mining and a huge copper ore smelter, the smoke stack of which can still be seen on the hillside overlooking the town. It was closed in 1980.

The ride into Missoula was gorgeous. The interstate follows along the famous Blackfoot River, another top quality fly fishing water. It sure looked like a great bit of water to a drop fly into. Made me wish I’d brought my fly rod. Didn’t even think of that. I rolled into the Missoula Harley dealer right at 5:00 and asked what the chances were of getting an oil change and new rear tire installed first thing in the AM. “No problem,” was the reply. “Be here at 9:00.” Now that’s accommodating. I didn’t know it until I settled into the camp ground and was surrounded by other bikers/motorcyclists but the dealer is hosting a big HOG rally begining Thursday, and they still got me in. I’m impressed with these guys.

Tomorrow I’ll head west on the interstate toward Coeur d’ Alene, Idado and then Spokane, Washing ton. This will all be virgin country to me. I’ll keep you posted. Thanks for stopping by.