Up at 5:00 am to get the bikes packed. I spent the night at Dave Denham's place in Clarkston. We rolled out Friday morning around 7:20 to meet our other traveling partner at one of Lewiston's finer dining establishments.
Our first day on the road saw us charging the fire with breakfast burritos at the Lewiston Jack-in-the-Box. The Pup, a/k/a Alan Searle, met us there and Dave Denham (later to be nicknamed "Casper") and The Pup got on the road around 9:10 am. The day's route would take us from Lewiston up through the Palouse country along US 195 to Spokane, north through Spokane (with much construction delay) to Chewelah, where we continued the fine dining tradition with sandwiches from Subway. From Chewelah, we headed East on the Flowery Trail Road (NF 4243) for a 26 mile ride of broad sweepers and great views. We could see why The Flowery Trail is rated as one of the premier motorcycle roads in the Pacific Northwest.
We hit Washington 20 at Usk, and headed north to a gas stop at Metaline. Just North of Metaline Falls, there are some outstanding views and, shortly thereafter, THE BORDER, otherwise known as the Nelway Crossing. Not sure what it is, but getting into Canada from the US has become more and more difficult. Last year, crossing at Midway, the Canadian border guard had the usual questions - where do you live, what do you do, where are you going, etc., plus "why are you crossing here?" Uh, because I liked the road heading up to that crossing? Well, this time, it was more like the Spanish Inquisition. All the usual questions and a lengthy questioning about firearms, including where was my gun currently stored. Uh, locked up at home, was the response. We finally got past the Canadian Border Gestapo and were on to the Crowsnest Highway for a short jaunt only to encounter a sobriety checkpoint. About this time I was wondering what sort of police state I'd come to. It turned out there was a rock concert nearby and the local police and RCMP were rousting the young'uns headed that way. We were not stopped.
After a grocery stop in Nelson, we headed North on Highway 31 to the Toad Rock Motorcycle Campground. The place had gotten good reviews and since it was nearing 6:00 pm we thought it a good idea to stop. Toad Rock, I believe, is deserving of its own post, which I shall do shortly.
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Photos to be added later.
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