Road Trip: Day 13

Yesterday I spent some time rethinking my drive for today. The original route put me through the middle of the Kootenai National Forest on a one-lane road (full of grizzly bears). I really wanted to drive on Highway 508, which has received awesome reviews from motorcyclists (Butler Motorcycle Maps, motorcycleroads.us, etc.), but with no Google Street View to verify the quality of the route, I didn’t know which way to go. Late last night, after doing as much homework as I could, I decided to just go for it and drive the road “blind”.

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Spending two nights at the same hotel really saved me time this morning, as I didn’t need to pack-up all my stuff before heading out. When I hit the road the sun was still on it’s way up and it was having a difficult time getting through the clouds… as a result the temperatures were quite cool (I actually used the heater in the G8). The wind today was also a definite factor as I could feel it pushing my car around on the road. I’m really glad I swapped hoods, as the wind + 70mph speed limit + trucks would have made for a stressful day with the Carbon Fiber one.

The road from Kaspelli to Libby was flowing and meandered through the countryside. After filling-up with gas I headed out towards the Yaak River Valley. I’m always on the lookout for scenic views, and just outside of Troy I pulled-over to check one out.

While I was stopped taking photos I was joined by two gentlemen on motorcycles who asked me if I had a map… Of course I have a map! Now… where did I put it? After digging through almost every bag in my trunk, I finally found my maps. The riders had the same questions about roads that I did last night, so I shared what I knew. I think we all agreed that Highway 508 would be worth the uncertainty. After a few more photos I headed back onto the road.

At this point I ventured into the unknown on Highway 508. While the first part of the road did not have a painted center-line, it was two cars wide. There were a few patches of gravel where they were repaving, but nothing was too rough (more dust than rocks). Part way through, and after a surprising left turn, the center-line appeared and I ventured “back to nature”. The route almost felt claustrophobic with the trees being so close to the sides of the road, but the drive was very enjoyable. There were a few “road not maintained for public travel” signs, but they wouldn’t detour me from driving the best part. The last few miles went up and over a ridge and included one hairpin turn after another… it was awesome!

Someplace during this part of the drive the G8 rolled-over 40,000 miles. Normally I’d have liked to photograph a milestone like this, but I think this drive was a much better activity!

The rain held-off just long enough for me to finish driving Highway 508, but stuck around for the remainder of the afternoon. The last part of my day was driving on Highway 37 along the shore of Lake Koocanusa, and in addition to the sweeping curves (at 70mph in the rain) the views were spectacular.

Tomorrow I’m heading into Glacier National Park and the world famous Going-to-the-Sun Road. Hopefully doing this drive mid-week after Labor Day (but before the September 17th closure) will result in fewer people.

Road Trip: Day 12

Today was a lazy day… and was just what I needed. I slept-in, studied tomorrow’s drive, had a nice breakfast at the hotel, and headed-out onto the road around 11am. I had to drive from Missoula to Kalispell, only 120 miles, but decided to take an indirect route through Flathead National Forest and around Flathead Lake.

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So far driving in Montana has been very enjoyable. I can’t really put my finger on it but there is something I really like about it…

… oh, that’s what it is! Having a 70mph speed limit really brings the roads of Montana to life. At 50mph I’d be falling asleep, but at these speeds I really need to keep on my toes. There were several times I just wanted to stop and give the speed limit sign a hug!

The weather this morning was mostly overcast and the air was still filled with smoke, making for a dark mood. There were even a few times when the skies opened-up and rain came pouring down. This was the first time I’ve driven my car in the wet since the latest rounds of modifications, so I took some time to become comfortable with “the limits of grip while accelerating and decelerating”.

When I stopped for some ethanol free gas at Clearwater Junction I was greeted by two friendly Montanans. I was just about to pull back onto the road when I saw a Saturn Sky with a modified hood pull into the station. Turns out the owner is a big fan of G8’s and as a result we spent almost an hour talking about cars, the differences between California and Montana, etc.

After leaving the gas station I made my way across a stretch of unpaved roads and past several critters (deer, turkeys, etc.). The drive into Kalispell wasn’t technical, but I had a good time thinking about what it would be like to live in this area. While summers would be OK, I don’t think I’d be able to drive the G8 in the winters.

Tomorrow I’ll be going out into the wilderness around Kalispell. This morning I was looking into the route I’d planned, but I think I might need to make a few tweaks. Should I take the route with or without the grizzly bears?

Road Trip: Day 11

Yesterday was a long day of driving, and today was more of the same… while I drove ~350 miles, it didn’t seem as bad as I was expecting. I woke-up at my regular time, so maybe that helped… or maybe it was the hundreds of miles of twisty roads!

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The morning started with a brisk romp around Coeur d’Alene Lake. There were a few other vehicles on the road, as well as several old couples walking, but all of the twisty parts were clear. I even found a place to pull over for a quick photo.

Much of today was spent on the scenic backroads of Idaho. Looking at my maps in the hotel last night I didn’t know what the condition of the roads were going to be, but I was pleasantly surprised… almost all of the Idaho roads were two-lanes and freshly repaved. I was also surprised to see a pair of bow hunters walking down the side of the road!

When I left the forest and headed into the agricultural region of Idaho the road wound through numerous fields filled with hay/straw (anyone know the difference between them?). The air was also thick with smoke from the burning of fields post-harvest. It seemed strange to me, but I guess it helps “improve yields, reduce the need for herbicides and pesticides, reduce fire hazards, and control disease, weeds, and pests”. In addition to the field burning, there was fire activities in areas surrounding Highway 12… as a result almost all afternoon I was stuck driving through a valley of smoke.

Highway 12 was my objective for the day. I’ve always like to see my final destination show-up on backwoods road signs, but today it came with a twist; “Missoula… 179 miles”! I knew I was in my “home stretch”, but with a 50mph speed limit it took over 3.5 hours.

One of the fun things about such a long, uninterrupted, stretch of road is that you get to know your fellow travelers. Today there were two motorcyclists that were out enjoying themselves, and multiple times they raced past me on the road… only to have me pass them when they stopped to rest. It was a fun game of leap-frog! I really wished I wasn’t driving the speed limit (aka. trying to avoid speeding tickets), as it would have been fun to play with them in the corners.

The last part of my drive started when I entered the great state of Montana. Wow, I just love places that have 70mph speed limits on backroads (the same one that was 50mph in Idaho)! As I headed into Missoula I spotted a self car wash and quickly knocked-off the big stuff, as my car has become quite filthy (see the above photo).

After checking into my hotel and grabbing a steak dinner, I’ve kicked-back to relax with some college football on TV (and some free ice cream). Tomorrow I have a short day of driving up to Kalispell where I’ll be spending the next few days. Hopefully I can get some rest, as things are going to be getting busy again soon.

Road Trip: Day 10

Who’s crazy idea was it to drive over 400 miles on the backroads of Washington? Yeesh, today was a long day of driving!

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I woke-up at 6am just so I could get on the road early. After cleaning the bugs off the windshield and topping-off the fuel tank I headed East on Highway 20. The morning traffic was a bit heavier than I’d have liked, but it cleared-out the farther from civilization I got.

Over the past week I’ve been seeing quite a few bicyclists on the roads with long-distance bags all over their bikes. It’s been crazy to see so many riders on these roads that I’m driving! I’ve also seen quite a few long-distance motorcyclists… I guess this is a great time of the year to be on the roads!

The first cool area I drove through was the North Cascades National Park. Along the Skagit River there is a series of hydroelectric dams that provide 25% of Seattle’s power. These dams have been in operation since the 1920’s, so there are quite a few historic “landmarks”.

I spent a while driving through the canyon stopping periodically to look for scenic photos. Unfortunately most of the views of the dams were spoiled by trees and there were no places to pull-over to get photos of the waterfalls. At least I was able to find one nice view…

The road down from the damns was really fun. Again I played my “how far can I coast in neutral” game… this time I was able to hit 90mph in one section! I would have gone faster (maybe triple digits?) if it wasn’t for a pair of on-coming cars pulling into my lane to get past two slow trucks. There was another section where I got up to ~75mph… it was quite an interesting experience to pass someone over a broken center line while in neutral!

The rest of the day is a bit of a blur… just lots of driving. Most sections were decent, a few were boring, but there were a several stretches that were real gems. At one point I even found myself 27 miles from the Canadian border. The last mile of the day was the most difficult… I think I made a half-dozen wrong turns, but I eventually made it to my hotel. Now I just need to get some sleep!

Road Trip: Day 9

I decided yesterday morning that today was going to be a bit of a “recovery day”. Originally I’d planned on driving up Mt. Baker, but with the past few days of alternate routes I needed a day to regroup.

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Despite staying in a hotel room with a motion activated air conditioner (that shuts off at night making the room uncomfortably warm) I was able to sleep-in until 9am. Since I missed breakfast at the hotel I got on the road and put in a few miles before stopping to fill-up my tank.

The first section of road was a detour off the main drag through the Yakima Canyon. While I could have made better time taking I-82, this road trip isn’t about the destination… rather the journey. Even on a “recovery day” I’m not going to just drive the interstate.

After breakfast I headed out into the wilderness towards the Wenatchee National Forest. On the way I drove through a region that was ravaged by fire less than a month ago. It was really strange to see the red areas on the ground from air drops of fire retardant. The most striking feature of this area was the group of large wind turbines; I almost felt like I was at home driving through the Altamont Pass.

At noon I was scheduled to call into a telecon for work, but oops… I was deep in a canyon with no cell reception. It took me almost 30 minutes to return to civilization, only to find-out the telecon never happened. I quickly caught-up with one of my collaborators, but was cut-off when the cell coverage came to an end… I guess the road wanted me to keep me away from work.

The traffic today was good, other than one stretch being stuck behind a large RV. It got me thinking about when my Grandparents took their RV across the country… and how unique of a situation my road trips have been. Most people have to wait until they are retired to get out and drive the country… I’ve been very lucky to do it, twice, before I’m eligible for a senior discount.

Tomorrow I have a crazy day of driving on store, and unless I want to spend six hours on the interstate, there is no way to make it shorter/faster. Tonight I’ll be getting a good night sleep so I’ll be ready for an early start!

Road Trip: Day 8

Maybe I should have call this the “Volcanic Road Trip”, as I’ve visited Mt. Lassen, Crater Lake… and today Mount St. Helens.

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The drive originally planned for today was just at 400 miles (and almost 8 hours), so having the first part on I-5 (with it’s lovely 70mph speed limit) was nice. It was also on I-5 that I noticed my GPS is pronouncing abbreviation “WA” (Washington) as “Western Australia”… I guess that’s a side-effect of using the “Australian Voice”!

The road up to Mount St. Helens was very picturesque, and I found myself stopping to take photos every few miles. Fortunately the roads were fairly empty.

Once I reached the Johnston Ridge Observatory I walked around the Visitor Center a bit (my National Parks pass got me in free) and then went to the look-out to get some more photos of the volcano.

With all the attention being put on Mount St. Helens itself, I nearly missed all the other great scenery. It was very cool to still see hillsides covered with bare trunks of trees… reminders of the blast from over 30 years ago. The whole area made a great backdrop for photos.

Once I left the observatory I headed down the mountain and practiced my coasting skills. There were a few times I found myself moving at quite a clip… for a few seconds I was even getting 70mpg!

Last night on Top Gear they had a challenge to drive from Portland to San Francisco (~640 miles) on a single tank of gas. They made it, but how about me? So far I’ve been averaging 18.2mpg, so with a 19 gallon tank… I’d only get half-way. Oh well, I still have a longer range than a Nissan Leaf!

The remainder of the day was devoted to reaching my hotel for the night… 112 miles of which was on Highway 12. Based on my GPS’s prediction I should have arrived around 6pm, but while driving on Hwy12 I ran into a stretch of road with a major construction delay… I was stuck waiting for 30 minutes!

While waiting on the side of the road (at least I found a bit of shade) I pulled-up Google on my phone and tracked-down a closer hotel for the night. Now that I’ve checked-in and gotten settled, I’m really glad that I decided to shorten the days drive.

Road Trip: Day 7

After a night dreaming of “rich stuff” I woke-up and after a quick breakfast headed out onto the road. Since my original plan had me spending last night in Portland, I needed to cover the first part of this drive just to “catch-up”.

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Before leaving Astoria I stopped-off at the Columbia River Maritime Museum parking lot for a quick photo of the G8.

The drive towards Portland went quickly, and after two hours I reconnected with the Columbia River and spent the remainder of the morning driving along its banks. I had planned on taking a trip onto the backroads, but after driving ~3 miles I was stopped by a closed bridge.

While the roads around the Columbia River weren’t very technical, the scenery more than made-up for it (way better than US101).

The traffic today was much lighter than the past few days, and gone were all the tourists. They were replaced by truckers, but fortunately they can drive their rigs at the speed limit!

Mid-day I reached my primary objective… The Rowena Loops. It’s a short stretch, but it was well worth the trip! One of the most unique aspects of this area are the white picket-fence guardrails… very “high class”.

I must hand it to John A. Elliott and Samuel C. Lancaster (the men who designed the road) for creating a road that climbs up such a steep grade with such gentile sweeping curves. Sight lines are a little obstructed mid-apex, but it wasn’t too bad… I wish I had the road closed-off like Justin Bell and Townsend Bell (no relation) did on “Shut Up and Drive”! I really should have gone over this section a few times, but I still had a few hours of driving ahead of me.

The last part of my drive for the day was around the base of Mt Hood. While it was a change-up from being along the river, the roads were not technical at all (I think I was using the cruise control the whole way). To make things worse, I didn’t even find a place where I could pull-over to get a photo of the mountain.

Tomorrow is another long day of driving (my farthest of the trip), but it should take me to a few fun places.

Road Trip: Day 6

Yesterday’s traffic really bummed me out to the point that I even contemplated just driving on I-5 today. Last night I went to bed thinking I was going to be staying away from US101, but when I woke-up I decided to just go for it!

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I got out of the hotel early and put in some miles before stopping to refill the tank with some tasty 92 octane. Traffic was very light and I made good time to Corvallis where I turned-off onto Highway 34.

At this point I was very happy that I decided not to just drive on I-5 all day. Hwy 34 is the type of road that I built my G8 to drive on… lots of sweeping corners with nice elevation changes. The pavement was flawless and the corners were banked just enough to guide you through them. The scenery was also unique with several large Christmas tree farms.

Unfortunately, when I reached the coast and US101 I was slowed to a crawl by the holiday weekend travelers. Things opened-up a little between towns, but was stop-and-go at every traffic light. Thankfully I found a few places take some photos.

When I reached Tillamook I had planned on stopping to get some cheese, but the factory was swamped with tourists. Instead I stopped at the Tillamook Air Museum!

I decided to spend the night in Astoria, OR. Why Astoria? Well, I’m a child of the 80’s… duh! One of the classic movies for my generation is The Goonies, and it was filmed in Astoria! To make things even better several of the locations/props used are still around!

O.R.V… bullet holes. BULLET HOLES!! For the rest of the night I’ve been quoting various lines from the movie… the best part, I’m not the only one. When I stopped-off at the Goondocks (aka. the house) there were 4-6 other groups of people doing the same thing!

Tomorrow I’ll need to adjust my planned route a bit, since I didn’t stay in Vancouver, WA like I had originally planned. Fortunately the traffic should be lighter now that the holiday weekend is over!

Road Trip: Day 5

Today was less about the roads and more about the scenery… I don’t think I drove a single “technical” stretch all day. Sure, there were some twists and turns, but much of the day was spent on straight roads just trying to make good time to/from Crater Lake National Park.

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Before I got too far into the wilderness I stopped to top-off my gas tank. This was the first time I’ve bought fuel in Oregon, and having someone else pump my gas was a bit awkward. The attendant did complement the G8, and I was able to get 92 octane, so maybe it’s not a bad concept?

I reached Crater Lake and was able to jump to the head of the entrance line due to my National Parks Pass. I headed-up to the crater and it didn’t take me long to find a good location for my daily photo of the G8.

I also had a nice conversation with a photographer who was shooting on 8×10 film. I felt like such a “tourist” showing-up at 10am with my DSLR… especially since he’d been there since sun-up. We spent a few minutes talking about the lost art of film… and we discussed a few photo locations around Yellowstone. While I didn’t have a tripod or a large format camera, I’m happy with the “snapshots” I came away with.

Despite several attempts, I wasn’t able to meet-up with my parents at Crater Lake. The first try I went the wrong way around the lake… the second I just couldn’t find them in the sea of people around the visitor center. Cell reception was also spotty, so after waiting around a while (and taking some more artsy landscape photos) I headed North out of the park.

That reminds me… I can’t wait for the Labor Day Weekend to be over! I know I spent the day in a National Park, but the number of people was just ridiculous The morning wasn’t bad, but the afternoon was just wall-to-wall people. To put it into perspective… when I left Crater Lake there was a line of cars 8/10ths of a mile long waiting to get in!

While I’m venting, several times today I was surrounded by the most annoying type of driver. It’s one thing to be going slow (I complain about them), but if you’re going to be driving fast… make the pass or get off my ass! I was cruising along going the speed limit, and I understand people who don’t want to drive 55mph, but if you want to drive faster than me… and you have a broken center-line with no oncoming traffic… just pass me! At least three times I pulled off the road to let people by, despite numerous passing lanes… argh!

Tomorrow is scheduled to be a really long day (I have over 8 hours of driving planned), but with all the holiday traffic I have a feeling I might call an audible once I get on the road.

Road Trip: Day 4

Several times on my trip I’ve seen hitch hikers on the side of the road… I keep thinking to myself; what it would be like to pick one up? I know it’s not something I’d do, but it would be kinda fun to see their reaction to my driving in the turns.

The drive on US199 from Crescent City up into Oregon was a bit hit-and-miss. The road was good, but all the weekend travelers made for lots of slow sections. There was one time I got stuck behind a minivan driving 35mph (in a 55mph zone)… seriously? To make it even worse, they wouldn’t use any of the turnouts! I can understand slowing down in the corners, but even if you have a screaming/puking kid in the back seat… there is no excuse for going that slow.

When I eventually got some clear road ahead of me, I started playing a new game… how far can I coast in neutral without using the brakes. With two lanes to use (and light traffic) it was great fun to setup the corners, drop to the apex, and run-out onto the straights… trying to stay as smooth as possible.

Once I entered Oregon the road straightened-out, but I was OK with that… it made for quick travels. Besides, I kept thinking about the new sticker I was able to add to my state map!

I arrived at my hotel early in the afternoon and settled-in for a relaxing evening. Tomorrow I have a nice day of mountain climbing, and might even rendezvous with my parents at Crater Lake!