Couldn't sleep at all. I think I must have woke up at least 10 times over the night. I was just too anxious to enter into new territory I've never been before - Montana. Not just Montana, but also mountains. I had a window right by my bed and every time I woke up I would look out the window to see if there was any evidence that the sun was starting to come up. Unfortunately, for 9 out of the 10 or so times, there wasn't.
But alas, it did start to become lighter and lighter
. This was it. The first major chapter of my trip - the first step into the great unknown. Before heading out, R.J. and I had so really yummy banana bread that Darla (his wife) made him. Can't go wrong with banana bread, I tell ya...
Once again I said my goodbyes, and headed out back onto US hwy 2, heading to the Montana border. Now, I was really hoping to see a great big "Welcome to Big Sky Montana" sign so I would know exactly when I was stepping into Montana for the first time. But unfortunately, there was no such sign. In fact, I only was tipped off that I was in Montana when I passed some construction signs right after the border. One sign said "Speed ticket fines double in construction zones." I know in North Dakota, the law isn't this, but something different (they just have the minimum set to $80 in construction zones). So I figured I had crossed the border at that point, and so I checked my GPS and sure enough, I was already cross the state line. Oh well.
I didn't know quite what to expect in eastern Montana
. I had read other rider's blogs where they complain that getting to across Montana is painful because the land is so flat in the east side. However, what is considered flat is quite subjective. As it turns out, eastern Montana isn't all the flat, but has some nice rolling hills that do provide some entertainment and scenery to keep your attention. It wasn't as flat as I feared it would be by reading other's blogs. Man, if they think this is flat, they should ride up and down the Red River Valley - now, that is flat and quite boring. On the positive side, it makes you appreciate even the foot hills in other places.
Remember I mentioned in yesterday's blog about those crazy birds. Well, Montana has those as well, but they also have crazy gophers. I've seen a few that come flying from the top of the reflector posts on the side of the road and they go zipping across the road not far in front of you. I don't think I've ever seen gophers jumping from those reflector pulls before. Crazy
.
Today was a much color day, highs were mostly in the upper 60's for the majority of the day. Unfortunately, the weatherman was right, there was hit and miss showers today, and I did have to run through a few of them. However, I could see that most of the activity was farther south, as the sky was lighter the farther north you looked. I think the choice to take hwy 2 over 200 was a good choice.
I was busting out the miles today - everything was just flowing really nicely. The roads were in great shape, and there was hardly any traffic. Speed limit was 70, so you can really make some good distance on these roads. In today's schedule, I was planning on stopping in Shelby, MT for the night, and then hit Glacier NP the next day, which was only about 80 miles away. However, because I was cruising right along, I got to Shelby at about 2:30pm mountain time. After fueling, I decided that it was time to take a break for a bit - besides, the bike needed a good cleaning after all the rain I went through
.
So after relaxing a bit and polishing up the 'Wing, it was about 3:30pm by this time. I really was anxious to hit the mountains, as I was still in the foot hills at this point. Glacier was only 80 miles away from where I was, and I figured that I could be there by around 5:00. Being that it's mid July, that would give me about 4-5 hours of daylight left once I got there. From what I've read in blogs from others, they say it takes about 2 hours to pass through Glacier on the "Going to the Sun" road. Perfect. I could be there and through the west side by 7:00 or so. That would still give me a couple hours to find either a campground or motel for the night. So I was off...
Man, I'm starting to run into more and more outhouses on wheels (aka, motorhomes) the closer I get to Glacier. However, the traffic is still pretty light so it's not to hard to get around them. Got to Browning, MT, and got off hwy 200 and moved onto hwy 89 towards St
. Mary, where the east entry to the Going to the Sun road is. Wow, hwy 89 is very scenic. Lots and lots of valley views and climbs and descents. Got to watch out on the corners though... some are quite sharp.
Made it to St. Mary at about 5:30pm. Doing good on time. I pulled next to a pair of BMW bikes just near the entrance to the park. I chatted with them a bit, and they just came through the park. They said that the west side of the pass it was raining, and raining quite hard. I was sorta depressed at this point as I was looking so forward to riding this road today. But I thought, "Eh, what the heck? It's just water. If I get soaked, then I get soaked, but I would have a blast doing it!". So after taking a quick stroll through the gift shop (I was looking for a T-shift for Kaylee, but I couldn't find anything that small there... boo), I jumped on the bike and headed off into the mountains and the famed Going to the Sun road - the #1 road in most motorcycle road lists that I've seen
.
All I can say is, WOW! Totally amazing! Yes, there is a God! :) Cameras do really a terrible, terrible job in capturing this beauty, because it is so massive and immersive. I really can't say more than that. It was just simply amazing. This is why I ride a cycle, and not a car. I can see all over, and the smell of pine trees was very strong. I was lovin' it!
Glacier NP is currently working on a 10-year road rebuild, where they are taking a section of the road and rebuilding it, and should have all 50 miles done in a 10-year stretch. This does mean that where they are working, it is gravel. But good, hard-packed gravel. It didn't bother me at all.
I made a few stops for pictures, and stopped at the McDonald Lodge for a few pics. I was going to stop to eat at the restaurant there, but decided that finding a place for the night was more important right now. So I left. I eventually headed out of the park and into West Glacier (the town)
. Of course, this being July, everything was booked up for motels all around Glacier. That's ok, it was only about 8:00 and still had good sun, I'll head towards Kalispell and try my luck there. I did stop at one motel along the way, probably about 15 miles outside the park. They did have a room available, but wanted $125 for it. Nah....
So I continued on to Kalispell, and saw that there were many places with vacancies - which should relate to cheaper prices :) And I was right. I found a nice freshly-remodeled motel for less than half of what the other place wanted. Much better. So I dropped my gear off, and took off the find some supper.
Currently, I am fairly ahead of schedule as far as timewise. I'm about 150 miles farther than I had planned to be - which is a good thing. It gives me time to do more exploring. So I thought of two options that I can do to handle this extra time. I could run back to Glacier and go over the Going to the Sun road again, but this time from West to East. Many bikers have done this and said it's a totally new experience doing it in the other direction. Plus, my park pass is good for 7 days, so I could get in for free. The other option is to push the miles hard again tomorrow, and then take a side trip into Oregon and check out some of the great roads there. I'm not sure what I want to do yet... see what I feel like in the morning I guess :)
Second great day - having a blast! Hope this pattern continues...
Miles Today: 574
Day 2 - Sunday
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Kalispell, Montana, United States
Other Entries
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1Prelog - The Start
Jul 092 days priorHarwood, United Statesphoto_camera0videocam 0comment 3 -
2Day 1 - Saturday
Jul 101 day priorWilliston, United Statesphoto_camera3videocam 0comment 0 -
3Day 2 - Sunday
Jul 11Kalispell, United Statesphoto_camera130videocam 1comment 11 -
4Day 3 - Monday
Jul 121 day laterLibby, United Statesphoto_camera33videocam 0comment 3 -
5Day 4 - Tuesday
Jul 132 days laterLolo Hot Springs, United Statesphoto_camera33videocam 0comment 11 -
6Day 5 - Wednesday
Jul 143 days laterBoise, United Statesphoto_camera12videocam 2comment 2 -
7Day 6 - Thursday
Jul 154 days laterArco, United Statesphoto_camera42videocam 1comment 0 -
8Day 7 - Friday
Jul 165 days laterYellowstone National Park, United Statesphoto_camera45videocam 0comment 1 -
9Day 8 - Saturday
Jul 176 days laterCody, United Statesphoto_camera49videocam 1comment 1 -
10Day 9 - Sunday
Jul 187 days laterLead, United Statesphoto_camera30videocam 1comment 0 -
11Day 10 - Monday
Jul 198 days laterHarwood, United Statesphoto_camera8videocam 0comment 0 -
12Postblog - The End
Jul 209 days laterHarwood, United Statesphoto_camera0videocam 0comment 0
Comments

2025-02-08
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Leah
2010-07-12
very pretty pictures!
Rick F
2010-07-13
Great photos Jon, keep 'em coming!
Linda Steffen
2010-07-13
glad all is well at this point....wish Kim was enjoying it with you! It looks awesome!
Kim
2010-07-13
Wow, that is amazing.. I miss the mountains! Someday we will go on a trip I promise.. think my butt cheeks would fall off if I went 500 miles a day though .. lol.. sorry babe... Kaylee and I are having a great time in Cali though.. We have so many things on our agenda, today is a sleep day for her though,.. It has been a very long day yest for her,,, After Cyndi gets off work we are gonna do some shopping.. :) We miss you!!
Cory Withers
2010-07-15
Yeah, I used to live in Montana, definitely a beautiful state. I actually used to live in Eureka which is right by Kalispell :) Glad you're having fun man.