Beautiful Day. Much better than yesterday as far as wind. It was upper 60s to lower 70s all day, lots of sun, a light wind from the west, and great roads. Today, I left Libby heading west, crossing the Idaho border, and into Bonners Ferry. I was very impressed by Bonners Ferry - a very beautiful small town along the river. Definitely one of the towns on the top of my list of great cities I've visited on this trip. I definitely could see my self living there.

Heading south now into Sandpoint, ID . Uh, compared to Bonners Ferry, this place is more like Fargo - not very scenic and road construction everywhere! However, on the south side you cross the middle of the big lake by a long dike, which is pretty cool. Not much farther down the road was Coeur D'Alene. This city is definitely growing, as there were new box store buildings all over the place. And traffic up the wazzooo! All of course running through more road construction. Because of all the hectic, I didn't stick around like I was planning on doing to check it out some more. So I jumped on I-90 heading east to get out of town.

However, I did gain a lot of appreciation for this place because the interstate was awesome with a long, long downhill slope and tight curves. It was quite fun, even for an interstate. This lasted for about 10 miles, which is about where I needed to get off and get on hwy 3 heading south again towards St. Maries. This road, which is a official scenic byway, was very cool. This road is probably the best cruising road I've been on so far up to this point . The curves were just awesome, and it ran next to some good-sized lakes and rivers that were very clear.

I rolled into St. Maries. Here's another town I could live at. It has almost everything you need - from auto parts stores, clothing stores, sports stores, lots of restaurants, rafting down the river, etc, etc. This is where I stopped for lunch at Zip's. Right next door was Kimberly's Hair & Nails - I took that pic for you, honey! I needed to find something with your name on it - and here I did!

I took a stroll up and down the main drag and snapped a couple of pics. Lots of activity going on in this town! I jumped on St. Joe Scenic Byway, which heads east up and over the pass and towards St. Regis in Montana. THIS ROAD WINS HANDS DOWN FOR THE BEST ROAD I'VE EVER BEEN ON!!! I couldn't believe how awesome and beautiful this road was! I knew it was supposed to be great, but it exceeded my expectations. This is a very scenic byway, with hardly any traffic at all . The reason for this mostly is due to the fact that from the pass down the Montana side is 15 miles of gravel. This unfortunately keeps many bikers away. But on the plus side, it just enhances the excitement of this road for the people that do ride it. Curves, miles and miles of running water, tall tree-covered mountains, excellent road condition - simply the best of the best! I am going to have to take everyone with a bike on this road someday. This road is why you ride motorcycles - or at least the type of road you dream to ride someday. While I was riding this road, I've seen a ton of scenery that you normally only see on road maps, tour guides, etc. Just let me say that it was worth riding the 15 miles of gravel for. The pictures I have of this road doesn't do it justice at all. They're pathetic!

I did take a stop at the town of Avery on the byway to take a few snaps of their railroad museum. Seems like a very peaceful place to live. Very secluded.

Finally, I entered St . Regis, got gas and some items at the gift shop, and sprang down to Missoula, MT on I-90. Wow, it's only about a 70 mile stretch, but I must have ran into 5 or 6 sections of road construction. Sometimes my lane would jump across to the opposing lane side, and sometimes the opposite. I guess no matter where you are in this country, you have road construction season.

After stopping for a quick supper break at Arby's, I jumped on US 93 and headed south towards Lolo. Missoula, by the way, is a very beautiful, clean, growing city. Yet another city at the top of my list. One thing I love about Montana is that all roads are either 70 or 75 MPH. They cruise along man! However, when they say 25 or 30 around a curve, they mean it. Not like in North Dakota where they mark a 50 mph curve at 30. Here, a 30 mph curve is a 30 mph curve!

Stopped at Lolo, topped off on fuel, and jumped on US 12 heading back west. This is the Lolo pass road, which is very famous among motorcyclists. I feel, though, that after riding the top-notch St. Joe Scenic Byway that this would dullify this road a bit. I would only be going about 20 miles of the 133 miles today though. This will land me at Lolo Hot Springs for the night.

Great Day - beautiful scenery, great roads, wonderful weather - couldn't ask for more!

Miles today: 394