2010 June 20th: Happy Father’s Day
Mark:
I fell asleep last night before Niko had finished with his portion of the blog. When I woke up this morning, the first thing I did was go back through the file that he had saved. I made a few quick changes and then I had some more saved the file and then I posted it. I woke up Niko and we went to get our breakfast that was being served in the hotel.
We had a rather late morning and we didn’t even get on the road until 10:30am. This was partially my fault because I ran into a fellow biker and major traveler in the parking lot and we exchanged information about our favorite roads. His name was Ken and he was from the San Francisco area. He was pointing out several different roads for us to go on and I in turn gave him a few great roads in the Rockies. I ended up spending far too much time talking to him and not enough time getting myself ready to go. I wish you safe travels, Ken. Thank you for the information.
I would also like to thank the staff at the Days Inn in Bozeman Montana, especially Marcia, she went out of her way to give me a bad time and to also make me feel welcome. I very much enjoyed the time spent while we were there. The rooms were nice, the cookies were great and the pool was wonderful, but the real topper was the big bucket of towels set out by the front door for bikers to wipe the dew off of their motorcycles in the morning. Now that’s hospitality!
Once we were on the road, we took the Interstate 90 west and rode until we needed gas and then we stopped at Butte Montana. I was way overdressed and I took off some layers and Niko saw a place selling Huckleberry Smoothies. We both thought that sounded really good. I told Niko that it being Father’s Day he should go over there and buy one for each of us. When he came back he was talking about the girl that worked there. I had to ask him if he got her number, and his answer was “No”. We drank the smoothies, which were excellent and then we got ready to ride again. Niko wanted to go back over to the smoothie place and get her number but instead he gave her a business card and thanked her for the great smoothie.
We got back on the Interstate and continued on riding until we needed gas again. We filled up in Superior Montana and right back on the road. Today was really just a travel day. We stopped a little later at a rest area to see about getting a map of Idaho. We asked an attendant and he had one for us. Just as we were about to leave a nice woman pulled up and had to tell us that we passed her back in Missoula Montana. She also explained that she was 86 and traveling across the country from North Carolina to British Columbia. We ended up talking to her for quite awhile because she was really talkative.
When we did go to leave, I led out and got back into traffic only to realize that Niko wasn’t behind me. I pulled over thinking that he had a hard time getting into traffic and would be along shortly. I started to get a little worried because he was taking so long and I decided to ride into the grass on the side of the interstate and go back to find him. It is easy for me to forget that I’m riding an adventure bike that is made for that type of riding. I got onto the concrete drainage ditch and rode back along the interstate until I saw him just starting to get into traffic. Niko pulled over and I drove up the side and back onto the road. We talked for a couple minutes and he told me that he forgot to put on his glasses and they ended up getting smashed. I was happy that he wasn’t hurt or crashed on the side of the road.
We rode until we came to Spokane Washington and then we stopped for something to eat. We found a place to stay and they worked on doing some maintenance on the motorcycles. Niko was reading the pamphlet about the city and found a restaurant named “Niko’s”. He wanted to go and find it and have some dinner there. We had just eaten and I certainly wasn’t hungry but I looked it up on the internet to find out how to get there. It turned out that it was about 10 city blocks away and so we left and went for a walk. When we got there we asked for a takeout menu and when we saw the prices decided to leave. We walked around in downtown Spokane Washington and found the giant Radio Flyer and heard a concert going on so we walked over by that. We headed back to the hotel and stopped to grab a shake on the way back.
We both talked about it being a rather uneventful day but a lot of things did happen, even though we didn’t take any pictures or shoot any video today. We put on 396 miles today. It was a good day and a great Father’s day despite the late start.

Niko:
Today began late and slow with a chef catered breakfast. We got out after ten by quite a bit, and got out on the interstate towards Spokane. The freeway actually wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be, seeing as wind didn’t quite start up yet. We dressed heavily, so the wind didn’t cut so easily into my clothes today. We stopped for gas after a long winding portion of freeway in a town called Butte. I noticed a sign across from the station we were at advertising “Real Huckleberry Smoothies!” Dad told me to get him one for father’s day, and I thought it actually sounded like a good deal. I ordered two from the beautiful Heather at the coffee stand and talked to her a little once we both finished. We got back on the road again and drilled on. There were a couple more uneventful gas stops, but mostly riding and more riding.
We stopped at a rest stop in Idaho for a map from a rest stop assistant. As we were leaving, an older lady pulled up next to us with a cat in the back. We asked to see her map for roads in Washington and talked for a while. Eventually we moved out and I kept thinking, “Wow! Rain made my visor so hard to see through!” then it donned on me… I forgot my glasses. I flashed my Brights to let dad know I was stopping, and turned around, using the emergency lane to get back, and searched the ground. I found them on the onramp crushed, twisted, and missing a lens. After a minute of cursing, I picked them up and rode back to see dad riding back towards me in a concrete drainage ditch off the side of the road. He regrouped with me and we rode to Spokane. Pulling out though, do remark that I pulled my first wheelie.
We arrived in Spokane valley and stopped at Jack in the Box for dinner. Two punk drivers pulled into the lot too fast and came close to hitting the BMW, but turned just in time. They came in with baggy pants and smoking, thinking they were cool, but we settled for “they’ll see the light.” We found a Days Inn in Spokane and unpacked. We then went for a walk downtown and found a restaurant called Niko’s. Imagine that! An expensive Greek restaurant. We saw the sights, had a laugh, got shakes, and went back to our room. Our night reached its end and I must say a good night to all.