2025 Eastbound Trip 1 - Day 2

May 31, 2025

It was a beautiful night in North Dakota and I slept better than ever.  I awoke right on time at 5:30am and didn’t lounge very long before getting dressed, out of the tent, and taking care of morning duties.  Sarah and Bart were up and after a bit we had our breakfast: banana bread and oatmeal and her coffee and me herbal tea.  After that we took our time taking down the tents and getting things packed up.  The first destination is Dickinson where I’ll get gas and update the blog with yesterday’s entry and she’ll get a short charge on her car.

On the way I asked her to save some video of me on the bike and she did.  (I’ll have to fiddle with the format to get it to load.)

The stop in Dickinson didn’t take that long.  I filled up at the corner station and she got a charge next to a restaurant that wasn’t open yet.  I sat at one of their outside tables to update the blog.  Her she is, on her way.

I had looked the map and wanted to get off the freeway and take some local roads and the best solution was turn off at New Salem.  Along the way we stopped at rest area.  We were noticing the smoke from the Canadian fires.

I charted a course that started in New Salem and kept me off the competitive adventure of the freeway and would allow me to see some of North Dakota that I would not otherwise experience.  We said our goodbyes and agreed that we’d meet up at the campground this evening.

When I got to New Salem, I did a very short side trip to get a photo of my bike with “Salem Sue” in the background.

Now it was all about racking up the miles on some 2-lanes roads and enjoying the scenery, what I could see of it with the smoke.  You know, someone should do something about that Canadian smoke.  Maybe put a tariff on it.  Here’s a view from along the way.

I was calculating the distance I would travel and considering the remoteness, when I arrived in Center, ND I stopped to top off my tank.  It took 1.7 gallons and gave me a sense of ease.  The gas was $2.79 per gallon. What a deal!  That is two dollars less per gallon than I paid last week in North Bend, Washington.

Center is a really small place but appears to be to be quite pleasant with a strong sense of community.  There were banners on the light posts throughout the town with photos of the 2025 graduates.  Everything was clean and tidy.

A few miles out of town I saw a sign and hit the breaks and pulled into a small parking lot.  It said that this was the “Scientific Center of North America.”  There are various claims about where the center is but, according to Wikipedia:

Peter Rogerson, a professor of geography at the University at Buffalo in New York, used new scientific methods and the azimuthal equidistant projection to calculate the "geographic center" of the North American continent. By some extraordinary coincidence, he found that Center, North Dakota, is the continent's geographical center.

So I had to check it out.  There are three flags, one for each of the countries of North America, and, up a short walk, is a large rock and a sign marking the spot.

This is the type of “tourist site” I like to visit.

I was back on the road.  From here the road meandered east, with the occasional turn but mostly east and for many miles, mostly east.  There was very little traffic and the roads, in very good condition, were straight and took me past miles and miles of farm land.  Grain elevators and silos abound.  Here’s one on Hensler.

I stopped in McClusky to see these.

Along the way, in Bowden, I took this photo which shows my view for most of the day.

It was about 3pm when I arrived in Carrington and I decided to stop for a bite to eat but first saw that they had a courthouse.  Another photo of my bike in front of a county courthouse.

I spied a Subway and got my usual: 6” veggie with everything and a small drink.  I don’t do caffeine or artificial sweeteners so the lemonade is fine.  My bike was parked right outside.

I went across the street and topped up my gas at $2.89 a gallon and then it was back on the road.  More roads with smokey scenery.  This is in Hope.

I finally arrived at the Buffalo River State Park.  I pulled over to check which campsite I was looking for (had that on my phone) and took a photo of the train going by.

I found the Tesla right away and pulled in right in front of it.  The campground is primarily RVs, big ones.  I haven’t seen any other tenters and, for sure, no motorcycles.

I sat down to write this blog, with a beer, of course, and kick back for the rest of the day.

Here’s our site.

I covered 431 miles.

2025 Eastbound Trip 1 - Day 1

May 30, 2025

I got a whole day off after the last trip and used it to unpack, cleanup, and repack.  This next trip I am doing isn’t entirely solo as my wife and I are traveling to Pittsburgh, she and the dog in her car and me on my FJR.  We’ll likely be on different routes and meetup at a campground at the end of the day.  A few more days at home might have been nice but we are on a schedule to be in Pittsburgh to look after my son and girlfriend’s dog while they go out of town.  Two weeks later they are leaving again and we will be there for that as well.  Our target return day is the end of June.  During the two eels we are there my son and I will do a ride somewhere.

I did pretty well getting things packed and ready for today’s departure but things got sort of complicated at the last minute.  The first night out, a Friday, is the only one where we do not have a campsite reservation and there was some concern that we’d have a problem finding a place to stay.  The campground is Buffalo Gap in North Dakota and recreation.gov indicated that there were no reservations being taken and everything is first come, first served.  Since everything in Medora area is booked solid, we were concerned that the overflow might hit this campground since it’s less than 10 miles away.

The plan is for me to leave early and get there between noon and 1pm to see if it’s possible grab a site and she’d follow behind me a ways since she has to stop and charge the car once or twice.  Then, last night, a friend was over and spied a nail in one of the car’s tires.  Uh-oh.  So the plan was that we’d both leave at 7:30, me to North Dakota on the FJR and her in the car to a tire shop.

Since I was trying to make some time, I rode the freeway the whole way.  I’d planned to ride the 2-lane route but the freeway was fine considering that it’s extremely windy, a cross wind, and so the ride wan’t all that enjoyable anyway.  I stopped in Forsyth to change to my light gloves.  Big photo opportunity.

Then it was on to Miles City for gas, after a rest stop or two I arrived at the campground.  There are two loops with about 40 total sites and all but 5 or 6 are free.  I selected site 33 and got my tent set up, stowed my gear in it, and her know we had a place.  

Then I rode to Medora.

I’d been here before and except for being at the door of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, I’m not sure why this is such a tourist Mecca.  It is full of gift shops, ice cream places, and the like, along with a couple museums.  I stopped at the little store for some beer and then hustled back to the campground.  It was pretty warm, in the upper 70s, so it felt good to shed the riding gear and don shorts and a t-shirt.

I sat down with the beer and a book I’m reading and waited for my camping partners to arrive.

While I waited, I watched some people try to back a trailer into the site next to me.  That took them about 30 minutes.  That brings up an issue I have with RV owners/drivers.  IMO, they should have to get a CDL(Commercial Drivers License) since the some of the rigs they pilot are as large as the trucks and trailers that commercial drivers use.   I’ve seen all sorts of crazy stuff by these clueless types, particularly passing me and letting their RV (motor home or trailer) encroach on my lane.  I have to have a special license to ride a motorcycle, both a written test and performance test, but it seems that anyone with a regular license can legally drive these RVs, some of them as large as a small house, which, of course, they are.

They showed up a little after 3pm.  All is well with the tire.  The place she went to said they couldn’t get her in until the afternoon and suggested that she call their bigger place, mostly commercial tires, which she did.  They said to come on over and they had her back on the road by 9:30.

We got our big tent set up, the one that attaches to the car and then sat down to a great feta salad she’d made from all our refrigerator leftovers.

The dog got walked.

It was a 305 mile day.

2025 PNW Trip 1 - Table on Contents

 Coming soon….

2025 PNW Trip 1 - The Wrap Up

May 29, 2025

Now that I’m back home it’s time for my usual wrap up about the ride.  Some numbers to start:

Total miles ridden: 2,202

Longest day: Day 1 was 441 miles

Shortest day:  99 miles doing the Hurricane Ridge ride in Sequim

Days traveling: 6, that’s 3 days out and 3 days back

Total days gone: 9

Nights camping out: 4

Number of gas stops: 13

Total gas used: 44.038 gallons

Total cost of gas: $169.01

Most expensive gas: $4.79/gallon in North Bend, Washington

Least expensive gas: $3.08/gallon in Townsend, Montana

Average miles per gallon: 50 mpg

Cost of campsites: 2 for $3.50 and 2 for $7.50 for a total of $22

Total travel costs (gas plus camping plus a bridge toll): $196.51

Those are some basic numbers.  BTW, that most expensive gas in North Bend, WA now makes sense as to why I saw more Teslas there than anywhere else.  No kidding, I was guessing that every third car I saw was a Tesla.  That said, North Bend looked like a REALLY nice place and I want to look into it further.  It had a good feel just like the smaller communities of Dayton and Pomeroy. 

I had no close calls on the trip and considering how much traffic I rode with I consider myself fortunate and a bit lucky.  I tend to ride at the speed limit or even a little bit under so I’m always keeping an eye on my mirrors since cars and trucks are passing me.  When it’s a crowded freeway, I ride with the flow, trying to stay in the gap that forms between packs of cars.  I’m in no hurry and as long as I am not impeding the flow I do my own thing.  It’s not unusual that I will pull over and let someone pass me.  They can have the anxiety of trying to get somewhere as quickly as possible, not to mention the option of picking up a Performance Award (AKA a speeding ticket.)

Since this was not my first outing doing the camping thing by motorcycle, having started doing so in 1979, I’ve pretty much got a routine down in terms of what to bring and what to leave at home.  I’d like to travel a bit lighter in my clothes bag but have to bring options for a variety of weather conditions both on the road and at my destination, plus I have to bring my running stuff since I always grab a good run along the way.  As I do after every trip, I’ll completely unpack and evaluate what I brought and didn’t use, putting all of that in a separate pile.  Then I give good thought to what gets rejected on the next trip.  There are a few things that don’t get used that always make it back onboard such as my first aid and tool kits, although I might purge a few tool items.

So, today it is laundry and wash the bike.  I’ll also unroll the tent as I packed it wet plus there are some bird dropping on the rain fly that I want to wash off.

Another great trip in the record book.

2025 PNW Trip 1 - Day 9

May 28, 2025

It was a chilly morning, and damp, but I woke up at 4:30am, which is my regular time in my home tine zone, so I went ahead and got the day going.  I got everything pretty much ready to go and had my oatmeal and cocoa before putting on my layers.  It was 41°F.  

I headed out about 6:30am.  I was riding into the east, against the rising sun, on that very curvy road.  I had to go slow.  Luckily there wasn’t any traffic so I could take my time.  When I arrived at Lolo Pass I stopped to change my clocks to Mountain Time and take a photo.

I rode through Lolo to Missoula where I stopped at a city park to update my blog with yesterday’s entry.  After getting gas I hopped on the freeway since it is Hwy 12 and roads that to Garrison where it backed a two lane again.  It’s a nice ride and after I a while I caught up to a guy riding a Harley and stuck behind him all the way to Helena.  Following him through the curves I could tell he was a newer rider.  I hope he didn’t feel pressure from me riding behind him.

In Helena I decided to shed some layers as it was heating up so parked in from of the state capitol to do so.

I thought about stopping at Subway for lunch but the one I’d stopped at before looks like it was gone and the app routed me to one in a Walmart.  No thanks.  I got back on the road and headed for Townsend where I topped up the gas tank,

The ride out of Townsend heading east is great as it turns into lots of curves as it climbs some elevation.

Once on top, I thought it was photo time again.

I stopped in Harlowton for a snack and then buzzed on back to Billings, stopping to top of the gas before I pulled into the garage about 4:30pm.

Another great ride and a safe one.  The best.

It was a 409 mile day.

2025 PNW Trip 1 - Day 8

May 27, 2025

The wind that blew so heavily yesterday and last night calmed down to a very light breeze by morning.  I slept pretty well as is usually the case after a motorcycle ride.  I was up about 5:30 and got dressed to go out on a hike. 

I first wanted see the bridge from above so I walked up a rise on the other side of the parking lot. The view was great.

Just up the river in the other direction I spied a pelican looking for breakfast.

From up on top of that rocky outcropping I had a good view of the road, the river, and the whole camping area.

I crossed the bridge and took a few shots on the railroad.

Then I hiked to the sign I’d passed last night.

Instead of following the trail along the creek, I went to left and slowly gained some altitude.  There were lots of flowers in bloom.

I continued on this trail and it got steeper and steeper but I kept going so I could get some photos of the canyons.

On the way back I grabbed a shot of the train trestle as it goes over the creek.

I went through the morning proceedings of packing while I also put some breakfast together.  It was oatmeal and cocoa today.

I was troubled as my phone did not charge overnight.  I’ve known there is something fiddle about its charging port and so I put it on the charger hooked up to the bike’s battery and hoped it would charge.  Without the phone I don’t have a map. This will soon be remedied as I’ve orders a dashcam system that comes with GPS and a few other features.

I rode south out of Yakima Canyon and knew that I would eventually encounter Hwy 12 which would take be all the way to Lolo and, sure enough, there it was.  I got on it and headed eat, mostly, as it shared the road with another highway number and, instead of being just a 2-lane, it was a 4-lane and pretty much a freeway.

I rode this to Richland  and then to Walla Walla where it shrank to the 2-lane road I prefer to ride on.  I did stop for gas in Walla Walla before heading to Lewiston.  The ride through that eastern Washington is quite pleasant with hills and large, sweeping curves past miles and miles of farmland. 

I stopped for lunch in Pomeroy at their city park, the same place I’d stopped on the way west.  I’d fiddled with the charging cable on my phone and discovered that I have to press in the right side of the plug for it to make good contact.  I’ll sort this out at some point but I think I’m going to pick up one of those magnetic, wireless chargers as a backup.  I can rig that up in my tank back and then not worry about charging.

My lunch consisted of the other half of yesterday’s apple and the remains of a blueberry muffin from my mom’s place.  It was just right.  While in Pomeroy I set up a hot spot with my phone and got yesterday’s blog posted.  Now I am all up to date.

I headed back on the highway and did some climbing before reaching the summit.  It was time for a photo.

At the Slaterville rest area I stopped to shed some layers.  I still had the rain and thermal liners in my jacket and at 80° it was time for a change.

I scooted along the Clearwater River and stopped at my usual spot, a Sinclair station, in Kamiah and topped up the gas.  They have a market so I picked up a beer and some snacks to have once I get camp set up and sit down to write this.  The beer is a tall Imperial IPA and was on sale of $1.69.  What’s not to like?  And junk food?  You bet.  I’m on vacation.

I stopped at a couple campgrounds along Hwy 12 just to see the situation compared to when I came through last week.  Agar Campground was empty and I was tempted to stop there as it’s pretty nice, nestled in tall trees right along the Lochsa River but I wanted to get in some more miles today rather than do them tomorrow so I pressed on.

Of course, a photo or two is necessary.

I toured the Wilderness Gateway campground where I stayed last week and it was almost empty, a big difference from what I found there before.  On I went and I pulled into my destination campground, Jerry Johnson.  I stayed here last year in the pouring rain and a zillion years ago with my kids.  I did the loop and saw that there were only about 5 other campers here.  

The problem with this campground is that it’s really best for RV.  All the sites are back-in and most don’t really have a place to pitch a tent.  I did the loop and the stopped at site #2 to check it out.  The picnic table and fire ring are located above the parking area, like most sites, but at least this one has enough space for a tent next to the picnic table.  

I got the bike unloaded, set up the tent, got my riding gear off, and sat down to write this.  I suppose that I’ll be posting it tomorrow from somewhere along the road.

It was a 411 mile day.