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I woke up this morning after a good night's sleep. The KOA campground I stayed at was pretty nice. I went into the little store and got a snack for the morning and took off. I was pretty tired from the long ride yesterday. You wouldn't think sitting on a motorcycle would make you tired but its more work than you think. You have to constantly make adjustments and be much more vigilant of what's going on around you than with a car. At least with a car, you have more metal around you for protection. Riding a motorcycle with only your leathers to protect you makes you pay more attention. No such thing as a fender bender on a bike!
Todays ride turned out to be a pretty uneventful for the most part with the scenery being pretty boring. Since I was in Idaho, I made sure to bring along the phone number for a co-worker who just "retired" from where I work. Lucky b******! His name is Pat Durkin. In reality, Pat actually quit with three years to go before retirement. He just decided he had had enough and that he could live off savings for three years to officially retire with union pay at age 58. Pat was a powerhouse operator here in Ketchikan for about 30 years so he is one of the original folks that were grandfathered into the old union retirement setup. He will end up getting more in retirement then he made as a paycheck. His only son lives in Boise, so he decided to move there.
We had a cup of coffee and had a chance to talk about Ketchikan and his new place here in Boise. He has a nice small house with a bedroom just for his computer stuff. Pat was one of the more tech savvy guys at work so he has plenty of computer equipment and is a pretty serious gamer. He moved down here and now lives right across from a nice long trail, which he and his son walk pretty regularly. This guy is definitely enjoying his retirement!
Idaho has an 80 mph speed limit and I did every bit of it and sometimes a little more. I had a cop behind me at one point but he chose to pull over a nice looking couple that was going faster than me! I pulled over a couple of times hoping to find something to take a picture of but that’s when I realized that I had found the often mentioned BFE (Bum F___ Egypt) because this place is pretty desolate! I later pulled in for gas in a small town called Mountain Home, ID to find it was closed for the day. I kid you not; everything appeared to be closed including the gas station. This is where it got interesting!
As I am sitting at the closed gas station, a pickup truck pulls up next to me. The guy and gal in the truck were almost a caricature for the stereotypical redneck couple in a beat up old truck with a dog in the back, both dangling a cigarette from their mouths and speaking in slow drawl. They were nice folks though and pointed me to another gas station out in the boonies about 17 miles away. I thought to myself "OK, I go to this gas station they mention but if I hear banjo music, I am so out of there".
We sat there at the closed gas station for a bit, as they wanted to know more about my bike. It seems he used to have one just like it up until about 3 years ago. He was in an accident, which totaled the bike and nearly killed him. He had to have a few surgeries to put him back together but he says the accident was his fault for being stupid and not paying attention. That and too much speed caused him to lose control and trash both himself and the bike. Funny, but of course, in typical redneck stereotype, he had to show me some scars with the wife telling him "take off that damn shirt and show him that big scar"'. I about peed myself when she said that and had to look around to make sure this wasn’t some kind of TV show I had wandered into! So with their directions and well wishes, I hit the road again in search of gas. The little gas station they directed me to, was right where they said it would be and not much else around. I filled up and got back to riding.
I made it to Snowville, UT on that last fill-up, barely. I pulled in on gas fumes to the only gas station around. According to the folks in the gas station, it was a good thing I stopped or else I would be gas-less for quite a while down the road. The gas station was packed and I had to wait in line for gas even though they had at least 10 lines. There were cars everywhere waiting to get their chance at gas. I spoke to a couple of guys waiting for gas because it was too hot to just sit in the sun or in a car. Everybody, it seems, made it there on fumes! There didn't seem to be much to this town except for this big gas station and a little diner.
Lunchtime at Mollie's! This place is straight out of the 50's or something close to that. I don't think that was on purpose though! I had to laugh because everything in the diner was original! This place was not remodeled to look this way. Heck, even the waitress's hairstyle looked like something from the fifties! If you look closely at the picture inside the diner, you will see what I mean. The waitress behind the counter has a big hairdo and a swatch of hair in her face. Talk about feeling like you stepped into the Twilight Zone! I had a great chicken sandwich there, which made it feel like an episode of "Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives". I can’t knock the place though. The food was good and the service was fast. Luckily they had great air conditioning because it is a scorcher outside today. I can’t pull my jacket off because I am wearing my shoulder holster and don’t need the headache of having to explain myself. There isn’t much else going on in this tiny town, just dirt roads and a couple stray dogs that couldn't be bothered to chase me down the road.
I made it to Salt Lake City and the next KOA campground where I set up Camp Fred all over again. Nice and shady campground but right in the middle of town so not the quietest places around. I walked around a bit to stretch and upon coming back to my campsite; I met my neighbor, Luke, who had an RV next to my tent site. He and his wife are from Brazil and had been touring the US for three months in an RV and are now headed back to Brazil. Luke is a nice guy but a little hard to understand through a heavy accent. Occasionally, he would break into Portuguese for a few words, catch himself, and have to repeat in English. I think his wife was taking a nap because she never came out of the RV. After a great shower and getting comfortable, I went to the store at the campground and bought a nice large beer. Man, did it taste good after a hot day. I sat at my picnic table and really enjoyed that nice cold beer. This place has Wi-Fi as well so I took the opportunity to check email and Facebook. I headed to bed a little early since the hot sun really whipped me today.
Another good day of riding with 412.9 miles covered!
Following is some detail on the pictures I took:
Pic 1 - KOA: Goodbye Meridian,ID. Nice KOA campground with all the amenities.
Pic 2 - Pat's place in Boise: Stopped off at Pat Durkin's for a cup of coffee. He is home enjoying retirement. Nice place and brand new truck. It don't get better than this. He has a room in his small house for nothing but his computer equipment and toys. Right across the street is a walking path that looks pretty nice and he says it goes for quite a while. He said, he and his son get to do quite a bit together and retiring was one of his better decisions.
Pic 3 - BFE: This is what the middle of BFE Idaho looks like. Stopped in Hammett for gas and everything is closed. You have got to love 80 mph limit though. Thank God the trooper thought the other guy was going faster than me! Nice couple just pointed me to gas 17 miles away.
Pic 4 - Mollie's Diner: At Mollie's Diner in Snowville, UT having early dinner chicken sandwich. I made it to the only gas station for another 50 miles on fumes. The station had a line of cars with the same predicament. It feels good to sit in air conditioning. I don't think the 50's vibe is on purpose!
Pic 5 - Lunch!: Mollie's diner knows how to make a chicken sandwich right! I'm starting to feel like an episode of Diner's, Drive-ins, and Dives.
Pic 6 - Camp Fred: Camp Fred 2.0 in Salt Lake City. Nicer camp site this time and better Wi-Fi. Had to backtrack 15 miles because the site I went to did not have tent spaces. I already met nice folks here, Luke and his wife both from Brazil. They are headed home after 3 months travel.
Pic 7 - I Deserve this!: Much deserved beer, if you ask me! This beer is ice cold. Can't believe the campground has beer. I like this place!
Pic 8 - End of Day Miles: That's it for the end of this day. Includes 15 miles I had to back track because of bad KOA info. Riding through the desert really takes it out of you.
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