Sunday, August 12, 2007

Day 26
















Picture 1 - A neat restored schoolhouse near Reardan, WA. Picture 2 - Kootenai River in Idaho. Picture 3 & 4 - Kootenai Falls in Montana. Picture 5 - Me standing in front of Kootenai Falls.
This morning I left Davenport heading for Shumate Harley Davidson in Spokane, WA. I just turned over 6,000 miles and needed my second oil change of the trip. My first oil change was at Santa Barbara H-D in Carpenteria, CA, just a couple of weeks ago. Although I am not in the business of writing about dealers on my trip, I think a comparison of the two might be in order. I called ahead at both dealers to see if I could get an oil change and both could accommodate. Both were very friendly and both had me in and out within an hour. Now let’s talk about the differences. In California they tried to add on all kinds of extras which would have cost me $341. After I objected and said all I wanted was and oil change, he backed out some of the items. When it was done I ended up with a bill for $145 for an oil change. This was the first time I ever had my oil changed at a dealer before so I did not have anything to compare it to. Today I was surprised to find out that my cost for the oil change in Spokane, WA was $66 and they even checked over the bike to make sure everything was still in place and nothing had come loose. I realize this is a small sample from which to base an opinion, but when an oil change costs more than twice as much, at one dealer over another dealer, I am forced to state my opinion. First I want to express my thanks to Shumate H-D in Spokane for doing a great job at a reasonable price. My recommendation to anyone planning on making a long trip on a Harley; don’t get your oil changed in the Los Angeles area and especially not at Santa Barbara H-D in Carpenteria, CA. I am not sure that the price was high just because it was near LA, but I would not want to test the theory if I were in the LA area again.

While I was at the dealership in Spokane, a delightful 68 year old gentleman overheard that I had ridden Route 66 and he couldn’t stop asking questions about my experience. I filled him in on some of the generalities of the trip and advised him to check out my blog if he wanted more detail about my experience. He told me that he would definitely do that because he wanted to ride it next year.

After leaving the dealership I programmed my GPS to take me to Glacier National Park. Because I was already east of US-2 the GPS pointed me to Idaho 95 which would head north and eventually connect with US-2. This seemed reasonable to me so I followed the GPS, but did that ever turn out to be a mistake. The problem was not with the road or the route, it was the fact that this route took me past a large amusement park in Sandpoint, ID. This being a weekend, the traffic was especially heavy on this road and to make matters worse, there was a major accident just north of the park which completely closed down the road. This created a major traffic jam that took me about an hour to get through, and when I finally thought I was through it, I found out that I then had to take a detour around the accident that was ahead.

After getting through the traffic problems I eventually linked up with US-2 and the ride again became delightful as usual. It wasn’t long before I was riding in the Idaho mountains next to the majestic Kootenai River. The longer I road along the river the nicer it got. I eventually came across a turnout that boasted a view of Kootenai Falls. I almost passed it up, but decided to make the stop; and am I glad I did. This river was one of the most powerful rivers I have seen on my trip. The falls are not large in terms of height, but the rush of water through this gorge and around the rocky islands was overwhelming. I was totally blown away. I took some really good video of the falls and some pictures as well. The pictures are good but they do not give the total impression that you get from the videos. Even the videos don’t capture it all, however. One aspect not captured on the videos is the thunderous sound that engulfed you as you stood near the river. The videos could pick up the sound of rushing water which by itself was impressive, but what it didn’t pick up was a thunderous din which emanated from the falls and reverberated from the surrounding mountains and canyon walls. At first I wasn’t sure it was there, but the longed I stayed there, the more I was aware of its presence.

You may recall that I had previously talked about the Meryl Streep movie, “The River Wild,” which was partly filmed at the Hellsgate, Canyon on the Rogue River in Oregon. I have now discovered that the movie scenes involving the major rapids were filmed at this site on the Kootenai River. I can easily see why they chose this spot.

Currently I am at Libby, Montana which is about 100 miles west of Glacier National Park which I intend to visit tomorrow. I have passed the 6,000 mile mark on my odometer and I have now been it 15 different states on my trip. When I started this journey, I had a vision of what I expected to experience. Although some of what I envisioned has been correct, the extent of what I have really experienced has far exceeded the vision. This is probably not unusual because how can you know what is there until you actually get out and see it for yourself. If you aren’t able read into the meaning of that statement, let me spell it out for you. Get out and discover America. You will never regret it. This is one great country.

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