8th June
I stayed up late last night (0200), so slept in and missed breakfast (normally lukewarm coffee and crappy doughnuts – so no great loss). I pack the bike and I’m on the road for 1000. I make my way to BMW of Salt Lake…
I was last here at Easter. The Adv needs an oil & filter change as part of it’s 66k minor service. I’ll do the rest of the service with Jorge in Oregon on Friday – but I like to get the oil changes done on time. They have an excellent deal and do the job, while I wait, for $41 – about £25.
As I leave, heading north, I realise I’ve not really planned any kind of route today. I’m going to be staying with Jay (Sasquatch) in Boise on Wednesday, so I take a slow ride up the 89 towards the Idaho border. The road is wide and unchallenging, but the views are lush alpine meadows, although I’m only at 4000 ft…
I keep looking for somewhere to stop for lunch, but find only a succession of MacDonalds, Burger Kings & Taco Bells (what is it with Taco Bell? – I never see anyone in them, but they’re everywhere
). I decided that I’ll wait for a small town café to appear…
I notice a sign at the side of the road…
How does one end up in this line of business? Do children ask their Career Teachers about it? Do people have a burning desire to collect bulls’ semen? How do they transport it? In one of those foam coffee cups with the lids on?
Hmmm - I’m obviously getting bored with wide roads, so I turn left at random…
…through some fantastic twisties, heading north west…
…into some more open meadowland, before quite suddenly coming across some new tar being laid. I can either go through it or turn back at least 15 miles. I press on, covering the bike with tar – bugger!
The road suddenly turns into a gravel and dirt track. It’s well surfaced, mostly recently graded dirt, and I keep 55-60 mph up along it. A little further along, I come across some old friends…
…Mormon Crickets. The picture above is of a dirt road, not a gravel track. The ‘gravel’ is a plague of crickets – millions of them. They are much bigger now – for nourishment, they seem to be feeding off their own dead
I step crunchingly around and take a few pics – this one gives an indication of how big these things are - it also shows the bloody tar & crap
…
I set off once again, it’s a very temperate 75º F and the scenery around here is very pleasant – almost European – thankfully the crickets seem to keep to their own territory…
I realise it’s now after 1600 and I’ve not eaten – I’m starving. I ride north towards the nearest large town, the weirdly named Pocatello. I find Oliver’s Restaurant and have a huge spaghetti dinner – then find a car wash and blast off all the tar and crap that I can …
I check into the EconoLodge for the evening – for a change, not feeling too hot & bothered.
I stayed up late last night (0200), so slept in and missed breakfast (normally lukewarm coffee and crappy doughnuts – so no great loss). I pack the bike and I’m on the road for 1000. I make my way to BMW of Salt Lake…
I was last here at Easter. The Adv needs an oil & filter change as part of it’s 66k minor service. I’ll do the rest of the service with Jorge in Oregon on Friday – but I like to get the oil changes done on time. They have an excellent deal and do the job, while I wait, for $41 – about £25.
As I leave, heading north, I realise I’ve not really planned any kind of route today. I’m going to be staying with Jay (Sasquatch) in Boise on Wednesday, so I take a slow ride up the 89 towards the Idaho border. The road is wide and unchallenging, but the views are lush alpine meadows, although I’m only at 4000 ft…
I keep looking for somewhere to stop for lunch, but find only a succession of MacDonalds, Burger Kings & Taco Bells (what is it with Taco Bell? – I never see anyone in them, but they’re everywhere
). I decided that I’ll wait for a small town café to appear…I notice a sign at the side of the road…
How does one end up in this line of business? Do children ask their Career Teachers about it? Do people have a burning desire to collect bulls’ semen? How do they transport it? In one of those foam coffee cups with the lids on?
Hmmm - I’m obviously getting bored with wide roads, so I turn left at random…
…through some fantastic twisties, heading north west…
…into some more open meadowland, before quite suddenly coming across some new tar being laid. I can either go through it or turn back at least 15 miles. I press on, covering the bike with tar – bugger!
The road suddenly turns into a gravel and dirt track. It’s well surfaced, mostly recently graded dirt, and I keep 55-60 mph up along it. A little further along, I come across some old friends…
…Mormon Crickets. The picture above is of a dirt road, not a gravel track. The ‘gravel’ is a plague of crickets – millions of them. They are much bigger now – for nourishment, they seem to be feeding off their own dead
I step crunchingly around and take a few pics – this one gives an indication of how big these things are - it also shows the bloody tar & crap
…I set off once again, it’s a very temperate 75º F and the scenery around here is very pleasant – almost European – thankfully the crickets seem to keep to their own territory…
I realise it’s now after 1600 and I’ve not eaten – I’m starving. I ride north towards the nearest large town, the weirdly named Pocatello. I find Oliver’s Restaurant and have a huge spaghetti dinner
– then find a car wash and blast off all the tar and crap that I can …I check into the EconoLodge for the evening – for a change, not feeling too hot & bothered.
