WOW what a ride

Today we left Missoula under mostly sunny skies and had dry weather all day. After stopping at a car wash so the guys could knock off the top layer of mud from their bikes we continued West on highway 12 AKA the Lolo Pass road across Idaho. It was a fantastic road with lots of curves and great views of the accompanying Salmon River. Then the scenery opened up with huge rolling grassland hills.

Some of the guys wanted to touch base with Oregon so we headed that way. We lost Bruce while searching for a campground and after several hours of backtracking he found us. It was getting late and with no prospects for a campground we rode to Ontario, OR, which is in the Boise metro area, and grabbed rooms at a motel 6 for the night.

All in all today more than made up for yesterday's wet and cold weather.

End of the day

We weathered the cold rainy day and are spending the night in Missoula. The weather is suppose to clear off and warm  up starting tomorrow. 😀

This not Sy from Duck Dynasty

A little mud bogging

We've been having a good time riding in the rain on muddy roads. First the road leaving Jom Parsons where the 2 Gold Wings and the Kawasaki decided to lay down in the road. Half of Franks bike was in the ditch. Locals helped get him out. Then it was a long section of road construction and it's not even noon yet.

On the road again

We are spending the night at Jim Parsons out side of Augusta, MT. He has over 700 acres near the Rocky Mountains of Glacier National Park.

Steve and I caught up with Frank, Bruce and Jerry. It has been a nice relaxing evening here enjoying the scenery and serenity of the peace and quiet away from the noises in the big city.

Jim Parsons place

The view in Jim's front yard

Jim's shooting bench where he can shoot up to 300 yards.

An old log building in Jim's backyard.

Saturday

We took a little ride this morning of about 180 miles then had a nice lunch in Billings. Now back at the rally waiting for the closing ceremony and final concert. Jerry took off this morning to meet Frank and Bruce in Helena, MT.  Steve and I will meet them tomorrow.

14 bikes 10 of which were K1600s

Still at the Rally

It's been hot but enjoyable here at the rally. Jerry took a ride to Custer's Battlefeild. Steve and I hung around the rally. I went to a vintage bike restoration seminar and walked around the vendor areas. Tonight a bunch of the BMW K1600 owners gathered to talk about our bikes, drink beer and listen to music.

Steve relaxing

Custer monument 

The town of Forsyth

Jerry almost ran out of gas

Steve "letting" someone take picture of his bike

BMW MOA rally

Here we are in Billings, MT for the next 4 days attending the annual BMW rally with 5,000 other BMW enthuisist. It was a short 70 mile ride from Red Lodge to here. We were met by 93 deg temperatures which will make the cool nights feel good.

We got our tents set up and are just relaxing and visiting. Registration for the rally is in the morning so we'll start investigating the goings on at that time.

The domed building is one of the beer gardens that I'm sure will be well attended this weekend

Here is our camp spot. Since this picture was taken several other tents squeezed in.

Just some of the bikes that showed up early like us.

Red Lodge, MT

We had a leisurely breakfast in Cody this morning and headed out on the highway for a short drive of 118 miles to Red Lodge, MT over Chief Joseph and Beartooth pass unarguably the top 2 motorcycle roads in the country. The views are spectacular and the winding road with 65-70 mph speed limits is icing on the cake.

We rolled into town under threatening storm clouds but we're able to set up camp with dry weather. Steve decided to stay in camp while Jerry and I went to town for a burger.

My cockpit

Jerry in the rear

Beartooth mountain 

We will be in this state for a week.

Our camp sight in the Custer National Forest.