Day Five

No pictures this post. I'm in Jackpot, Nevada. I don't think this hotel has even heard of the Internet, let alone provide high speed service. I'm on my Sprint Mobile Broad Band card, and only have 1 or 2 bars signal.

But that's par for the course for today. Day 5 started out perfect. Just perfect. I got up before sunrise and was on the road just as the sun was starting to peek over the mountains. I crossed the Idaho/Washington border 10 minutes after I left the motel and after about a half hour, I came upon some of the most spectacular scenery I've ever had the privilege of seeing. I have some good video to post later.

I climbed about 5,000 feet before it leveled off, and then I was riding the ridge of a mountain for 30 miles. The sun was just coming up and it was getting light. I stopped at a scenic turnout to take some pictures, and the silence was deafening. There was no traffic, no one around, no wind and no sound. Just perfect.

After I got started again, I saw several Mule Deer, and one crossing the road as I came around a curve. Got that on video! I remember seeing signs warning of open range cattle, but on top of the mountain???? Yep. Big old Brown Cow standing right on the side of the road. From a distance I thought it was a moose. Must have had something to do with the "Moose Crossing" sign that I passed a few miles beforehand. But, alas, no moose. Just a big ole Brown Cow. Hmmm, I think I'll head over to the restaurant and have a nice steak dinner in honor of that cow.

I noticed at a gas stop that I had lost a screw that holds my kickstand foot on. A kickstand foot is just an installed "puck" that increases the surface area of your kickstand so it won't sink into the hot asphalt. I don't have to remember to bring a puck or have to find a pop can to crush with this handy little device. Well, I didn't want to lose (Amy, notice I got it right this time!) it, so I decided to take it off. Damn. It's a STANDARD allen screw, not metric. Everything else on the Bavarian Machine is metric. Oh well.

As luck would have it, I pulled off the highway in Boise to get gas, and right there on the exit ramp I see a BMW motorcycle shop! WOO HOOO. I was able to get a new screw and didn't have to take it off. I also got a couple of BMW Boise T-shirts, one for me and one for Patricia. These, I put in my right saddle bag, which also contained my rain gear, thermal liner, tennis shoes and spare Helen Two Wheels bag.

The contents of the saddle bag are important for the next part of the narrative. Apparently, when I placed the T-shirts into the saddle bag, I failed to close it all the way. As I'm driving down the highway, a trucker shouts out his window to me. Of course, I can't hear anything, but I read his lips. "Hey DUMBASS! Your saddle bag is open!"

Remember the list of contents above? Everything except the Helen Two Wheels bag is gone. I can probably get alone without tennis shoes and just wear my riding boots. The rain gear...no way. With hurricane Gustov headed for the Gulf, I'm sure to run into rain sooner or later. And the liner. I know I'm starting to get into the south west, but altitude makes a huge difference in temperature. I've experienced that these last 5 days. So it looks like I'm going on a little shopping spree tomorrow.

Ok, enough for now. I'll post some pictures and video from today when I'm in Vegas tomorrow. I'll be sure to stay somewhere that has high speed Internet access.

Mileage for the day: 424
Mileage for the trip: 2844