May 9

The morning overviews come early. Most mornings we meet around 7 to 7:15 and are on the bikes and on the road by 7:30 to 7:45. The issue for me is that almost every morning I have radio interviews that start around 5:45 to 6. That means while everyone else is still sleeping or eating breakfast I'm talking to someone two time zones away.

We left Richland headed for Dayton, WA. I-82E back to Hwy12. The morning was crisp but not freezing. The sky was clear and blue and the scenery was breath taking. Once again even though it was mid morning when we stopped in Dayton the parking lot at the Shell station was full. We fueled and got a Coke or coffee, stretched our legs, got back on our bikes and off we rode.

It's amazing how beautiful this part of the country is. It's always funny to me how people from the East ride through the Western states with their mouths open and people from the West do the same thing when they get to the Eastern states.

Everywhere we looked you could see snow capped mountains. We passed rivers that were crystal clear. I'm always looking for deer, elk and other animals but about 12 miles outside Grangeville, ID I saw something I'd never seen before. It was a dog as big as a house! Or to be more precise it was a house someone had built to LOOK like a dog. It's a B&B. Someday I'll have to go back and check it out.

Fuel stops in Grangeville and off again.

Out of Grangeville 95S through Lucille, Riggins, and into New Meadows. We then pick up Hwy 55S and head toward Donnelly and into Cascade, ID for our next fuel stop. We try to ride 120 to 150 miles between fuel stops. We have so many different types of bikes just to be on the safe side we stop short a lot of the time.

By now it was beginning to be a pattern. People everywhere, Coke, coffee, restroom and back on the bike.

From Cascade we headed to Stanley, ID. 55S into Banks, there we took the Wildlife Canyon Scenic ByWay. Let me say here that almost every highway is a scenic highway where we were. But the highways that said "scenic" were so much more. If you're ever out that way take a few side trips, it's worth it. Off the Scenic ByWay we turn onto Hwy 21 and head into Stanley for another break.

The mayor of Sun Valley was waiting for us in Stanley. As we fueled Morrie realized he and Click had been this route before. He asks the Mayor about a scenic overlook and the Mayor said it was about 40 miles up the road on our way to Sun Valley. Morrie got George and me and off we went ahead of the group.

Click Baldwin was the most famous man I ever knew, he was also my friend. He had ridden every ride, every year. He was the Harley dealer from Gastonia, NC. Last year after the ride he was in Montana and was hit by a car and killed while riding. I could never explain how much he meant to me and how much I miss him and WE missed him this year.

The three of us followed the Mayor to the scenic overlook. There Morrie pulled out a flask and we sprinkled some of Clicks ashes out over the snow and one of the most beautiful views I'm sure click ever looked out upon.

We waited on the group and fell in line to ride the last 30 miles of the day into Sun Valley.

The Sun Valley Lodge is a beautiful place and the people there treated us like we were all the most special people that had ever stayed there. Only one problem, we got there late, around 9 and we were leaving at 7:30 not much time but enough to know I'll be back...Miles, 542