Started this the evening: 6/8/09:
Wall, South Dakota sure felt like a long way to what ended up being a small town in Montana where I actually found a very reasonable hotel that actually turned out to be better than I had thought...for the price. I had hoped to make it to Helena, Montana but with all of the rain that kept me company, I thought it was time to call it quits. I was actually warned by some ladies at a local store/gas station that the pass is not something I want to do on a motorcycle because of deer and other wildlife up there. But that was before they realized I was riding a Goldwing. :)
You know, I just realized that I left something out that I think was very important. I have traveled across the country three times in my life and typically never stopped to smell the roses and see some of the significant landmarks that are along the way. One in particular is Mount Rushmore so I finally said to myself that I was going to see Mount Rushmore. I love history so this was way cool
to me. It was about 28-30 miles off of the freeway and I am so glad I stopped to see it. It was amazing and if you have not seen it and are anywhere near Liberty, SD then you have to go see it. It feels different being there as opposed to seeing it on TV. So I bought a T-shirt, magnet, and a pin for my leather vest. I did not have enough time to stop at the site of Custer's Last Stand (The Battle of Little Big Horn). I wold have loved to do that as well.There really was not anything eventful in my ride from Wall, SD to Three Forks...and a Spoon, MT., other than a miserable amount of rain and 37-40 degree temperature and of course, Mount Rushmore.
Now the next day was nice because it was nice and cool as I was packing up the bike with all my gear. It basically stopped raining and made it a little more pleasant but that didn't last long. As I was about 70 miles east of Helena, MT, I encountered a bit more rain. Even though I was pretty dry, I felt a slight chill in my journey to Helena. I did finally arrive and decided to get something hot to eat and drink before calling someone that Lisa knows indirectly through her work. There is a company in Helena, MT that merged with her company and one of the guys that heard about my trip wanted to have me come to their office to meet everyone. What I discovered is that this gentleman (Tom) that I was to meet was diagnosed with leukemia a few years back as well as his own father around the same time. I will tell you that they are both in remission and have a fantastic oncologist in Helena that treated them both with a great deal of success.So to get back to the story, I called Tom from the Burger King that I stopped in at and he came out to meet me. We decided to go to Starbucks to grab a cup of coffee there which always works for me. I really enjoyed talking with Tom. Because it was morning time, I decided to have my oil changed at the local Honda shop (Outdoor Motor Sports) and Tom offered to show me around Helena while we waited for the bike to get serviced. He showed me his company where he is the Director of Tax and his wife Patrice works there as well. As a matter of fact she will be visiting the parent company in San Antonio so Lisa will get to meet her in July. So Tom took me to the local catholic church that was incredible. This church looked like one of the really old catholic churches in Europe. It has an awesome display of stained glass windows. I didn't take any pictures, out of respect but believe me, I would have loved too. If any of you ever visit Helena, this is a place you have to go to. So did I mentioned that it was snowing really big? Oh, I must have missed that part. It was not sticking to the ground but the flakes were real big and it was rather cold.
After this we went to Tom's home to chill out and I noticed he lives extremely close to work. Now that is convenient! After I bit we eventually worked our way back to the Honda shop and the bike was sitting in the back and I noticed it looked really dry even though it was raining. Well the shop pressured washed my bike off and cleaned it up for me so that it looked a little more presentable. Great customer service! The bad news though is that it rained again and eventually got dirty again. Great job Outdoor Motor sports!
Anyway, after much appreciation for Tom's hospitality, I head up McDonald's Pass and discovered that it was clear and I eventually made it after a long cold and wet night and found a hotel in Idaho.
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