July 22, 2006 – Day 12 - 276 Miles Salmon, ID to Kalispell, MT
Salmon, ID to Kalispell, MT
Up bright and early without a wakeup call or alarm clock: Christ, this aging thing brings surprises with it. Twenty years ago my heart wouldn’t start until 8:30 a.m. Now I go to bed exhausted, sleep all of six hours, and my eyes pop open like a thirteen year-old wading through a deck of porno playing cards. Had an early breakfast and hit the road for Missoula, 142 miles away, sans radio, sans horn, sans light bar lights and… discovered upon pulling into the Kawasaki dealer in Missoula, san rear brake light. Other than that, though, running hard and fast.
Wow. The ride from Salmon, ID to Missoula, MT was even prettier than yesterday’s. I’m running out of superlatives for this ride, and I haven’t even reached Alaska yet. Obviously, this is more a solution than a problem. I’ll play Teddy Kennedy on the superlatives for Alaska…cross that bridge when I get there.
Reached Missoula at 10:30, found the Kawasaki dealer and, Thank You Lord, they knew what they were doing. Lucked out even further when I discovered there was a laundry three blocks away, so I did laundry while they repaired the bike. By 2:00pm I have an electronically sound bike and clean clothes. Does it get any better than that?
The problem with the wiring? The new horn I bought had two sets of electrical connections and, when my local Kawasaki dealer installed it he just stuffed the “extra” live wires into the wiring harness evidently without insulating them. Eventually they worked close enough to arc across and short directly to ground. This burned wiring and made the horn useless. The service manager didn’t think much at all of the professionalism of the installation job and, when he asked me if I wanted to talk to the technician about what they found on the lightbar installation, I just said, "No, I expect it's just more of the same." So, because of a lousy installation by the local Kawasaki dealer I’m out $167 and about four hours of road time. Not to worry. I’ll vote with my feet.
Pulled out of Missoula about 3:00 p.m. after a late lunch and punched further north on Hwy93. Yet another nice ride. I’ll tell you, Hwy 93 may be my favorite ride ever!!! At least until tomorrow, huh?
Checked into the motel and went to a local sports bar for some grease and beer. Nice place, with nice folks in it, called FatBoys (I think). They actually had gizzards on the appitizer, though I’ll bet a bunch of you won’t agree that’s very appitizing. Tried them…liked them, though they must have come from some nuclear-warped chickens. Biggest damn gizzards I’ve ever seen. I accused one of the owners of using Emus. In any event, after that dinner my cardiologist’s wife may yet get that new Lexus.
Up bright and early without a wakeup call or alarm clock: Christ, this aging thing brings surprises with it. Twenty years ago my heart wouldn’t start until 8:30 a.m. Now I go to bed exhausted, sleep all of six hours, and my eyes pop open like a thirteen year-old wading through a deck of porno playing cards. Had an early breakfast and hit the road for Missoula, 142 miles away, sans radio, sans horn, sans light bar lights and… discovered upon pulling into the Kawasaki dealer in Missoula, san rear brake light. Other than that, though, running hard and fast.
Wow. The ride from Salmon, ID to Missoula, MT was even prettier than yesterday’s. I’m running out of superlatives for this ride, and I haven’t even reached Alaska yet. Obviously, this is more a solution than a problem. I’ll play Teddy Kennedy on the superlatives for Alaska…cross that bridge when I get there.
Reached Missoula at 10:30, found the Kawasaki dealer and, Thank You Lord, they knew what they were doing. Lucked out even further when I discovered there was a laundry three blocks away, so I did laundry while they repaired the bike. By 2:00pm I have an electronically sound bike and clean clothes. Does it get any better than that?
The problem with the wiring? The new horn I bought had two sets of electrical connections and, when my local Kawasaki dealer installed it he just stuffed the “extra” live wires into the wiring harness evidently without insulating them. Eventually they worked close enough to arc across and short directly to ground. This burned wiring and made the horn useless. The service manager didn’t think much at all of the professionalism of the installation job and, when he asked me if I wanted to talk to the technician about what they found on the lightbar installation, I just said, "No, I expect it's just more of the same." So, because of a lousy installation by the local Kawasaki dealer I’m out $167 and about four hours of road time. Not to worry. I’ll vote with my feet.
Pulled out of Missoula about 3:00 p.m. after a late lunch and punched further north on Hwy93. Yet another nice ride. I’ll tell you, Hwy 93 may be my favorite ride ever!!! At least until tomorrow, huh?
Checked into the motel and went to a local sports bar for some grease and beer. Nice place, with nice folks in it, called FatBoys (I think). They actually had gizzards on the appitizer, though I’ll bet a bunch of you won’t agree that’s very appitizing. Tried them…liked them, though they must have come from some nuclear-warped chickens. Biggest damn gizzards I’ve ever seen. I accused one of the owners of using Emus. In any event, after that dinner my cardiologist’s wife may yet get that new Lexus.
posted by Minuend | 8:44 PM
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