Written by Beulah
It’s day 4 and we are in Montana for family visits. My sons Jakob, Ethan, and I haven’t been in the same place together since November of 2022. This part of our trip was more focused on family time than 2 wheeled adventures but we still got to squeeze in some fun on the bikes. Kyle and I saw rain in the forecast for the next leg of our trip and we visited another motorcycle dealership to find more gear before checking in to our airbnb for the weekend. I already have a full set of rain gear and we wanted to find some for Kyle too. We visited Five Valley Honda Yamaha just up the road from my son’s place in Lolo, MT and were able to find a pair of FrogTogg pants to add to Kyle’s all-weather arsenal. The owner was super helpful and also let us take a spare helmet on loan for the weekend so I could ride with my future daughter in law (more on that later), Cynthia, on my bike while we were in town.
When we got back to Ethan’s place I threw Cynthia on the back of my bike for a quick little rip down the highway to our cabin for the weekend. The road was straight, the traffic was minimal, and the weather was warm; it was a good day to be on 2 wheels.
Our first full day together with the family started off gray and chilly so we opted to jump in Cynthia’s truck and be chauffeured around. As we drove towards our first destination the rain started and we were glad we decided to stick with 4 wheels instead of 2 today. We drove an hour and a half in to Idaho where Ethan proposed to Cynthia on a bridge over the Lochsa River. We planned on hiking to Jerry Johnson hot springs from there but it was fully raining at this point. The proposal went ahead as planned but the hike did not, so we opted for a dip in the Lolo Hot Springs before a celebratory dinner at the Lolo Creek Steakhouse.
This steakhouse is no joke. There were at least 50 people lined up before the doors opened at 5pm and not a second sooner. This well-oiled machine had staff lined up to greet each table of guests to get everyone settled as quickly as possible to get the orders up and the steaks cooking. Friendly staff, delicious food and a cozy atmosphere. Zero complaints, 10 out of 10 would recommend (and would recommend getting there early to line up, it’s absolutely worth the wait.)
Day 6 was a day of rest (and food!). We saw that it was going to be snowing at our next destination, Glacier National Park, so we had to scramble to change the details of our trip. We were so disappointed because months earlier we had scored passes for Going To The Sun Road that are only valid for one day and we had to cancel that whole part of our trip. We ended up staying at the C’mon Inn in Missoula for 2 nights to wait out the cold wet weather. We explored the town and a few local spots for sight seeing.
First we visited the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas and took our time walking around and through the whole path on the grounds that are open to the public. Then we drove about 20 minutes more to the Bison Range in Charlo, MT and drove through the short loop of the 18,766 acre preserve and saw buffalo and deer roaming near the roads. We didn’t get too far in, there’s a longer loop that my son drove through after our visit and saw bear, elk, deer, and buffalo and said it was definitely worth the second trip out.
On Day 9 the weather was in our favor and we were able to start the next leg of our trip back towards home. Kyle is going to take over for this part of the journey. I was a little disappointed we had to cancel parts of our trip for weather but it gave me more quality time with my kiddos so I really can’t complain.
Ramble Around 