So the plug in Jeffs rear tire (the new one) is holding. The plan is to ride to the nearest BMW shop which is in Missoula a day away, and the only way to get there on time is through a nasty rainy radar map image. So we had the conti breaksfast (so-so) along with a family of 8 kids and mom and dad. The oldest was 13 and the youngest looked to be 2, 5 girls and 3 boys, so they wasted no time having their kids. Adorable kids, well behaved with the oldest boy riding herd on the youngers. (No sign of a 9th so maybe they figured out what caused it..)
It did not look rainy out yet, but the radar said dont hold your breath so we suited up and an hour later the rain started. We did see (through the fog and rain) some nice scenery and at one point got to assist in a cattle herding operation. They use the county roads to herd cattle from grazing places and we just hung back and waited, but the truck behind us showed us how it's done. He passed us and just started pushing his way through the herd. It's a little different proposition for motorcycles so we looked for expressions on the faces of the guys on their 4-wheeler "horses" to see if we should or not. they looked ok with it so we nudged our way through a couple hundred cows and calves. Picture big black mother cows giving us the stink eye while their calves were jumping around in response to either the BMW exhaust blat or our bright green jackets (are cows color blind), cow manure all over the road, and don't forget it is raining.
We stopped at "some town" and warmed and dried ourselves with hot drinks and then booked it to Missoula in time to get new tires on Jeff's bike (the back one had the plug and the front one was not going to make it back to Vermont). We got there around 3:30 and Jeff picked out some more pavement friendly tires. They also found the rear brake pads worn out (after 14K miles?) and one of the panniers could not be removed. The finished it up around 5:00. A guy (Keith) arriving for a service on his 800GS chatted us up in the parking lot and said he found a cheap motel in town. We followed him in but they were booked. The motel next to it had rooms and was cheaper anyway. Keith and his friend Patrick invited us out for a beer (they had both lived in Missola and knew the toen well), so we did and got some great tips on good roads up through the mountains to the Canadian border. Patrick took off and Keith joined us for dinner. He worked for the railroad and then went back to college to get a geography degree and then did GIS work for the state of Montana.
The weather is supposed to be nice tomorrow!!!
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