Day 37

Canadian guys that we met at the park.

Beautiful country

Kootenai Falls

We enjoyed our hike to the falls and swinging bridge.

Step away from the edge, Sharlene!

Eyes closed? We're not THAT high off the ground!

What a cool view from the railroad crossing foot bridge.

Now the north side!

Kootenai Falls Park est 1991. This truly is a roadside park. A great over look, picnic area even with grills, shaded and a clean bathroom! The hike down the mountain and back is great exercise when you have been sitting either in a car or on a scooter. Warning, it's a bit of a steep climb back up the mountain.

Texas!!! These folks are a LONG way from home!

Fresno State Bulldogs! A bit of a drive from here but worth every mile.

Yes, even enjoyed the climb back to the scooters!

Idaho!

She keeps doing that weird thing each time we stop for road construction!

Ken's entertainment while waiting in traffic, photo's.

These folks are from Montana and riding BMW bikes. You don't find many couples making long trips on their own bikes but, they have done this for years. They say keep moving while you can! Way to go! We enjoyed their bike stories and meeting them was a pleasure.

Home built trailer with style. This is Ken's next project. It's all storage and being made from aircraft mahogany, it's beautiful.

Washington...last state before we turn South!

Day 36 Scooter fix

Ken was released after his cardio jog on the treadmill this morning. Headed over to O'reilly's to fix the scooter. Wow! How lucky am I to have such a mechanical husband. Grabbed some dinner and relax. A lot of worry off our minds with a clean bill of health and a scooter itching to be on the road.

Day 36

O'reilly Auto Parts to the rescue!!! We stopped at the O'reilly in Kalispell looking for a new Primary Adapter Bolt for Sharlene's scooter. After speaking with Kyle, he began the search for the correct bolt. When one was not available, he suggested we re-thread the old bolt. I purchased a "die" and Kyle along with O'reilly supplied the tools and "helping hand" to re-thread the bolt. A few minutes later (and red loctite), the bolt and adapter was back in place. We can now get back on the road with confidence! Thank you Kyle and O'reilly!!!

A HUGE round of applause for Kyle, please!!!

The re-threaded bolt.

The adapter is now back in place.

Day 35 - Kalispell

It's time to move no matter how windy it is.

Glacier Park US 49 entrance

Road construction delays are the norm around here. They don't have a very big window of time to fix them from the winter season.

We have a room at the Inn! Well, the Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

The view from our room was beautiful.

Really? Do you have to take a picture? 

We rode from Cut Bank to Kalispell for a total of 140 miles. The wind leaving Cut Bank was as the locals said it would be. Strong gusts to 70 mph until you get to the west side of Browning. We ran into a little road construction but the delays were not long. On to East Glacier where we stopped for coffee to warm up and a bite to eat. It was 48* when we left and didn't warm up until we came in closer to Kalispell to 68*. A beginning  to a beautiful ride through Glacier National Park. The mountains were amazing with glacier melt creating waterfalls along the way. We didn't see any wild life along the way but lots of warnings for bears. We rode along the very full Glacier river and Maria Pass into the Flathead Valley area. After locating our hotel, Ken wasn't feeling quite right so we went over to the Kalispell Regional Medical Center. Let's just say the staff at the hospital were wonderful and if your ever are in need of help this is the place to go. They decided as a precaution to have us spend the night with them and it was determined that Ken needed to adjust a medication dosage.

Day 34

Only in Montana!

Walk into a hardware store here and this is what you will see. Reminds me of when I was a kid.

This store sells tools, sporting goods, bolts of fabric, toys, and even hunting equipment. Kinda nice to see a state that still believes in that little known document that used to be the guideline for running our country. What was thing called...oh! the Constitution!

Day 34 - Still in Montana

We are still in Cut Bank, Mt. The day has been filled with rain and wind. At one point, the Weather Service was showing sustained winds at 25-35 with gusts to 70 mph! Tomorrow is looking to be a better day and we hope to be able to ride to Kalispell or possibly Libby.

Day 33 - Our first mechanical issue

As we rolled into Cut Bank, Mt. Sharlene noticed a funny sound coming from her scooter. After checking it, I found that the primary adapter bolt had come completely out of the engine. We suspect that this bolt has been loose for some time now as it has rattled around until it rubbed a hole in the protective cover. I suspect this may have been the funny sound we heard while we were in Madawaska. The scooter runs ok without the bolt and some have posted on various forums that they have run thousands of miles with no problem. We have decided to push on toward the West and attempt a patch in Kalispell. If a failure occurs, our options are:

* Abandon the scooter and return home on one
* Purchase another scooter and continue
* Continue the ride on the remaining scooter

Primary Bolt and Adapter

Primary Adapter Cover

Decisions, decisions, what to do?!?!?!

Day 33

Our newest friends! This is (L-R) Phyliss, Elizabeth, and Sharlene. We were looking for a couple of tools for the scooter while in Cut Bank and popped into a Ben Franklin Hardware store next to our motel. Elizabeth is from Houston and is here visiting her Grandmother. It was exciting to meet someone from Texas...just like being back home!

Day 32 North Central Montana by Sharlene

We survived the rain while tent camping in Glasgow, MT. We awoke to strong winds that made the tent sound like a wind tunnel. We rode in wind gusts between 25 - 40 mph. This gave the center of our tires a break as we mostly rode leaning heavily to the left all morning. It was cloudy and looked like rain most of the day however, the blue skies finally broke through. Several times we would look out to the right knowing we are seeing Canada in the distance. There rolling grasslands and wheat fields abound. We have been running into several people riding recumbent and road bicycles today. We spotted a small elk and several prairie dogs today. We have a couple of concerns about the scooters to evaluate in the morning. My scooter has developed a sound in the foot cowling on the left side. Ken's has a leak or a seal issue from the gear drive. We rode a total of 297 miles today. Once the scooters are cleared for take off we will be riding into Glacier National Park.

Day 32 - Wind, Wind, Wind

Montana landscape

Run faster little Dino!

I'am the tallest Dino!

This is the land of Dinosaurs

Hurry and take the pictures before the Dinos see us!

Wind!

More wind!

Even MORE wind!

This is about 20 miles West of Glasgow

Sharlene says I do weird things in wind...