Motorcycle Adventures

Nelson 2009 – Day 5

Today we began a two-day trip following more of the Selkirk Loops.  The Selkirk loop is a series of highways with beautiful scenery, specifically marketed to motorcyclists, that winds its way up from Nelson to Balfour, over Kootney lake by ferry (the part that we rode yesterday) and then down into Idaho. Going through Bonners Ferry, Sandpoint, and Priest River.  As it enters Washington it passes through Newport and then winds its way through several smaller towns before entering Canada again.  Along the way they have marked out many “super side-trips” to extend the loop, and therefore your stay in the various areas – spending money as you go!

The Selkirk Loop Map

We decided to go south from Nelson down to Highway 3, and then west to Creston, before going south into Idaho.   We stopped at Bonners Ferry for a stretch.  Bonners Ferry as it turns out, was named after a ferry that used to run in this little town.  We payed a visit to the information center and picked up a list of camp sites in Idaho.  Then we were on our way again.

The ride was beautiful.  The gentle curves carried us through beautiful agricultural land and treed forests.  It was, however, not the sort of twisty motorcycle wonderland that we had hoped for.  In comparison to the ride the day before, it couldn’t have been more plain.  It was a short ride however, and within 1.5 hours of crossing the boarder we were already in Sandpoint.   We stopped at a gas station to orientate ourselves (that is to say our wonder-navigator Nicole was orientating herself).  As we looked over the map a friendly over-helpful gentleman came to our “rescue” pointing us in various directions for good camping.  As it turned out, campsites were quite hard to find, and despite our maps and my GPS, we couldn’t locate anything.  We decided to follow the instructions of the old fellow and headed over a bridge.  We found the campsite without any trouble but it was already full for the night.

I had a very poor sleep the night previously, and had mounted a campaign to stay in a motel for the night.  I was afraid that if I did not get a good nights’ sleep, I would be unsafe to ride the next day, and being so grumpy, would probably be banned from the group anyway   Everyone was hungry and tired of looking for a campsite anyway, so we found a smoky greesy spoon for lunch, and started to look for a motel.

Nicole was wonderful, standing outside the restaurant on a pay-phone trying to make us reservations so that we had some options.  In the end we stopped at a Days Inn, right next to the motel we had reserved.  I went in and talked them down to the price of the Motel 6, and since it was a nicer place, we stayed there for the night.

By now it was after 4pm and we hadn’t even gone into Sandpoint to explore.  We quickly unpacked and ran back out the door to explore.  Sandpoint is a cute little town, though lacking all character.  The shops were the standard type of shop you would find in a small touristy town.  One shop had the largest crystal I have ever seen.  It stood taller than us, and sad in the window just inside the shop.  (see photo).

We looked into several stores, and then found directions to the beach.  We had been hot all day, and were looking forward to jumping in some cool water.

The beach was no disappointment.  Wonderful clean sand on a crescent-shaped beach overlooking wonderful clear lake water.  Perfect!  Eryk and Michelle, who had been enjoying the shops on thier own, met us there by chance, and we all enjoyed playing in the water.  It was a wonderful way to cool off and enjoy the late afternoon.

For dinner we found an all-American style restaurant complete with salad bar.  The dinner choices included such meat combinations as steak and fish, and lobster and steak.  The salad bar came with the meal, and while fresh, was a very sorry excuse for a salad bar.  There were no cucumbers, no red or green peppers, and no carrots.  A couple of the vegetables came pickled.  In true American style, there were at least 8 different high-calorie dressing options.

I had the fish and chips as most of dinner options were heavily coated in dairy products.  Even my “safe” option came with a large helping of butter soaked beans.  Michelle enjoyed an alfredo pasta that had the meat taken out of it.  The chef had suggested that she go to the salad bar and bring back whatever vegetables she would like to add into her pasta.  Either the chef had no idea what was at the salad bar, or had no idea that lettuce and pickled beats might not be good additions to her Alfredo sauce.

We had great conversation and despite missing the quality of the Vancouver food we are so used to, the atmosphere was just what I was looking for.  We were after all on vacation, and visiting an restaurant like this just had to be part of the American experience.

After dinner I insisted that we stop and have a piece of pie next door at a restaurant that was apparently famous for their pie. My fresh strawberry pie wasn’t what I expected.  It was much smaller than the American standard.  It was essentially a pie bottom, into which strawberries had been laid, and then covered in a jello-like substance.  I enjoyed it non-the-less, and again it was a fun experience.

After all that food it was time to go back to our motel. I had left the air conditioner on full when we left, and by the time we got back it was as cold as a fridge.  We enjoyed the queen-sized beds, watched some TV, and then went to sleep.