Picto Diary - 19 July 2020 - Lolo Pass
Above: Jeanette and Sprinter. Clearwater Crossing RV Park, Orofino, ID. 19 July 2020.
Escaping from the Insanity Tour
Deux Magots WalkeR
Austin, Texas Sprinter couple Bill and Jeanette.
RV hookup in Orofino for last five months. Had to get out of Austin which is becoming "too crazy."
All kinds of RV tips, from Jeanette's mouth to my ears. If you don't have a reservation, go to the RV Park on a Sunday AM when everybody is leaving, for one.
"Go to the woods to lose sight and memory of the crimes of your contemporaries." Jean-Jacques Rousseau" — at Clearwater Crossing RV Park.
Above: Daryl. Clearwater Crossing RV Park, Orofino, ID. 19 July 2020.
Escaping the Insanity Tour
Deux Magots WalkeR
Daryl. From Boise, but lives here in Orofino at the RV park...former logger, works part time as truck driver. Gets everything on Ebay, including Freightliner semi tractor to tow all his gear. Here prepping his 1994 beemer K bike to join brother on a bike trip north. — at Clearwater Crossing RV Park.
Above: Lolo Pass Highway. US 12. Lowell, ID. 19 July 2020.
Escaping the Insanity Tour.
Out and about on the Duc.
Orofino, ID to Missoula, MT. 179 miles. Segment from Kooskia, ID to Lolo, MT, 120 miles of curves, following first the Clearwater River, and then the Lochsa River, to Lolo Pass (Lewis and Clark route 1805 in reverse), is an iconic motorcycle road, rivaling The Tail of the Dragon, which route skirts the southwest border of Great Smoky Mountains National Park starting at the North Carolina/Tennessee border and ending at Chilhowee Lake in Tennessee.
I rode Tail of the Dragon on a BMW R1200GS motorcycle in 2016. Today was my fourth motorcycle run over Lolo pass, each time eastbound, in the last twenty years.
Ten years ago, I was stopped, while riding my 2005 BMW K1200 LT motorcycle, by a Montana trooper on the eastbound descent from Lolo Pass doing 85 in a 70. I guess he liked me, because, after talking about motorcycles for a few minutes, he sent me on my way without a ticket, or even a warning.
Twenty years ago, Montana highways had no speed limits. The Feds threatened to deny MT Fed highway funds so they introduced speed limits. A 55 mph road in Oregon is a 70 mph road in Montana. That same road would be a 65 in Utah.
Montana is the seventh state seen on the now six day long Escaping from Insanity Tour, out and about on the Duc: UT, NV, OR, CA, WA, ID, and MT. 1800 miles covered so far.
"Go to the woods to lose sight and memory of the crimes of your contemporaries." Jean-Jacques Rousseau — in Lolo Pass.
Above: McKenzie River Pizza Company. Missoula, MT. 19 July 2020.
Escaping the Insanity Tour
Out and about in the Duc.
So I'm sitting here, at an outdoor table, waiting for a pizza.
At a table to my right, more than six feet away, and a little behind me are a man and a woman. They are drinking heavily (beer). Not married, because the woman is taking about her husband. The guy, pretty much of a loudmouth ...he has a German Shepard service dog, for crying out loud!...he is trying, speaking loudly for all to hear, every third word an F word, to get the woman show him dirty pictures of herself from her phone.
I should note that I think the whole service dog thing is pretty pathetic. It's an excuse for not engaging with real people. Well, at least they can handle a dog, what?
The woman, fortunately, demurrs on the dirty pics.
Dog Man and the woman start a conversation with a guy at table directly behind me.
Dog Man: "Do you like Trump?"
New Man: "Well, I used to. Look, I don't follow politics. I don't like any of 'em."
Woman: "What do you think of this Covid thing?"
New Man: "The masks are a joke. They don't do any good."
Woman: "I had Covid. It was terrible. I was hospitalized here in Missoula. Felt like I had a truck on my chest. I caught it in Hawaii in February. I was the first person in Montana to be quarantined."
New Man: [Asks a bunch of questions about women's hospital experience, and gets responses from woman that don't add to this narrative].
Mwah [sic]: I'm biding my time. The pizza is here. I'm enjoying an IPA. The woman, behind me positioned at 4:00 o'clock, gets up to visit the ladies room. All of a sudden she falls, flat on her back, right at my feet to my right. She looks up at me, stunned. Says nothing.
I sat there stunned. Before I could move to assist the fallen woman, Dog Man rushes over and helps her up, apologizing to me and anyone else within earshot, and takes her away. Dog Man returned, alone, sat down, ordered another beer, and remained quiet.
A geezer couple in front of me (see image) upbraid the waitress for serving the customer too much alcohol. The waitress threw up her hands, said "nothing we can do," and walked off.
This was supposed to be the "Escaping the Insanity Tour," but, tonight, I was in the thick of it.
Note: As of 19 July 2020. In Montana. 2500 Covid Positive. 37 deaths. 1.1 million population. 2019 traffic fatalities: 185.
"Go to the woods to lose sight and memory of the crimes of your contemporaries." Jean-Jacques Rousseau — at MacKenzie River Pizza Co. - Grant Creek.