Libby, Montana

Total Km = 821

Another 800 km day has put us within easy strike of home tomorrow morning. Today was almost perfect motorcycling weather: cloudless skies and temperatures in the 20’s although it was 32C when we stopped this afternoon.

The John Deer Auction at Wolf Point turned out to be a major event. There were vehicles from all over the states and a few from Alberta at our motel, several with flat deck trailers to collect their booty. Keep in mind this was 50 miles from the event (no room in Wolf Point) and our motel was full of excited auction goers. It was an estate auction from a collector with over 400 tractors and a big collection of John Deere toys on the auction block – a collection reaching as far back as 1917. On the way out this morning we saw more vehicles coming from the next town and it was over 100 miles away from Wolf Point. Literally no accommodation within 100 miles! We kept running into people last evening with John Deere shirts and hats all excited, making arrangements to meet in the morning and asking “are you going to the auction?”

A good portion of the ride was through the Montana prairie. An unidentified roadside plant was common in one area (see pic). The prairie today had a bit more character than yesterday with raised areas that once you were at the top of the “hill” you could see the road ahead for miles. One doesn’t realize until you start traveling across how broad the state of Montana is. The road side most of the way had been mown and baled by farmers to supplement their crops and in some cases to provide the only crop as the field behind appeared to be mostly sage brush. We had the surprise very close overhead flyby by a crop duster (he had to go up to miss the power lines) but again we weren’t sure what he was dusting as all there was in the field he was dusting was sage brush under his fog.

We watched with anticipation as the Rocky Mountains loomed closer and were rewarded with a nice ride over Marias Pass (see pic) skirting just south of Glacier National Park. About 5 minutes down the west side of the pass a wolf trotted across the road in front of us! What a great sighting! He was a tall, rangy black guy. We have seen a wide variety of critters on this trip. This area is very popular for river rafting the Flathead River and at some points in the river there were mini traffic jams between the number of rafts and kayaks. It was a great warm day for everyone to enjoy.

Had another seniors dinner but this time it was for over 55 so Doug thought they should have ID’d Norma this time. Will probably go out for our usual evening walk once it cools down a little.