I couldn’t believe it, this was the last day of our first trip to Montana. We are heading home. The eastern sun was warm and inviting, but the morning air was cool and a little crisp. The eastern sky was a beautiful blue, but as we headed our Road Star west, the legendary, or in some cases, the dreaded gray cloudy of the northwest loomed over the horizon. As beautiful as the weather had been, I couldn’t believe we were destined for rain, but the closer we got to Spokane on I-90, the colder the temperatures became. We’d used gas at Coeur d’Alene, so we flew straight through Spokane, just glimpsing the city skyline.
In Spokane, I-90 turns left to the southwest and to our relief, away from the bleak gray. In fact, with every tick of the odometer, the skies returned to the royal blue, sun-soaked skies that we had become accustomed to. While we loved the return of more beautiful weather, we soon became aware of the boiling heat. Even with our flip-up helmets wide open, we felt wave after wave of scorching hot air reflecting off the pavement, occasionally bolstered by a torrid surge from our ‘air-cooled’ V-twin. Yet this discomfort paled in comparison to the joyous satisfaction of riding and smelling and feeling the glow of the rolling hills of central Washington. Mile after mile, we traversed fluid wheat fields of golden grain, occasionally interrupted by an aluminum windmill or grain mill.
About 1 hour southwest of Spokane, I-90 turns west and Seattle. We stayed on WA-395 heading southwest for another hour and arrived in the Tri-Cities of Pasco, Richland and Kennewick. We found a truck stop on the outskirts of Pasco, a welcome break from the heat, and took the opportunity to refuel ourselves and the bike. We found the road through this area a bit confusing. WA-395 intersects with I-182, so we travel east for a few miles, then WA-395 turns south again, crosses the Columbia River, and then drops at Kennewick. Just follow the signs for WA-395 and you should be fine. We didn’t stop at Kennewick, but it is a nice community and there are plenty of shops, restaurants, or whatever else you might need. From Kennewick, the junction with WA-14 is 22 miles. As I mentioned in Stage 1 of this trilogy plus one, WA-14 is by far the most interesting of the parallel roads to Columbia, but if speed and time savings is your priority, you can save about 3/4 of hour traveling into Portland on I-84.
The trip to Washougal is simply the reverse of the Stage 1 itinerary and brings us back to our humble abode. We hope you enjoyed reading about our BEST first trip to Montana. Better yet, we hope you will take this trip and then let us know how you enjoyed it. We sure did. In fact, we have made the trip several times since then. Visit our website soon for another great trip.