Boise to Stanley

On my final day in Boise, Kim offered to take me out to lunch to the famous "Big Juds", as seen on Man vs Food. So after packing up my stuff on the bike (getting better at it now), we headed down to try their massive burgers.

So at Big Juds, they make a 1 pound burger, a 2 pound burger and the "Man vs Food" challenge meal:

2 x 1 lb patties, bacon, mushrooms, Swiss cheese and blue cheese on each layer, plus mayo lettuce and tomato, and a basket of Big Jud's fries

Regrettably at that time I had a 3.5 hour ride ahead of me to Stanley, so I just got one of their normal burgers. Having 2 pounds of beef stuck in your gut while you're trying to corner fast on a bike is never a good idea. So I was boring and got the "Hickory" burger, but at least it was "American". But it was a really awesome burger, one thing to note here is they always do crunchy bacon. As far as I'm concerned, it's one place where the Americans got it right.

Kim and her burger from Big Juds

After saying my goodbyes (extra thanks to Kim who was kind enough to show me around the place for a day and a half), and dicking around with my Go Pro, I set off for Stanley.

Apart from the half-naked, slow-as-molasis-on-a-cold-day Harley riders, the ride was really good. It had something I haven't seen yet in America: Corners. Now I wouldn't call them "twisties" like I would know in Camberra or on the Clyde, but at least I could actually lean my bike over a bit. What is a bit tricky to me is what speeds are acceptable over here. In Australia I'd be getting passed by dickheads on R1s constantly, but everyone over here (or at least in Idaho) is very conservative. So I remained relatively conservative as well. The road surface was was decent, a bit of gravel in places but noting terrible. It was the first real test of the Concours as a sports-tourer, and I think it did pretty well. It's a little weird being so upright into the corners, but you sort of get used to it.

After a pretty interesting (but long) ride, I reached Stanley, population 73. As soon as I arrived, I only had two thoughts: Man does my ass hurt and what the fuck am I going to do all day tomorrow.

The scenery at least in Stanley is spectacular. There are huge mountains in the background, the place would be really pretty in the winter I'd imagine. And at least the lodge was pretty clean.

Looks like a fucking postcard

I headed out that that night to see what the food and the night life was like. I found a really good pizza place, and pretty much the only bar in town. I guess it could be described as dive bar. However, the people were really friendly.

I ended up chatting to a guy named Craig, a 50-ish year old, who had seen 49 of the 50 states (no one gets to Hawaii) as a truck driver. He currently owned his RV, and moved around from state to state doing odd jobs. Currently he was based out of Boise living with his 26 year old girlfriend. It was an awesome example of how you should never pre-judge someone based on appearance, he was an extremly intellegent guy with lots to say about the state of the economy, where USA is heading, gun control and politics. He was also very interested in Australia. Maybe it's due to me being in the West, but I am certainly meeting far more left-wing people over here than the expected gun-toting right-wings (still have met a few of those though). I guess we'll wait and see until I hit the lower states.

Mountains and shit

Rear view from my room

Buy the way, the walk home at about 1:30AM was fucking cold. I guess I should have relised that this was now the mountains.