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| OMC Members and Guests |
OMC members and guests met at the appointed place and time.
OMC members present: Duke, Gundy, Bomber, RipCity, Slick and Grim.
OMC members absent: Rowdy, Ace, G-Man and Smooth.
After greetings and salutations were given and received, the intrepid participants headed down the freeway headed to Mountain Home. It was quite chilly and the wind was blowing pretty good. Different speeds were sampled until a good speed was found to navigate the normal freeway traffic.
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| Mountain Home |
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| Mountain Home |
We took a quick bio and body-warming break in Mountain Home. Cold toes and fingertips warmed up, we soon motored north on the road to Fairfield. We rolled along pretty smoothly although it was still pretty chilly. Traffic was light and the passage trouble free.
We passed through Fairfield and into the rest stop at Timmerman Hill.
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| Timmerman Hill |
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| Timmerman Hill |
We paused at Timmerman Hill for a quick break from the cold and to visit the fine facilities. We actually had a couple nice interactions with civilians who were nice folks.
Down the road, we continued through Picabo and Carey. Riders were forced to endure possibly the harshest road, in the State, from Carey to Arco. The road surface is bad enough to jar the filling from one's teeth.
Eventually we arrived in Arco and stopped for fuel before heading over to Pickles for lunch.
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| Pickles |
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| Arco |
At Pickle's, we were able to find a table for eight. Our server/owner was a great guy who was a lot of fun and interacted with us in a jovial, teasing way. The food was fine and we enjoyed the meal and the company.
We climbed back aboard our bikes and headed on up the road eventually turning towards Blackfoot. It was warming up some and the ride was pleasant and zen.
We rolled into Blackfoot and the Best Western was quickly and easily found.
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| Blackfoot |
The hotel didn't look like much from the outside but that impression quickly faded as the staff and the interior were both very nice.
We checked in and put our stuff in our rooms. Some riders took naps while the majority hit the very nice warm pool and hot tub.
At the appointed hour, we walked to the restaurant, Tommy Vaughns, that the hotel desk lady had recommended. It was a short walk away that included scaling a stone wall.
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| Tommy Vaughans |
We ended up sitting on the outside patio which turned out to be quite nice despite the chirping civilians seated on the next table. We enjoyed a nice meal and the server did a pretty good job, even taking photographs for us.
Having "lost our appetites", we headed back to the hotel. The nice desk lady allowed us to used the breakfast area for an impromptu card game.
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| Blackfoot Poker Champ |
Grim tried his best to be the dealer, Smooth-style, but quickly became worn out trying to keep up with the many machinations included in Texas Hold 'Em. Slick took over the dealing and did a great job. Joy sandbagged all of us again and was the big winner at the end of the day. Everyone retired shortly thereafter for a blissful nights sojourn.
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| Blackfoot Departure |
The previous evening it was decided that we would leave an hour later to allow the weather to warm somewhat. The day turned out okay but, in hindsight, the scheduled start would have been better.
We gassed up and headed down the road. Grim had GPSed the route to avoid the freeway from Blackfoot to McCammon.
Grim had never been on the route that was planned for this day and was reliant on McGoogle for directions. He is also too stubborn to give up and get on the freeway. The one spot Grim almost jumped on the freeway was under construction and impassable.
The best laid plans only work until life, the road and Google Maps punches you in the mouth. Grim quickly found out that Google Maps will continue to route you back to a particular spot in the road in each "stop" town unless you delete the stop.
We rode through or past Pingree, Fort Hall, and Chubbuck. After passing through Pocatello, we took Old Highway 79 which surprised us with a construction detour. After much winding and circuitous undulation, we finally made it through and took a fun Highway 79 road all the way to McCammon.
At McCammon, we turned north onto Highway 30 heading towards Lava Hot Springs. The road was wide and smooth and we quickly rode past Lava Hot Springs. It was surprising how commercial that area is or has become.
We continued onto Soda Springs where we stopped for lunch at Porters's Pub & Grill.
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| Porter Pub & Grill |
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| Soda Springs |
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| Soda Springs |
When we first walked in the lunch spot, it looked like a super cool, old school bar. As we continued to the back, we found the restaurant area and we found a large table. The food was pretty good and the server took good care of us.
Back on the road, we were enjoying nice roads and nicer weather. It was, in fact, almost perfect riding temperatures. We passed through Georgetown, Bennington and rolled into Montpelier.
In Montpelier, McGoogle Clown Maps decided to really mess with Grim. After a couple of hiccups, we found the turn to Afton. It would have been helpful if the road signs showed the names of the cities instead of just the highway numbers. Oh well.
It continued to be great weather, roads and scenery. The road was winding enough to be fun but not exhausting.
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| Afton Wyoming |
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| Afton Wyoming |
We made a short stop at the nice roadside rest area to stretch our legs and grab some snacks/water. After our respite, we continued down the road.
We passed through Alpine and shortly were riding along Palisades Reservoir. The area was beautiful and the water was spectacular. It was a great experience.
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| Swan Valley |
We made a brief albeit confusing stop in Swan Valley. We eventually parked adjacent to the pumps and headed into Berry's Gas Station for square ice cream. We narrowly missed about 25 young girls and their adult chaperones. Luckily they had just finished being served. The square ice cream was great and we relished it while cooling off in the store.
Shortly, we motored on towards our night stop, Idaho Falls. The traffic thickened as we traveled closer to the hotel. We passed through Ririe and Milo before arriving in Idaho Falls. After refueling, we quickly found our way to the hotel although the time was coming up on 6:30 p.m.
We had a quick logistics meeting and then queued up to the desk to check in. When RipCity was close enough, the lady behind the counter quickly identified him and called him by name. Fortunately, RipCity had not installed his hearing aids yet and the exchange was quite amusing especially with the remaining OMC member chiming in to "help out".
After checking in we unloaded our bikes into our rooms before meeting up for dinner. We strolled up the street and found our intended dining target.
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| Idaho Falls |
We had eaten at the Snow Eagle Bar & Grill in the past with greatly satisfying results. Not this time.
The restaurant was fairly busy and our server seemed harried. We did get our orders in but the food not as good as remembered. Joy and Slick's meal arrived long after the rest of us had received our meals. No bueno.
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| Snow Eagle Bar and Grill |
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| RipCity Dance Moves |
Upon leaving the restaurant, we made our way back to the hotel. It was very nice walking along the river while trying to find a lost Joy. It is a wonderful locale and a greatly pleasant evening.
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| Snake River |
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| Idaho Falls |
It was a long day that ran late, so there were no card games or such that broke out. The hot tub and pool were used by some riders but all eventually found their bunks for some shut-eye.
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| Idaho Falls Departure |
We awoke early Saturday morning and had nice breakfast in the hotel. The staff was very gracious and they had even set up an omelet station for custom orders. Very nice.
After a quick briefing, we departed and headed for Arco. The exit route from town was brief and easy and soon we were out on the open road. It was a little warmer than previous mornings with some wind. It was calm and easy going over the desert and into Arco.
We stopped at the Phillips 66 truck/car stop just before Arco.
As we were adjusting our gear, a passel of Gold Wings and CanAms came rolling into the parking lot. It was an impressive flash of white helmets and bright neon green. It seemed like the women were riding CanAms and the men were atop Gold Wings.
I wish we had thought to take a picture of this impromptu "Fred" rolling convention. Anyway, this made the lines at the rest rooms longer and such.
Grim had earlier decided to take a different way back to Boise than what was advertised. After we passed through Carey, we continued down the road towards Richfield. It was a fun undulating, winding road that took us through the desert and farming land.
We rode into Richfield and saw there was a traffic stoppage ahead right in the center of the town.
Turns out we made it just in time for the Richfield Outlaw Days Parade for 2026. There was a car between us and the GoldWing/CanAm gaggle and the aforementioned finally turned off and took a side street to get around the parade. OMC members and guests were just fine to watch the festivities and small town charm.
Eventually the parade turned off down Main Street and we were back on our way. We rolled across the farmland and eventually arrived at Shoshone. (Side note: If you ever want a great meal, eat at the Manhattan Cafe in Shoshone. Famous state wide.)
We continued on until we came to Gooding and stopped at the Phillips 66 station to gas up.
Back on our way, we rolled through Bliss and King Hill riding next to the beautiful Snake River. No trains were sighted which was unusual.
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| Hanson Cafe & Motel |
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| Joyful Eating |
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| What? |
We arrived in Glenns Ferry and stopped at the Hanson Cafe & Motel for lunch. This is a charming small town diner with pretty good food. We all ordered our food and, coincidentally, Bomber and RipCity both ordered a foot long chili cheese hot dog.
Bomber seemed to "relish" his hot dog as he ate it as God intended, all in one piece with flavors and textures intermingling in a pleasant dining experience. However, RipCity dissected his and ended only eating the hot dog part of the concoction. No one was surprised.
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| Glenns Ferry |
We took off a few more layers of clothing before starting up our bikes and heading down the road. We again were able to enjoy riding next to the river and it was cooling to the air.
We passed through Hammett and continued on towards Mountain Home. There was no traffic and the road was pleasant and rolled up and down like a roller coaster.
We passed through Mountain Home and stopped at the Burger King/Chevron exit to say our goodbyes and take our final photographs.
This Run ended too soon. It was low key and good vibrations were enjoyed by all.
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| OMC Members |
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| Guests: Joy and Lee |
The rest of us peeled off as our respective off-ramps came into view.
RipCity did a great job performing the sweep function and everyone was a delight.
It was a great Spring Run. Very Zen with little drama.
Words by Grim
Photos by RipCity and Grim
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