Tuesday, June 16, 2009
CFR - Day 3
The rain had mostly cleared in the morning. I walked down to a Denny's for an omelet, and noticed something interesting.
Pasadena has a lot of intersections with combination left-turn signals. Traditionally, these start out with a solid green arrow for protected turns; when the protected period is over, the green arrow goes out, and the green ball indicates a permissive left turn period.
About six months ago, Pasadena installed a new version of these signals. The protected turn is still indicated by a solid green arrow, but for the permissive period it changes to a flashing yellow arrow. It sounds weird, but it actually works pretty well. (The part I don't like is that there are sections of Del Mar Blvd. by the Gold Line tracks where they have three intersections in a row, with old style, new style, then old style again. If the new style is the better way, do it everywhere. It's confusing to mix and match.)
Anyway, the motel and the Denny's are in a suburb (if you can call it that) of Pocatello named Chubbock. They are also using the new style left-turn signals with the flashing yellow arrow for permissive left turns.
There was the normal amount of rural traffic as I headed north on I-15 from Pocatello, but when I got to Idaho Falls it seemed like everyone got off. There was nobody left, and speeds went up accordingly, as I headed into Montana, where I stopped to put on my rain gear.
I got off in Dillon, MT for a bite to eat, and found it to be over 90° - which made me look silly in my rain gear and Widders. I had my first Dam Tour stop planned for the Flint Creek Dam west of Helena.
I got of I-90 at MT-1 heading west, and entered the fine city of Anaconda. I rode for the 5 miles or so through town at the well-enforced speed limit of 25mph. It took forever. The dam itself was nice enough, and Georgetown Lake was about what you'd expect, but it was fun to notch my first dam.
A navigational hiccup made me decide to backtrack through Anaconda. It was no better.
I stopped for the night at the Alhambra RV Park in Clancy, MT. The park itself is okay, but for $22 you get pit toilets, iffy running water, and no showers. To top it off, the place is about 20 yards wide, and sits between I-15 on the west and a semi-busy local road on the east. Bring your earplugs.
I had a nice grilled prime rib dinner at Chubby's, a nice local bar/grill on the other side of the freeway. I bought some water at a general store, since the water at the camp ground was intermittent.
From Pocatello, ID to the Alhambra RV Park in Clancy, MT, by way of the Flint Creek Dam on Georgetown Lake in Montana. 384 miles.
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Flint Creek Dam