Minnie’s Cafe and Huckleberry pie

It's a gorgeous Sunday morning in early August, about 10:00 am, as I ride into Thompson Falls Montana. I had left Columbia Falls that morning and headed south taking highway 93 along Flathead Lake, just gorgeous, it was warm, the air was sweet and the lake was spectacular. It doesn't get much better, I'm telling ya.

I peeled off 93 and headed down Highway 28, leaving the lake and mountains and rode on through the rolling hills and grasslands through tiny little towns like Lonepine and Hot Springs. In the town of Plains I headed west on Hwy 200 along the Clark Fork River and it's picture perfect, the highway, the river, the train tracks following along the river, the mountains and the pines, everything a ride through Montana should be. As I pulled into Thompson Falls, I had a craving for a slice of pie and a cup of coffee. Thompson Falls is is one of those main street towns, you know the kind, where almost all of the businesses are sitting on the one big street that runs through town, the gas stations, diners, lumber and hardware stores and real estate offices where the agents all have glamour photos and they've got their arms crossed and their backs arched because that's how successful confident people stand. Coming into the heart of the town I see several motorcycles and a few cars parked in front of a row of buildings, one of them being Minnie's Cafe. I park the bike next to several others, walk in and am promptly greeted and seated at the counter. It's got everything a country diner is supposed to have, there's the smell of coffee and fried food, the locals, farmers and ranchers in their denim and old ball caps, the local radio station playing in the background - perfection.

The waitress asks what I'm having and I ask her what kind of pies they have, she rattles off the list and then recommends the huckleberry pie, warmed up and a la mode with a cup of coffee.

That's exactly why I'm here, I tell her, she grins and pours the coffee.

I chat briefly with a couple of guys who are headed to Glacier National Park on their motorcycles, I tell them I just came from there and we swap stories of where we've been and where we're going, road conditions and things to see. The rituals all riders perform, the stories, the handshakes and the "ride safe!" parting.

As I turn back to the pie that's just arrived, and damn is it good, I see an old gentleman come walking in. He walks straight to the counter and sits down next to me and the waitress pours him a cup of coffee.

"One of them hogs out there yours?" He asks.

"Yes sir," I reply, "That big black one there, with all the camping gear strapped to it."

He squints and looks out the window, nods his approval and takes a sip of coffee.

"I used to ride," He says, "but that was years ago and now all I can ride is that damn scooter out there." He jerks his thumb towards the window and I see one of those red mobility scooters with a basket for carrying things on the front and a small American flag duct taped to the back. It's parked on the sidewalk close to the door.

"But I always rode hogs." He declares, "My first one was a 1927 Harley with a sidecar, I bought it right after the war. I wanted it because it was built the same year I was born! I'm 91, you know. It was that Army green color and it wouldn't run at all when I bought it. A buddy of mine and me, we had to push it all the way home."

He tells me how he and his friend worked on it in the yard, they finally got it running, he laughs, "it ran but damn, we almost always had to push start it, but by god it was fun."

We talk a little more, have a second cup of coffee. He tells me briefly about other bikes he had but always goes back to that first one, the '27 Harley. He laments that he has to live in Montana now, his daughter and her husband live there, he shakes his head, says she made him move there because she was worried about him.

"So now I'm here where she can keep an eye on me"

I pay for my coffee and pie and as I stand up to go he reaches out his hand and shakes mine,

"Nice meeting you" I say...

"Ride safe" he says.