Tues Aug 28 - Trip Summary

My Old Friend

I am back and have had a day to re-acclimate to the life I live the other 95% of the time and it was both good to be back and good to be home. Trips like this that yank you out of the every day world you work and sleep in offer the chance to get outside of your normal mental view shed and inspect things a bit. I had lots of threads going on all those glorious days and will try to remember them sort of willy nilly.
- First, this is a picture of my bike (which you-all know I love) as it looked when it was brand new (except the top bag). I bought it in 1997 and have had it ever since. I have never had a thing go wrong with it in these 15 years and for a trip like this, this is the bike to have. It converts gasoline (and expensive regular maintenance..) into joy. I can never explain it to others or myself but moving through the countryside on a motorcycle as silky quiet and smooth as this is heaven. At the end of the day I want to keep going and I can't wait to jab that starter first thing the next morning. I gotta find some psychobabble guy to explain it some day.
- I pulled out of Pam's garage in Portland Oregon (thank you Pam!!) with the odometer reading 67,256 and I climbed off in my garage last night with the odometer reading 72,233 which sugars out to 4,977 miles. My longest day was Sunday at 714 miles (and I could have done more, like maybe 2 more miles!!).
- I have never been through the middle "chain of states" (Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio) other than on Rt 80 and I am glad I did. It is flat but for someone who spent his whole life (not yet) with trees all around, it is kind of pleasant having all that open space around your head. If you get just 50 miles away from the big interstates, the towns get small and far between and self contained and you loose most of the big chain places (but not all) and the pace slows down. I would go across again, maybe further south.
- I never tire of the theme of how decent people are and I realize that many of the divisions in this country have been manufactured, probably not on purpose, by the political parties and media. If I walk up to someone and just have a conversation, I can always get through to a decent, caring, genuine person inside. We have been programmed to nip at each other and the media constantly tells us how bad things are and how bad people are, but it is not true. We need to work toward becoming a country, state, town, even work places and homes focusing on "we" and not "me". Nothing tears groups apart more than demonizing others. If republicans and democrats could sit down and list the things they agree on, they would be surprised. But we never hear what each others good ideas are, we only hear about the evil of the other guys. Our reaction to new ideas is to put them down. This is tearing us apart. People talking to each other one on one are fine, it's people in groups saying hurtful things about the others that is not ok. We need to start discussing ideas constructively, pros and cons, make a decision, and then all sides work together to try and make the majority decision successful, even if it is not "my" idea.
- We live in a beautiful rich country and need to remind ourselves how lucky we are to have the relative material wealth (relative to most of the other 6.4 billion people in the world) that we do. But more than that we need to remember that real wealth comes from the people we surround ourselves with, and the activities we do to promote joy.
- Riding alone took a couple days to get used to, but it actually gets pretty comfy after a while. I miss the built in company over a cold beer at the end of the day, but decision making is so much less complicated when you are by yourself. You always get your way!! And strangers are really easy to convert into friends, but it might cost you a beer.
- I think being from the east we value land more than out in the west. Crossing Nebraska, I realized that there is more unused land left in this country than you can shake a stick at. Granted it's pretty dry land, but it is land non the less. How about covering it with AllSun trackers!! I'll get the sales guys on that.
- It is unbelievable how much corn and soy I saw being grown. I do not know what the numbers are but I would wager that between beef and ethanol, we could use these foodstuff a lot more efficiently if we became vegetarians and rode bikes.
- Thanks to whoever put all those national parks aside (Teddy, FDR, etc). They are spectacular, especially to all those who live in the "unwild" suburbs and cities. Thank you CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) for building all that stuff for $1 a day and thanks FDR for giving all those folks something to be proud of in their old  age.
 So I am happy to have gone, and happy to be back.Guess I should go wash my bike..

I just did a quick shot of the map showing  where I went so when I'm in the home I'll remember..

Mon Aug 27 - Oswego NY to Home

Slept like a baby and woke at a leisurely 8:00 or so and had a nice long chat with Sandy and Herb over breakfast. It was autopilot all the way home as I have been over this road for the past 27 years with all combinations of old cars (7 hours), kids in diapers (7 hours), kids out of diapers (6 hours), motorcycles (5 hours) and today was more like 7 hours because I stopped at the bike shop I bought the BMW at 15 years ago (they are still there and remembered the stainless steel fasteners I loaded my bike up with (those original ones rusted #$) and I also kept running into road construction which meant walking around waiting for flag people (do not envy those folks, but boy are they tan) and at one point ran 7 miles over chemical laden dirt road. As always hitting Vermont is a big sigh of relief. The signs change, the cars change and everything is cleaner and greener somehow. But I will say this. Our roads are AWFUL compared to all those other states and provinces I have ridden through both on the way out and the way back. There must be a sweet spot between paying taxes for smooth roads and all the suspension work I have had to do on my cars. Grrrr.

I stopped for a couple cold beers to take home and pulled into my garage at around 6pm with the bike smelling like fresh pavement chemicals. It was also a muddy mess from all that wet dirt I had to ride through earlier today. Hannah and Deb were both home and Hannah made a lovely home cooked, healthy supper for us. It is good to be home and I am pleasantly exhausted.

Sun Aug 26 - 714 miles from Remington IN to Oswego NY

That diner last night turned out to be a truck stop diner, which was fine. They served breakfast all day so I had breakfast for dinner. I have been eating a lot less on this return trip which is good because sitting on your rear doesn't burn up too many calories. The Razor is my only shot at actual exercise. This morning they had a stationary bike at the hotel so I took a quick ride on that to get my points for the bike challenge. No goofy Razor today!! Packing in the morning takes no time, I got it down, really lean, and I slept in so didn't mash the starter 'til 8:00 or so. I continued on Rt 24 which is the 55 MPH 2 lane road that goes like clock work from town to adjacent town. These roads are the perfect combo of getting a lot of miles in and seeing a lot of the real town and people and farming (corn and soy). I ducked around Fort Wayne and picked up Rt 30 which took me into Ohio. This road goes from 2 lane to 4 lane and there was very little traffic (it is Sunday..) so I made great time and saw a lot of the back roads of Ohio. Still more corn and soy but the further east I got in Ohio, the more I sensed things loosing the square block layout and starting to get more congested. Then I saw it. The first one I have seen in days. It stood out like a sore thumb and I didn't realize how out of place it looked.

This really did mark the change I would now see. The turn was not because of any geographical feature, but rather because somebody built something that was not planned ahead of time like everything between here and the Rockies. From here east, I would see not square fields everywhere, but rather, odd shaped pieces of land and towns not lined up with each other. Things just got messier and messier in the back roads, in a good way. At Bucrus I headed north on Rt 98 to 598 then east on a long flat road called 224. Nice small roads and small towns and when I hit Rt 71 (big interstate) I stopped. From here on east the big crowded towns started and I had no desire to wiggle through back streets near these big cities. So I held my nose and decided to jump on the interstate (71) and leave this Popsicle stand called Ohio and get into Pennsylvania and call it a day. North to 271 and then the big road, Rt 80 (yuck). I hit Pennsylvania and sorta daydreamed and before I knew it, I was in New York State getting a toll ticket for the New York Thruway (Rt 90). So I stopped at the first service area to figure out what to do. I was feeling great and the map app said I could be at Deb's dad's house in 4 hours. So I called and they said they would still be up and I was welcome to stay. So tank up on coffee and crank it up to 65 and do the boring interstate thing for 4 hours. I arrived at 10pm and rode the last 2 hours in the dark. We chatted for a couple hours and then I crashed. Glad I rode the bike at the hotel this morning. Last thing I wanted to do was ride that #$%^ scooter tonight. So looks like I will get home tomorrow. Wow. This is by far the most miles I have ridden in 1 day and I am actually feeling really good, and I never had to go faster than the speed limit (ok maybe once or twice).

Sat Aug 25 - 642 Miles Across Iowa & Illinois

I blew it last night by stopping too early. I realized it last night when I checked NOAA for the weather forecast and sure enough, a front was coming up from the southwest and the choices were go north to Minnesota and come across Canada or get up early and ride for a few hours in the rain to push through the storm. I do not have my passport, so Canada was out. I set my alarm and punched the starter at 5am. It was not raining yet but it was pitch black. I headed south on 26 and then east on 80 (yuck). The rain started about 15 minutes later so I stopped under a bridge to put on the rain stuff. It was pitch black but the beemer has a parking light and I have a flashlight to figure everything out. It poured off and on for the next 3 hours until I got to Des Moines. I stopped to get gas about 5:30 and got some coffee at an all night truck stop which was hopping. The farmers were up and happy about the rain, the truck drivers were just starting their day and a state natual resources guy and his partner were gassing up their boat. The consensus was that the rain was great and I was nuts to ride a motorcycle in the dark and pouring rain. Visibility was not good with oncoming headlights but I kept it around 50 and kept my eyes peeled for deer and road trash (dead critters and retread tire shrapnel). It was much better when the sky was light enough for me to see the road and road sides and I picked the speed up a bit. I got to Des Moines and the rain let up so I stopped for coffee. But I could still see black clouds behind me so I went another hour or two down 80 to put some time between us. Sometime before hitting Iowa City, I turned south on a 2 laner and then east on another 2 laner in nice shape and empty. I spent the rest of the day just poking through these back roads. There a lot of these roads in Iowa and Illinois with speed limit of 55 and all you have to do is slow down to 30 every time a small town comes up, and then you are off again. So the bad news is that there is nothing but corn and soybeans in these 2 states, but the people are again very friendly and polite everywhere I stopped to hydrate me or the bike. I did pass several ethanol plants which smell like breweries kind of and have big tanker cars on rails out back and big yards for truckloads of corn out front. The corn is pitiful (see picture above), and nothing was being cut except a couple fields in Indiana tonight. I don't understand soy and couldn't find anyone who could explain it to me, maybe tomorrow.
So I was surprised how many miles I put on considering all the bouncing around I did, but I did start pretty early and once again I am feeling great.
So I gotta find some dinner (little restaurant in town) and check the weather and figure out tomorrow. Hopefully more wiggling across Indiana if I can find some good roads..

Fri Aug 24 - Nebraska, Nebraska, Nebraska,...,Iowa

I rode 400 miles across Nebraska today...
Oh yea, I think I hit a grasshopper...



















Did I miss the memo about how wide and boring Nebraska is? I was expecting, you know, corn and crops and pretty towns with happy children playing, no frolicking, with their perfect parents in white linen clothes and those straw hats, picnic baskets, you know, the whole thing. I kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the dry stuff to taper off and all of the above stuff to start. OK, it did get greener FINALLY about 100 miles from the Iowa border, but the rest of northern Nebraska is only a great place if you sell fence, water pumping windmills, or cattle. I took Rt 20 all the way across which gave me a very nice "slice of life" in this part of Nebraska. I will say, when you do hit a town with 500 or more people, it has everything you need. The people I talked to were very friendly and polite. Do not bring up politics as the "Impeach Obama", and worse, are seen here and there.
I find I am playing dodgeball with the weather. I have rain below me, ahead of me and behind me. I need to get the Ouija board out in the morning to figure out where to go next.
Riding this Razor scooter around every night is getting old. People can't figure out what a guy my age is doing riding this around ("lock the doors kids, he looks like a weirdo from Vermont"). I may start getting up in the wee hours to ride it. Jeeze...
I find I am really enjoying the long distance riding on these long straight roads and I don't know why. The beemer is flawless (and turned 70,000 yesterday), and having music is a joy. I am tired at the end of the day but never sore. May have to do this again next year...
Wish I had more to write, but, that's Nebraska...

Thurs Aug 23 - Fort Collins CO to Rockys then Northeast to Nebraska

I checked NOAA this morning and the weather west and south was turning bad. The only place to go and not get wet was northeast to Nebraska. I wanted to ride back up into Estes Park and down the Peak to Peak highway and the rain wasn't supposed to come in until afternoon here in Colorado so why not. I packed (getting pretty good at this), hung my laundry off the back that didn't dry last night (classy), got coffee and drove south to catch the turn west on Rt 34 up to Estes Park. I lived in Boulder south of here 30+ years ago and used to ride my motorcycle up and down the Peak to Peak, but somehow I missed this canyon run up from Loveland. Big Thompson Canyon was incredible!! A little traffic but I just hold back a long time to get some space between me and the cars ahead and then go for it. Go for it is a relative term when you have a 15 year old beemer ridden by a 56 year old guy. At the the town of Estes Park, I got a spectacular view of the bowl of mountains, but the clouds were already getting thick. I took Rt 7 south down the Peak to Peak Highway and it brought back great memories from all those years ago. Lots of hiking trips with George and others. So more, thicker clouds and I knew I better skedaddle. Down off the mountain through another pretty sweepy canyon, and onto interstate 25 to get north ASAP. I saw even more Skystreams, which makes about 9 or 10 total on this trip, in this area. Who is that dealer?? Turned east just north of Cheyenne and then everything except scrub grass and wind powered water pumpers disappeared. Almost no traffic for the rest of the day and almost no towns. This is when it is real nice having the big tank so I don't have to worry about gas. I have been getting 54-55 MPG again because of the slower speeds this trip. Saw something called Car-Henge which is like Stonehenge but built with cars. Sweet.
I shot some more helmet cam video and made another short movie if anyone is interested.

Wed Aug 22 - Billings MT to Fort Collins CO (and more Bear Tooth video)

Just to rub it in some more...

I  had more helmet cam so I downloaded Movie Maker and sort of figured out how to make a movie, with music even (I hope). Enjoy..

Oh yea, and I rode from Billings MT to Fort Collins mostly on the interstate (I will explain) but took a couple little side roads and discovered there is not much to see on the little 2 laners. I got my morning Joe around 6:15 this morning, filled the beemer with gas, and headed south with the speedo reading a nice quiet smooth 65 all day (which is really 60 as I discovered). I don't normally like the interstate but there was something really relaxing about listening to tunes and idling down the interstate. I feel I am slipping down the slope toward Gold Wing karma but it was just this once, honest. It is certainly easier to zone out on these roads with this scenery. So todays project was to get south as far as I could. If I could get within striking distance of Jake and Albuquerque or Arches National Park, I had my choice and could let the weather decide which one tomorrow.
Billings is nothing to write home about (apologies) but the towns here begin and end on a dime so once you leave town, it's just you and the nothingness of the prairie, where pretty much nothing grows except here and there where someone irrigates something. Traffic was light with a few trucks and the road was in nice shape (their congressmen are obviously bringing home the bacon, hint, hint). Lots of expired (squished) antelope beside the road and I saw quite a few future squished ones munching along the sides of the road (outside the fence thank you). A few beef cattle here and there where there was water either naturally or from one of the old classic wind powered pumpers. There are lots of those pumpers still cranking out the water. I saw lots more wind turbines, lots of oil wells, several long coal trains, full and empty, and a few gigundo coal plants. Several oddball oversize loads went by (combines, giant coal trucks and other farm implements) and I even saw another long distance bicycle rider in the emergency breakdown lane.
Big excitement was seeing a 60 meter NRG tower with the telltale Symphonie shelter box at the base and conspicuity balls all over it (that is what those orange balls on guy wires are called). I also counted 7 SouthWest turbines all on 30' mono-towers. Must be a good dealer around here. No solar to be seen anywhere..
I did about 300 miles without a stop and then the fuel light reminded me to look for more dino juice. I filled up and got coffee and chatted a long time with a guy on a BMW 1200LT from Oregon. He had retired last year and spent 4 months on his BMW riding all over North America with his wife on the back. She burned out on it, and now he rides without her. He was supposed to meet his "flakey" brother who forgot which day and/or which city they were going to meet in. He seemed pretty relaxed about the whole thing and reinforced the fact that he never met anyone who wouldn't help you out in all his travels. I did another 230 and got into Fort Collins just as some rain drops starting coming down so looks like this is where I stop. The beemer is doubling as my personal gym with all the standing and stretching I do. It works wonders and at the end of the day, I am not stiff or sore at all. Maybe time to do the Iron butt thing (1000 miles in 24 hours).
Looks like rain tomorrow so not sure where to go from here. I'll figure it out in the morning.

Tue Aug 21 - Bear Tooth Pass

I got up early to figure out where to go today (weather, roads, etc) then caught up on e-mails, did some tech support stuff (not much, no vpn) and called in for our Tuesday Mgr Mtg to catch up there. Stopped for coffee and ran into a guy from Alberta coming back from Florida on a Gold Wing. Nice guy, 65 years old and he puts some serious days in, like over 1000 mile days. Wow, puts me to shame. Inspired, I decided to book it south to get to the west of Yellowstone Park and then cross to the east and go over Bear Tooth Pass, which we missed on the way out. Boy was it worth it. I had no idea it was this beautiful and not crowded. To go over the pass, you sign in at the gate like everyone else and then take a left turn instead of going straight into Old Faithful. Most of the traffic goes straight in and you are left with the north end of the park. When you get to the town of Tower, turn left again and head for the northeast entrance to the park.

Then keep going on Rt 212 and you go over Bear Tooth. This road is spectacular. It is something like Norway and maybe something like what I imagine Alaska would be like. And it was a clear, ok smokey, day with warm temperatures.
The smoke was with me all day and it is coming from all the fires further west. At first I thought it was really hazy this morning but when I asked the park ranger, she said it is all smoke. You can't smell the smoke, but you sure can see it. Instead of crisp shots of the mountains, you get what you would expect on a damp summer morning in the east.
When I came down off the pass, I stopped in Red Lodge to re-hydrate and figure out where to end the day. I wanted to get some more miles on so I decide to head to Billings.
What a perfect day. Again, the beemer is smoother running than ever, the temperature was 70-80 all day, until I got to Billings tonight, and the roads are in great shape with light traffic. 
  I added the following video clip of the Bear Tooth ride. Awesome!!

 

Monday Aug 20 Spokane WA to Great Falls MT

I did all my laundry last night which is a good thing, and this morning tried and finally succeeded in getting cash for all those remote places I anticipated today. The plan was to go north and follow Rt 2 east as far as I could get. I first went to Coeur d'Alene (named after the local Indian tribe which was named by French Canadian fur trappers) and then North on 95 all the way to Bonner's Ferry close to the Canadian border. This road was busy at first with what looked like Montana folks going north for vacations, but then got un-busy after Sandpoint and settled into a nice 2-laner that made the transition from the eastern Washington wheatfields to the beginning of the Rockies. Rt 2 is the road we saw earlier this summer when we took the train (Empire Builder) through the Rockies. I soon saw the train tracks running nearby. This northern part of Montana has all those independent souls who want to live remotely. Lots of aging hippies (they are getting old) with grey pony tails, flannel shirts and old trucks. Lots of "extra" cars in the yard. Real remote living. The odd thing is that there were places with no power lines beside the road, which is my favorite "view-shed" peeve, so I assume they run some underground. I also saw fiber being laid up here but not sure for who? I did not turn into the main Glacier park entrance with all the other tourists but continued on Rt2 which runs south of the Going To The Sun road that Dave, Jeff and I did earlier this summer. And I was rewarded with the road pretty much to myself with long sweepers and majestic Glacier Park views. I would recommend this road to anyone who does not like crowds.

I crossed the Continental Divide at Marias pass and from there it was downhill to East Glacier which is where the other end of the Going To The Sun road connects. I felt pretty smug having missed all the traffic of the usual Glacier route and from here continued east to Browning MT, which I had forgotten is on the Blackfoot Reservation and is a pretty big town. The towns on the reservations usually do not have any of the normal chain establishments and always have cheap cigarette places and casinos. I was out of the Rockies and immediately on the eastern plains of Montana. So I headed south to get in position for tomorrows trip back into the Rockies.

I love riding across the plains and this afternoon was the perfect ride in the late afternoon light. The further south I got the more grey (and cool) it got, but it never rained as I expected it to. I pushed all the way to Great Falls MT, found a place to stay, and walked next door for some Mexican food and a cold beer. Today was a perfect day. The beemer is a beautiful machine for this kind of travel, quiet, strong and very smooth always. My netbook is crashing a lot lately so I am hoping to baby it through the rest of this trip. If not, I'll have to go back to writing a diary.
We will see where we go tomorrow..

Sun Aug 19 - Which Way Should I Go

I looked at the NOAA site last night and it looked like it would be cool enough to go south. But this morning things shifted so that I would be looking at 90+ degree weather for the next week. So it's north I go. We missed the Columbia River Gorge on the way out because of the wind so that seemed a natural. There is also some great roads we saw from the train. Beverley slept after going in to the hospital at 3am so I used the time to catch up on the blog, forgetting half of what happened over the last 4 days, downloaded maps for my GPS app and rode Bretts bike for a mile or 2 for the Endomondo thing. One last goodbye, bungee the bags on the bike and we are off. North over the river to Vancouver (WA) and then east on Rt 14 which is a 2-laner that goes the entire length of the gorge. Still seeing some sawmills and paper mills, but also coal and freight trains on this side of the river. The other side is the interstate. At one point, I must have seen a hundred wind surfers in the river. The temperature was cool and I thought I was going to get rained on, which is nothing like what NOAA was showing. It was a long beautiful haul until I hit Umatilla, which is where Dave, Jeff and I had turned south because of heavy wind in June. I passed at least 3 dams / locks including Bonneville and as I got to the east end of the gorge, the landscape got dryer, more open and the temperature climbed. There seems to be a lot of vineyards popping up here and there. They must irrigate the dry hills and plant grapes. Lots of grapes and lots of tasting rooms. As I turned north it was probably hitting upper 80's. I turned north on 395 to Kennewick and then continued north. Originally I was going to stop at Yakima, but decided it was a bit too far west so pushed on to Spokane. I stopped by Lind WA, because it is of course home of the world famous combine demolition derby (check it out here).

I turned off on some real remote roads that weaved through the wheat fields and had to stop for a picture as it was so amazing. It looks like they harvested the wheat. As I approached Spokane, irrigation booms started cropping up and I started to see corn fields. It is amazing how travelling a couple hundred miles changes everything terrain and crop wise. Washington sure is a diverse state.
I ran into a Harley guy who just got back from an 8 state loop for his vacation. He had some great tips on roads and definitely recommended Bear Tooth Pass which we missed on the way out. So now I am not sure where to go tomorrow. North to Rt 2 or east to Bozeman. Or both??

Sat Aug 18 - Down the Washington Coast to Portland

We had a light breakfast and packed up to head back to Portland. Rt101 down the coast in Washington is pretty rural with a couple canneries and fishing towns, and lots of logging trucks. It looks like they clearcut big swaths of trees and then replant them, and then do it all again 30 to 40 years later. I kept checking for a Spotted Owl Cookbook, but didn't find one anywhere. The traffic was light all day and the wind changed direction and blew in off the ocean so it was 15 degrees cooler than the previous 2 days. We pass what must be salt flats at low tide and lots of fishing boats. You leave Washington state when you cross the really long Astoria Bridge which must be 2-3 miles long. Small fishing boats are everywhere under the bridge and you can see them with poles out all sides of the boats as the tide moves in or out, I'm not sure which. The Oregon coast road is closer to the water and there are more beaches here and more tourism. Deb wanted to take me back to Cannon Beach which is a beautiful sandy beach with the classic rock "stacks" that you see in pictures. There were 2 weddings going on at the beach and a young family was burying the dog in sand (he seemed ok with it). Then back north to catch the Rt 26 road to Portland. We are staying with my niece Beverly and her new husband Brett. This was the perfect moment to try the talking GPS app on my iPhone. I plugged in their street address, put my earbuds in, helmet on, turned the music on and stuck the iPhone in my pocket. It works great until I got in the middle of the city and the turns got close together. The it was Mr. Toads Wild Ride all over again. I'll will give it points for never giving up. The problem is, there are roads that merge that are right next to each other and it just gets confused about which road you just got on or off. So after bobbing and weaving around the Portland city streets, we somehow ended up in front of Brett and Beverly's house. Beverly does MRI's at the local hospital and was on call this weekend. She just got back from a call during the day today. Brett found a great Mexican place down the block within walking distance in case Beverly had to take off and we had a great dinner. Then back to the ranch to catch up on the back deck. The temperature was perfect and we slept like kings.

Fri Aug 17 Olympic Rain Forest

  Today we decided to take the short drive north to a hike that took us back into the rain forest. This area gets 141 inches a year of rain because of the geography. The cool wet air blows in from the ocean and as it is pushed inland it has to rise due to Mt Olympia and friends, which causes all that moisture to dump on the west side of the mountains. The result is a dense, lush forest with every kind of moss and fungus you could imagine. It was nice and cool hiking and reasonably flat. There is a river that flows down off the glacier which is more gray than blue and adds some sound to the lush quiet forest. We met a lot of people who had been hiking in the 5 to 7 day range (and smelled it). Lots of day hikers and a few overnighters. This area is sort of the end of the line so it is not very crowded. We did 5 miles or so round trip which was perfect.

Back to the lodge for a cool dip in the lake and a short attempt to get through my book. When the sun drops and the shadows move onto the expansive front lawn, the adirondak chairs get pushed out into the middle so the adults can yak while the kids burn off what energy they have left. We met a couple riding a R1200R and exchanged notes. After dark you can have dinner and then get a drink and sit in the overstuffed leather chairs in the lodge main room. I tried reading a bit more but sleep pulled me in. Still warm but the fan in our room ran all night..

Thur Aug 16 - Seattle to Olympic Park

OK, enough coffee and fish, time to leave Seattle. We drove to the BMW shop where the beemer was ready to go. They leafed through the boat catalogs while I wheelbarrowed the money in to pay the bill. I got around the corner and noticed a bolt on the handlebars that did not get tightened and went around the block back into the service bay. The kid working there said it might have been that way before and I assured him I have been staring at those handlebars for 15 years and had never noticed it loose before. The older guy just said they missed it and tightened it and checked everything else.  It was a little thing but they were a pretty red-faced about it. They also said they had to replace a valve lifter nut, but didn't know why, which makes me wonder. The plan was to wiz down Rt 5 to Olympia, then 101 west to Rt 8 to Rt 12 to Aberdeen. That all worked except the wizzing part. We sat on Rt 5 south for over an hour creeping along. There did not apper to be an accident or anything, but my clutch hand was sore from bumping along in first gear for an hour. It was moving enough that I couldn't shut the engine off, so the engine temperature crept up until I finally had to just take off and weave around the side exit lanes and then cut in line ahead. With this little bit of motion, I managed to keep the engine temp down in a reasonable place and finally the traffic cleared (a one lane through lane was the bottleneck), and I kept it at 55 for the next 10-20 miles until Deb caught up with me. At Olympia we took 101 which is a little confusing because this 101 goes up the east side of the Olympic Park and there is another one that goes up the west side. Keeping west on Rt 8 and 12 we pulled into Aberdeen for a break. This park of Washington is not anything like Seattle. There is that familiar tension between loggers and the National Park. The same issues we have at home in the Adirondaks. There are signs protesting something called "Wild Olympics". The park servive want to set aside an additional 34,000 acres as protected land and I am guessing the loggers are not too happy about it. The signs are everywhere.

We arrived at Lake Quinault Lodge, home of no wifi and no cell service so just unplug and enjoy the 1920's era lodge on a Lake Quinault. The weather was spectacular and our cabin was the classic dark sort of rustic room probably built in the 50's as additional space for the growing tourist trade. The mirror framed with fly fishing poles says it all. There are pictures of FDR all over and he apparently visited here in the 30s or 40's and decided to make it a national park. I read a short history of the place and it was built in 58 days by some slave-driver guy (in a nice way) who was famous for building these kinds of places in record time. There is a beach, boats and hiking trails all over. There is only 2 places to eat dinner and we chose the place up the road that had great salmon, but it was way too hot to eat anything cooked, so it was salad bar for dinner. Again, nobody remembers it ever being so hot and every fan they had was running full blast to cool people off.

Wed Aug 15 - Seattle Day 2

So today we did the full Seattle tour. We started with breakfast at a bar up the street that served "breakfast happy hour". The message was drinking is not just for evening anymore, but we stuck to breakfast. Deb set up a walking / eating tour which took 2-1/2 hours and walked us through the entire Pikes Place section of town with stops at different sellers and eateries for samples. Pike Place is a huge central farmers market with the main attraction being the throwing of the fish. Every time someone orders something, they feel compelled to throw it to the guys weighing and wrapping it and everybody yelling out loud about it. Pretty twisted, but that's what they are famous for. They also have all kinds of fruits, vegetables, flowers, baked goods, wine, cheese, etc, etc, etc. We also saw the original Starbucks (actually the fourth place they operated out of because the previous ones had been re-purposed for other things, but good enough for us).
So then we took the ferry to Bainbridge Island across Puget Sound mostly for the ferry ride. It was a gorgeous day and again people remarked that we were so lucky to have this much nice weather for our visit. We hiked a waterfront trail on the island and found a spot to chat with some natives and have a cold drink. It appears that a lot of commuters make the trip across the sound to go to work each day. Mostly they talked about the no-hitter that Felix Hernandez threw today for the Mariners. On the way back we saw mostly tired hot baseball fans returning from the park.
We came back over and searched Pikes Place again for all the places we did not see this morning and settled on the crepe place for dinner. Then a cookie at the bakery and some fresh fruit to munch on on the monorail ride back to the hotel.
The beemer is done and looks like in addition to new tires and battery, I needed a new left side fork seal that I noticed had popped on those expansion joints in Wyoming on the way out. So I'll pick it up tomorrow on our way out of town to go to Olympic National Park. Good timing because everyone is complaining about it being in the mid 90s tomorrow.
Another great day in "not normally sunny but sunny for us" Seattle.

Tues Aug 14 - Mt Rainier to Seattle

Had a leisurely breakfast in the Paradise Lodge, packed and headed out convoy fashion with me leading (scary thought). I am trying to get this @#$% GPS app to tell me where to turn while I listen to music but still no-go. From a talk we heard the previous night, this park was one of the first ones designed so that all of the roads give the visitor the best views possible and it really rang true today. We went east and then north around the top of the park. There was some road construction but not bad. Traffic was light and we spent a couple hours winding through the park until we popped out the north entrance and back into civilization. Absolutely no cell service or wifi in this park, probably on purpose. There is a long stretch of road way out in the boonies and I saw one sign saying they needed cellular service installed for the local emergency services. These guys are out there. Again, the logging trucks became more dense as we go closer to civilization. Deb got pretty low on fuel but we finally hit a town with gas stations. We headed west until we hit Rt 5 and then north to Seattle on the interstate. I found the BMW shop where I had made an appointment for old grey beard to get new tires, battery, oil and a tuneup before heading back east. This shop is very clean, modern and efficient. I dropped it off and Deb and I found a hotel in the trendy Queen Anne Hill district that was pretty reasonable. We walked up the street to a great bar famous for happy hour and had a great dinner. We then walked (I actually rode the scooter) to the museum where we had been hearing about a glass exhibit. It was amazing and as a bonus, we went up the Space Needle just to cross it off my bucket list.
We went back to the museum to see the outdoor glass exhibit lit up as the light faded off. Pretty spectacular. There are some pretty creative people out there..
The Razor is perfect for getting around a city like this. I had to watch it on the steep hills as the brake gets pretty toasty on my sneakers. Somehow Deb managed to stay pretty far away from me...

Mon Aug 13 - Portland to Mt Rainier

Pam left for work early and we slept in a bit and then packed up. I started the beemer and let it warmup to let the battery charge a bit and get the oil circulating again. Tires needed a bit of air and the oil level was spot on. We loaded the Subaru with all of our stuff, nothing on the beemer except me, and headed north to Mt Rainier. Pam had told us to not leave too early or we would hit traffic so we dawdled until 9 or so. It felt great to be back on the bike. Hip was a little cranky, but nothing some of Dr Gustafs peg squats wouldn't solve.
The temperature was perfect and traffic was light and relaxed through the city. I immediately lost Deb in the traffic (or she lost me), but we had assumed as much. It is so relaxing to putt along at the speed limit and take in all the details. I filled with gas over the border in Washington ($$$$4.20 for premium, $$3.98 for regular, yikes). Thankfully I get 50 mpg. I turned on Rt 12 to head east toward the mountain. There is a bit of agriculture (cherries) here but the further east I got, the more the logging trucks took over the road. This brought back memories of Pete and I back on 1974 riding motorcycles through here and dodging log trucks. These guys are good drivers but fast. Being passed by a double trailer log truck is quite an experience, watching it swerve from side to side in front of you. I gave them lots of berth.
Turned on Rt 7 north and then the skinny Park Service road east again to the mountain. This road is fabulous and the weather was perfect clear and sunny. Twisty narrow 2 laner through old growth trees with sunlight dappling through the leaves. Drivers are all polite and the campers pull over religiously to let everyone else go by on the plentiful pulloffs. This road climbs for a long time and the turns begin to be 15 mph turns until you pop out at the Paradise Lodge with Mt Ranier towering in the background. This is in the style of the great lodges and was built in 1917 by a private firm for tourists and later taken over by the national park system. They have old pictures on the walls of horse drawn wagons and early cars hauling people up the boulder strewn road to the lodge. This was right out of that heady time of the 1920's when people were starting to ski, hike and head for the mountains. We went for a short hike through the fields of wild flowers and it reminded us of the alpine meadows in Switzerland. All it needs is some goats and sheep with bells around their necks. We checked in and went for a short motorcycle ride, then dinner. I tried to read my book sitting in the lodge main room but couldn't keep my eyes open so off to bed. I woke up at 3am, took some ibuprofen for the cranky hip, got dressed and went out in the parking lot to get my phone charger out of the bike. The sky was clear and the stars were incredible. Someone said there was a meteor shower tonight so I laid on the pavement next to the bike and watched until I finally saw a meteor streak across the sky. Back to bed and fast asleep.

Sun Aug 12 - Mt Saint Helens

  We had coffee and then took the shuttle back to the airport to get the rental car. The shuttle driver was from Louisiana and had the accent to go with it. He explain how great 5 Hour Energy drinks were as opposed to Red Bull, and he was not a young man. We heard the same thing a couple days later so something is up with that stuff. We rented a Subaru (official car of Vermont and Oregon) and called Beverly and Brett who were just getting up. Beverly is my neice who got married the month before. It was nice to see them "post wedding" and they seemed relaxed and settled in. We promised to come back the next weekend and then headed off to Mt Saint Helens.
This is an active volcano that blew it's top back in 1980. As a result, the entire area is starting to grow back, but between ash deposits and mud slides, the area is still dominated by grey rocky terrain. The mountain is still beautiful and it was nice to see it from the south side, which is a lot less traveled by tourists (that would be us). We headed back to Portland to go to our friend Pam's house. This is where we crashed last trip out and Pam also let me keep my bike in her garage for the last month.
Pam and her friend Dave were there and we had an enjoyable night catching up and watching more Olympics. The beemer looked just as I left it, ready to return home a week later other than sorta bald tires. I did a late night ride on one of Pam's bikes around the neighborhood. Lawns look pretty parched but I did not sense from conversations with people in Portland that the weather here was all that unusual. Their summer starts in July after the rainy stuff stops and it gets warm and dry. The weather for the coming week looks incredible and pretty much everybody we run into says we are lucky to get this stretch of upcoming weather here in the northwest. I hope our luck holds out.

Sat Aug 11 - Flying Back West

I got about 4 hours sleep after being out late with my old home-town college buddies Greg, Tim and Pete. We almost never see each other but it is just like old times when we do. We are much more responsible, mature and generally better behaved now. We grew up together in the same town (Putney VT) and then were roomates for a year in college (a crazy year I might add). So I was not too crisp but managed to get everything packed. The flights left mid morning so not the usual wee hour stuff.
Deb and I went on 2 seperate flights (freq flyer miles, etc). We had 2 huge bags between all of the usual stuff and 2 helmets, camping stuff, half gallon of syrup and motorcycle clothes, but everything fit (even the Razor scooter). I flew from Burlington to Philly to Phoenix to Portland and Deb flew from Burlington to Philly to Portland. On my last flight from Phoenix, I sat next to a 4 year old boy named Alex who told me pretty much everything going on in his world. I tried to help his dad channel all that boy energy for the 2-3 hours of the flight. How kids that age be that active for that long on a bag of peanuts and a juice box defies physics.
I arrived an hour before Deb did and hung out near baggage claim reading my book and doing my usual socio-profiling. Baggage claim is where you get a snapshot of who lives here. They are young, crunchy, clean, plaid and baggy clothes and pretty darn happy folks here in Portland.
After lots of calls, we found what seemed to be the last hotel room within shuttle range. The woman on the phone came and picked us up and explained that the fewer the rooms left, the higher the price, which is why our room was so expensive. She was very nice about it. The room was postage stamped size but fine. The one interesting thing about the trip for me was getting off the plane in Phoenix. As I stepped off the plane onto the ramp I noticed how hot it was immediately, shockingly hot. I checked the temp with my phone and it was 114 degrees outside. We walked across the street from the hotel and got dinner in a bar type place and watched Olympics on the big screen TVs. I rode the Razor up and down the halls of the hotel to get the Endomondo challenge thing points. It was late and I was glad nobody came out of their rooms to complain about me buzzing up and down the hallways with my scooter. As always after long flights and time changes, we were exhausted and crashed.

Trains, Planes and Automobiles

OK, time to head home. We agreed to meet my sister in law Kathy for coffee in the morning and we headed up to Starbucks (4 bucks?). Dave texted me that he was riding his bike around Portland so I gave him the Starbucks address and he met us there. I did a lap around downtown with his bike to get the bike challenge mile in, then we headed back to pack up for the train. The wedding party was having breakfast at the hotel so we joined them for our last goodbyes. Most looked pretty ok, but many had had a late night and many were never to be seen this morning before we left. Again, Beverly married into a wonderful group and will be well taken care of out here.
  So we packed, dropped off the tux with Brett (the groom) and headed to the train station which was only a mile away, but we had a lot of heavy bags so we went to the Max station (their mass transit) and as we waited, along came a beautiful old restored trolley car. A woman on the sidewalk said it was a car they do not run often (only 8 times a year as it turns out, budget cuts, etc) so we asked and they said no charge, all aboard and we were treated to a couple of fun guys narrating the city history on the short trip to the train station. The train station was newly renovated and because we were sleeping car subscribers, we were treated to the "special" lounge separate from the "coach" travelers (hoity toity indeed). This was to be the theme the next couple days as Amtrak and "our" crew worked really hard to make us feel special. It is certainly cheaper and quicker to fly, but where else can you eat dinner with a moving panoramic view of the Cascade Mountains, waterfalls and roaring mountain rivers going by and fall asleep with the full moon illuminating a vast prairie with remote twinkling lights in the windows of distant ranch houses.
An energetic guy named Tanner was our go to guy and his job was to take care of us. He popped by every hour or so to see if all was well, explained how everything worked and made sure everyone under his watch got off at the right place (some stops were in the wee hours). After a couple days we appreciated how much the crew was a team of folks who had worked together over many years (Tanner was new a 2 years but Fran had been their 37 years). They seemed to really enjoy working on the train and working together. They made it fun for us as well. They must weave down the street on their days off after living on the moving train day after day. Very impressive to see the host with big trays of food walking through a car full of people bobbing back and forth.
There are 2 room choices and we opted for the smaller one with single bunks top and bottom. I am guessing that when NASA designed the space station, the called Amtrak and asked them how to cram the most number of people in the smallest space. These rooms are about 6 feet long, 3 feet wide and 6 feet high. But it all works. The upper bunk folds down at night and the 2 opposing seats recline / slide together to make the lower bunk. The bathroom is down the hall and a bit bigger than an airline bathroom, except for the shower. The shower seems big and luxurious relative to everything else. Showering on a moving train is tricky but doable (hang on to the soap!!). They come to your room and get your reservation for dinner which is very relaxed and never hurried. Breakfast and lunch you make reservations for as well. The observation car is beautiful and you can sit and watch everything go by. It was surprisingly not crowded considering the coach cars were full and anyone can go to the observation car. I always got a seat and it was a pleasant place to read my book.
OK back to the schedule. We took the 3 hour train from Portland to Seattle up the coast and saw the ocean and a lot of the inner waterways around Seattle. We transferred to the Empire Builder, found our sleeper compartment, Tanner went over how everything works and they came by to set up the dinner reservations. I would say that a day or two and a night is about right for taking Amtrak. We asked the crew what the best Amtrak routes were and the answer all around was California Coastal Starlight and Empire Builder.
The scenery is great and we converted the compartment to sleep mode and crashed after a long relaxing picturesque dinner. The car was very quiet considering what was going on underneath us and I woke around 5am and got coffee (a pot is always on in the hallway) and enjoyed the sunrise in the observation car.  Breakfast starts at 6:30 and the rest of the day was enjoying the scenery, naps, chatting with fellow passengers and listening to talks by the on-board Trails and Rails guys who are retired guys that give talks all day in the observation car (broadcast through the intercom throughout the train) about the history and features of the passing sites and places.
We set our alarms the second night to make sure we got up for our 7:15am arrival in Minneapolis (Tanner stopped by anyway to make sure we didn't miss it). The train was a little over an hour late which was fine since we still had a couple hours to catch the flight home. Taxi to the airport, flight to Philly and then flight home. Air travel is faster but the train is a whole other experience with continuous moving landscape.
So now we are home with a month or more to get back to the normal routine and then back to Portland for the second part of the summer adventure.
Great trip..

Crazy Wedding Day (Sat-Jun 30)

So today was the reason this whole trip took place. Some last minute running around before the wedding at 5pm. Deb and I went up the street to a Starbucks and had a relaxing cup of Joe. We kept seeing big pink/purple boxes going by on the street with "VooDoo Donuts" printed on the side. This is a cult doughnut shop in Portland and their signature doughnut is the "Maple Bacon Log". Fortunately when we walked by, the line extended a couple blocks so we dodged the calorie bullet on that one. They are quite the talk of the town.
We drove out to Pam's house again (she just can't lose us) to meet her daughter who we knew way back when and we all went out for lunch at a local burger / diner place. I thanked Pam again for storing my bike until August when (as far as we know) Deb and I plan to go out and spend some time driving/riding around Portland/Seattle and then I am going to ride back east on the Beemer. Not sure the details yet(Pam really isn't ever going to get rid of us!!) We drove to the airport and dropped off the rental car (forgot to put gas in and had to go back out to avoid buying the $9 per gallon rental company gas) and then figured out the Max, which is Portland's metro. Very easy, clean, on time, etc. We headed back to the hotel and I suited up for the wedding. Brett (the groom) and others were leaving the hotel for the wedding at the same time so we all rode the Max to the park where the wedding was going on. My niece Beverly was marrying Brett, an amazingly nice guy, and she was marrying into a very nice group of family and friends. The wedding was beautiful and Beverly and I fended off nervousness walking down the aisle thinking of Thunder Cats and Smurfs respectively. The ceremony was beautiful and the after party was great and I spent all the time I could getting to meet or catching up with everyone at the wedding. Some of my long lost nieces and nephews were there and it was great to catch up with them. We begged out of the late after party (which went til 3am) and crashed back at the hotel. We were beat, but this was a great bookend to a fantastic trip. OK maybe a little more adventure to come...

Crazy Errand Day

Today was crazy errand day. Pam left her house for us (thank you thank you) to re-organize what was going where. Deb and I talked last night and decided to come back out in mid-August. Pam offered a spot in her garage to store my bike and the plan is to come back out, sight-see with Deb and then ride the old beemer back to Vermont. I had been thinking of doing this for several days and have a lot of vacation time to burn up from the last couple years of happy heavy slaving away at work. Hot dog!!! 
Jeff is hanging out with Pam until his flight Sunday night and the thought was to get Daves bike to theshipping place and crated today, have Jeffs bike picked up at a bike shop down the street on Monday so he could have it Sat and Sun and get another ride in, and my bike stays in Portland. I called Peoria IL and talked to the woman there and she helped us work it all out. Jeff, Deb and I headed to the shipping place with a stop at the bike shop on the way. The bike shop guys said 80% chance of rain this weekend so jeff decided just to ship his bike today. So back to Pams and then to the shipping place. Dave's bike was just getting tied down on it's pallet and Jeff drove his right onto another one. The guy was not crazy about the bicycle on Dave's bike, but after signing off they would not be responsible for any damage to the motorcycle, Dave strapped it on. Dave was headed up to Mt Ranier and Deb and I had errands. Jeff, Deb and I met Pam for lunch on the 30th floor of her office building with a panoramic view of Portland. It is indeed a port town with cranes and dock to unload and load ships. The bridges all raise and lower for the ships to pass and you can see all the Cascade mountains for miles. Jeff decided to do a walking tour of the town and Deb and I had to pick up my tuxedo for the wedding, find the hotel to dump our stuff an then find Beverly and Brett's house for the rehearsal and party. My niece from Paris came in with her husband and their two beautiful kids which was a joy after many years. My sister was already there and I got to meet the hordes of wonderful family and friends.
It was a strange day after 2 weeks of riding. Wedding tomorrow and then train on Sunday, first some sleep.

Last push to the Pacific

Today we split up. Jeff and I headed to the coast and Dave headed into Portland. We headed west through McKenzie Pass which is a fantastic, narrow, traffic-less road over a pass to the other side of the Cascades. No idea how those folks in covered wagons did this. There were lava fields here and there and snow. This road is sort of like the Tail Of The Dragon road in the Blue Ridge Mountains with curve after curve after curve but with Lava beds. After coming down out of the Cascades we hit a long flat stretch with more farms (hay and cows) which is different than the ground crops we saw on the other side of the Cascades (wheat). I was expecting it to be flat all the way to the ocean but there was another little range of small mountains after this flat patch (Coastal Range). This is lumber country and all the trucks have logs or are on the way to get more logs. Looks like this is their livlihood here.
We hit the Pacific in Newport and turned north on Rt 101. If you stay on 101, it is pretty busy and a little tacky. Deb had been over here the previous week and said you have to get off 101 to really see the ocean. We stopped at a couple spots for pics, but kept pushing north to get to Cannon Beach (which is a must see that we did not see). Rain started up after a couple hours on the coast and we stopped and put on rain gear. We decided to head back inland on Rt 6 and get to Portland. Our friend Pam was expecting us for dinner at 6 so we decided to call it quits on the coast road. Rt 6 was a really nice road and by the time we pulled into Portland, the rain had stopped. Jeffs GPS does not have any west coast stuff into it and my GPS is on my iPhone so we stopped for gas and I wrote the last few turns on a piece of paper and stuck in my gas cap (my Dad would be pround). Good old 1950's GPS (Good-ol Paper System). We pulled into Pams a little early and she was just getting home from work. She and her son Scott (who used to be this cute little 2 year old back in Vermont was now a tall nice college student). Deb pulled up an hour later with her snazzy Mustang that she and Aunt Ginny had been cruising the coast in the previous week. We had a wonderful evening catching up on what everyone had been doing these last 20 years. I called my neice and my family is getting together tomorrow (Friday) afternoon. Lots of errands tomorrow.

Redmond OR to Redmond OR - Crater Lake Loop

Nice motel again (Dave is getting soft) We have managed the entire trip to get a single room with either a cot (whose turn tonight) to a suite with a foldout counch. Works pretty well and not too expensive divided 3 ways. Today we go to Crater Lake. It is a straight shot down on Rt 97 on THE MOST BORING ROAD IN THE STATE. They must have fired up a big Cat bulldozer, filled it with diesel, pulled the levers back with bungee cords and called down state to catch it when it came in. The east side of the Cascade mountain range is considered high plateau and is very different from the coast. Dry and sunny for the most part. We turned west and headed up the hill to Crater Lake. This is a volacano that filled in with water. The water all comes from rain and it is azure blue and beautiful. The snow banks are still 8 to 10 ft high and that makes it pretty cold. We yacked with 3 guys from Northern California on beemers. There is some discontent with BMW bikes bubbling with the newer BMW models. Especially electronics. My brothers new 1200GS had the fuel guage crap out twice, Dave lost the horn and cruise control on his 2010 R1200RT, Jeff lost his cruise control on his 2002 K1200, and one of these guys had a rear pinion bearing go bad after 16K miles, and BMW does not cover any of this stuff after the first year. They better straighten this out or their reputation is toast. I am guessing the old guard engineers retired and the new "kids" came in with all this fancy electronics, etc.
So we looped around Crater Lake and then headed back to Bend on the same BORING ROAD to meet some folks that Dave knew through a recuiting task last year. Bend is a nice town with a happening population. We met Anne and Abby in the park where a farmers market was going on. They told us a great short ride to the local ski aea (Mt Bachelor) and we agreed to meet back in town for pm dinner at a local micro-brew. The ride to Bachelor was wonderful. The ski area was open on weekends still and they had lots of snow. We almost got locked in the road to the ski area after sort of sneaking in, but the chain did not get locked so we got out. We met Annes husband Ken and his co-worker Mike. We had long philisophical conversations about the similiarities between Oregon and Vermont. Twin sons from different mothers. We talked for a couple hours and then Abby escorted us back to the main road and we returned the 20 miles to Redmond. Long happy day.

Wind Turbines and Lots of Wind

It was raining when we got up and we didn't have that far to go today so we slept in, had breakfast and waited for the rain to stop. Around 10:30 we had had enough waiting so we donned our rain gear and took off. The storm was stalled just north of Walla Walla so we headed south west to get out from under it. It soon cleared and we took the rain togs off. I might point out there are hundreds of wind turbines here, and there was also a lot of wind. As we headed down the Columbia River Gorge, the wind started pounding us. We had planned to ride down Rt 14 on the Washington side, but after an hour of brutal wind, mostly head wind, we decided to get out of there.
At one point I looked in my mirror and noticed that he folding bike was gone. I pulled over and sure enough the bike was nowhere to be found. No foam pad, or bungee cords or bike. I texted Dave that I lost the bike and headed back east looking for a bike in the road. I got back to where we had just stopped for fuel awithout spotting the bike. I asked inside and nobody had seen anything (some kook on a motorcycle whose bicycle fell off!) So I headed back west slowly looking over the banks beside the road and finally found it over a bank, on a stretch where the wind was especially bad. It was scraped up and one of the pedals was broken. Other than that it seemed ok. So I doubled the bungees and we headed back west. We got a little lost and ended up taking Rt 207 south. This is an amazing road (the best roads are always found when you get lost) and we spent most of the day on it. Almost no cars and the pavement was perfect. We stopped at a little expresso shack (these 8 ft x 20 ft shacks are all over out here). We ended up chatting with a local guy who was a civil engineer and a rancher (engineering job supports his ranching habit by the sounds). Got a great snapshot of whats going on in Oregon. The temperature dropped and we had to add some layers. The last bit of road before we got to Redmond was amazing. Twisties with perfect pavement and absolutely no traffic. With a stellar view of the snow covered mountains to the west, we pulled into Redmond around 7pm, checked in, rode the bike (to make sure it still worked) and walked across the street to a restaurant (nothing special). Tomorrows weather looks perfect and we are going to Crater Lake down south. Should be a perfect day.

Walla Walla Washington Wheat

Jeff got up early, had breakfast and then waited for Dave and I (we slept an extra hour). We have everything down pat now. Loading and unloading is easy, ride the bicycle before breakfast every morning, continental breakfast, then on the bikes and go. There were 4 pretty new BMWs from Washington at the hotel last night. They looked clean so I assume they were just starting their trip and their beemers were more crotch rocket type bikes so I assume the trip will be short. One of them was the amazing new beemer that can go 200+ MPH (no thanks).
We climbed and went over Lolo Pass and then down through the Clearwater National Forest. This was a deja vu moment for me because I had ridden a motorcycle down this same pass 38 years ago with my old friend Pete Brewer. I had a crappy old Suzuki 550 "two smoke" and he had a Honda 750 4 cylinder. We did 10,000 miles in 7 weeks on that trip (or so Pete told me) and only stayed in a motel one night due to a tornado warning (the cop told us to) in Gillette Wy. It is just as nice now as then. Long sweepers with a big mountain stream running beside us. I am enjoying the dry air as well. We descended forever to the valley floor in Idaho and then decided that Walla Walla Washington would be the end stop today. We rode beside another larger river after Orofino with rolling hills dropping to our road and the river, sort of a fjord feeling place. At the end of this we climbed the smooth treeless hills and popped up on top of a high plateau where we saw rolling wheat fields as far as the eye can see. Tractors the size of dinosaurs and all kinds of farm machinery this Vermont farm boy could not figure out. We saw a helicopter all tricked out for spraying the fields. There is a long history of grain production here and the towns display founding dates in the mid to late 1800s. Businesses all center around grain. We saw abandoned railroad beds that went beside large grain elevators. I assume trucks replaced the trains, maybe they will be back when diesel prices climb. At least the beds are in place, just add some rails.
We pulled into Walla Walla around 4pm. We are way ahead of schedule and Jeff and Dave are hatching plans for where we go next. I am happy to just be on the bike moving. We will see what they figure out for tomorrow..

Going to the Sun Road frem Great Falls MT to Missoula MT

We were going to go out for breakfast but Dave loves waffles and they had a waffle machine in the motel so we did the continental breakfast. This is how sad it has become out here on the trail. Real cowboys would be eating eggs, bacon, and Texas toast cooked over and open fire and washing it down with gritty cowboy coffee in tin cups, but we are eating off Styrofoam plates in the lobby of a cheap hotel using and electric waffle iron. Sad but true...
So head 'um up and move 'um out. We head north and it starts out grey and overcast and as we go north toward Browning MT, it gets colder and the wind picks up until it is misty with the wind pounding away at us. There was road construction again and we had a nice 20 minute chat with the flag guy who told us tall tails of shooting bears on picnic tables. The big news around Browning this morning was a Grizzly had killed 70 sheep the previous day which we did not think added up (can a bear eat 70 sheep in one sitting or does he put them in the freezer for summer, and if he did, how would he open the freezer with those big claws? (see where this is going?)). The flag guy explained that what usually happens is the bear kills a few and the sheep are so stupid that they suffocate while piling over each other to get away from the bear. I'll take his word for it. I had a race with a deer this morning, and we did not collide. If you see a deer, then just jam on the brakes and let it do whatever it's going to do. Best nt to try to think too much in these situations. Note to self...
We stopped in Browning, at a gas station / convenience store with tables in the back which is on an Indian reservation to warm up with coffee for John (the real cowboy) and cocoa for the faux cowboys (what self respecting cowboy drinks cocoa?). We decided the weather was not going to get any better so we continued with rain gear through the mist to the Glacier Park entrance. The ranger warned us about zero visibility on top of the "Going To The Sun" highway as did a guy on a VStrom (popular Suzuki motorcycle) earlier who had just come over. It is a 12 mile climb to the top and it went from grey overcast to solid fog at the top. The snow banks are still huge and impressive. It was also pretty cold up there. The flag guy told us it had only opened 10 days ago which is a month earlier than it usually opens. It closes in September so it that is a pretty short season. They did not get much snow this year, but it sure looked like a lot of snow at the top.

We descended just a few miles and the fog disappeared and it was sunny and pleasant. We went past Flathead Lake which is huge and beautiful, and continued on to Missoula. Four other beemers pulled in after us and Jeff is already scheming to swap his custom footpeg for one of theirs late tonight (not really).
We had supper at the Hooters across the road which of course had particularly attractive waitress'. Dave made me take my picture with the waitress of course just to get me in trouble with Deb. I look sort of grandfatherly here...
So all in all another great day in the Big Sky Country. Tomorrow we head toward Portland maybe via Washington state since we still have a little time. Who knows...

Jackson Wy to Great Falls MT (Bears, Elk, Badgers, Prairie Dogs and Wind)

We decided last night to go north to Montana and then west thru Glacier Park. Got a cool (43F) start (I got crap for not wearing enough clothes??) and stopped for a picture with the sun pointing the right way. A couple from California with 2 youngh (sleepy) kids snapped our pics and we reciprocated, then it was north and into the park. First Teton where we saw our first buffalo grazing next to a group of fenced in beef cattle ("good morning ladies") with the spectacular Tetons (got the spelling right this time) to our left. After Tetons we entered Yellowstone. Traffic was actually not bad, maybe because it was early. We stopped at Old Faithful just as it went off and then into the Great Lodge to admire the massive old insides. What a beautiful place. I chatted up 2 harley guys (they are easy to find) from Kentucky who were going to Louisiana after this. Nice guys. We headed north and the traffic came to a halt as everyone stopped to take pictures of 2 beautiful elk in a marshy field beside the road. The park ends at the Roosevelt Arch in Gardner MT where we stopped for lunch at the Two Bit Saloon. Then it was 89 north all the way to Great Falls. Montana treated us to brutal winds front, then side, then tail wind all the way into Great Falls. The 50 miles just before Great Falls was very lush with some kind of crop so they must have water somewhere. It looked like a screen saver with big sky, puffy white clouds and lush green rolling hills. We found the hotel and went across the street to a salad place to try and purge some of the crap we have been eating out of our systems. My job tonight was to fix my Pakistani taxi driver seat (bead seat) since it was falling apart and I love it so much. First attempt with dental floss was a failure so I ran up to WalMart (right next to the oil refinery) and got some weed-wacker string, which worked beautifully. And it has a nice yellow tint to it. Very festive. My dad would be proud!!

Friday Night In The Tetons (not Titons) after 349 miles

Deb pointed out that I had spelled the mountain range name wrong in the title (but not the rest of the piece). I can explain. I looked up Tetons and discovered that they were originally called "les trois Tetons" which is French for "the three breasts" since there are 3 peaks. So it was a very short mental hop to mis-spell it. That's my story and I am sticking to it.
Started the day riding the bicycles (of course). We have been religious with bike riding as we are part of the EndoMondo Bike Challenge, which is why we are carrying this @#$% folding bike. It is a clever contest in that if you ride your bike even 1 mile you get 20 points for the team. Every mile you ride is a point so 1 mile = 21 points, 10 miles = 30 points, etc. We have 3 young hot riders (their riding is hot that is) (James, Keith and Seth) who are religiously riding a lot of miles every day combined with us old duffers riding 1,2,3, etc miles per day. So far we are #1 in the state. Really fun!!
So anyway, the day started with riding the bikes, then continental breakfast with a real mixed bag of people. The leathered, tattooed Harley guys are ironically the sweetest guys around kids, as I saw this morning. We loaded up and headed toward Jackson Wy. We climbed up the Bighorn Mountains and the temperature cooled off nicely. This was a nice break from all the hot flat grasslands (pretty dead grass at that) we had been riding through. People here say it has been hotter and drier than normal. I was thinking this was the end of hot flat dry country, but we had another long stretch before we finally saw the Tetons off in the distance. They are huge and inspiring. We stopped in Riverton for lunch at a local place that was packed with, you guessed it, locals. Waitress was pleasant and busy!! They have smoking and non-smoking areas which is a throwback for us Vermonters. I think Wyoming has a way to go here. I did see a great billboard showing the classic Marlboro cowboys in relief against the sunsetting sky and the subscript "I miss my lung, Bob". So they are working on it.
Somewhere in the flat hot part we went through Thermopolis. What a great name for a town. Sounds science fictiony to me. They have what appear to be public hot springs and big sculptures in the park which are mineral deposits of some kind, kind of bizarre.
There seems to be a lot of new road construction in this area in the mountain passes. The cool thing is they wave us motorcycles to the front of the line (red carpet treatment). I assume it is so we do not have to contend with the dust from the previous cars. So lots of hanging out with the flag people. They certainly have a nice place to be a flag person. We also saw some huge trucks and front-end loaders working these jobs.
The Tetons are huge, especially after seeing nothing but flat for the last few days. Jeff had a close encounter with a mule deer today. He was rubbernecking and didn't see it standing in the middle the road, but the deer and Jeff figured it out at the last minute.
We ran into a threesome, recently retired, from California and had a nice long chat. Random people are really nice to chat with and we sort of stick out being from Vermont.
When we found a good picture spot, we pulled off to get the above shot of the bikes and the Tetons (and Dave and Jeff). I chatted up a couple from North Carolina and they insisted they get a picture of us for their brother in law who has a bike. Really nice folks.
We met another couple on Harleys who were locals from Riverton. They had been out for a loop to a local lake and gave us some tips on restaurants in Jackson.
Jackson, as we knew it would be, is a tourist trap. Lots of really trendy looking people, cars and shops. We checked into the hotel and walked around town until we found some dinner. I had 2 pints of beer, since we were walking, and that will explain anything unusual in this post tonight.
So it looks like we are going to Great Falls Montana tomorrow via Yellowstone, which we kind of decided at the last minute. We are feeling like we have lots of time so can go a bit far afield. Everybody says nice weather for the foreseeable future so we will see.