So, I finally sat down yesterday and started sticking waypoints into the map software to see what kind of mileage we’re in for.

With the shortest and least populated route planned, we’re knocking on the door of 8,600 miles.  With only 23 days of vacation time, that works out to a minimum of 400 miles every day.  Whew!

Are we up for it?  Can the bank account handle the hit? Will I stay awake the entire time I’m riding?

And, most importantly, does anyone have any suggestions for route changes, stuff to avoid, stuff not to miss???  HALP!!!

In a few weeks, this piece of dirt in the Golden Shores subdivision of Topock will hopefully be ours:

View Larger Map

Grab ahold of the picture and yank it around (don’t worry, you won’t hurt anyone), see those ATV tracks in the dust? They trail through our little chunk o’ Arizona property.

View Slideshow

Have you ever revisited a spot and just been amazed at the beauty you missed (or forgot) the first time?

Last weekend was like that for us.  Two years ago (to the day) we attemped this same ride with our buddy Bill.  That time we encountered a massive storm and battled through the worst rain we’ve ever ridden in.  Although I remembered the Lolo Pass road fondly, for some reason I completely blocked out the beauty of the scenery (or maybe the rain washed it out of my brain?)

Friday evening we drove over to carpenter Nick’s place to see what he’s been up to – amazing changes there, new paint, flooring and other mods really make a difference!  We picked up cinderblock and mud so he could ride over to our place instead of driving and toting supplies.  Our intention was to use the 3 day weekend to finish the inside of the garage, but Nick had cedar delivered to his place and needed to use the time to build a fence.  So driving back home at 10:30pm we saw a 3-day weekend stretching before us with nothing to do.  Hmmm, ride??

Getting home I jumped on the computer, checked weather reports (very good), and looked for rooms (also promising). Waking up bright and early Saturday I called and booked rooms for Saturday night in Riggins Idaho and Sunday night in Stanley Idaho.  This would put us at a little over 400 miles each day.

The sun was shining and high temps were in the 80’s, perfect riding weather, although the furnace effect did warm things up through Oxbow reservoir, it cooled again as elevations increased on the road to Cambridge.

I did remember this road from our last trip – especially the tight twisty climb up the canyon side next to the reservoir – fun, but a little tense for me as I still have a bit of an issue with heights.

By 6:30pm we were happy to pull into Riggins and find the Big Iron Motel.  This little spot offers motorcycle discounts, and the owners Scott and Rose have really worked hard to make this a nice place.  Comfortable beds, soft linen, nice pillows, and other amenities really shows the care and hard work they put in here.  Highly recommended!

Our room at the Big Iron

The next morning we got an early start and headed down the road towards Grangeville and our turn onto Hwy 12 – Lolo Pass.  The road was damp in spots, showing that at some point overnight they’d had rain.  Glad we missed it!

Lolo Pass has the most amazing corners. Long, sweeping, banked, and no reduced radius endings. Some are so long and tight, I swear I’ll meet myself coming the other direction at the exit!  With every heaven there’s a hell – and this road’s bad side it the speed limit. 50mph is just stupid, and aggressively patrolled by a State cop whom we narrowly avoided by chance.

Breakfast of huckleberry pancakes at Lochsa Lodge and from here out we were in new territory we’d never ridden before.  At this point, the road leaves the river valley and raises up to meet Lolo Pass in all its rocky twisty glory.  A tiny bit of snow and a few gravel patches showed the winter didn’t let loose of this one until just a few weeks earlier.

Dropping down the other side, we landed in Montana. The road opened up to sweeping views of open farmland green with new crops and dotted with freshly born foals and calves.  The smell of sweet grass and lilac was nearly overpowering in some spots.

Riding through old small towns made me wish for more time, museums and vintage buildings flew by though, with no time to stop and smell the roses.  At one point, a sign to Daly Mansion made my head turn in time to see a long shaded lane flanked by maple trees leading to a massive light pink-brick Georgian-style mansion.  The view was gone in an instant, but not before I added it to my mental list of ‘places to see when we have time’.

We did stop for a few minutes in the next town when I spied this old beauty

St. Mary's Mission - Circa 1840's - Stevensville Montana

This quiet spot is still lovingly maintained by the Catholic parrish, and the attached cemetary added a sweet sadness with newly planted flags and flowers in readiness for Memorial day.

We continued on, following the Salmon river through red rock canyons and open valleys.  Such varied, ruggedly beautiful terrain here.

Hard to believe this was all one road, and the pictures were taken within 100 miles of each other – looks like we’re in three different states – well, four if you count the state of elation we’re feeling from being able to ride this!

I was a bit unsure of our Sunday night’s lodgings. Everything in Stanley was over $100 and the Salmon River Motel was $65. I’m always happy to get a deal, but then find myself wondering WHY it’s so cheap? Time would tell. Upon arrival, the motel appeared like a normal 1970’s cracker box, with cabins located to the side.  Opening the door to our room, we were pleasantly surprised to find a full kitchen, large space, two beds, and then sliding open the curtains brought the biggest surprise – the Salmon River, huge and full, racing by not 5 feet off the back deck!  This had to be the most beautiful view we’ve ever had from a motel room.

Million dollar view from our 65 dollar deck

Waking up the next morning, we were on the road again early.  The view for the first few miles out of town was dominated by those imposing Sawtooth mountains, then began climbing into a heavily forrested area.  I was worried the road would get boring at this point – just trees and no view.  Boy, was I wrong! Soon we were climbing and negotiating 20mph switchbacks on a road that became increasingly more beautiful and technical.

Breathtaking vista on the Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway

Even dropping down into Boise the road treats you to views of Lucky Peak Lake surrounded by steep rock walls with beautiful blue water sparkling below.

We did our time on Hwy 84, then happily turned off at Vale for the final leg of our journey.  Arriving home in time to watch the Lakers get trounced, it was good to remove our sore butts from the saddle – 1300 miles in 3 days – definitely not a relaxing weekend, but totally worth the pain!

Zion Slideshow – Oatman Slideshow – Vegas Slideshow

We had such a great vacation last week. Nothing crazy, different, or earth shattering, just fun.

Falcioni 'Tour Route'

Before we left, we serched for options besides driving our 15-year-old 240k+ Stanza, but airline flights didn’t happen when we needed them, and rental car prices are through the roof (this makes no sense to me, everything else about travel is cheap now).  After exhausting all the ‘easy’ possibilities, we resigned ourselves to driving.  It’s not that we don’t love a good road trip, it’s just the drive back is such hell.

On the ’schedule’ (I use that term loosely) was Zion with our friends Thomas and Susan, a night with them at their place in Ivins (near St. George Utah), then down to Laughlin for a few days of scoping out property prices in Bullhead and Fort Mojave.  Our final three days would be in Las Vegas.

Hotel rooms are cheap.  If you’ve ever had a jones to see Vegas, do it now! I’m in the process of creating a Vegas on the Cheap page like our Disneyworld page – hopefully I’ll get that done soon and post it here – but until then, go to Vegas before prices rise!  How cheap is it? We stayed in a 3-star hotel 1/2 block off-strip for $35 a night – during a weekend.  A few years ago, this same room would have cost us more than $170 a night on Friday and Saturday, and probably $90 or more during the week.

I’m getting ahead of myself though!  Our first day was just driving the 800+ miles to Cedar City.  Arriving there after dark, the Stratford Court Hotel Cedar City parking lot was deserted.  Not very welcoming!  Fortunately, the room was nice, and by morning other guests were in evidence.  The free breakfast was worth the cost of admission – they had everything including fresh waffles.

We met up with Thomas and Susan outside Zion and got into the park around 8am.  We needed an early start since temps would be rising into the 90’s later today.  Our goal was Hidden Canyons Trail http://www.zionnational-park.com/zion-hidden-canyon-trail.htm although it did have some exposed faces, information we saw showed it as not nearly as crazy as Angels Landing (which we did a few years back).  This turned out to be an excellent choice, and this quiet trail led not only to a great viewpoint over the canyon, but back into a slot canyon with sheer walls and hanging gardens.

Mike, Thomas & Susan

After that, and a short trip down Riverside Walk, we headed back to the car and towards Ivins and Thomas and Susan’s house.

The next morning we said goodby to T&S and cruised down to Laughlin and Harrahs.  This was the one hotel I was a bit worried about – I’d pricelined it for $20 a night. Fortunately we were pleasantly astonished at this great place.  Check in service was efficient and friendly, we did have to change rooms when our first room had an odd smell, and they took care of it instantly.  The room was very nice, and the best part is the NON-SMOKING section of the casino!  Fully half of this property is non-smoking.  A very welcome and unexpected amenity!  Buffet here was excellent also.

So, why were we in Laughlin?  We’ve driven through this area a few times, and thought it would be a great place to own some bare property for future snowbirding after retirement.  Now that prices have dropped, it seemed like a good time to get serious.  We found out that although prices have dropped in Bullhead/Ft. Mojave area, bare property still commands amounts we’re not willing to spend.  We looked a bit further afield, and also put in our name with some realtors.  We’ll wait and see if something shows up.

After our “realty check” we decided to head over to Oatman and spend the day with a bunch of asses – er – burros.

This little old mining town on Route 66 has grown into a quirky artist community that caters to locals of the four-legged variety.  The burros are descendents of miners helpers from years’ past, and now spend time wandering town and begging for carrots.  It’s a fun spot and we really enjoyed ourselves.  We took Route 66 on the way back and stopped at an old homesite along the way.  This was a gorgeous and quiet drive through the late afternoon desert sun.

The next morning we got up and headed into Vegas, and again to a Priceline hotel deal.  Royal Resorts is a timeshare property 1/2 block from the strip and next to the Wynn.  This was a very well-appointed hotel and our room was excellent.  The location was perfect, with easy entrance and exit on Convention Center Drive.

Our next stop in town was at Tix4Tonight – they sell discount tickets for that evening’s shows. We decided to skip the show this evening, but try again tomorrow morning.  Next we headed to Stratosphere for our all-time favorite lunch.  Salads and dessert at 900′!  After lunch we went out to the observation deck, and watched the crazy people ride Insanity – a rotating swing ride which would be pretty tame on the ground, but its location 900′ above the strip does add a bit to the intensity.  Mike challenged me to ride it, and for some stupid reason I called his bluff.  Before I could chicken out, we’d bought tickets and next thing I know I’m seated in this ride, held in by a lap bar and being swung out over the abyss.  I kept my eyes open for the start of the ride, but I’ll admit I had them tight closed when the ride chairs tipped us facing downwards.  Definitely the scaryiest thing I’ve done in forever!

We spent the evening downtown, watching some great shows on the Freemont Street Experience (Don McLean’s American Pie is awesome) and drinking $1 margaritas (stay away from Brain Freeze, it’s made from Everclear)!

The next day after some hemming and hawing, we decided to get 1/2 price tickets for Peepshow with Mel B and and Kelly Monaco.  Mike and I agreed the show was okay – there were some good bits, but overall nothing really impressed us as different or interesting.  It would have been a good show at $30, but some folks were paying over $100 a ticket for this one.  We stopped by Arlen Ness Motorcycles, and had a great time touring their property and oogling the bike art.  Even if custom isn’t your thing, this is a great place to waste an hour.

For our last day in town, we again stopped by Tix4Tonight and picked up cheap seats for Nathan Burton, a magician and comedian.  We enjoyed the heck out of this show, which was worth way more than the price of admission.  Fun, interesting and unusual – Mike and I both highly recommend this one!

The next morning we got an early start and were driving past the last few houses on the outskirts of Vegas by 6am.  This drive is Mike’s absolute least favorite.  For some reason, it always seems like the never-ending trip down long straight nothing.  By early evening, we were happy to get home with the cats and have a day to relax before getting back in the work swing.

SLIDESHOW

Pete, the CRR/Terrebonne Chamber, and the AHRMA gang put on another awesome event this year, with attendance way up from last time.

The track in the canyon

I spent a fun Saturday in the valley with Mom and the rest of the family while Mike stayed home and rode the trials.  Sunday we both hopped in the car for the 8-mile commute to the track.  We arrived to cold, clouds, and drizzle which looked like it could stay all day or open up and pour on us at any minute.

Fortunately, the weather cooperated incredibly well, and the soft rain quit by afternoon, leaving blue sky in its wake.

Racing was excellent, with many gates full of happy riders enjoying a well-designed track.

As usual, the bikes took a starring role, with many incredible machines to ooh and ahh over in the pits.

I took lots of pics with my little handheld camera, and some video too.  Photos are being uploaded to our flickr page (click above for the slideshow, or to the flickr bar on the right for individual images).

If anyone is interested in quality copies of anything you see, just give me a yell and we’ll work something out.

Slideshow

Had a wonderful weekend ride. Friday we got out of town early and headed down 97, then turned right at Beaver Marsh towards the longest and straightest stretch of road I know of in the state. Snow still cuddled up to the roadside, more than a few feet deep in spots. The air was chilly, and I was very happy for the heated liner and gloves. By the way, the heated gloves WAAAY ROCK over heated grips. The gloves have heat on the backside of your hands, so it radiates inwards. The back of my hands are always cold, the palms, not so much. Heated grips warm your palms and leave everything else frigid. Especially if you’re a ‘two fingers on the brake and clutch’ kinda rider, those two fingers will be cold with heated grips.

After a stop at the Grand Canyon of the Rogue (very cool canyon with tons of rushing water) we wandered the rest of the way in to Grant’s Pass, making it to town by around 5:30 or so.  After dropping most of the gear in our motel room, we rode to dinner at Abby’s Pizza (only salad bar in town), then relaxed and watched the Blazers get beat up.

The next morning after a quick bowl of cereal (for me) and coffee (for both of us) we were on the road to Oregon Caves.  This section of pavement could be very fun if it were a bit wider, had some guardrails, and didn’t have multitudes of gravel in every corner.  It was still fun, but no way I was willing to wick it up and really rail the turns, especially after a bit of back-end drift in the first corners.

We got in on the 10am tour (first of the day), and had a very nice young tour guide.  I thought the caves were cool, Mike was less impressed.  He was thinking that for all this hoopla the rooms would be larger.

We were back on the bikes a little after noon, and headed back down the mountain and towards the coast.  Our route took us through some beautiful country, and touched the very tip of California and Redwoods National Park.  Boy, those are some humongous trees!

We headed up 101 from Brookings, and got into some pretty intense wind gusts.  Funny thing is there’s a flashing sign at Brookings that states “Wind Gusts next 20 miles if sign is Flashing”, but it wasn’t flashing.  So I guess those zephyr winds which were blowing me out of turns weren’t big enough for them to bother with.  Wonder what it’d be like to ride in ‘real’ wind gusts? No, I really don’t wonder that.  I don’t want to find out!

Brookings had some traffic, but it tapered off pretty quickly.  By Gold Beach the road was pretty deserted, and a joy to ride (except for the occasional hurricane).

Gold Beach was supposed to have a Motorcycle Museum – well, it did, but it doesn’t any more.  Closed a year ago.  Rats!! A day late and a dollar short, that’s us.  Crazy thing is, the website for the place is still active, so it really tricked us.

Reached Bandon in the early evening, and it was beautiful.  Very quiet. A bit too quiet for a tourist town on a Saturday evening, but it is still early in the season, so hopefully more shops will inhabit the empty storefronts soon.

The next morning after a wonderful free breakfast, we packed everything up and got ready to go.  As we were starting the bikes, a few drops of rain fell on us.  So, yes, it did rain at the coast while we were there!

We took 42 S in to Coquille, then on 42 until it runs out of steam at I-5.  Next we jumped onto 138 and followed the road as it twisted and turned through the Umpqua Valley.  This was the first time we’d ridden this stretch, and it’s gorgeous!

Mike was hoping a low mountain pass road would be open for us, so we stopped at Steamboat Inn to ask.  The gal there was a wealth of knowledge and said she’d just tried the road last week and it was still very blocked.  Bummed that our fun road wasn’t an option, we decided to eat lunch at the Inn.  Glad we did, it was excellent!  Can’t wait to go back and try a burger, they’re on homemade buns and looked scrumptious!

After lunch, we continued on, finishing our 700+ mile loop back where we started, riding past Diamond Lake and on to Beaver Marsh and 97 to home.

Slide Show

Sunday's ride

Another super on-bike weekend!  Friday evening we tromped out to the shop to replace the sprockets on Mike’s bike, only to be stymied by the worlds tightest countershaft nut. Mike decided to wait until the next morning and take it in to one of the shops and have it impacted off.

Saturday morning we both got up early and I took off for Salem.  My best school buddy since first grade was having a birthday party for her dad.  I got to Mom’s at about 10am and we had fun talking and moving furniture until the party at noon.  It was so wonderful seeing old friends and catching up with everyone.  I’m still trying to figure out how some people haven’t aged a day, and the rest of us really show our age.  It’s not fair!

I lost track of time, and before I knew it, Mom was telling me it was 2:30 already!  We raced back to Mom’s house and I changed out of my Sunday best, jumped back in the car, and raced home.  Arriving in the driveway about 5pm, Mike had the bikes out, and shortly afterward we were geared up and on the road.

We met up with Eric and Josie in Prineville, then continued on towards John Day.  Entering the John Day valley, Mike spotted a huge herd of elk in a field, then we started seeing masses of deer in nearly every green field by the side of the road.  Now I know where they raise all the deer for the rest of the state, I swear we saw a thousand of them by the time we got to Bill and Sue’s place just outside John Day. After stopping to say hi, we continued in to town and checked in at Little Pine Motel.  I was trying to rush everyone around so we’d get down to the restarant before it closed, but by the time we got there, the ‘Open’ sign was dark.  Fortunately the door was unlocked, and a sweet waitress had pity on us!  As usual, The Outpost served up a great meal and excellent service.

As we turned in for the night, Josie mentioned she might snore a bit. A few hours later, I got out the earplugs for Mike and myself, and we were able to go back to sleep.  Mike really enjoyed teasing Josie about the snoring, and fortunately she’s a good sport!

Checking the map before we head out Sunday morning

After some coffee and oatmeal at The Outpost, we saddled up and headed towards Baker City.  The sun was shining and the sky was blue and clear.  The mountains look so beautiful with their fresh, white, snow-covered peaks.

Mountain views just outside Canyon City

We pulled into the Shell station in Baker City around noon and gave Lorrin a call. He arrived and led us back to his parent’s home on the outskirts of town.

Riding through downtown and seeing all the cool old buildings really reminded me that someday we’ve got to spend  time exploring what was once the largest town in Oregon.  It was a hub of activity for settlers following the Oregon Trail, and later served miners during Oregon’s gold rush.

It's the 13th house on the Right!

We settled into lawn chairs on Lorrin’s parent’s front yard and enjoyed some good conversation while waiting for Tom to arrive from Wasco.  We didn’t have to wait very long before Tom showed up.  The first thing he said when he took off his helmet is “Lorrin, do you know the difference between your left and your right?”  Lorrin had told him it was the 13th house on the left when it was actually on the right.  Tom had ridden along, looking at the lonely driveways on the left side of the road when out of the corner of his eye he saw a bunch of bikes in front of the house on the right!  Lorrin doesn’t make many mistakes, so it was fun to tease him on this one.

We geared back up and were soon on Hwy 203, a beautiful winding road leading towards Union.

Above Baker City

We passed through Medical Springs, and Sue pointed out the pool where Lorrin was once enjoying a swim until he realized he was sharing the water with rattlesnakes.

Union is another great little town with many brick structures built in the late 1800’s.  After ordering lunch, Mike and I took a quick stroll down the street to check it out.

There's gotta be some old bikes in here somewhere...

Unfortunately we had to go back to the restaurant and didn’t even get to check out the incredible school and hotel further down the street.  We’ll have to come back and spend more time here (added to our growing list of places to spend a day – I think we’ve got enough to keep us busy for the next 25 years!)

As we were getting ready to leave town, I noticed a young man walking down the street.  Not an unusual occurrence, except that he had a sheep on a leash at his side.  Its not every day you see a kid walking a sheep downtown.  Well, maybe it is if you live in Union!

Sheep Walking

Before LaGrande, as we were climbing a small rise I could see ruins of a large building.  After cresting the hill I could see a huge  barn-sized building which had twisted and collapsed onto itself. I was thinking how cool it would be to stop and take a few photos when an even larger and intact building appeared next to it.  Out front was a massive  sign reading “Hot Lake“. This brick and white-wood building looked like an old hospital.  There were Christmas lights strung along the front balcony, and a steaming pond to the right.  It looked a bit creepy, and I couldn’t tell if it was a going concern or abandoned.  A large, new, and imposing gate on the entrance road hinted that something was happening here.  After returning home, I checked it out online, and they are in fact resurrecting this old hot springs sanitarium.  Can’t wait to go see it.  Although, honestly, my initial impression of this place is that it’s a bit spooky.

Hot Lake Sanitarium in its heyday

We continued on 203 through LaGrande, then onto I84 for a few minutes, then to 395 and towards Dale.

We pulled into Meadowbrook Campground for a soda and final chat before Lorrin, Sue, Grant and Tom split off towards Wasco and we continued on home with Eric and Josie.

Eric and Josie

Eric was smart and gassed up at Meadowbrook, Mike checked his gauge and was still at half tank.  Unfortunately it dropped another bar right after we pulled out of camp, and by Monument we knew we needed fuel.  Pulling into the station at Monument, the windows were dark and the sign on the door showed Sunday hours as 8am to 4pm.  It was after 5. Fortunately, Mike’s a tenacious fellow, so he rode around until he found a local and asked about options and they lead us to the station owners’ home, where he graciously followed us back down the hill, opened the store and filled us up.  What a great guy!

We made it home before dark, and only had one deer scare on the road between Mitchell and Prineville. What a wonderful ride! Great friends, perfect weather, and incredible scenery the whole way.

Like bears emerging from the winter den, we crawled out of the house on Saturday, blinking and squinting in the sun.  Driving around town doing errands, we saw bikes on the road and in the backs of pickups. Everyone was out having fun, and we were absolutely ready to join in.  A few phone calls, and we had a herd of riding buddies up for a loop through Antelope, Fossil, Service Creek, Spray, Mitchell and back home in time for Sunday dinner.

I’m always a little nervous about the first ride after a long dry spell, but I settled right into the riding rhythm in just a few miles. We met John, Bill, and Robert in Terrebonne, then picked up Eric and Josie in Madras.

I really love the road to Antelope, it is technical without being too demanding, and has enough straight stretches so you can relax and enjoy the view.

Sue and Lorrin were waiting for us at the little cafe in Antelope, and while some ate breakfast (and we all chugged good coffee), I decided to take advantage of the time to get a closer look at some of the old buildings in town.

Old Storefront, Church and wagon in Antelope

One decrepit storefront is my favorite, and I always click a few shots every time we’re here.

This bright green truck always stands out against the winter dry grass.

Old home slowly settling into the ground.

While I was taking pictures, a local guy wandered by and mentioned I should check out the  jail on the street above.  The building looked like any typical old outbuilding, so I’d never given it a second glance.  Fortunately, I listened to him and hiked up the hill to see.  Inside is the old jail cell, with walls build from 2×4 lumber laid like sticks one on top of the other.  The original lock and hardware are still here, and other than some graffiti, it’s still very intact.  Cool!

The original service station is also pretty neat, with some of the painted signage still visible.

Service station in Antelope Oregon

After breakfast we headed down the road to Fossil, while everyone else went directly to the restaurant, Mike and I detoured to take advantage of the early afternoon light and get some pictures in front of the courthouse.

Last summer we were able to go inside this great old building, and it’s just as detailed and regal inside as it is out.

Fossil Courthouse

Hungry riders waiting for lunch

After an always-excellent salad at the Big Timber restaurant, the group split into ‘has chores to do around the house and have to get back’ group and the ‘did the chores last weekend or screw the chores we’ll do them later’ crowd.  The group with chores headed home, and Lorrin, Sue, Eric, Josie, Mike and I continued on down the beautiful winding road towards Spray.

I really love this country, and this road especially.  Following along the John Day river, the road twists through terrain as varied as rolling farmland to tight canyons, then opens into the Painted Hills and John Day formations that remind me of Bryce canyon.  After weeks of cold and wet weather, just being out in the brilliant warm sunshine was great, the beautiful scenery and fun riding were just icing on the cake!

Painted Hills

After stopping to say hi to Henry the bear in Mitchell, we said so-long to Lorrin and Sue as they headed back to Wasco and we continued on to Prineville with Eric and Josie.

Eric, Josie and Mike in Mitchell

As we were coming down the Ochoco grade, we got behind a Jeep Wagoneer going darned slow.  Looking in their back window I spied what I thought was a really large dog, then the animal turned and looked at me, and it was a foal!  The cute little fella was standing up in the back seat and seemed pretty relaxed about the whole thing.  Maybe they always take their horses for a Sunday drive?  All in all, a quirky ending to a fun ride.

Can’t wait to do it again next weekend (crossing fingers for good weather).

Space, the final frontier….  okay, the final space in our frontier home is nearing completion and I’m so amped!

Mike's a (sheet)rockin' dude.

Nick and Mike are completing the last few pieces of sheetrock in the garage loft.  Its all white and clean and bright.  Amazing what a little gypsum can do for a room.

Looks so big without cars taking up space.

Next weekend its tape and mud time, so I’ll get to be part of the fun.

After that, paint and garage door openers, which I have been dreaming of for nearly two years.

Before there was ABS, before hydraulic clutches, before heated vests and waterproof gear, before the world was completely ‘civilized’, people rode.

Back when a trip to the valley from Central Oregon was a weekend adventure (or longer in winter), when pavement was a luxury.

Years ago Mike missed out on buying an old Harley because he was afraid to ask the owner about it (he’s not shy anymore!).  Even though the owner sold the Harley to someone else, we spent a great afternoon looking through his photo albums and reliving some of his memories of riding in the days between the ‘war to end all wars’ and the war that could have ended it all.

He was kind enough to loan me his original photos, which I had copied.  These are scans of those tiny copies.  I’ve done the best I can in Photoshop, and I was able to clear up some images so we could read signs that weren’t legible in the originals.

Click the photo links or check out the enlarged images at our flickr page here http://www.flickr.com/photos/ducatisti/sets/72157604622466422/

Blue Mountain Pass in Oregon

Flat Track racing in Bend Oregon 1940's - 1950's

Dirt Track Racing in 'downtown' Bend Oregon! You can see Awbrey Butte on the left.

Lavalands in Central Oregon. After seeing this, I've officially removed my name from the 'tough rider' list - I've ridden this stuff on my KTM 250 - but on that bike, fully loaded? Dang!

Ranging a little further afield - Sequoia National Park

Entrance to Sequoia National Park. Isn't that sign incredible?

Somewhere in the California desert, or maybe Death Valley.

Entrance to Death Valley at Towne's Pass. This is a dirt State Highway. Modern riders are officially spoiled wimps (I can say this, I'm the wimpiest of them all).

So, do the pictures make you wish for the good old days of uncrowded roads and the spirit of true adventure?  Or are you glad to be riding in the 21st century?

I just purchased an old copy of Oregon For the Curious. I remember this great book on our coffee table when I was a kid.

Flipping through the pages reminds me of lots of cool stuff we’ve seen, and still need to see here in our home state.

But then I come to a page covering Hwy 101 near Florence. Right near the entry for Sand Dunes Frontier and just after Woahink lake, there’s a picture of a train steaming its way through the sand.

It appears at some point (up until at least the mid 1980’s) there was a miniature railroad called the Dunes Pacific Railway near Woahink and Siltcoos lakes.

I mean, what a fun and insanely stupid thing to build in the dunes, since railroad tracks do so well on shifting beds of sand and sand is just so good at never coming in contact with greasy parts and grinding those parts to dust.

Other than the name, a photo and a location, there’s no more information on the attraction. Checking online only shows references to this book and nothing else.

Does anyone remember this? Did anyone ride it?  What happened to it?  Inquiring minds want to know!

Found a neat little online story – an animated serial that you can choose to play as a game, or just read as a story. Very captivating and cool!

http://www.inanimatealice.com/

Feb 03, 2009

Tuesday morning smile

From www.cuteoverload.com Totally worth a few time-wasting minutes at work!

The Mostly Unconscious Adventures of Bug the Rat

LOOK!

SOMEONE is bright-eyed, bushy ring-tailed and ready to….

[yawn]

And I’m suuuuuure she’s gonna get a move on riiiiight after this liiiiitle nap.

Perhaps a swig of Dr. P. will get her moving?

Yes. Moving. Riiiiiiiiight after another lil’ nap.

Still tie tie?

How about a Rats ‘n’ Racks photo op?

Yes, almost well-rested enough to take… on… the… honk-shuuuuu

Sure, a story together first. Couldn’t hurt.

Look! Finally made it outside!

Shame there’s no daylight left.

Had a great time playing by ourselves for the first few days, then an excellent time showing ‘our’ parks to my Brother and his family.  The nephews really seemed to have a good time, and Mike didn’t break any of them even once!

Although we’d heard doom and gloom about low attendance numbers, you couldn’t prove it by us.  Mike and I both felt there were about the same amount of people in the parks and at the resorts as we’d seen in previous years.

We also spent a day at Kennedy Space Center, which was amazing.  Mike said it wasn’t really his ‘thing’, but he enjoyed it.  I loved it!  The movies and displays really showed how incredibly lucky we were to make it to the moon.  Our technology was so basic, I think it was a case of ‘beginners luck’ the first time!

Our timing was perfect for the weather.  Mike and I got there as a cold front was leaving, our first day in the park was chilly, we wore windbreakers and gloves most of the day.  The next day was warm enough to forgo the gloves, then day after Mike was wearing shorts, and by Saturday is was hot!  We had beautiful sunny weather until about an hour before our departure from Disneyworld on Thursday afternoon, when it clouded up and started raining.  It rained most of the way to Cocoa Beach, but then the sun broke through the clouds and we had a warm fun evening playing on the beach.

Friday morning we woke to rain, but grabbed our raincoats and happily headed to Kennedy Space Center, where most of the exhibits are indoors.  By 4pm the rain had stopped and the sun was out again.

Saturday morning our plane took off at 7:55am in sunny skies.  We landed in Portland 8 hours later, barely making it between fog banks – two hours after our arrival the fog was too thick to allow any more landings!  Talk about good timing.

I’ll be posting picks to flickr later today.

Here at PDX waiting for our plane to take us away to warm and sunny skies!

Time again for our annual pilgrimage to visit the house of mouse.  This is the one ‘normal’ vacation we do every year, and we both really look forward to it.  Mainly because once we get on the plane in Portland, all the hard stuff is done by other people!

Pilots fly us to Florida, Roger from Sunray Transportation picks us up at Orlando International and whisks us to Disney’s Pop Century Resort (after a short stop at Publix Grocery store for Diet Mountain Dew – no Pepsi products at Disney!), then Disney bus drivers take us anywhere in the ‘World’ we want to go.

It’s the perfect remedy for a UPS driver after the Christmas rush.

This year we’ll be enjoying it with my brother’s family;  Dave, Sue, Kevin, Jake and Sam will be coming along for the ride, and we’re really looking forward to being tour guides and showing them this happy place!

We leave on the 21st, and I’m counting the days!

Watch out – Crazy Driver at 3 mph!

A warm summer afternoon in 2007 and we’re all sitting at a small diner in a tiny Oregon town when BMW Steve (aka, Sir Crashalot) says “You guys should all buy KLR’s and do an epic ride through Alaska with me next summer”. Mike thought it sounded great. I thought the stupid KLR was so tall I’d need to find a way to bring along a ladder.

Within the next few months, Bill, John, and Peter all bought KLR’s, Steve already had his GS, but Mike and I weren’t sure what I’d do. Mike was positive we’d find a great deal on a F650GS, and I knew that wasn’t going to happen. Until it did. Yep, count on Mike’s ingenuity, tenacity, and plain good luck to make a deal on a bike with less than 300 miles. By November I had the bike, and later that month we had vacation time, the entire month of July.

In December we went to the Cycle World Show in Seattle, where Steve Trenhaile and Mike made a b-line for the Kawasaki booth. On the way to check out Mr. big-ugly-and-bullet-proof KLR, they stopped in front of something we’d never seen before. I thought it looked like a box of parts from various machines badly thrown together, the guys thought it was pretty cool. It was called the Versys, and was Kawasaki’s answer to a do-all lightweight street-worthy machine. While we wandered, we saw a Versys in the Happy Trails booth with knobbies and crash guards, then again in the Givi booth with bags. Hmmmmm. Suddenly the guys were seeing red instead of green. Less than two months later, both guys owned shiny new Versys.

Spring and early summer were spent purchasing and testing a multitude of gear, and finding out that our friends are flakes! Everyone who thought the trip sounded like a great idea six months ago was now either unable or unwilling to jump on the Falcioni tour bus and ride up north. Strangely enough, the one guy we were sure wouldn’t go ended up making the trip. Steve Trenhaile was on board and ready to do anything to make it happen.

Steve also invited his friend John Kusterer along. This was a worry, as John was the reason we’d had issues with Steve before. Those two get along so well, it creates a ‘them vs. us’ situation that never seems to work out amicably when we are involved.  Okay, admittedly, we’re not easy folks to get along with sometimes, since we’re both sort of opinionated – uh okay, we’re REALLY opinionated.  We also are major planners and so we tend to want to be in charge.  This makes it difficult to find people who are willing to mesh with our way of traveling.

For the sake of safety, we decided to give it a try. The worst that could happen was we’d go separate ways somewhere along the road. No, the worst that could happen would be Mike using the bear mace on John, and then not have any left when a bear showed up in camp. Fortunately that didn’t happen! Unfortunately, we did split up 13 days into the journey, and learned again that we’re really much happier traveling as a couple than a group.

What did we accomplish? Heading out on July 4th, we spent 26 days on the road. Only one day was spent off the bikes, and one other day with just a short jaunt. So, 24 all-day riding days, for a total of 9,000 miles. What goals did we miss? We didn’t make it to the Arctic Circle, or Prudhoe Bay. It would have been great to say we did it – and even though I’m disappointed that we missed out, it really was the only thing on the trip that would have been done pretty much just for bragging rights and not for enjoyment. Still, I want to hit that Arctic Circle target sometime, I guess down deep I do want that trophy on my virtual shelf.

Was it worth it? Well, it wasn’t ‘fun’, but it was an adventure. We flew through some of the most beautiful and lonely country I’ve ever seen. We’d touch down in a small town late in the evening, sometimes with a hotel reservation, sometimes not. We usually got lucky and had decent places to stay, but there were a few times that we were very happy to have camping gear, and a few times the motel was so ugly that we’d wish camping was an option! Just as quickly as we’d get in to a town, we’d leave again the next morning. It all turned into a blur of good and bad roads, breathtaking scenery, incredible wildlife and wonderful people.

Sadly, so much was packed into those 4 weeks that without photos and hotel receipts, I’d never remember what happened from one day to the next. Tiny points stand out clearly, little things I remember with ease and so completely, but these pinpoints of clarity are surrounded by a fog of other times and places that I should remember, but don’t. A month wasn’t nearly enough. I don’t know if three months would be adequate. I do know that by August 1st, we were very happy to be back home with our warm cats and comfy bed!

Would I do it again? Yes! When do we leave?

Day 1, July 4

Terrebonne to Vancouver BC

443 Miles

Our goal for the day was to just pound out miles and I-5 offered the quickest route. I wasn’t looking forward to hours of boring multi-lane riding, weaving through holiday-weekend traffic, but it ended up being fun and relaxing.

Near Olympia the Air Force was doing fly-overs; and we experienced a beautiful group of fighters flying low and in formation, a bomber rumbling overhead, and a wonderfully old and slow WW2 fighter plane next to a modern F14 that was struggling to slow down and keep pace with the old girl. Very cool.

We sleep tonight at the Hilton. Priceline is a good thing!

Day 2, July 5

Vancouver BC to Cache Creek BC

217 Miles

Mike and I loved Canada’s Sea to Sky Highway last year, and were excited to show it to Steve. Unfortunately the clouds and mist kept him from seeing it at its best, but the waterfalls were excellent. This is a tight and technical road, with multitudes of potholes and gravel, but many interesting and beautiful places to stop.

Stopping in Cache Creek for the night, we were joined at dinner by an old fellow on a BMW who told us about his Alaska trip, from snow on the Top of the World highway, to how his friends had all let him down so he did the trip solo. The hotel was a shared two-bedroom ’suite’ at the Bears Claw Lodge.

Day 3, July 6

Cache Creek BC to Burns Lake BC

415 miles

A fast ride through small towns have all blurred together in my mind, we left the high desert hills of Cache Creek and rode into open meadows and green fields. We thought we’d find a place in Prince George, but this midsize town had very few amenities for the traveler. A quick stop at the A&W (don’t ask Mike about the Tim Horners restaurants!) for late lunch, then on to Burns Lake.

Initially prospects here looked bleak, as the tree planting gangs had all the cheap rooms booked up. Even if spots were available, the homemade campers and old beater trucks in the parking lots kept us moving. We finally found a newer place, the Sunshine. We were happy when they told us the restaurant next door was open late, and frustrated when we found it had closed 10 minutes before our arrival! I guess our idea of ‘late’ is different!

A hike down to a small Chinese restaurant garnered a decent meal, and we went to bed after 10:30, still waiting for the sun to completely set.

Day 4, July 7

Burns Lake BC to Stewart BC

292 Miles

Flat monotone miles of spruce-beetle damaged trees, punctuated by the occasional burned-out gas station and even less frequent open gas stop with a small convenience store where I can stock up on my Canadian favorite, Cadbury Fruit and Nut chocolate bars. I’m sure there are mountains in the distance, I see them on the map, but the overcast is sitting low today, so no views for the weary!

Then, a left turn off the main road and two miles down 37A we are greeted by a towering wall of black, green, white, and water. Mountains surround us, shooting straight up from the valley floor and disappearing into the mist, hanging gardens of intense green add counterpoint to the soaring black granite peaks. Valleys are white with thick ice, misty waterfalls pouring from their impossibly clear-blue-tinged edges.

We’ve crossed into Hobbit territory! In my imagination unicorns and dryads hide around every corner, just out of view.

Stewart BC is what we came on this trip looking for. One thin strip of pavement down the middle of main street, a town of raggedy homes and beautiful old structures battered by intense weather and surrounded by intensely rugged scenery. A feeling of being totally cut of from the real world. Now that’s what I’m talking about!

Our hotel is a newer and subsequently boring structure near the middle of town. Dinner is good, if a bit too “yuppie comes to the North country” for our tastes.

The Alcan, the Yukon, Prudhoe bay, all on a Goldwing Trike with a trailer. See, there are people crazier than we are.

We meet up with multitudes of other riders on the same quest as we are. Unfortunately, it makes me feel less special because I’m now one of the crowd, instead of standing out in it. I know I should be happy for the stories and experience of fellow riders, but darn it, I wanted to feel like we were pioneers here!

Day 5, July 8

Stewart BC to Hyder Alaska, then on to Watson Lake YT

404 miles

Hyder Alaska is a cheat, a tiny little sliver of Alaskan soil surrounded by days of Canadian pavement in every direction. Some riders go to Hyder for the same reason people dip a toe in the Pacific to say they’ve swum the ocean.

After we learned the secret, we found out that when a rider says “I’ve been to Alaska” fire back, “Was it Hyder?” That’s where you peel away the veneer of real Alaskan adventurer and find the poser underneath.

Getting in to Alaska through Stewart BC means riding down the road 2 miles and rolling to a stop in front of the sign that reads ‘Hyder Alaska’ and right before this dead-end road turns to gravel and mud. Another short mile up the road and you’re riding down a wooden dock which ends in a beautiful view of the inlet and surrounding mountains.

After turning around and heading through customs (this poor lonely customs officer must have done something very wrong to be stationed here), we backtracked to the junction of 37 and 37a and continued towards Watson Lake, home of the infamous ‘Signpost Forest’ (Steve found a sign for Terrebonne — France!).

This day melds into the next as we ride through miles (er, kilometers) of land where the road is the only sign of human habitation as far as you can see. Little stinky wooden white and green outhouses are dotted at wide spots in the road every 50 miles or so. I think we stop at every one. The ‘old men’ have to pee. Again. And again.

Road conditions are interesting. They don’t go in much for major road signage out here. They have flags. Tiny flags. Other riders have warned us about the flags, they are your only indication of significant damage to the road ahead. Unfortunately after the road department fixes the problem they leave the flag. Half the time the flags were standing beside a crater the size of Utah, the rest of the time they marked a baby-butt smooth section of newly constructed tarmac. You think after spending millions of dollars resurfacing the road, they could have paid some underling a quarter to go pluck the flag out of the dirt!

Fortunately, we had the right bikes for the conditions, and sailed through it all without a problem, and only a few “Oh s!@#t!” moments. Motorhome drivers weren’t as lucky. We saw some incredible feats of gymnastics performed by 30’ Class A behemoths navigating frost heaves and potholes with the grace of a 3,000 pound block of jello. When we visit again, it won’t be in the motorhome, that’s guaranteed!

We arrived in Watson Lake and found no room at the Inn. Everything was booked by tour groups. This is when we were finally happy we’d packed the tent and all the camping gear. The campground was right in town, and we got set up and ready to grab a shower before bed. Unfortunately, it took Canadian dollar coins and we didn’t have any. Mike was getting ready to knock on some camper doors when I pointed out that although it was light out, it was nearly midnight! We trudged to a nearby weigh station, where the station master was kind enough to trade handfuls of loonies for our filthy US paper money.

Day 6, July 9

Watson Lake to Whitehorse YT

277 miles

While stopping on the Skeena river yesterday and checking out the native dip net fishing platforms we found ourselves surrounded by a flock of Suzuki V-Stroms. The entire gang was touring Alaska, with some of the group only going for a short haul, and others taking more time. We had a great time talking to Pedro, who was originally from South America. We waved goodby and were on our way.

Today I learned something new. Don’t ever stay at a motel that requires you to check in at the Bar. I think another good point to remember is to never stay at a motel in the north of Canada with a Mexican name. And I haven’t checked, but I’m pretty sure the Casa Loma Motel and Bar isn’t in the AAA book, since AAA doesn’t give out negative diamond ratings. Yes, it was bad, unfortunately it wasn’t the worst place we stayed!

To its benefit, the room was clean, the people were nice, and it was dry. Whereas our other option was to tent camp in a downpour. So given the options, it was the Taj Mahal.

We weren’t the only dumb motorcyclists stuck at the Casa Loma. Soon after we pulled in, here came Pedro and part of his gang, dripping wet and laughing about the four-star accommodations. We also ended up at the same place for dinner, and had fun swapping stories and plans.

Day 7, July 10

Whitehorse YT to Haines AK

117 miles on the bikes, 7 miles on the Ferry

When we were initially planning this trip, we looked at taking the Alaska Marine Highway partway. We would have ridden the bikes to Seattle, then taken the ferry to Haines. After checking out prices and finding we’d be spending more than $1000 per person sharing a tiny room with the four of us and four single bunk beds we decided to ride! Today we got a very tiny taste of what that option would have been like.

We rode to Skagway and had our first foray back into ‘civilization’. Skagway is a cruise ship town, with cutesy gift shops and perfect little restaurants. We rode through without a second glance. The entire port is occupied by a half dozen water-going monoliths with “Celebrity” and “Holland America” emblazoned across their massive smokestacks. The ferry we were taking carries hundreds of cars and more people, and it was dwarfed by the cruise ships.

After loading up and lashing down the bikes as well as we could, we headed topside and settled down for the 7 mile trip. This part of the ferry ride is supposed to be one of the prettiest sections in this area, and it was very nice. However, waterfalls on distant hillsides just couldn’t compare to what we’d seen up close a few days before. Making it less enjoyable were some of the other inhabitants of the ferry, folks taking the entire summer tooling north and south on this marine highway. They take in the scenery and talk the ears off of anyone silly enough to sit nearby. Just 45 minutes of this and I was ready to get back on the beemer with my headphones in place! Maybe when we’re old and grey, the Marine Highway will be an option for a summer of fun. Then we’ll be the ones boring our seatmates with tales of how it used to be “back in the day”.

Pulling in to the dock at Haines, I could see why Mike remembered this place so fondly. This beautiful little harbor town was everything Skagway tried to be. A working-man’s slice of paradise; small well-kept homes, real local businesses that sold groceries and fishing supplies, not fake Indian jewelry and scented candles. The old officers quarters had been converted to private homes, other military buildings were now a hotel, and space for native totem carvers. Unfortunately, the building Mike used to work in as a printer for the local paper was the only one no longer standing. It had burned down years ago. As we wandered the site, we found the boiler and other large machinery still in place, this was something we saw everywhere in Alaska. Once something became derelict, it stayed where it landed, since it was too expensive to move.

After two nights of less than stellar accommodations, we’d made sure to find a room here before we landed. Mike really came through, and the Captain’s Choice was relatively inexpensive and gave us rooms overlooking the harbor. Beautiful!

Day 8, July 11

Haines AK to Beaver Creek YT

333 miles

Leaving Haines behind, we head back in to Canada. I lost count of how many border crossings we made by the end of the trip. I got very used to answering questions about where we were from, where we were going, and what we were going to do when we got there. It was sort of like being a teenager again and having Mom grill us about our Friday night plans.

The road from Haines to Haines Junction goes through Chilkat Pass, rising from sea level to nearly 3,500′, this amazing road has some of the strangest scenery. Nearing the top of the pass there are hundreds of tiny lakes dotting the rocky landscape. Milky water is gathered in pools surrounded by rusty black rock and dark green scrub. Mist and fog surround us, lifting and dropping at a whim. Huge tour busses roar past us out of the mist. The road is tight and busy, and theres no time for sightseeing.

Harsh weather makes you want to hunker down on a bike and keep moving. It’s different in a car or motorhome. Stopping and getting out every once in awhile makes you more a part of the scenery, gives you some ownership of the beauty around you. On a bike, you’re already part of it, youre surrounded by it and the only way to get through it is to keep going, so you do. Later on you realize, “That place was awesome. I should have stopped.”

So, no pictures and only tiny flashes of memory, and the thought, “We should have stopped.”

After our Border crossing, the road opens up a bit and we did take time to rest and get some photos. Windswept but extremely quiet, this small section of the pass seemed more a part of the clouds than the earth. The cloud cover created a low ceiling that looked so dense I felt I could have reached out and pushed against it and it would have pushed back like clammy white cotton batting. I love my heated liner. There is something about being warm and dry in harsh conditions that just makes me happy.

Tonight’s lodgings are, um, interesting. Beaver Creek is a wide spot in the dusty road, and our ‘room’ is an old mobile home. You can’t step on the first stair going in, it’s rotted through. All this grandeur for $80 a night plus tax (gasp!). Inside is clean, and the bed is surprisingly new and nice, but quaint it ain’t, this place is a dive!

Day 9, July 12

Beaver Creek YT to Valdez AK

364 miles

On our way through Tok (which is pronounced Toke, we had to ask!), we stop at Fast Eddy’s for lunch and find the most awesome salad bar. Fresh varieties of lettuce, crisp veggies, huge selection, all in the middle of nowhere! Mike enjoys his first full meal in days.

We’re getting geared up and ready to head out when one of the native Canadians comes up and says to Mike “Thanks for getting my bike all warmed up and ready to go!”, we all laugh and he asks where we’re headed, we tell him Valdez and he says we’ll have an awesome ride, it’s so beautiful.

We are surprised at how nice and friendly these people are. Every native we’ve encountered is like this, it’s so cool to have folks happy to see visitors, instead of ready to kick us back the way we came.

Valdez. Oh my goodness, the ride into Valdez is one breathtaking view followed by another. The road is wide and smooth, giving us time to enjoy it all. The sky is BLUE!!! Blue, awesome, warm, sunny, clear blue SUMMER sky. Joy! Mountains soar black and jagged, and without the clouds we finally see peaks. Valleys are full of glaciers, dozens of them. Green, oh this is the most verdant true green. Everything around that’s not rock, ice or water is blooming, leafing and growing. Huge waterfalls spill and splash right along side the road.

Let’s go climb a glacier! Mike the mountain goat is scrambling everywhere, across rushing streams to stand in the middle of a waterfall, or above us on the slick wet ice.

The gravel till we stand on glows blue inner light with the weight of our footprints, look closely and you can see deep down into the clear ice below.

Valdez is inundated with Bicyclists competing in an event. They’re everywhere, totally packing the campgrounds, but we find a room at a hotel that’s worker housing in the winter. Twin beds are bolted to the opposite walls in the room, so Mike and I drag the mattresses off to meet on in the middle, taking up all of the tiny floor space and leaving room only to wedge the bathroom door open. Still, it’s loads better than the mobile home last night! And we have a continental breakfast tomorrow morning. Score!

Dinner is a good Italian restaurant next to Valdez Harbor. After dinner we wander the docks and watch the fishing boats head out. It’s midnight and barely dusk. Across the harbor, lights from the pipeline terminus complex glow in the mist.

Day 10, July 13

Valdez to Bird Creek AK

342 miles

We were lucky yesterday coming in, today it is still beautiful but clouds cover the top third of the mountains, blocking some of the most impressive views.

Today we need to meet up with Zach from the Anchorage BMW shop, he has my lower fender and some other necessary bits. It’s Sunday, and Zach is nice enough to bring the parts to his house where we pick them up, he also loans Mike tools for installation. Definitely over and above the typical service we expect from a dealership! The new lower front fender protects my visor from road spray much better than the high fender.

Zach and his Dad also help with our immediate plans, which include a ride down to Homer Spit. Zach tells us about a great restaurant along the way which is open late (a good thing), and also that getting all the way to Homer tonight would be nearly impossible.

At a gas station earlier in the day, a local mentioned to us that it takes a day to get from anywhere to anywhere else in Alaska. He’s right. We make plans as we look at the map, then constantly revise those plans when the reality of mileage finally catches up to us.

We get lost on our way out of Anchorage. We got lost on the way in, too (we’ll get lost here again in a few days, at least were consistent!). They’re working on the freeway and it’s all a messed-up confusion of detours. Finally after some cussing and fussing, were headed out Hwy 1 towards Homer.

It’s late in the afternoon and were all tired. After wandering a bit in the ski town of Girdwood, Mike finds the restaurant Zach mentioned. Its excellent food, definitely worth it.

Mike’s still looking for a place to spend the night, and he’s not having his usual luck. We finally backtrack a bit to an old motel we’d seen a few miles before, its now way past 10pm, and the motel office is the front room of the owner’s home. While we fill out registration cards, the owner bounces a baby girl on his knee and two other daughters clad in nightgowns and bare feet peek shyly from behind an open doorway. We pick up wicker baskets full of continental breakfast fare (homemade muffins and coffee cake, yogurt, orange juice) and head to our rooms.

This old motel room has been lovingly re-done and fitted with a large comfortable bed, microwave, refrigerator and coffee maker. All the comforts of home, except cable or satellite TV! They have VCRs and movies, but we’re so tired, we just fall into bed and to sleep.

Day 11, July 14

Bird Creek to Homer AK and back

356 miles

This morning is supposed to be a sleep in, but due to some miscommunication, Mike gets us up at the crack of dawn…er…okay, dawn happened at 2am, shortly after dusk occurred, so I guess I can’t say that. Anyway, we got up early.

Mike talks to Steve and John, and it’s decided we’ll loop to Homer today, then spend the night here again tonight. The guys decide they’ll relax a bit longer, so Mike and I take off for Homer. We take our time on the trip in. The road is dotted with small towns, all kept alive by tourism and fishing. It’s a relatively busy road, but wide and well maintained. Views range from rolling green pastureland to mountain overlooks then on to steep hills dropping into the ocean below.

There are historic markers showing coal mining operations from the 1800s, you can just barely see the old tailings and trails on the hillsides. As we get closer to Homer, the road skirts along the western lip of the peninsula, and views of the mainland and its snow-clad mountains across the water are amazing.

In Homer, we stop at the Alaska Islands & Ocean Visitor Center, which is more a museum than a visitors center. We spend about an hour wandering through their exhibits. As we’re gearing up, Steve calls and says they’re in town and they’ll meet us out on the spit.

This 4.5 mile natural spit was originally higher, wider and drier than it is now. The 1964 earthquake reduced it to 508 acres, about 350 of which are submerged at mean high tide. Fortunately the spit wasn’t very developed then, but it sure is now.

The thin strip of road takes you to the very end of this long finger, both sides are packed with campgrounds, restaurants, docks and gift shops. There’s a large hotel at the end named, appropriately, Lands End. Mike and I would love to spend a few days here and just wander around the shops and museums. Unfortunately there’s no time to spare on this trip, so after a bit of shopping in the fun little stores we head back ‘home’ to Bird Creek.

We stop for gas in Girdwood, and a guy tells us there’s a wreck up the road a ways and they have traffic completely stopped. We’re thinking its got to be past our hotel, since it’s just up the road 2 or 3 miles. Unfortunately, the accident is in between us and our motel. We spend the next 2 hours relaxing on hard cold asphalt within shouting distance of our warm soft beds. The upside is that we do get to see a sunset in Alaska. The downside is that we need to make it to Fairbanks and our appointment with Thunder Road Motorsports tomorrow, which is 400 miles from where we sit now.

I’m wearing down. Even a good nights’ sleep is leaving me tired and cranky. Though we’re now on decent roads, and the scenery is awesome, I long for a day of just sleeping in and doing nothing but watching TV, reading, or maybe just staring at the wall.

I think the guys are feeling it too, they just don’t want to admit it.

Day 12, July 15

Bird Creek to Fairbanks AK

401 miles

Lunchtime isnt exactly relaxing these days, as I’m hunkered over the iPaq finding rooms and Mike is calling and getting prices and trying to figure out if something will be okay without any way of knowing what we’re getting until we show up hours later. Steve and John seem to think this is a waste of time, and act like they want get the show on the road, the only problem with this is that at some point we need to stop, and we’ve already found out how wonderful life is without a room reservation.

Fairbanks is booked solid. We try every hotel in town, and even if we wanted to spend $200 a night, theres nothing. Finally, we find one named the Downtown Log Cabin and they have a room.

We ride past the entrance to Denali on our way to Fairbanks. The clouds are gone, and it would probably be our only chance to see Mt. McKinley, but we’ve got to stay on schedule, so sadly we ride past.

I am really allergic to something here. My nose starts to run and I’m sneezing inside my helmet (yuck). Not much I can do about it at this point.

The road in to Fairbanks starts up high, just before you get to town, there’s an overlook with a great view of the city below. A beautiful green place, Fairbanks sits in a huge meadow with meandering streams wandering in and around. Hills rise on all sides. This bowl design is probably one reason its so warm here in the summer. We’ve chucked our cold weather gear, and have the vents open on our pants and jackets.

We find Thunder Road without much trouble and leave the bikes. Randy is loaning us his truck to use until the bikes are done tomorrow. This incredibly nice guy has gone over and above the call of duty, that’s for sure!

All four of us hop into the truck and go to find our hotel. Unfortunately, its not a hotel, its a B&B inside someone’s home. Ugh. They have a dog. Double ugh. My allergies are worse now than I can remember in years, this blooming town is really kicking my rear! I wait in the truck and Mike goes in to Alan and Verna’s living room to help us find a real hotel, but there’s absolutely nothing. We are stuck. We bring our things in to the bedroom, it’s nice, but its like staying at your grandmothers house. The guys work out a deal to camp in the backyard. By this time my eyes are about swollen shut and I’m in search of a large stash of Kleenex. I take some emergency allergy meds and all I care about is sleep. Mike’s really unhappy, but what can we do, were stuck. We absolutely don’t want to be here tomorrow night, so I get on the phone with Priceline and find something open for tomorrow, it’s $160. Yeouch!!! This is the most I have ever spent on any room anywhere, but there’s no other option. It’s called A Taste of Alaska, located a few miles out of town.

Day 13, July 16

New Tires, Cheena Hot Springs, and the group splits up

11 miles

The next morning, we have a good breakfast cooked by Verna, and we talk about what we want to do while we wait for the bikes to be done at Thunder Road. This town has tons of great options, museums, galleries, old town. Just outside of town is Cheena Hot Springs, we decide to head out there and check it out.

Steve is in a pissy mood, everything we say seems to rub him the wrong way. You can tell he’s a grenade with the pin pulled halfway out, and he’s just waiting for someone to give it one more tug. Although my allergy meds are doing their best, I still feel like crud, and I’m not really in the mood to placate Steve or anyone else, but we all sort of walk on eggshells and get along.

Cheena is really a neat place, we wander around and check out the hot springs and outbuildings. The main reason we’re here is the ice hotel. We sign up for the tour and wander around a bit until our tour’s ready. The ice hotel is so cool, literally! They give you big parkas to wear, and you need them, it’s way below freezing. It is beautiful in here, the sculptures are amazing, and the lighting really sets it off. We have a great time exploring.

Once the tour is done, we go to the restaurant and have a wonderful lunch. They grow many of their own veggies here, so the salad and sandwiches are top-notch. Lots of vegetarian options for Mike to choose from too!

Returning to town, Steve has one of his ‘tantrum boy’ moments. A week ago we’d all decided NOT to run the Dalton highway, but instead to head to Dawson City via Top of the World highway and hit the Arctic Circle on the way to Inuvik. Suddenly Steve decides he and John will take the Dalton to the Arctic Circle, and we can do whatever we want. He and Mike talk it over, and we decide to split up.

Good riddance. We take off for our new hotel that’s a ways out of town.

We arrive late in the evening, and are greeted by the owner Debbie, who takes us to our room via the back porch. First we are struck by the sweeping vista – a wide green lawn slopes gently away towards dense forest, with Fairbanks visible in the distance. Next we were amazed by our room. It’s large, with two queen beds, an armoire and television, but the neatest thing are the antiques, the room had display cabinets full of the coolest things, vintage aspirin boxes, cola bottles, dolls, so much great stuff!

After we get settled in, we explore the foyer outside our room. There are more antiques including a very old phone booth and other old goodies pertaining to communication, along with neat posters and other ephemera from old Alaska. Upstairs is the breakfast room, with huge picture windows looking out on the lawn and down in to Fairbanks. This room houses the most unusual pieces, many from Alaska at the turn of the century.

Day 14, July 17

Fairbanks AK to Dawson City YT

385 miles

Breakfast was awesome. The almond torte was out of this world, everything was cooked to perfection. We had an incredible time talking to Debbie’s husband Dave. Hes been prospecting and mining the area for years, and this property was passed down from his father and uncle. Great stories and a very interesting guy. I want to eat more, but then I’ll be sleepy, and we’ve got some gravel miles ahead of us, so I stop before I’m stuffed.

We get packed up and on the road. We stop for a few pictures with Santa in North Pole (just the city name, its really a suburb of Fairbanks), and head out towards Chicken, the last outpost before the road turns to dirt, it’s also our final Alaskan town of the trip.

Top of the World highway really does feel like you’re at the top of the world. Most of the road clings to a windswept hilltop, sometimes dirt, sometimes paved. The only trees you see are far in the distance below. All around you is dark green-black scrub with occasional patches of brilliant purple and yellow wildflowers. Rust-red soil and rocky outcrops are visible through the thin patches of vegetation. I really expected to see herds of caribou here, but no luck.

These are our last few miles in Alaska. At the crest of one hill, we look down on a dull green metal building with a white roof and a large Canadian flag flying. This has to be one of the loneliest and most inhospitable customs posts we’ve seen so far (and there have been some lonely ones!).

The Yukon Territory has about 30,000 residents for the entire 186,000 miles of wide-open space. Although spots of Alaska feel lonely compared to civilization, the Yukon feels downright deserted!

Top of the World highway descends from the top of the world, and drops us down a steep grade overlooking Dawson City and onto the Yukon River. There is a ferry crossing here (in the winter it’s an ice bridge).

Dawson City, with a population of 1250, is the second largest city in the Yukon. Yep, lonely territory, definitely! While waiting for the ferry, we meet a guy riding an XL650, he’s just purchased the bike and is riding back home to Seattle. I don’t know if I’d trust any used bike I just purchased to a 1,000 mile plus jaunt, especially on roads where the nearest service station is at least 100 miles from anywhere else!

Riding in to Dawson City, we fall back in time about 100 years. Dirt streets, wooden sidewalks and turn-of-the-century architecture are everywhere. You expect to see folks riding horseback, wearing long dresses and woolen suits. The reality of Dodge Minivans and people in cargo shorts and tank tops is a jolt to the senses.

This is the neatest town! Many vintage buildings are restored and being put to new uses, and some are owned by the government. Of these, some are restored as they were and are a part of living history (including employees dressed in period clothing), other buildings have been left to slowly settle in to the permafrost and fade away. The overall effect is amazing. Home of Robert W. Service (the Poet of the North) and Jack London (Call of the Wild) for a short time, this area drew gold miners and early adventurers who were drawn by the beauty and harshness of the surrounding land.

Our hotel is the Midnight Sun, restored in the 1980’s, but not to modern standards, our small room feels like we really are back in time but with cable TV, running water, and a toilet! The lobby area has tin ceilings and an old wood reservation counter. You can purchase ice cream and alcohol — two staples of the North!

We spend the evening exploring town. There’s a music festival starting, were lucky to have a room tonight, as everything is booked solid starting tomorrow. This place is so neat, I’d love to spend a week here. As it is, we take in as much as possible before its time to hit the hay. Tomorrow is 477 miles of gravel road to Inuvik. Our plan is to spend the night in Inuvik, then take a small plane up to Tuktoyaktuc, a native village on the Beaufort Sea.

Day 15, July 18

Dawson City to Whitehorse YT

331 miles

The sound of rain hitting the windows wakes us at 6am. Rain??? What! No way, it was beautiful yesterday! But rain it is, and hard rain too. We look outside and in the parking lot the bikes are an island in the middle of a lake.

Oh no. Up here they coat dirt roads with calcium carbonate to keep the dust down. When it gets wet, it’s slick as snot. I can’t ride on snot. Mike can (he can ride on anything!), but I’m just not skilled enough. Maybe if we only had 20 miles of dirt today, I could soldier through, but there’s no way I could possibly do 477 miles of this.

Seriously depressed (and still very worn out from the last 2 weeks on the road), we fall back asleep.

A few hours later we get up and try to decide what to do. It’s still raining harder than ever. Mike goes down to the lobby to see if there are any rooms available for tonight, but they’re booked solid – so is every other hotel in town. Camping in this downpour is not an option. We need to move on, and the only safe way out of town is the paved road away from where we want to be.

We sit down with maps and tour books. Our eyes land on the huge Great Slave Lake about 3 days ride away. It’s not the Arctic Circle, but it looks pretty cool, so we pack up and wade out to the bikes to load up and get the heck out of Dodge…er…Dawson!

After some final gift purchases and a stop at the Post Office to mail them, we head down the road in the rain.

Fifty miles out of town the rain stops, it’s all headed North – the way we wanted to be going too. We’re headed southeast, back towards Whitehorse. At lunch, I tell Mike to call and make reservations for something in Whitehorse, I’m not staying at Casa Loma again! He calls the Visitors Center and some insane person says there’s tons of rooms available, don’t worry about it. Harumph. I’m not happy, but we continue on.

When we get in to Whitehorse, everything is, of course, full. I throw a tantrum, and somehow Mike is able to find a room at the incredibly nice Yukon Inn. The price is right, and the room is big, new and beautiful. I have no idea how he did it, I probably don’t want to know!

Day 16, July 19

Whitehorse YT to Laird Hot Springs BC

404 miles

We get up the next morning and have a great breakfast at the hotel restaurant. It’s on the road again by 9:30am, and by 4pm we stop in Watson Lake for a room, they’re full up. Not really a big deal, but I was hoping for a sort of early night. We keep riding, thinking there’s got to be something up the road.

Miles go by of rolling hillsides and dense forests, cut back 100 yards on either side of the road. Bears, bears and more bears! Little yearling black bears are everywhere by the side of the road, eating soft green grass, shoots and berries. They’re so cute! We stop for photos at the first few, then just wave and ride by the next dozen or so.

We finally pull in to a small lodge that has gas (in an above-ground container). They’re booked for the night, but the campground is nice and wooded. We get a tent site for $8 and Laird Hot Springs is right across the road. After setting up camp (the RV’ers think were crazy because of all the bears) we head over to the hot springs. The path to the springs is a boardwalk through native marshland, it’s beautiful, but were happy to have our mosquito shirts or Mike would be eaten alive!

We’ve got our swimsuits with us, but I’m not usually a hot spring person, until we see this place. They’ve got changing rooms, a dock with stairs, and the best part is there’s hot and cold water running in to the pools. I can dial up the heat by staying closer to the hot end, and Mike can keep from being a lobster by moving closer to the cold inlet.

Its intensely pleasurable to soak in the softly flowing hot water. I could stay here for weeks, except my fingers look like raisins, and I do feel like all I need are a few herbs and spices to finish the soup!

It’s after 11pm when we wander back to camp, and the sun is just beginning to set. We are treated to a beautiful deep red and orange sunset before bedtime. Climbing in the tent, we snuggle up with our bear mace and marine air horn and fall asleep.

Day 17, July 20

Laird Hot Springs to Fort Nelson BC

190 miles

When we camp we don’t ride as far the following day. I think that for me, long days in the saddle are hard, camping is hard. I can do one, but not both. So, that’s my excuse for being a little whiner and insisting we stop early today.

For awhile the road is similar to what we saw yesterday, with more bear and moose. Views are constricted by dense forest. Mucho Lake and Mount St. George are incredible. Mucho lake is that impossible glacier-runoff blue, with mountain peaks surrounding it on every side. The road winds past huge mountains and wide valleys, following the river for a ways, then rising above and into the foothills.

There’s oil in this here town. Fort Nelson is surrounded by an oil field and an Indian reserve. This is redneck country, with no police force of any sort that’s visible to the naked eye.

Fort Nelson looks like someone tried about 10 years ago, maybe they got funding for city enhancement projects, but it’s all dried up now. There’s dirt, dust and garbage everywhere. Next to a brand new hotel is the burned-out carcass of an old one.

Of course, since it’s on the Alcan, there are many places to stay here, ranging from beat-up motels with single beds monthly rates for oil workers to brand new Super 8’s for the tourists. We find a renovated older motel just off the main drag where we can park the bikes right in front of the room. I fall asleep while Mike goes to wash bikes.

Day 18, July 21

Fort Nelson BC to Fairview AB

357 miles

Today is more of what we had yesterday, except less interesting. We stop at the Visitors Center in Fairview and ask if Great Slave Lake is worth seeing. The gal says she thinks it is. She also tells us about a Mennonite village a side trip away, and that she really enjoys this place. We decide to check it out.

Day 19, July 22

Fairview to LaCrete AB

230 miles

We stop for gas in front of the giant Sasquatch statue which may be the highest point around for miles in all directions. We look at each other and Mike says ‘Have we made a huge mistake?’. The last hundred miles were so exactly perfectly matched to each other, there can be no way I could tell them apart. Mile upon mile of smooth flat roadway, the typical wide swaths of trees cut 100 yards back from the road and then dense forest beyond. No hills, no mountains, only flat straight road, grass and trees.

We haven’t seen another motorcycle in miles, and we can’t imagine making the entire trip up to Great Slave Lake if it looks like this.

We ask the cashier at the gas station if the view gets any better, she says she doesn’t know.

We continue on our flat wide and straight way, the only break is at the ferry, where there are exactly 10 mild switchbacks in the road, 5 down to the ferry, 5 back up on the other side.

After the ferry crossing, the trees drop away and the vista changes to open farm land, bright yellow fields of flax, tall corn and neat rows of wheat. We are in Mennonite country. Houses are simple, barns trim and proper, everything well maintained and clean without added embellishment.

The town is disappointingly new, but the locals are very proud of it. We get stares from some, but every one is exceedingly pleasant and helpful. For all their friendliness, everyone is very different than us, and I feel a bit like we’re in the Twilight Zone (they probably feel the same way meeting us!).

We stop at the visitors center, where a young non-Mennonite gal is very helpful. She recommends stopping at the heritage center, and calls them up to see if anyone is there to show us around. She says someone will meet us there in ½ an hour, so we head out. The center is new, but surrounding it are old houses, barns and farm equipment that look to be at least 80 to 100 years old. We meet John Goertzen, an extremely nice Mennonite farmer with a dry sense of humor. He shows us around, and I’m amazed to find out these homes which appear to be from the turn of the century were built in the 1950’s. Hand-hewn logs and outhouses were the norm here, when the rest of the country was building up suburbia.

Mennonites in this area are pragmatic about technology, using what they need and eschewing the rest. So you’ll see new pickup trucks, but the driver is wearing handmade clothing.

We have an excellent homemade dinner at the restaurant here, with John dropping by our table to make sure they’re treating us right. We are still getting covert looks from some of the locals, probably because I’m a lady riding a motorcycle – or maybe we just look crazed from our time on this road!

Our hotel is new and nice, and houses oil workers who are all happily drinking the night away with their alcohol purchased 100 miles down the road. They rail at this town and the boring flatness of the area. They’re funny and enjoyable to listen to, some of their northern accents are so thick they sound Irish.

Mike and I have a heart to heart talk and decide that even if Great Slave Lake is the greatest lake in the world, there’s no way we can be a slave to this road for another 800 miles.

Day 20, July 23

LaCrete to Grande Cache AB

413 miles

We get up early and hit the road running, making it back through the flat monotone green and finally breaking in to rolling hills then big mountains and twisty pavement by Grande Prairie. This is coal country, but surprisingly the coal mines don’t ravage the area, old buildings and train tracks add interest to our ride.

Grande Cache is a working town, with idling trucks and semi drivers resting for the night before continuing on. We check the hotels in the area, mainly full of workers in oil company trucks or construction rigs. Mike haggles on price at one of the many older motels and we have a decent place to stay.

We are both tired. The thing is, the riding isn’t really the tiring part, it’s the stopping that gets to you. Not knowing where you’ll stay or even if a place will have something decent to eat is all part of the adventure, but it’s mentally exhausting.

It would be easier if we were rich, we’d just stay in the best place in every town, or even if we were dirt poor and had to tent camp no matter what. Being in the middle means you’re trying to choose the best of the worst hotels. Also, the bikes need to be somewhere safe. If we can’t keep them right outside the room, then the parking area has to be Fort Knox or Mike won’t sleep.

Food is also more of an issue for us. Being vegetarian in the middle of nowhere isn’t easy. A salad only goes so far, especially when its just lettuce and dressing.

Making decisions on what, where, when and how can be difficult even in the best conditions, but add it fatigue, bad weather and general grumpiness and it’s no fun.

Sometimes these details get in the way of the big picture. The big picture being that we are in the middle of some of the most incredibly beautiful country, and very few people get to see it the way we are right now.

Day 21, July 24

Grande Cache to Banff AB

311 miles

After paying our park fees we stop at Jasper Lodge, resplendent with masses of petunias dripping from roof-edge planters. Mike happens to ask the best person possible for a map of the area; he’s head concierge of the hotel, and one of the most vital and dynamic people I’ve ever met. He gives us a map and a list of recommendations and we’re on our way.

First on the list is a loop ride to Medicine Lake, which is incredible. The lake is deep blue with surrounding slate and granite walls rising sheer and steep at the edge of the road. Strangely, this lake disappears in the winter. The Indians called it Bad Medicine because they thought it was magic.

Next we ride in to town and grab a quick lunch at a coffee shop that just happens to have some really good vegetarian cold salads. Mike’s ready to move in and stay awhile, but we’ve got a reservation in Banff, so we ride on, vowing to spend more time here on our next trip.

After a ride on the Jasper gondola, we gear up and head out of town. We’ve been through Jasper and Banff on our honeymoon, so we know what’s in store for us, but still, every corner of the road brings more ‘oh wow’ landscape in to view. I’m lucky to be wearing a full-face helmet, or I’d have a mouthful of bugs, I’m grinning so much. What glorious, beautiful, otherworldly peaks and valleys!

Mike has me lead, then shoots about two billion photos on the fly, chronicling the 100 mile trip from Jasper to Banff. We pull in to town and hit a gas station first, then find our hotel, which is very nice. After dinner, we’re asleep before our heads hit the pillows.

Day 22, July 25

Exploring Banff - 0 miles!!!

We sleep in this morning then wander in to town. Banff hasn’t changed much since we were here on our honeymoon. Prices are high and Mike feels out of place in this resort town. Jasper fit us better. You can’t argue with the view though. Soaring granite mountains, glaciers and peak-top clouds seem more at home in an Ansel Adams photo than in reality next to gas stations and movie theaters.

We hike up to the old hot springs, then over to the gondola where we are whisked to the top of Sulphur Mountain for more hiking and out-of-this-world views.

The original hot springs pool was open when we were here in ‘89, but a few years after that they discovered some little endangered snail living in the waters, so these beautiful old bathhouses were closed and a new and characterless spa was built further up the road. We take time to tour the original springs, and get to feel old because we were here “back in the day”.

Today feels strange because we’re not in riding gear and we are just another middle-aged tourist couple in a crowd of other middle-aged tourists. For many of them this is roughing it, and it is as far out in the wilderness as they’ll get. To us this is way too urbanized, and we’ll be happy to get back out on the open road.

I always tell Mike that everyone has their own level of enjoyment. I can’t get mad at other people for appreciating different things than I do, just as I feel they shouldn’t judge what makes us happy. Still, it’s hard not to think of some folks as exceedingly fluffy. Of course, there are many extreme individuals who look at us as mushy little wimps — they probably have wives’ telling them “Don’t be so critical honey, those soft motorcyclists are just enjoying life as best they can”.

Day 23, July 26

Banff AB to Swan Lake MT

335 miles

Today’s ride is beautiful the entire way through. We head out of Banff and down towards Kalispell MT. Hwy 93 follows the valley that’s home to the Kootenai River and Lake Kookanusa. We meander through softly sweeping corners, enjoying the scenery along the way.

Entering Kalispell we were certain we’d find a hotel easily, but I’d forgotten how tough it was last year when we rode through here. Not a single room is available at a price we’re willing to pay.

We keep moving, knowing that sooner or later something will turn up. After another hour of riding, it’s heading towards dusk and I’m thinking we might be spending the night beside the bikes. We stop at a small gas station next to Swan Lake, and the gal calls a campground down the road to see if they’ve got space, they do, so we’re good. She also mentions a B&B and we immediately say we don’t do B&B’s so she drops it.

Before we get to the campground, we see a neon sign for “Laughing Horse Lodge”, is this the B&B the gal was talking about? If so, it’s not like any we’ve seen before. The joint is hopping, and the smells coming from the kitchen are divine. They’ve got a reader board outside with rooms available for rent, so we jump off the bikes and run inside before anyone else gets ahead of us. The kid working the counter is from Russia, and he’s great. As he takes us to our room, we see the rest of the Lodge. This is a hunting and fishing lodge from the 1950’s, the front building is the restaurant with a tiny bar in back, behind this is a courtyard with rooms around the perimeter. The room is small, with a huge brass bed and wonderful comforters and about a million pillows. The bathroom is tiny, but serviceable.

We dump our gear and head back in to the restaurant for an incredible dinner and good conversation with the folks sitting next to us. Our server was the Russian kid, who we find out is on a work exchange program from Estonia. He can make enough money in one summer to pay for his plane tickets and funding for college the following year.

After dinner, we head back to our room ready for bed.

Day 24, July 27

Swan Lake to Gardiner MT

380 miles

It’s hot, and there’s very little ventilation in our room. We wake up sweaty, but better rested than if we’d spent the night in the tent.

Breakfast is incredible. There’s actually a menu and you get to choose from three different options. I have the typical bacon, eggs, etc. and its all cooked to perfection. Mike goes up front and talks to the owner, she asks where he’s from and he tells her Terrebonne, she asks where in Terrebonne, and he says “you probably won’t know”, she says “try me!”. It turns out that not only does she know the area, she’s very good friends with Don Matthews who’s one of our neighbors!

We promise to say hi for her, and pack up and are on our way.

At lunch we make reservations in Gardiner, Mike finds a place that’s cheaper than anything else in town, but it sounds good, so we go for it.

I don’t remember much about the ride to Gardiner, I just remember I was very happy the hotel was modern and had air conditioning. My heart wants to keep traveling forever, but my brain and body are tired. I’m not enjoying this like I should, little things I can usually disregard are getting in the way. Some day, I’ll learn to ignore the little stuff, but right now the little stuff seems big.

Mike has gotten his second (or third or fourth) wind, and he’s ready to keep exploring. A few days ago he wanted to just bee line for home. I still want to travel, but when I’m on the bike, all I can think about are soft cool beds and long deep sleeps!

Day 25, July 28

Gardiner MT through Yellowstone and Cody Wy, ending in Rexburg ID

350 miles

We wake up to another beautiful warm day. Sure different from the weather we started in nearly a month ago! The plan today is to make a big loop of Yellowstone park; starting at the North entrance which is right at our doorstep here in Gardiner, riding through on Hwy 296 and exiting the Northeast entrance. Next we’ll check out Cody Wyoming and come back in to the park’s Southeast entrance, following Hwy 14 through to West Yellowstone entrance and ending in Rexburg for the night.

Right after entering the park we come to Mammoth Hot Springs, but there’s no water here any more! The thermal activity has slowed to a trickle in this area. It’s strange for me because I can remember visiting here years ago with my family when it was huge and very active. That can’t have been more than 10 years ago, right?? Actually, its probably been 30 years. Ouch.

We wanted to do all of Beartooth Pass, but there’s a forest fire in Red Lodge, so we have to cut it short and stay on 296 to Cody. Oh well, that’s another road to add to our to-do list for some other ride!

We enjoy nearly deserted roads and beautiful scenery (including stopping to watch a grizzly bear happily tearing apart a rotten stump) all the way through to Cody. Stopping in town for salad bar at Pizza Hut, we cool down in their air conditioning before heading back out on the road.

The southern loop in Yellowstone reminds us why we usually stay away from these places during the summer. Loads of traffic, and everyone stopping for even a tiny glimpse of generic wildlife (”People, its an elk, there are seven billion of them here, just keep moving!”). One road hog is going so slow in the opposite lane he’s hardly moving, and he’s got his horn on the whole time. Actually, he’s got two horns, and a big fuzzy head in between — it’s buffalo walking right down the middle of the oncoming traffic lane, just like he’s part of the traffic flow. Lumbering past Mike, he swivels one eye and grunts! Fortunately he keeps moving, as we’re in the middle of a pack of cars, and have no where to run.

Continuing on, we weave our way through the masses of traffic and breathe a sigh of relief when we finally make it through the park gates and back out on Hwy 20 towards Rexburg.

After some wandering, Mike finds a great motel (air conditioning two nights in a row, we must be back in civilization!) and I’m pretty sure I’m asleep before my head hits the pillow.

Day 26, July 29

Rexburg ID to HOME!

606 miles

We wake up this morning and I ask Mike how far we are from Terrebonne. He figures it on the map. We’re looking at more than 600 miles, but that sounds like such a tiny distance after all we’ve done so far.

I’m tired, I want my own bed, and I’m ready for a few days’ rest to recuperate from this adventure. I wanna go home! Mike says we’ll see how we’re doing and if we want to we can stop in Boise.

Lunch is in Arco Idaho where, inexplicably, there is a con tower of a submarine sticking up from the ground in a park across the road from where we’re eating. I have to go investigate! We wander over and read about this town’s long involvement with the armed forces (there is a very well-secured military operation of some sort outside of town), and the installation of this portion of the fast-attack nuclear submarine USS Hawkbill in 2003 is the towns’ way of showing their support for those who have served.

Every time we stop I get an energy drink and add it to my Camelbak. I’m sleepy and my allergies aren’t cooperating, but I’ll be darned if I’m stopping somewhere boring like Boise when we’re so close to home.

We continue on through the Idaho desert; this area with its flowing hills and wide-open sage-colored valleys dotted with dry land wheat farms and basalt outcroppings really reminds us of home. We enter the Craters of the Moon National Monument, and ride a road cutting through dark black and rust-red lava flows. We stop at the visitors’ center, but decide not to pay $16 for the privilege of riding through more lava formations that are probably relatively similar to the ones along the side of the highway that we get to see for free.

Entering Oregon at Ontario, and continue on Hwy 26 towards Vale. We’ve never taken this route before, and it’s beautiful – amazing all these times we’ve lived through the flat dusty boredom of Hwy 20 through Burns when this wonderful road of rolling farmland and open hills take us to the same place!

By the time we hit John Day the sun is setting, right in to our eyes! We squint and continue on. A ways out of town a deer darts up from the riverbed and over the road, it’s a close call from the only deer we’ve seen in nearly a month!

With the sun setting over Jefferson, we pull in to our garage. Too tired to do anything except grab the overnight bag and house keys, we stumble inside to the warm furry greeting committee. We are so happy to be home, to see the cats all healthy and well fed, to sleep in our own bed!!

Overall the trip was an amazing success. To ride so many miles without a single mechanical problem and no real major issues at all is an astonishing run of luck.

We did fail to make it to the Arctic Circle, but every other aspect of the trip lived up to the adventure we thought it would be. We saw and did so much in 26 days, I can’t wait to go back and explore all those places where we merely skimmed the surface. Not next summer, but soon; we’ll be back with more time, hopefully more money, and less flaky friends!

Okay, I admit, I’ve been slacking! 

I have wallowed through thousands of photos, and winnowed out the best, but I have yet to get them loaded on Flickr.

My only excuse is that I’ve been doing the eBay thing.  We’ve got a ton of stuff we’re listing for a friend.  His father, who owned NW Maico and CZ, passed away last year and he has mountains of stuff.  In a moment of insanity, we said we’d list magazines and other small items for a percentage of the take.  What was I thinking!  

The good thing is there’s so much cool stuff, opening each box is like christmas.  The bad thing is Mike keeps seing stuff he wants to keep.  Especially the posters.  I’m trying to keep him from buying it all himself – this was supposed to make us money, not spend it :)

If you’re interested, you can check it out here http://stores.ebay.com/Books-Bikes-and-More 

Hopefully this weekend I’ll get the time to put Alaska pics in slideshows, and get them posted here.  I’m looking forward to showing everyone more of what we saw.

After 2 weeks of relaxation and reflection, Mike and I both agree the trip was incredible, and way worth all the time, money and energy it took to pull it off.  If we made one major mistake, it was not taking everyone’s advice to take a day off every week or so.  We pushed too hard, and I was really tired the last 2 weeks. 

I told Mike that on our next epic adventure, I plan on taking at least one day where I just sit in the motel room and relax.  I don’t care if he spends the day shopping at antique stores or whatever, I’m not moving!

During the trip, I noticed that the beemer steering seemed to get progressively more sloppy.  Especially in town, I was having a hard time not doing the ‘weave’.  I attributed it to my lack of balance, and just being tired, but after we got home, I told Mike I thought something was loose or worn.

Ends up it was the steering head bearings.  At least they’re a bit loose and we’re replacing them.  Then we’ll see if that was the problem, or if it’s just the fault of the nut behind the wheel!

I shot some photos of our bike accessories, and I’ll be doing a ‘what worked, what didn’t’ blog here soon – before I forget what I was happy with and what bugged me!

We’re baaaaack.

Actually, we ‘power rode’ from Rexburg on Tuesday, making it here before 10 pm.  I was so tired yesterday all I did was stare at the tv.

Today I’m starting to get pictures organized – good grief, what am I going to do with 1,000+ images??  Hopefully I’ll get it winnowed down to a manageable number.

I’ll be posting maps of each day’s travels, along with a few video montages so you can get a quick look at more pics (not all 1,000+, I promise!).

Overall, it was a great vacation.  We were extremely lucky, no problems, no flat tires, no sickness, nothing weird to wreck our plans.  The only downside is that we didn’t have time to really relax and enjoy much of it – but we knew that going in.

I just put the riding gear in the wash.  It was getting a bit mungy after nearly 25 days straight (we were only out of it for one day in Banff).  Bug guts on top of bug guts!

I’ll be posting reviews of some of the things we used on the trip.  I think I’ll also do a list of stuff we’re glad we brought, stuff we brought and didn’t need, and stuff we didn’t bring and could have used.

After an initial cold shoulder, the cats are happy to have us home.  Spending more time than usual snuggled up near (or on top of) us.  Thanks to Nicol, they’re both still fat and happy.

I love exploring new places, but it’s good to be home.  We really feel like we’ve got the best of all worlds here, incredible scenery, good weather, open spaces, plus Walmart Superstore nearby.  It’s a tough combination to find!

We got into Kalispell last night and couldn’t find a room anywhere . Usually we try to get something by lunch – but didn’t, stupid us!

After riding another hour without finding anything, we stopped at a tiny store in Swan Lake and after petting the shop cat, asked about campgrounds. The gal told us about one, and also a B&B. The b&b ended up being Laughing Horse Lodge, a 1950’s set of log cabins, along with a small lodge/restaurant. For $85 we got a comfy cabin with it’s own bath, plus a delicious breakfast. Awesome!

Tonight we were smarter and scored a room in Gardiner earlier today. Tomorrow morning we’ll be headed through Yellowstone.

We’re leaving Banff tomorrow morning, after two nights in the same motel – a first for us on this trip!

Had a great time exploring places we visited 20[!!] years ago on our honeymoon, but bummed how poor our memories are – can’t remember nearly as much as we should!

its been so long since I had access I forgot that i never said much about the coolest city we’ve visited, Dawson City Has dirt Streets and turn of the century buildings

arriving by ferry you really feel like you’re on a time machine and landed in the middle of the Yukon gold rush!

we’re sitting in a coffee house eating some really good food. and I – . finally have an internet Connection !

three days without makes Pam a dull blogger!

The Mennonite Village was interesting. but the road in was terminally boring!!!!!

Two nights ago we camped at a hot springs and spent some wonderful time cooking our tired bodes in the steaming water.

It was a beautiful and very quiet place.

we should be in Jasper by this evening.

We’re in La Crete, a Mennonite town in the middle of Alberta.

Weather is finally perfect!  Still having a great time, but starting to miss the cats and our own bed!

I’ll post photos the next time we’ve got internet access.

Rain! We woke up this morning in Dawson City to a downpour. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem but our ride today was going to be 400 miles of gravel – too darned dangerous on motorcycles

So we’re not going to make it to the Arctic circle on this trip. Maybe John and Steve, who decided to try the haul road, will make it in spite of the rain. We’ll find out when we meet up with them in the next few days.

For us, I guess it’ll just mean we need to come back and do this again!

So we’ll be starting back south today, I’m sad we didn’t make our goal of the arctic circle, but really happy we weren’t up at Inuvik when the storm hit.

Our plan now is to wander wherever there’s sun and something interesting to see – maybe spending some time in Banff.

after a great nights sleep at the log cabin b&b last night, we headed over to check out an ice hotel. Really cool! ill hopefully get pics loaded this evening.

We’re in Fairbanks today, dropped off the bikes at Thunder Road yesterday afternoon.  Randy is amazing, he not only promised to get it all done by this afternoon, he had everything extra that we’ve needed to replace along the way, AND loaned us his personal truck to drive around today.  Amazing!

Tomorrow is Denali :)

We rode Out to Homer today. The view was spectacular – high above the ocean looking out towards the mainland and massive mountains rising from the sea.

the traffic Sucked though. lots of tourists, boats, and semi trucks. Well, traffic compared to what we’ve seen lately! After days of wilderness with probably less than 100 cars a day – any population is a shock to the system!

yesI am officially slacking – wifi is as rare as cheap gas up here. wahats not lacking is beauty!

Valdez is surrounded 360 degrees of soaring mountain peaks that drop strzight down into the water. Insanely beautiful!

We’ve seen 2 bears, 4 moose (meece?), a cougar, 2 lynx, bald eagles, swans, porcupine…. pretty cool stuff!

We’re headed to Homer tonight, and will probably sleep in a campground on the beach.

Beautiful day riding from Whitehorse thru Skagway, took the ferry to Haines where we’re spending the night in a beautiful spot overlooking the bay.

Sunshine feels good after a day full of rain yesterday.

the start’ of the ride today was beautiful. desert hills rolling into river valleys

After awhile. the hills flattened out to farmlands, then to lodgepole pine.

occasionally punctuated by a soft curve the road was well paved, and become monotonous after awhile.

jn Vanderhoof we flipped a coin and rode another hour to bed in Burns Lake.

415 miles in all.

the weather is getting us ready for Alaska – warm and wet!
were having a great time and seeing some gorgeous country

One.

One more day, and we’re outta here.

 

9am tomorrow morning, we’re meeting up at the Terrebonne Texaco station, fueling up and then we’re off.

One last minute plan change, we’ll be heading directly up I-5 and pounding out the miles while they’re quick and easy.  Our first night will be in Vancouver BC – at the Hilton – nothing like starting the trip on a high note :)  I have a feeling it’ll probably be our cushiest accomodation for the duration. 

We’ll update whenever I have wifi access, I’ll post text here, and images will be on flickr – just click to the link on the right-hand side of the page.

We’re nervous-excited.  Sleeping tonight is gonna be like a 6-year-old on Christmas Eve (is it morning yet?  is it morning yet?  is it morning yet?).

It started out as a simple Rally weekend – the ‘Alaska Gang’ of Steve, John, Mike and Pam were going to ride over to John Day on Friday, relax and spend time with friends, then maybe a nice loop ride Saturday, then home on Sunday in time for dinner and some down-time in front of the boob tube.

Well, the Friday part went as planned, we had an uneventful and fun ride over, then kicked back with John and Cindy for some refreshments and conversation. 

Bill, Mike, Steve, Cindy and John

 They don’t allow handguns in Canada, Mike and Steve think they’ve got the answer to our bear problems, but they’re still working on a mount for the bike.

Mike had some fun with the new graphics on the Versys – thought maybe he’d mess with a few BMW owners at the rally!

The ‘real’ Larry Lake (ask Steve), chatting with John and Steve-o

It was darned hot, and Saturday was supposed to be even hotter.

Steve came up with a great idea – why not take off Saturday morning for Wallowa Lake?  Higher elevations and cooler temps sounded great to us, so that’s what we did.

After a quick breakfast and packing we were on the road by 10.  Good grief!  Are we ever going to be able to get our stuff together and on the road before 10am?  We’re hopeless!

 

 

 

Wildflowers at Hells Canyon Overlook

Riding the Wallowa Lake Hwy

‘Whaddaya mean I can’t eat the camera???’  Our campsite at Wallowa Lake

We had a beautiful ride over to Wallowa Lake, and got a great campsite at the State Park there.  Following John’s lead, we all got our tents up quickly – which was good because raindrops began falling just as we finished. 

We walked into town in a light rain – with some seriously gusting wind as accompaniment.  After checking at the Lodge for dinner prices ($32 a plate, that’ll get us ready for Alaska prices, for sure!), we ended up at a little place called Russells at the Lake.  John was halfway through placing his order when the lights went out – and stayed out!  Our waitress came back a few minutes later and said there was no way they’d be cooking anything more that evening, so we ordered salads – which were prepared and eaten by dwindling daylight with candlelight augmentation.

Most excellent desserts of Chocolate Cherry cake and Raspberry White Chocolate cheesecake rounded out the meal, and since the rain was still coming down, we asked the owner if we could stay and play cards until he was ready to close up – he said ’sure’!  After a few hands of Gin Rummy (the first two didn’t count – we couldn’t remember the rules!) we chatted with Steve Roundy, the owner.  He told us the history of the restaurant along with lots of great information about the area, including Zumwalt Prairie - a 51 square-mile area that’s North America’s largest remaining grassland of its kind. 

After hearing so much about it, how could we pass up a short detour the next morning to see it? 

After rainshowers on and off all night (everything stayed dry – yea!!!) we were worried to see what weather we’d face Sunday morning – but it was blue skies and clear sailing as we packed up to leave.

Zumwalt Prairie is beautiful!  Hopefully we’ll get a chance later in the year (or next spring) to spend more time here. 

I admit, wide open prairie sounds about as interesting as sliced white bread without butter, but this is different.  The land rolls and sweeps along as you travel a gravel road that flows along the valleys, then rolls up rises where you get a grand view of wildflowers and green grass sloping gently off into the abyss of Hells Canyon. 

To give you some perspective, check out the house and barn on the far right behind the pond.  That’s a lot of land!

  ’Hooked on Fonics’ graduate?

Only 2 weeks to go (one free weekend), and final planning for Alaska is making me crazy….

Friday afternoon came and the weekend plans were still up in the air.  We thought we’d be in Granite with our buddies Lorrin, Sue and Tom, but they weren’t answering their cell phone, so it was up to us to figure out a ‘plan B’.

Since our bikes will be pointing East next weekend, it made sense to head west!  We’d been wanting to check out the Evergreen Museum - where they’ve got the Spruce Goose – so that was our destination.  It also meant we could stop by Mom’s place.  Always good form to visit mother before embarking on any trip that could involve getting eaten by bear – Moms’ frown on not being able to ’say goodbye’ – they’re such worriers!

After leaving Mom’s, we headed to Champoeg State Park, hoping for an open tent site.  Of course, it’s

1. The first good weather weekend

2. School’s out, and

3. Father’s day weekend, which brings us to

4. No open tent sites! 

We called around and found Sleepy Hollow RV in Lafayette.  We rode in and rode back out - our hint to ‘move along’ was the 40 year old trailers with plywood over the wheels, and sunbaked septic hoses.  I think if we’d hung around much longer we could’ve seen the headless horseman. 

Our next call was to Portland-Dayton Rv Park who weren’t exactly thrilled about bikers with tents, but acquiesced after we promised not to pee on the lawn (seems like tent campers don’t have a very good reputation at some parks!).

   After getting the tent set up (we’re faster every time – I think it’s down to 5 hours now — oh wait, that’s teardown – setup’s a blazing fast 1 hour!), we headed into McMinnville to check out Ruby Tuesday’s (recommended by the owner of the RV Park). 

One look at their salad bar and Mike was ready to leave me and move to McMinnville (he’s sort of passionate about good salad bars).

After a chilly night (note to self, wear longjohns to bed, even if you don’t think you’ll need them), we got up and headed down the road to the Museum. 

Riding past the airport, we were both looking at a medium-sized building with a jet out front – we thought this must be the place, and nearly missed the sign for the REAL museum on the right.  The place is HUGE!  Three massive buildings, one is the Aviation museum, one is the I-Max theater and the third is the new aerospace museum that just opened a few weeks ago.

After the entire day exploring both museums and seeing an incredible 3-D IMax movie (Space Station), there was still so much we missed.  We thought it would be a great ‘group ride’ for the fall or next summer – how about it guys?  Up for it?

Here’s some teasers to pique your interest!  Oh, and yes, that Spruce Goose thing is massive, I mean really, really, really big.  Huge, gigantic, phenomenal, all-encompassing, grossly oversized, massively ginormous.  Big. Really. Really. Big.

 

 

Hey look, we found Uranus!  Oh wait, that’s Mike’s……

Sorry. bad joke.  Accept my apologies!

Next weekend John Day BMW Rally – following weekend, running around in a tizzy, weekend after that, it’s Off to ALASKA!!!!!!

 Anyone have any last minute advice for us (besides ‘don’t go’)?

 

For our buddies who order parts from me at Powroll, you can now look at the Tucker Rocky, Helmet House and Wester Powersports catalogs online!

Tucker Rocky

Western Powersports

Helmet House

If you’ve never had a chance to peruse one of these behemoths, you’re in for a treat (and your wallet is in for some pain).  It’s unbelievable how much cool stuff they list.

Once you’ve got part numbers, you can just email me with your ‘wish list’ and I’ll tell you when and how much!

So, we actually went looking for the wet stuff this weekend.  We needed to see if our idea of ‘waterproof’ matched the manufacturers’ idea of ‘waterproof’ on the new boots, coats, bags, etc.  Our route followed the Saturday ride from a few weekends ago, ending in Rufus at the campground and ‘grassy knoll’ we discovered last time around.

Looking at sunny skies on Sunday morning, I let Mike talk me into wearing our old riding pants instead of the new ones.  After Idaho last year, I knew they weren’t waterproof – but a few sprinkles never hurt anyone, right?

Well, after a few sprinkles over Ochoco Pass, we rode into Service Creek in a gen-u-ine honest-to-goodness downpour.  My jeans were soaked under the non-waterproof riding pants, but thanks to that heated liner, I was toasty warm and comfy.  My new boots?  Absolutely and completely dry.  Mike’s new boots?  Absolutely and completely soaked.  Both are expensive insulated waterproof boots – looking at them you’d think Mike’s had a much better chance and repelling the wet stuff, but for some reason mine worked and his didn’t.

After a good lunch at Service Creek, we kept on thru the rain – mostly just sprinkles, but some big showers.  I really enjoyed it because I was warm – but my worn-out front tire wasn’t real confidence inspiring in the few really flooded sections.  I’ll be happy to get those new tires on!

After stopping near Olex, and checking the skies, Mike decided to run 19 down to Condon, then back up 206 to Wasco to hopefully avoid a massive storm cloud that looked like it was between us and the Columbia River.  He must have guessed right, because by the time we hit Wasco, the rain was gone for good.

Riding through the wind farm, we saw a crane holding a blade assembly – we stopped to watch as the crew effortlessly attached the beamouth blades to the tower.  It was an incredibly impressive sight.

 

To get an idea of how big these things are, check out the two guys standing on top of the tower.

 Riding into town, Mike rode right past our friends’ Lorrin & Sue’s house, I pulled up next to him at the stop sign and asked why he hadn’t stopped, and he said “I would, but I don’t remember where they live”.  Okay, this is the ‘man in brown’, Mister UPS — and he’s in a town with FOUR streets.  He just rode right past their house!  By the time I led him back a few blocks, the whole fam-damily was out in the front yard waiting for us, shaking their heads.  Gotta hassle Mike, he’s normally the address guru!

After spending awhile bugging the Lissman’s, we were back on the road.  We’d decided if it was raining, we were going to motel it.  We’re not planning on camping in the rain anyway, so seeing if the tent leaked would just be a moot point.  Of course, if we end up ‘emergency camping’ in a downpour in Alaska – I’ll regret saying that!  This time though it didn’t matter, because by the time we got to Rufus, it was apparent it hadn’t rained there, and wasn’t planning to anytime soon, so we got settled in and went to dinner. 

The next morning, Sue and Lorrin showed up to ride with us to Madras, and took us on some great backroads on the way there. 

A little ways outside of Wasco, we stopped by the side of a road, and Sue pointed to the mailbox of our buddy Tom – so she got out the cell phone and gave him a ring to see if he’d like to join us

By the time we rode down the driveway, Tom was walking out of the house, gear and helmet in hand, and ready to ride!   Heck, I wouldn’t have even had my shoes on and gotten to the door by then.

I’d love to show you a map of the exact route we took home, but all I know is that we were on some very cool back roads that ended up at Sherars Bridge, had a great lunch at Wamic  

 

before heading to Madras, where Lorrin, Sue and Tom split off for home.

It was a great weekend, and we’ve only added about 15 more things to our list of stuff to bring on the ‘big trip’!

So, we’d planned to ride Lolo Pass in Idaho, then through Montana and loop home by way of Boise – but the satellite images of the storm showed that it would be taking pretty much the same path we were on!

Yep, we wimped out.  This weekend looks better, with a bit of thunderstorm activity maybe in the afternoons, so we’re going to do the Rufus loop again, this time with Steve and hopefully John along for the ride.  Maybe we’ll get to test the rain-worthyness of the tent!  Yeeehaw. 

Wish us luck!

Last Sunday, we had the heated liners turned up to 11 and I was happy for my heated grips.  This Saturday we leave the house at 10am and I’m sweating in my lightweight mesh pants and with all the vents open on my coat.  Must be spring in Central Oregon!

Mike planned our route around a few northeastern roads that looked interesting on the map, but that we’d never ridden yet. 

If you’d like to read the rest, click on page 2

Last weekend was the inagural ride for our new tent, sleeping bags and sleeping pads.  We thought we’d head down to Maupin and spend the night at the little campground by the river there.  But then I got an email from our buddies Lisa and Kirk and their daughter Brynnie from Idaho – they were heading to John Day and would be camping out Saturday night.  No way we were going to pass up spending time with them!  An added bonus is that they’ve probably spent more time on bikes and camping than anyone else we know.

Friday night I tried to get all the camping gear on the bikes.  After messing around with it for an hour, I decided to let Mike ’stow master’ Falcioni take the helm.  Once he got home, he was able to get everything I had in 4 bags into his 2 bags on the Versys!  Amazing!  He is the Tetris master, indeed.

Saturday morning we messed around until noon, then started getting clothes and some food packed into the Beemer bags.  That took us nearly 2 hours.  We were supposed to meet up with Lisa and gang at around 3pm, and at the rate we were going, I didn’t think we’d even be rolling out of the driveway by then.  Fortunately, we pulled our head out and got in gear.  We made the trip to John Day in record time, and got to the Clyde Holliday park about 3:15.  Kirk already had their tent up, but said they had only been there about 15 minutes.

It was so great having the ‘camp gurus’ there, I think we asked about 4,000 questions, but the tent went up really easily and we were ready to get down to some serious bench racing.

  Brinnie was being super-goofy, and it was so fun being around a little girl!  Of course, this little girl has more motorcycle miles under her belt than I do!

Here’s the tent all set up (the green one on the left).

I did make one mistake, and had our heads where our feet should be.  Not a big deal, I’ll do it right next time! 

The only downside to camping with true ‘campers’ is that they have all this cool stuff, and then you think you need all that cool stuff — which leads to Sportsmans’ Warehouse and REI getting even more of our money. 

We also came to the realization that we really did need some way to at least heat water, so we’ve got a little MSR Pocket Rocket (must be a guy thing) with one pot.

With this addition, I realized there’s no way to fit everything in the bags, so we’ll both be wearing backpacks.  We’ve always worn backpacks on prior adventures, so it’s not really a big deal.

After setting everything up at camp, we headed towards John Day, stopping at buddy Bill’s house to check it out.  He and his wife Sue purchased the old school house last summer, and they’ve been there every weekend since.

Kirk and Mike goofin’ around at Bill’s place.

 

 

 

 

Bill’s got some new graphics for his KLR, he’s hoping they’ll let him into the BMW rally next month!

 

Mike and Brinnie check out the loft in Bill’s shop.

The next morning, we got packed up and ready to go (yea, real speedy we were — I think it took at least 2 hours for me to wake up!), after saying goodbye to Lisa, Kirk & Brynnie, we headed home via a convoluted route through Spray and Winlock – we even got to ride a few miles of gravel.  I told Mike I wished he would leave the street tires on the Versys, because then I can keep up with him on my more dirt-worthy F650!  It’s probably the only time in my life that I could have gone faster than him on a bike!

Here’s a few shots from the ride home – click on the flickr pics to the right for bigger versions.

At home, Sabrina decided she’s ready to try riding – here she is showing off her stylin’ gear:

I’ve recently received a few emails from local real estate brokers regarding ‘hot sellers’ in Central Oregon. Most were from companies I’d never heard of before, so I just tossed them out.

Today I received one at work from the Kerr Commercial Group looking for tenants for the Tracy Building at Chelsea Square in Redmond. This one really struck me as strange, since the Kerr Group has a very good name in the area as a large and long-established realty company.

We’ve never done business with Kerr, and have had absolutely no contact with them whatsoever — so this means that they have purchased (or obtained by some other means) a list of email addresses for businesses in the Central Oregon area, and they’re now actively spamming those businesses.

To me, this sounds extremely desperate.

I did contact the original sender, Yvonne Drury, who is a broker for the Kerr Commercial Group.  She replied that  “This is a one-time mailing for the owner of the building who is trying to find tenants.” 

Of course, why would any business go to all the trouble of compiling a bulk mail list, then only use it once?

Our regular web hosting for work is through a high quality company called Lexiconn.  They always provide superior service - at a superior charge!

When we needed to add some domain names at work (for the Trackmaster stuff), I decided to give GoDaddy a whirl, since it wasn’t as critical as the powroll.com domain.  The prices were really cheap, so I figured if I ever needed any real tech support, I was on my own.

Wrong-o!  I registered the mikefalcioni.com name through GoDaddy, and had some trouble figuring out how to make it forward to WordPress.  I sent ONE email requesting help.  I recieved back ONE email that had a very detailed, specific answer that took care of the problem.  Simple! 

What I expected was 5 or 6 emails, all generated by a ‘bot, none answering my questions specifically – until I finally got angry enough to be put through to a human.  This ‘cut to the chase and get the job done’ attitude is absolutely incredible – all for $20 a year!

Anywhoo, if you’re in the market for anything host-related online, don’t let their discount looks and pricing turn you away.  GoDaddy

Okay, so everyone that knows me well knows I have a genuine, healthy respect for heights.

I can get close to the edge of a cliff, but usually have to crawl the last few feet.  I always feel a little weird when I’m near the edge of anything tall enough to cause severe injury or death if I screw up and fall off.

Yes, that is a look of fear on my face.  I am grinning to cover it up, but it’s not working very well!

Anyway, if you haven’t seen this video of El Caminito del Rey in Spain, it’s amazing.  

 El Caminito
from www.brightcove.tv posted with vodpod

Most of the folks exploring this area are rock climbers, so for them this is no big deal.  For the rest of us? I can’t even imagine taking more than a few steps in the ‘good’ sections! 

Wikipedia has a good page on El Caminito del Rey if you want to learn more.

Our trip to jet city was great!

Got up at an ungodly time on Saturday - 3:30 or something – on the road by 4:30 and parked in Seattle by 10:30. 

Our first stop was the Three Girls Bakery for some scone and coffee action.  Next we wandered around the market checking out the shops.  Mike always makes a bee-line for the Antique stores, where he scored a few little trinkets.  I breathed a sigh of relief that he didn’t find some vintage motorcycle do-dad that cost an arm and a leg or was larger than a breadbox.

Lunchtime rolled around and we started paying more attention to the smells of really good foods you can’t easily find in Central Oregon.  We ducked our heads into the tiny Sabra Mediterranean cafe, they had Falafal and other vegetarian delights, and we both had some awesome fresh and tasty food for around $15.

After lunch, we wandered further afield of Pike Place, and found even more cool restaurants with tons of vegetarian goodies for Mike.  Next year we’ll be chowing down at the Pan African Market, the Ethiopian dishes looked and smelled incredible.

The music out on the streets ran the gamut from jazz to rock and everything in between.  I think the only thing I didn’t hear was classical, but I’m sure if I’d walked a little further, I’d have found it!

The weather was perfect, although I sort of like it rainy in Seattle – it just seems appropriate.  Plus it keeps the crowds down to a more manageable size!

We headed over to the races really late – got parked and in our seats just in time for the opening ceremonies.  The Lites classes were fun to watch – these were all new riders that Mike and I hadn’t seen much of before, and it’s always cool to watch how each rider tackles the same obstacles in a little different manner.

Ryan Dungey got out in front and just smoothly walked away from everyone.  Jason Lawrence kept it a little exciting at the beginning, working his way up to 2nd, then cruising to the finish.  He clinched the lites West coast title.

The 250’s…er….I mean the ‘Supercross’ class (okay, I’m still old school, I admit it!) were really exciting – although Chad Reed probably would say they were ‘painfully exciting’.  Reed crashed in the first lefthander out of the starting gate, and ended up being the meat in the middle of a 3 or 4 rider sandwich.  He got up in last place, and I thought he’d maybe just ride around and try not to lose too many points after that, but he really proved he’s an ironman (or superman!) by dragging himself (broken shoulder and all) to 2nd place behind Windham.

Windham had his own weirdness to deal with – someone hit a tuff block, and the cover was laying in the track.  It got caught up on Windham’s bike somewhere on the right side.  Looked like just the footpeg, but must have been the rear brake, because the bike stalled on the face of one of the jumps.  Windham calmly looked down, figured out what was going on and removed the cover, then gave it a hard throw off the track so it wouldn’t be a problem for anyone else. 

He lost about 4 spots, but regained the lead quickly afterwards.

With Windham finishing first, and Reed in second, there’s still a 10 point deficit, but if Windham wins Vegas, and Reed finishes 5th or worse, it’s Windhams title.

With the points chase still going on, we’re bummed about missing Vegas for the first time in about 6 years, but we just can’t afford Vegas with Alaska looming in the near distance.  Especially with gas prices nearing $4 a gallon.

Attendance seemed a bit low at the race, we were wondering if it was because less people are travelling.

Anyone changing plans because of gas or diesel prices?

Pike’s market, Three Sisters Bakery, rain and Reed – should make for a fun weekend!

We’ll be heading out at o-dark-thirty Saturday AM (closer to Friday PM, but I’m not going to look), spending the day wandering the streets of Seattle, then over to the Qwest Field in the evening to watch Chad Reed and Kevin Windham battle it out for the Supercross points lead.

We used to be the first in line to get into the pits ‘back when’ McGrath was racing.  We were autograph hounds!  It did pay off, we’ve got lots off cool autographed ephemera in Mike’s showroom that we wouldn’t have otherwise.

Anyway, pics and story will be here Monday :)

After years of just posting pics on flickr, I figured it was time to start a blog – mainly for my own information, since I can’t remember from one week to the next where we rode the week before!

So, I’m innocently wandering the web, finding out what blog hosts are better, and after reading a ton of info, decided to just open blogs on blogger.com (a google company), Livejournal, and WordPress.

Initially, blogger seemed to be the answer.  I use (and love) other Google products, so blogger’s gotta be good, right?

Well, I signed up, did a basic post, just some general ramblings about the Alaska plans, added a few pictures to see how easy it was, then linked to our Flickr page, and published. 

It looked good, it was easy, I thought I’d found a blog home.

Until a few hours later, when I recieved this message:

    Your blog, at http://falcioni.blogspot.com/, has been identified as a potential spam blog.  For an explanation of what spam blogs are, please see Blogger Help: http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=42577
 
    You will not be able to publish posts to your blog until we review your site and confirm that it is not a spam blog.  To request a review, please fill out the form found here: (removed)
    We will take a look at your blog and unlock it within four business days. Please note that if we do not hear from you within 20 days, we will remove your blog.  If this blog does not belong to you, then you do not have to do anything.  Any other blogs you may have will not be affected.

Wha?????  I have a decent idea of what spam-bots look for, and I re-read my text to see what, if anything, was there that would be easily tagged as spam.  Nothing!  I checked all my image tags, they’re all correct, nothing owned by anyone else, and all linked back to the source. 

I clicked their link to be reviewed by a human – that was two days ago.  Yep, the blog is still locked.

What a way to welcome new members to the community!

So, after that nazi-esque experience, I decided to test drive Livejournal and WordPress.  Livejournal was okay, but basic.  WordPress allows me the greatest ability to modify the look and feel of everything, and I love that!  So buh-bye Blogger, hellllllllo WordPress!

About 10 years ago, Mike and I visited a fellow that Mike had found out on route. This older gentleman (we’re both having air-brain and can’t remember his name!) had recently sold his vintage Harley, but did have some great photos he was willing to share with us.

I made copies, then promptly filed and forgot them!

Rummaging through stuff last weekend, I came across them again. I just think they’re so cool. Especially the travelling photos – makes us feel like wimps for all the warm gear and bullet-proof equipment we feel are ‘must have’s’ for riding these days!

Sequoia National Park

Death Valley

Somewhere in California – maybe Death Valley

 

 

 

Dirt Track racing in Bend Oregon. That’s Pilot Butte in the background at left.

Blue Mountain Pass. I’ll bet he didn’t have a heated liner for that coat!