dcarver
Well-known member
Disclaimer
I ain't no O'vale or Old Michael either. My pix aren't as good, I don't carefully compose each foto and I've never taken a fotography class. I take photos on the fly,
sometimes I get lucky, sometimes not. I also have difficulty with the English language. I butcher the hell out of it. Oh, I'm also verbose and drink too much. I have
sometimes been known to stretch the truth to make the tale even better. Call it a 'trumor', half truth, half rumor! So if you're OK with all this, then read on, else go
watch the evening news and get depressed - cause I had serious FUN on this ride, met some great new folks, enjoyed the company of old friends, saw scenery and
roads I've never been on before, and, in a certain way, discovered myself all over again - and thought someone might just enjoy the read.
The Transition Talk with Pops
After what seemed like months of waiting, it was finally time to leave the safe and sane confines of cubicle living and face the dangers of the road. My office is a
converted indoor swimming pool, hence the signage.
Exiting out the back door, so the boss wouldn't see me leaving early, (cough-cough) I noticed that all the other bikes normally parked outside were gone too.
The 1984 R100T next to CrZy8 is my buds - I sold it to him when I purchased the FJR.
I wondered if this little fellow was a spy for the boss man?
The goal was to leave work (San Luis Obispo) at 11 AM, make a dash via I5 to Salem, Oregon, Dad's house. This was to be the 'Pops, it's time for you to
move into the old folks home', and I wasn't looking forward to the conversation. The last two weeks I'd mentally covered every possible angle the
conversation could turn in order to have solid and reasonable responses for Dad.
Of course, delays, like poop, happen. First I bent 3 pins on the StarCom headset connection. That took 15 minutes to fix, should I head home and get the
spare or hope the re-bent pins hold true? Then I realized I needed to stop and take care of some money stuff. All of this and now I'm over an hour delayed,
even before I've really started. Notice the broken plastic on the female connector.
What is there to say about I5? It's fast, efficient, and most of it b-o-r-i-n-g. Arrived at Dad's in early morning hours.
Woke up around 0700 after 3 hours sleep. This minimal sleep thing was to become a bad habit. Later, over coffee, Pops had some news for me.
'Son', he said, 'I wanted you hear this from me directly. The Realtor is coming over this afternoon, I've decided to move into assisted living' he said. '
Do you think it's time?'
'Yes, Dad, I do', I responded. Heck, at 91 years young, Dad is still beating me to the punch line.
Off to breakfast, I found a GREAT little café.
and had this really tasty green omelet thing.
Salem Oregon to Bonners Ferry, Idaho
The next stop was Bonners Ferry, Idaho, approximately 500 miles. Shit, that mileage is breaking Candy Butt Association rules, I made a mental note to
pay my fine to the president (me). Hmm, two days in a row I've exceeded the 200 miles per rolling 24 hour limit. Damn, this trip is going to be
Eeee-X-Spensive. Here is the route:
I found another good eatery while paralleling the Columbia on the Oregon side.
where I had breakfast with my new bud. He was kinda quiet, and sure didn't eat much either..
An old beehive smoker. Dad had bee's when I was a kid, I loved to throw dirt clods at the hives, get them all pissed off then run like hell to get out
of there fast. Good memories, had to take the pix..
I had passed several 'Historical Hi-way' signs that looked interesting on the map. This one I took, and was treated to some fun curves. Time to
shred them PR2 sides...
Then back to the flatland road and a true symbol of old technology, the Bonneville dam.
and some new technology shortly after the hydro.
Seeing all that water made we want to pee, so I peed on both states, Washington and Oregon! Lucky for me, no one was on the road... LOL.
The terrain was slowly changing from brown to green. I had no idea how much greener green could get. The farther north traveled, the prettier
and cleaner and greener.
Some of my sicko LD rider friends have POF syndrome, so I took this pix for them.
(post office fetish)
And this one for my buddy, Sir Smitty. Who knew he had a thriving business in Dixon, WA? No wonder he can buy new bikes every 3 months.
Any Microsoft XP/Vista users out there? Don't these hills look like the splash screen?
Truly great weather for moto-biking. Hardly any cages, a wide open road, and not a speed camera nor LEO in sight. hmm, guess what time
it is boyz n' gurlz?
Down below is the Snake river. I was this way one time before, only then it was over 105F, so I stopped and did an 'Ari Rankum'.
(go for a swim while ATGATT!)
So now the problem starts. I'm low on fuel. I don't want to stop. I've been stopping way too early for refueling, only marginally dipping into
reserve. This time I forced myself to keep going. What a stressful mistake this decision was to become.
This pix for my buddy Andrew. Not Andy, Andrew! :****: Orangevale liked barns, old barns. Sure wish he was still with us.
Then, finally, Idaho.
Who da hoe?
IDAHO!
More boring roads. Sigh, someone has to do it, after all, Old Michael wimped out complaining of hermaroids or something...
Surely Potlatch will have fuel? Pushing 48 miles into reserve now, and I'm starting to stress. Damn it, I'm gonna buy me an aux tank.
How much and when again?
Nope, no fuel in Potlatch. Time to press on to 'Coors de Arlene'.
Folks are different in WhoDaHoe IDaHoe!
Finally, fuel surely can be found here!
Idaho does a really good job at keeping moto-bikers safety in mind. Seriously, as compared to Kali, where they put soft as butter
tar snakes down, groove the pavement, and can't repair pot holes, Idaho rocks.
12 hours into the ride, the last hour is in the rain. For once, I was smart enough to stop first, get rain gear on, then head into the wet.
For the record, CyclePort gear with inner liners work really good. Of course, I also carry some outies in case I need to *quickly* change.
I'll take 1 hour of rain over 13 hours total, especially when the forecast was for 13 hours of continuous rain slogging..
...to be continued.
I ain't no O'vale or Old Michael either. My pix aren't as good, I don't carefully compose each foto and I've never taken a fotography class. I take photos on the fly,
sometimes I get lucky, sometimes not. I also have difficulty with the English language. I butcher the hell out of it. Oh, I'm also verbose and drink too much. I have
sometimes been known to stretch the truth to make the tale even better. Call it a 'trumor', half truth, half rumor! So if you're OK with all this, then read on, else go
watch the evening news and get depressed - cause I had serious FUN on this ride, met some great new folks, enjoyed the company of old friends, saw scenery and
roads I've never been on before, and, in a certain way, discovered myself all over again - and thought someone might just enjoy the read.
The Transition Talk with Pops
After what seemed like months of waiting, it was finally time to leave the safe and sane confines of cubicle living and face the dangers of the road. My office is a
converted indoor swimming pool, hence the signage.
Exiting out the back door, so the boss wouldn't see me leaving early, (cough-cough) I noticed that all the other bikes normally parked outside were gone too.
The 1984 R100T next to CrZy8 is my buds - I sold it to him when I purchased the FJR.
I wondered if this little fellow was a spy for the boss man?
The goal was to leave work (San Luis Obispo) at 11 AM, make a dash via I5 to Salem, Oregon, Dad's house. This was to be the 'Pops, it's time for you to
move into the old folks home', and I wasn't looking forward to the conversation. The last two weeks I'd mentally covered every possible angle the
conversation could turn in order to have solid and reasonable responses for Dad.
Of course, delays, like poop, happen. First I bent 3 pins on the StarCom headset connection. That took 15 minutes to fix, should I head home and get the
spare or hope the re-bent pins hold true? Then I realized I needed to stop and take care of some money stuff. All of this and now I'm over an hour delayed,
even before I've really started. Notice the broken plastic on the female connector.
What is there to say about I5? It's fast, efficient, and most of it b-o-r-i-n-g. Arrived at Dad's in early morning hours.
Woke up around 0700 after 3 hours sleep. This minimal sleep thing was to become a bad habit. Later, over coffee, Pops had some news for me.
'Son', he said, 'I wanted you hear this from me directly. The Realtor is coming over this afternoon, I've decided to move into assisted living' he said. '
Do you think it's time?'
'Yes, Dad, I do', I responded. Heck, at 91 years young, Dad is still beating me to the punch line.
Off to breakfast, I found a GREAT little café.
and had this really tasty green omelet thing.
Salem Oregon to Bonners Ferry, Idaho
The next stop was Bonners Ferry, Idaho, approximately 500 miles. Shit, that mileage is breaking Candy Butt Association rules, I made a mental note to
pay my fine to the president (me). Hmm, two days in a row I've exceeded the 200 miles per rolling 24 hour limit. Damn, this trip is going to be
Eeee-X-Spensive. Here is the route:
I found another good eatery while paralleling the Columbia on the Oregon side.
where I had breakfast with my new bud. He was kinda quiet, and sure didn't eat much either..
An old beehive smoker. Dad had bee's when I was a kid, I loved to throw dirt clods at the hives, get them all pissed off then run like hell to get out
of there fast. Good memories, had to take the pix..
I had passed several 'Historical Hi-way' signs that looked interesting on the map. This one I took, and was treated to some fun curves. Time to
shred them PR2 sides...
Then back to the flatland road and a true symbol of old technology, the Bonneville dam.
and some new technology shortly after the hydro.
Seeing all that water made we want to pee, so I peed on both states, Washington and Oregon! Lucky for me, no one was on the road... LOL.
The terrain was slowly changing from brown to green. I had no idea how much greener green could get. The farther north traveled, the prettier
and cleaner and greener.
Some of my sicko LD rider friends have POF syndrome, so I took this pix for them.
(post office fetish)
And this one for my buddy, Sir Smitty. Who knew he had a thriving business in Dixon, WA? No wonder he can buy new bikes every 3 months.
Any Microsoft XP/Vista users out there? Don't these hills look like the splash screen?
Truly great weather for moto-biking. Hardly any cages, a wide open road, and not a speed camera nor LEO in sight. hmm, guess what time
it is boyz n' gurlz?
Down below is the Snake river. I was this way one time before, only then it was over 105F, so I stopped and did an 'Ari Rankum'.
(go for a swim while ATGATT!)
So now the problem starts. I'm low on fuel. I don't want to stop. I've been stopping way too early for refueling, only marginally dipping into
reserve. This time I forced myself to keep going. What a stressful mistake this decision was to become.
This pix for my buddy Andrew. Not Andy, Andrew! :****: Orangevale liked barns, old barns. Sure wish he was still with us.
Then, finally, Idaho.
Who da hoe?
IDAHO!
More boring roads. Sigh, someone has to do it, after all, Old Michael wimped out complaining of hermaroids or something...
Surely Potlatch will have fuel? Pushing 48 miles into reserve now, and I'm starting to stress. Damn it, I'm gonna buy me an aux tank.
How much and when again?
Nope, no fuel in Potlatch. Time to press on to 'Coors de Arlene'.
Folks are different in WhoDaHoe IDaHoe!
Finally, fuel surely can be found here!
Idaho does a really good job at keeping moto-bikers safety in mind. Seriously, as compared to Kali, where they put soft as butter
tar snakes down, groove the pavement, and can't repair pot holes, Idaho rocks.
12 hours into the ride, the last hour is in the rain. For once, I was smart enough to stop first, get rain gear on, then head into the wet.
For the record, CyclePort gear with inner liners work really good. Of course, I also carry some outies in case I need to *quickly* change.
I'll take 1 hour of rain over 13 hours total, especially when the forecast was for 13 hours of continuous rain slogging..
...to be continued.
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