Liz and I left Hillsboro OR yesterday morning and headed west, away from all the traffic. It was pretty cool cuz it turned into rainforest almost immediately. I didn't realize we were going to do some climbing to get to the coast and when we hit the top the climate changed right away. Completely blanketed in fog.
It reminded both of us of when we did the same kind of thing biking in Vietnam. We had been carrying all this cold weather gear the whole time wondering why but were quite happy to have it for the descent.
This time we waited to get to the bottom and put on the heated gear. Along the coast it was pretty chilly. We saw a lot of people touring on bikes. I think this area deserves a month of its own, and then another month in that Idaho, Montana area, and then another month.......
Dropped the bike off to get serviced and knobbies this morning and then brought Liz to the airport. Not sure about the trade I'm making here. Liz for Mark and Dan. Hmmmm.
Ferry tomorrow after Mark picks up his bike in the morning. He's gonna load it up and drive it away from the dealership for the first time.
It'll be nice having help with the blog before I develop carpal thumble syndrome. I don't know how kids type with their thumbs all the time. It's quite a treat to be using a full keyboard here at CNC Edu.
Tomorrow will have pics of Mark getting on his new sled and us getting on the boat.
stay tuned.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
2 days in a row
2 days of excellent weather and riding. What are the chances of that happening?
Travelled along the Washington side of the Columbia River today. 260 miles from Walla Walla to Portland..
The scenery was a little boring at first but then it got pretty spectacular. Qyite a bit different from the rivers we were next to in Idaho. The Columbia is huge. There were 2 or 3 power producing dams and a giant aluminum plant along the way. What the hek is aluminum made from that puts that plant there?
The cool thing about theWA side is that it's not interstate highway like the Oregon side. Sometimes it's down low by the river and sometimes it goes way up. High up it's mostly desert. Lots of wineries too, as well as out by Walla Walla.
It looked like some apple orchards too but it might have been peach. Still more agricultural investigation to do. I'll get back to you on that.
Of course leaving late and poking along the river leisurely put us into Vancouver and Portland right at rush hour. We were stopping by Beaverton to see my 80ish year old Uncle Scott for a quick visit. GPS is not operational at the moment and gettig directions from him was a bit of a trick but we lucked out and found his place easily.
He took us out for a bite and we were quite skeptical when he pulled into a Burgerville!
Figured we could suffer thru it so we went in and lo and behold it can be done. Fast food at a reasonable price that can be good for you. Organic beef, free-range turkey, salads withsalmon. Whoulda thunk? The place was great.
Aiming for the CNC office today. Any chance for 3 in a row?
Travelled along the Washington side of the Columbia River today. 260 miles from Walla Walla to Portland..
The scenery was a little boring at first but then it got pretty spectacular. Qyite a bit different from the rivers we were next to in Idaho. The Columbia is huge. There were 2 or 3 power producing dams and a giant aluminum plant along the way. What the hek is aluminum made from that puts that plant there?
The cool thing about theWA side is that it's not interstate highway like the Oregon side. Sometimes it's down low by the river and sometimes it goes way up. High up it's mostly desert. Lots of wineries too, as well as out by Walla Walla.
It looked like some apple orchards too but it might have been peach. Still more agricultural investigation to do. I'll get back to you on that.
Of course leaving late and poking along the river leisurely put us into Vancouver and Portland right at rush hour. We were stopping by Beaverton to see my 80ish year old Uncle Scott for a quick visit. GPS is not operational at the moment and gettig directions from him was a bit of a trick but we lucked out and found his place easily.
He took us out for a bite and we were quite skeptical when he pulled into a Burgerville!
Figured we could suffer thru it so we went in and lo and behold it can be done. Fast food at a reasonable price that can be good for you. Organic beef, free-range turkey, salads withsalmon. Whoulda thunk? The place was great.
Aiming for the CNC office today. Any chance for 3 in a row?
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Walla Walla Washington
Who names these places anyway?
After going thru the last town of Lewiston, ID I was a little concerned because it was so crappy but WW is a quaint little college town in the middle of about a gazillion acres of farmland. Grass of some sort. Haven't investigated yet.
It was pretty cool how the the terrain dramatically changed as soon as we got into Washington.
ok, i'm starvin. Time to find some brefus.
After going thru the last town of Lewiston, ID I was a little concerned because it was so crappy but WW is a quaint little college town in the middle of about a gazillion acres of farmland. Grass of some sort. Haven't investigated yet.
It was pretty cool how the the terrain dramatically changed as soon as we got into Washington.
ok, i'm starvin. Time to find some brefus.
WOW! Now that was a day of riding.
After having a half day of good weather in Missoula we started out yesterday morning aiming for the mountains and thankfully not on the highway. Unfortunately it was in the direction of what looked like more nasty weather. Turned out to be the best day of the trip so far, on all accounts.
We went up over Lolo pass in Idaho. On the other side of the pass we had 200 miles of riding along side of 2 raging rivers with the scent of balsam in the air. Yes I said 200 miles. Winding roads that were clearly designed for motorcycles. It was absolutely incredible. Google maps said it was gonna take five and a half hours. Now we know why. It took us even longer :-)
Lots of boats playing in the rapids. The only thing that could've been better is if I were on mi bicicleta. I'm already planning the bicycle tour back here. Lots of nice climbing of course.
We went up over Lolo pass in Idaho. On the other side of the pass we had 200 miles of riding along side of 2 raging rivers with the scent of balsam in the air. Yes I said 200 miles. Winding roads that were clearly designed for motorcycles. It was absolutely incredible. Google maps said it was gonna take five and a half hours. Now we know why. It took us even longer :-)
Lots of boats playing in the rapids. The only thing that could've been better is if I were on mi bicicleta. I'm already planning the bicycle tour back here. Lots of nice climbing of course.
bozeman and missoula report
both cool towns, in a hippy, groovy kind of way. The best parts are the historic downtowns. As you can imagine, the sprawling surrounding areas are pretty disgusting. In both towns I felt like I was back in the military. There are pawnshops every 50 yards.
Montana is not a state to see by highway. Too much open space with lots of ick scattered thru it. Granted we couldn't catch any of the majestic views as we were cruisingalong.
Who buys a piece of big sky dreamland that's within view and earshot of the highway? Lots of those houses that I didn't quite understand.
Pretty nice to be back in an area with real food though. Something other than margarine and white bread available. We even managed to get some good organic yogurt. No wonder people think yogurt is nasty. That commercial crap IS nasty.
Montana is not a state to see by highway. Too much open space with lots of ick scattered thru it. Granted we couldn't catch any of the majestic views as we were cruisingalong.
Who buys a piece of big sky dreamland that's within view and earshot of the highway? Lots of those houses that I didn't quite understand.
Pretty nice to be back in an area with real food though. Something other than margarine and white bread available. We even managed to get some good organic yogurt. No wonder people think yogurt is nasty. That commercial crap IS nasty.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Finally a good weather day.
after being awakened at 4:30 by some stupid teenage kids in a neighbouring room ( if i knew which one i'd likely be writing this from a jail cell right now. Did I ever mention how much I dislike kids?) I started the day praying for rain.
That might sound weird but since i figured that the options were lots of rain or lots of rain and wind, it seemed like a reasonable prayer.
Halleleujah. We got rain all day. Sometimes a lot but that was only occasionally, and sometimes scary windy but that was only occasionally too.
Managed a good solid 400 miles that got us in striking distance of our goal. Now I can relax a bit and go back on the backroads after tomorrow.
Hopefully it'll be clear enough in the morning to scope out bozeman, mt where we made it to tonight. An easy couple hundred tomorrow will let us check out Missoula, then cut thru idaho to oregon.
g'nite johnboy.
That might sound weird but since i figured that the options were lots of rain or lots of rain and wind, it seemed like a reasonable prayer.
Halleleujah. We got rain all day. Sometimes a lot but that was only occasionally, and sometimes scary windy but that was only occasionally too.
Managed a good solid 400 miles that got us in striking distance of our goal. Now I can relax a bit and go back on the backroads after tomorrow.
Hopefully it'll be clear enough in the morning to scope out bozeman, mt where we made it to tonight. An easy couple hundred tomorrow will let us check out Missoula, then cut thru idaho to oregon.
g'nite johnboy.
Mt. Rushmore
You may notice that this isn't a picture of mt. rushmore.
yesterday we could only get 200 miles in, and 70 of that was trying to get a glimpse of the presidents but no go.
I had forgotten how cool the terrain was in southwest SD. Unfortunately my photographer mustve been too busy enjoying the view to get any good ones. Very cool roads in the park. We didn't pay the $10 to park and look at the spot where the monument would be if you could see it.
Finally gave up driving in early afternoon because I couldn't see a damn thing. You guys know how I'm all about safety.
Getting a little anxious about meeting our schedule.
hiding from the wind
the other day trying to read the map. Hard enough without my glasses but the wind was tearing up my eyes, not to mention ruffling the pages all over the place.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
the weather gods
apparently the wind god and the rain god had nothing better to do today than gang up on us. Try keeping the wheels underneath you when the wind is blowing as hard as yesterday, the road is wet and all you can do is hug the white line next to the shoulder cuz that's about all you can see. Luckily I am incredible and got us to Hot Springs SD safe and sound.
Ok, there were about 20 motorcycles we saw out on the road today. Maybe I'm not so incredible and we're each more dumber than the other.
Or maybe you might as well be riding in the rain instead of just standing in it.
The forecast doesnt look too good in any direction for a while to come so sightseeing might be a fantasy and just making it to the next dry hotel after a required number of miles might have to be enough.
if anyone knows how to do an un-rain dance, now would be the time.
Ok, there were about 20 motorcycles we saw out on the road today. Maybe I'm not so incredible and we're each more dumber than the other.
Or maybe you might as well be riding in the rain instead of just standing in it.
The forecast doesnt look too good in any direction for a while to come so sightseeing might be a fantasy and just making it to the next dry hotel after a required number of miles might have to be enough.
if anyone knows how to do an un-rain dance, now would be the time.
364 miles
to Valentine Nebraska yesterday.
If you get a chance to visit omaha or its surrounding area i'd say go for it. I could live there. Otherwise i'd say dont bother.
If you need to cut thrugh for some reason, go around. It looks like west texas.. with lumps.
I think we're heading straight west outta here instead of thru the badlands of SD. If it's raining they wont be much of a treat. Plus, i've bee thru there a number of times and i'm driving. Liz is just a passenger so her vote doesnt count as strongly. I mean it's like she's sitting back there in a big stuffed chair.
holy freakin crud
yesterday was some of the worst wind yet. Luckily nobody lives in this state or there might some other traffic on the road.
The winds were a constant 22-32 mph with gusts in the 40s. That would be great if it were a tailwind but as you might guess, that only happened for about 20 miles. Boy that was a nice 20 miles though.
I think the motorcycle gods are trying teach me a lesson. When I got back from riding my bike home from houston i mentioned that mcycle touring had no challenge to it like bcycle touring. I'd keep my mouth shut but i bet they can hear my thoughts too, being gods and all.
The rain gods have been consistently on my side though. Poured like a monkey last night but it seems to have let up out there. At least enough to fool us into getting on the bike.
The winds were a constant 22-32 mph with gusts in the 40s. That would be great if it were a tailwind but as you might guess, that only happened for about 20 miles. Boy that was a nice 20 miles though.
I think the motorcycle gods are trying teach me a lesson. When I got back from riding my bike home from houston i mentioned that mcycle touring had no challenge to it like bcycle touring. I'd keep my mouth shut but i bet they can hear my thoughts too, being gods and all.
The rain gods have been consistently on my side though. Poured like a monkey last night but it seems to have let up out there. At least enough to fool us into getting on the bike.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
life is good
i know that's pretty much mostly always the case but today was especially creamy. If only i could make peace with that damn wind. It seems quite detefrmined to get me to use more than my share of the road. It might be even trickier with Liz on the back starting tomorrow.
As mentioned this morning, it looked pretty nice out. Well it only got better as the day went on. Other than being awakened from my afternoon nap in the park across from the grocery i stopped at for lunch, thnks Falusi, my day went as planned.
I got to Omaha early afternoon intime to scout hotels and whoda guessed but right next to the airport is the best place. Beautiful linear park right across the street along the water. Got some more needed exercise nd some sunshine finally.
I coulda sworn i saw a sign saying the body of water was Lake Carter, Iowa but I know i'm n the west side of the missouri. Looks like a little geography lesson is in order.
oh yeah. dozens and dozens of windmills in western IA. Doesnt make up for all the corn but its a good start.
much hillier and prettier o this side of the state
As mentioned this morning, it looked pretty nice out. Well it only got better as the day went on. Other than being awakened from my afternoon nap in the park across from the grocery i stopped at for lunch, thnks Falusi, my day went as planned.
I got to Omaha early afternoon intime to scout hotels and whoda guessed but right next to the airport is the best place. Beautiful linear park right across the street along the water. Got some more needed exercise nd some sunshine finally.
I coulda sworn i saw a sign saying the body of water was Lake Carter, Iowa but I know i'm n the west side of the missouri. Looks like a little geography lesson is in order.
oh yeah. dozens and dozens of windmills in western IA. Doesnt make up for all the corn but its a good start.
much hillier and prettier o this side of the state
thru the land of the evil crop
Let's see. Today I rode thru some nice farmland of corn, and then thru some more corn, and then thru some more, until I finally came across a crop that I thought was different, but nope, more corn.
You'd think we sneak that stuff into everything we eat and drink in this country, as well as feed it to all the animals. If only we could figure out how to drive our SUVs on the stuff, huh Brian?
Speaking of which, E85 is under $3 a gallon. Too bad my bike warns against running on ethanol. Try finding any gas around here without ethanol in it.
No highways yesterday. Just nice farm roads pointing west. Good weather too, finishing with brilliant sunshine. I quit a bit early cuz it's only about 160 miles to omaha and picking up liz tonight. Guess I'll have to stop and chat it up with some of the locals today to kill some time.
Started raining last night after i stopped but as requested by me it looks pretty stinkin gorgeous out there now.
All in all, Illinoise and Iowa are very nice as long as you stay away from the corn processing plants, which is tricky.
You'd think we sneak that stuff into everything we eat and drink in this country, as well as feed it to all the animals. If only we could figure out how to drive our SUVs on the stuff, huh Brian?
Speaking of which, E85 is under $3 a gallon. Too bad my bike warns against running on ethanol. Try finding any gas around here without ethanol in it.
No highways yesterday. Just nice farm roads pointing west. Good weather too, finishing with brilliant sunshine. I quit a bit early cuz it's only about 160 miles to omaha and picking up liz tonight. Guess I'll have to stop and chat it up with some of the locals today to kill some time.
Started raining last night after i stopped but as requested by me it looks pretty stinkin gorgeous out there now.
All in all, Illinoise and Iowa are very nice as long as you stay away from the corn processing plants, which is tricky.
Monday, May 19, 2008
just missed graduation
spent the night in Dekalb and finally got to get some exercise running arouncd the campus of Nothern Illinois University. Town seems pretty much dead. According to the hotel clerk it was pretty intense and then everyone just cleared out. Again, they must've heard I was coming.
fun trafic in chicago
thought i'd make it to leah's while people were still in church but they must've just gotten out cuz the traffic was brutal all the way vfrom Milwaukee. Plus the construction, plus what's with all the tolls around here now? It felt like the garden state parkway on the ride back from houston. Stop every couple miles to give them another 80 cents. That's a real treat on the motorcycle. How bout i give you a twenty and you call ahead to wave me through?
Leah and her fiance are doing well. They're both freelancing and leah's teaching some videophotography at a school in the city too.
She's still 12. She brought me to see the fort she built in the woods next to their house. She and Dave are planning a documentary canoe trip from the des plains river next their house all the way to the gulf, via the mississippi.
Leah and her fiance are doing well. They're both freelancing and leah's teaching some videophotography at a school in the city too.
She's still 12. She brought me to see the fort she built in the woods next to their house. She and Dave are planning a documentary canoe trip from the des plains river next their house all the way to the gulf, via the mississippi.
forgot about this creature
going thru the last 150 miles of canada there were a bunch of little towns 600-1000 people on the north of lake huron that i really liked. quite a few cool metal sculptures like this one in some town i dont remember the name of.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
back in amurika
Praise the powers that be. I'm back in America. Land of WalMarts every 50 yards and cheap gas. Well, everything's relative.
Brutally windy day yesterday. No resting or relaxing the whole day. My neck and shoulders are still killing me.
Woke up to a wet bike. Made it easy to clean the bug carcasses off the windscreen but no rain while i was riding for the most part. Just lots of dark sky.
Started the day with really nice terrain but couldn't figure out why it was so dang windy and cold. Then I finally noticed that I had riding along the shore of Lake Huron. Just couldnt see it through the trees.
Wind didn't let up all day. Probably the worst i've ridden in. Mostly just annoying but some gusts were downright puckering. It would push me right across the wholw lane and it's just a two lane road for the most part. Had to go slower than normal. Getting hit with one of those gusts at 45 was much more bearable than at 65.
Down to chicago today as soon as I have some brefus.
Brutally windy day yesterday. No resting or relaxing the whole day. My neck and shoulders are still killing me.
Woke up to a wet bike. Made it easy to clean the bug carcasses off the windscreen but no rain while i was riding for the most part. Just lots of dark sky.
Started the day with really nice terrain but couldn't figure out why it was so dang windy and cold. Then I finally noticed that I had riding along the shore of Lake Huron. Just couldnt see it through the trees.
Wind didn't let up all day. Probably the worst i've ridden in. Mostly just annoying but some gusts were downright puckering. It would push me right across the wholw lane and it's just a two lane road for the most part. Had to go slower than normal. Getting hit with one of those gusts at 45 was much more bearable than at 65.
Down to chicago today as soon as I have some brefus.
lake michigan
found a great little place right on lake michigan for only 50 bucks AND it has an awesome restaurant overlooking the water. Too bad it's about 30 below out there. Not too enticing to get back on the bike this morning.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Day 3 - long day
first 200 miles was pretty boring. Nice farms n stuff but zero elevation change and straight roads. The next 100 was really nice. Trees and rocks and hills and lakes and rivers. Then it got boring again.
Figured I'd stop at about 350 but the craphole of a town I got to made me push on. Of course i did i without looking at the map again. i just left the gps in search motel mode. as i kept going and going, all the motels it was suggesting were behind me. Finally started being in front after about 25 miles so that meant i did an extra 50 or so to make it to a different craphole town.
Luckily the day had finished with beautiful sunshne as it had been pretty blustery all day. About 15 degrees. Whatever the hell that means. These Canadians. Why can't they be like real Americans? Celsius and liters and weird money???
I'm paying $1.42 a liter for fuel!! Maybe if they had a bigger army their gas wouldn't be so expensive.
Figured I'd stop at about 350 but the craphole of a town I got to made me push on. Of course i did i without looking at the map again. i just left the gps in search motel mode. as i kept going and going, all the motels it was suggesting were behind me. Finally started being in front after about 25 miles so that meant i did an extra 50 or so to make it to a different craphole town.
Luckily the day had finished with beautiful sunshne as it had been pretty blustery all day. About 15 degrees. Whatever the hell that means. These Canadians. Why can't they be like real Americans? Celsius and liters and weird money???
I'm paying $1.42 a liter for fuel!! Maybe if they had a bigger army their gas wouldn't be so expensive.
nice to see the beginning
of the trip finally got posted. P robably some reason like they had to work or something lame like that.
I wouldn't know about that anymore. ride,eat,stretch,ride,eat,get fuel,ride sleep,did i mention ride?
I even turned off my 5 a.m. alarm on my phone.
I wouldn't know about that anymore. ride,eat,stretch,ride,eat,get fuel,ride sleep,did i mention ride?
I even turned off my 5 a.m. alarm on my phone.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Here is the very beginning of Paul's trip as he leaves from CNC with the envious crowd looking on. It was highly coincidental that I caught this on tape because as we all know, all other activities in the universe revolve around Pauls world..even me being on the phone as he was about to leave.. Shame on me! JK - Good luck Paul - safe trip. See you in AK.
Brian
first wifi motel
spent the night in clean, cheezy motel just over the border, a little south of Ottawa. Funny how the locked connection looks like it hhas a really strong signal and the open one not so much. hmmm. Still seemed to work fine though.
Before this I've been using my phone, which to my surprise works pretty quickly too.
Only a couple hundred miles yesterday but it was really easy riding. The gps and I picked some nice roads.. We'll see what today has in store.
Oh yeah. The border guard was a giant,, never mind.
Before this I've been using my phone, which to my surprise works pretty quickly too.
Only a couple hundred miles yesterday but it was really easy riding. The gps and I picked some nice roads.. We'll see what today has in store.
Oh yeah. The border guard was a giant,, never mind.
views of the day
coming thru nice farmland just east of Malone NY I came across these babies. There were dozens of them, hundreds of feet tall. Quite a sight.
Too bad they're such an eyesore or we could have them everywhere.
up through the islands
gorgeous riding up through the champlain islands. great weather (i'm sure its nice here in january too) after riding in the rain to Burlington. Bike and gear performed well.Figured i'd stop by liz's office to see if she really does go to work when she leaves the barn. Apparently she does. She even took 5 minutes out of her busy day of accudrilling to send me on my way properly.
neighbors
these are the neighbors i was talking about yesterday. figured i'd stop and say goodbye since i wont see them for a while
Thursday, May 15, 2008
take-off
I was planning to start off this blog with a nice, little preface about how this trip came about, from conception to takeoff but the journey has already begun (for me anyway) so the story will have to unfold as it happens.
Takeoff happened about as planned. Me standing around in full motorcycle gear in the sun, Mark saying,"wait a minute, let me go get my camera" and walking to his car at a pace,well,you know and stopping to talk to someone along the way. And Brian of course calling out from his office to hold on, he'll be right there. Like I said, exactly as planned.
The idea was to leave by noon so I could make it to the post office in Orwell before it closed and then to get bike inspected before that place c;osed. That meant stopping at the VT border rest area for a lunch of candy bars, (hopefully not indicative of the diet ahead. Otherwise I should've gotten lessons from Falusi on how to function after the blood sugar drop) stopping at Okemo for gas, (sub 3 minutes total stop) getting 3 weeks of mail minutes before they closed, shoving it in already full panniers and ripping to the nspection station. Made it with 10 minutes to spare here. Finally, now I can relax a bit.
Got home to what I consider 5 star accommodations. The barn. Solar power, no running water, no neighbors for a mile. Mmmmmm.
Weather was unbelievable yesterday for the 246 miles of riding. Not so lucky today. Started raining in the middle of the night and most of the morning but I think it's supposed to clear up a bit. I'll be packing up here soon and taking off for Canada via the Champlain islands and very northern NY. Feels like it's getting cold out but that's ok. I think 70% of what I'm carrying is cold weather gear. The other 30% being electronic gadgets. It might even be the other way around. More on that later.
Paul
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