Just returned from a 2000+ mile run. I had a week to do what I want, with no plans other than a couple of days visiting family near Mt. Rainier, WA. I was hoping to maybe go for a ride with some of the forum guys in Washington, but family cookouts ate up the weekend. Pun intended I guess.

Day 1
Leaving my house at the crack of 3:30 in the afternoon, I headed north on 395 to Susanville. From there it was 139 towards Klamath Falls, OR. Hwy 139 is a good ride, a lot of twisties and elevation changes punctuated with wide open range land. There were thunderstorms in the area, but fortunately the road was accommodating and took me where the storms had already been. A little wet pavements and air temps that would drop from about 100 to 60 instantly. Nice and brisk. The smell of the pinon and sage after a rain is so good and added to ride.



Willow Creek near Adin, CA



Let 'er roll



Sometimes I get into a riding groove and can't force myself to stop for pictures. I promise to have more scenic stuff as this continues!

 

I was going to stop for the night at the Super 8 in Klamath Falls. The lady who owns it rides and gives all bikers a deal. There was a big line in the lobby and it was fairly early (probably normal time to stop for most people) so I decided to press on north and grab a room somewhere up around Chemult, OR. Bad call.

Riding Hwy 97 north out of Klamath Falls, the road hugs the eastern shore of Upper Klamath Lake. As the sun goes down and cools, EVERY bug that lives near the lake moves over the pavement for that last little bit of warmth. Carnage ensued. The constant crunching of bugs smashing against my fairing and helmet was disgusting. And they STUNK. Trust me, I grew up hog farming and had a slaughterhouse. I know stink. The 72 miles to Chemult couldn't go by fast enough. Grabbed a room at the Eagle Crater Lake Inn which wasn't a real bargain, but at 10:00pm I was buying. The Inn is a very old school motel style which I dig because it reminds me of the old days and has incredibly comfortable beds. To all of those that talk smack about wearing chaps, pulling mine off and wiping the bugs off was great compared to the guts of thousands of whatever kind of flying demons I murdered being imbedded in my jeans. I washed a few layers of bugs off of my bike and out of my ears and hit the sack.

 

Day 2
So a word to the wise...ride through Klamath Falls in the morning or early afternoon...

Well, it took a good hour to clean the bugs off my bike. A local kid told me he'd seen truckers come through with bugs over an inch thick smashed into the front of their rigs. I got off light. Breakfast at a local diner, and then down the road.

Love the neon sign... "That Good Coffee"



North through Bend, Redmond, and Madras, and then angled northwest on the spectacular Hwy 26 past Mt. Hood and into Portland.

 

Hwy 26 starts out in the high desert, dropping down through the canyon of the Deschutes River, then rolls through the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. Mt. Hood continues to grow larger and dominating the skyline as you continue northwest. Once entering the forests surrounding the sleeping volcano you get the occasional view of the snow covered slopes high above the magnificent conifers of western Oregon. This is a great stretch of pavement in really nice shape with numerous passing lanes to get around the slower moving traffic.

A quick stop for a leg stretch at a ski slope in hibernation.



Grabbed a little lunch at Burgerville in Gresham and then hit the slab up to the big city of Buckley, WA for a couple days of doing nothing with the family.

 

Had fun showing my bike to my Mom. She's been in a wheelchair for quite a few years, but she really wished she could be out riding too. Both my folks were riders and racers, and she used to ride my Dad's Electra Glide all over southern Michigan.

I had a few ideas where I wanted to go and let the weather dictate my route. It was triple digit hot inland with forecasts for widespread thunderstorms. The coast was calling for very mild temps, highs in the 60s and no rain. As I had never ridden around the Olympic Peninsula I chose to head to Olympia and pickup US Hwy 101 at it's northern end and ride the "coat hook" around the peninsula and south into Oregon or California before angling back towards Reno. It was perfect weather and being a Sunday the short freeway jaunt between Tacoma and Olympia was virtually traffic free. On days like this, there's no place I'd rather be. The Pacific Northwest has majestic natural beauty like few places, and rolling through miles of forest and riding the western edge of Puget Sound is a pretty as it gets. Fishing season was going hard, and there were a lot of boats out setting lines and crab pots, and I garnered a few waves from the salty crowd as we motored our respective ways. Lunch started calling my name, and I passed a bar/restaurant that had a good dozen bikes out front. I hung a u-turn and sat down for some good grub at the Geoduck (that's gooey duck for you not in the know) Restaurant and Lounge. Their burgers will put a hurt on ya! Sit outside on the deck and enjoy some fresh air.

And the view while chowing down is pretty awesome too.

 

Approaching the Straits of Juan de Fuca, 101 turns west and paralleling the straits. About 15 miles west of Port Angeles the road winds up into the mountains and Lake Crescent comes into view. One of the bluest lakes you'll see, the water is naturally depleted of nitrogen so no algae grows in, though it does have two species of native trout. It's over a thousand feet deep as well! One of those places you ride along through and just go WOW. If a guy didn't have to go to work somewhere, this'd be a cool place to hang your hat.




Rode to Hoquaim for the night. Grabbed a room and a bite to eat at the 8th Street Ale House. More good food and Nancy the bartender was super friendly and easy on the eyes.

 

This is great, keep the story coming. Dying for a trip like this.

 

Beautiful Bike and a Beautiful Trip!

 

Fantastic read.

 

All that riding. The big question is: did you you get laid yet?