Oregon in July

[azoomm]

First stop inside the park,. I almost dropped this beast - note the bit of drop off where my left foot would be. YIKES!


One of the few cars I saw, happily going in the other direction.


Lookit - no clouds this way


But, clouds the other [same overlook]


Hello there...


My turn-off toward Paradise, WA which is at the base of Mt. Rainier.


SNOW!!


So, I'm at this overlook taking pictures. You can see where the road continues on the other side of the canyon and goes up more on the other side. I did take a picture down from the other side. But, I was taking this picture...


A guy, with a truckload of family, asked me if I would like a picture of myself with the bike. OF COURSE I WOULD!! So, I let him know which button to press, and he promptly take a picture of me and the bike - with his finger in the shot I think it's my favorite picture of the trip.


The picture looking down from the other side:


There were waterfalls and runoff everywhere.




The mountain was shy when I got up there...


Booo!!!


I decided it might be best for me to motor on to Redmond, OR. Method and I played a bit of phone tag - he lives in Portland now, but the timing just wasn't right to meet up. At first it was going to be Monday for happy hour - but after going through the dead zone that is a National Park, I wasn't going to make it in time. I needed to be in Redmond by Tuesday night, just motoring on to get as close as possible made sense.

I got to Welches, OR and thought I should start looking for somewhere to warm up. The sun had gone down, and my Texas butt was starting to get a chill. That is, even with heated handgrips and a heated seat. I found Rendevous Cafe - and the owners and their family were in the pub having dinner. They called a friend of theirs, and hooked me up with a fantastic cabin for the night.



It even had a hot tub, which after wanting to warm up, it was PERFECT!!


I started out in the morning. After stopping in the dark, I had no idea how close I was to Mt. Hood until I went around a little bend in the road - there was a clearing and BAM!! Mountain!!

[azoomm]

It was breathtaking!! The road just sweeps through the mountain. And, coming out on the other side, the terrain is VERY different. Say goodbye to mountain roads...


Hello to high desert


And, out of nowhere - it seems - you drop into a canyon for the river:


Just past that canyon sits Redmond, OR where I met up with the rest of the fleet. Both semi's were waiting on us to get there. My ending mileage when I turned in the bike:


Finally, met up with the crew. Found a little pub by the hotel. Everyone say hello to Megan - she's also a demo ride leader.


Our trucks and tents that were set up - the entire 38 bike fleet was there for people to play with.


BMW MOA creates a bit of a tent farm [as we call it]


You can see one of the three-sisters in the back of this one:


This is the day after


Us, loading up bikes


Breaking down trucks and tents


If we get it done in a timely fashion - we get to go play. My choice for playing in the mountains. F800GS

[Trip]

looked like fun, sad I couldn't go this year.

Did they say where it is next year?

[azoomm]

Originally Posted by Trip

looked like fun, sad I couldn't go this year.

Did they say where it is next year?

July 21-24, 2011
Bloomsburg, PA

[azoomm]

YAY for mountain roads.



We found a lava field:




Just to give some perspective, this is Megan sitting on one of the rocks:


Cool Johnny-5 look of the GS with the look-out castle in the background.


Other direction:


The whole gang at one of our stops.


This is why a GS makes sense.


We found a dam - it made for a fun little stop:



Again, more huge trees:


We stumbled upon a covered bridge:


Megan on the R1200R


Something you don't want to see when you don't know the area, are in a dead zone, and mountain roads that go forever between gas stations. Yes, that is an estimated 12 miles left on the tank of gas.... made it to the station with 4 "left"


I ended that day with a rocket-ship ride to Bend, OR to meet up with a friend of mine that I hadn't seen since I was 16 - and Megan had a friend drive over from Portland. We were running behind, so we split from the rest of the crew and made our way to Bend. On that trip, we had to verify our turn. I pulled up next to this car - and when the windows went down I was taken back to what I saw inside.

These little kids were the dirtiest I have ever seen in my life. And, the meth-head dad with his Cuuuurrs can in the cup-holder, well - just wow. The little girls were SO excited to see bikes - then saw that it was two women on bikes and they could hardly contain their excitement. Their condition in life broke my heart.





We flew back on Monday - through the rockin' airport that Redmond OR is. A-F gates... and walk to the plane.



All in all - 1718 miles total for the entire trip. I'm still feeling it a bit, and not very enchanted with the idea of getting on a motorcycle anytime soon. In fact, I think I'm taking the car to bike night tonight