And Guess What!

It snowed again! I can't believe all this snow, day after day.

I do not jest.


Snow falling on firs, and cedars, and plum trees, and likacs and rhododendrons and apple trees


Big fat fluffy ones


Bury the cars again!


And get all over the poor dog.....


While Justin makes Buckeye cookies.

Santa IS The Man!

Oh, joy certainly does reign supreme with me today.

SANTA found and delivered a brand new Master Brake Cylinder!

Can you believe it? I could hardly believe my own eyes, but it's true. A spanking new MBC for my Morph! That Santa has his connections, does he not?

I can get on the road again as soon as The Motorcycle Doctor gets back to work. Go MD, go! Well, there is the slight matter of the heaps of snow and ice.

It's still snowing by the way. We may not see the road surface again for months. It's like Saskatchewan out there.

But I've got an MBC! Whoo-hoo!

The 12th Snow of Christmas

It snowed about 4 inches overnight. Today has been a mix of rain and snow, everything from fat fluffy flakes to pelting rain and mist and teensy nearly microscopic flakes.

It begins to feel like an Eternal Story, all this snow. But the weather guessers assure us we'll be above freezing during the days for the rest of this week. I don't think we hit a freeze-free night until Monday. So the nicely melted snow will turn to ice overnight and we'll have the Great Seattle Ice Skate Commute each morning until then.

I can't imagine how long it will take the 6 inches of packed snow and ice on our street to melt.

But, it's good to report that the fancy snow chains that fit on a mini-van really do work. The last few days it's been sizeable 4-wheel drive vehicles and chained minivans out and about. Too funny. The mail can't be delivered, the UPS guys are stuck, the paper was barely published and not even delivered 2 mornings, but we're out and about in the mini-van. Soccer Mom (and Grandmom) mini-vans RULE.

One pic to show you how heavy snow makes a grove of cedar trees look like folded umbrellas.

Another Day, Another 4 Inches

Here's what it looks like in our corner of the Northwest...

Our street going north



Our street going south



Poor vehicles that have to stay outside because the garage is full of bikes



The view out the dining room window



On the deck



The ornamental grass garden is under there somewhere



Overloaded cypress tree by the front door



Norman reconnects with his Norweigan roots



Take one step outside the back door onto the deck, turn right, this is what you see



Done snowing until the 24th



The back yard from the deck



A fir tree full of snow



The mountain ash



Time to feed the birds!

White Christmas in Seattle

Well, it's getting close to Christmas and here in Seattle we will have a white Christmas. As my mother said “too many people prayed for a white Christmas”. There has been snow on the ground for over a week now. For the second week in a row church meetings have been canceled. The snow is about 8 inches plus deep in the yard this morning and about 2 inches deep on our covered deck. It was a windy snow storm last night. For the first time, I put the 2 year old chains on the mini-van. I am hoping that the office will be closed tomorrow so I don't have to brave the snow. We are also expecting more snow tonight. I just looked out and it is now (1PM) snowing, large fluffy flakes. Looks like we'll get a few more inches before morning. Odds are getting better that they will close the office and I will have another day off.


Susan has been very smug the last week or so because she said she had the Christmas shopping done. Well, Friday we were wrapping presents and going down the list to be sure everyone got the right gift. Low and behold! Two people were without gifts. I guess we weren't done after all. Thank God for the Internet and Amazon. Only one more to get and that is just a gift card at a nearby store.

Over all we are having a good Holiday season. My mother is staying with us for nearly a month. She got here on the 15^th and will leave on the 11^th of January, assuming she doesn't freeze to death--she's from Arizona. Weather permitting, our boys and our nephew and his wife will be with us on Christmas, so it will be more than just the two of us. We are planning a turkey on the grill for dinner as usual when we have turkey. And all the usual trimmings of course. We'll have BBQ on Christmas eve. Jason will be doing his usual wonderful job of fixing wonderful BBQ. The rest of us will be waiting and drooling until it's done and Susan says we can eat.

I have been planning to do the VME (Vintage Motorcycle Enthusiast) New Year's Day ride to Neah Bay (http://www.gonorthwest.com/washington/olympic/Neah_Bay/Neah_Bay.htm). The long range forecast doesn't have us getting back to just rain until next Sunday. I don't know if just a few days of normal 40+ degree days will get rid of all this snow and ice. If Susan's trike was working I would probably take it. So the ride is currently in doubt. Actually, I don't think the ride is in doubt as there are regular participants are seldom deterred by a little inclement weather. But my participation is doubtful.

Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year to all.

Sweet Dream Baby

The motorcycle show came to Seattle this weekend. We went down to see what was new on Friday evening. Having learned last year that there is only one food vendor at the show and that reheated microwaved pre-cooked burgers aren't near worth the vast price charged, we stopped at Wendy's, where our burger was at least grilled and hot off the grill, fresh made just for us. Actually, I opted for chili, never having believed that finger-in-the-chili incident in the first place.

Here's the first thing I fell in love with:



It's a Stallion Trike. I had to Google the price when i got home. $32,995.00, which is why they didn't post the price at the show and would not let anyone sit on it. But I love the way it looks.

Here's the second:



You know that's a big ol' Harley, and this year for the first time, Harley is selling a trike! I was afraid to ask how much it cost.

Here's the third:



This is a Ridley and it's an automatic. While climbing aboard I whacked my head on the very sharp edge of the windshield and left skin behind on the windshield. Ow, that hurt! But I still like the bike, mostly. They put the transmission cover right where the left floorboard goes and there's not enough room for your foot and the frame of the bike is a tad wide for me. It would have been simple enough to fix the footboard in the design process I can't imagine why they didn't. The reason I have that expression on my face is because a wily salesman has me at his mercy.

All these bikes are not sized right for me...too wide for leg comfort and too long from seat to handlebar. But I still liked the looks of them. There was another brand of trikes there, Darn Nice Trikes, but for some reason we didn't get any pics of them. I liked those too, but they only build on the big Harleys and Suzuki's. There again, you're spending upwards of 30 grand.

But this next bike was Just Right:



And we checked out this next one for our friend Brett, who was trapped at work by his evil employer and could not go with us after all:



That one is Suzuki's new TU250. Fits Ray quite nicely!

There were also lots of scooters, some plug-in electric scoots too, an MP3 this year, an odd looking 3 wheeled commuter car and a Can-Am Spyder too. Vintage Motorcycle Enthusiasts had a nice display of old bikes. I'm always surprised they are so shiny, like the chrome is all brand new, and lovely paint. It looks like none of them sat outside by somebody's woodpile for 20 years, but I bet some of them did! Many of the VME members work hard on restoring their bikes.

I also got to grouch at the "head Yamaha guy" about the mystery of the missing MBC's for my scoot. He frowned and declared, "That doesn't sound right." He's telling me? I know THAT. Why is such a nationwide shortage occurring, is what I want to know, and when will it be over.

He gave me the number for "Customer Satisfaction" and said I should call those people. Are they going to satisfy me with the expedited delivery of a shiny new Master Brake Cylinder to grace my right handlebar? Who wants to bet on that?

Gnashing of Teeth

Aarrrrrrrgh!

Ray was trolling for mbc's and spots another place on the internet (is it fair to put the name here?) that sells MBC's for Morphs. So he calls and the human male personage (not a computer mind you) at the other end says, Oh, yeah, we've got those IN STOCK. Right here on the shelf. IN STOCK! Whoopie!

So Ray, happy as a clam, makes an order for the IN STOCK mbc. We anticipate arrival of the IN STOCK mbc before Christmas, even. The price was not cheap but it wasn't exhorbitant either, given the rarity of IN STOCK mbc's.

I'm even happier than Ray, an IN STOCK mbc has been tracked down across this wide expanse of country and will soon be winging its way Seattlewards. O, joy! O, extra Merry Christmas! IN STOCK mbc!!!

Today, Ray gets an e-mail. Guess what. Mbc's are NOT IN STOCK after all. Look at that, the darn shelf is EMPTY after all! Huh. Imagine that, NOT IN STOCK on that mbc. They'll keep the order for the NOT IN STOCK mbc for 60 days just in case, and should no mbc's happen to float over via slow boat from Japan to be IN STOCK by then, the order for the NOT IN STOCK mbc will be cancelled.

Aarrrrrrrrrrrgh! Weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth!

Chomp, Chomp, CHOMP to all those parts places who can't keep their inventory straight!

At Least It's Nearly Cold Rain Season

O, Aargh!

The lovely chromed MBC's I found on the internet turn out to be backordered from Japan. Just like all the other MBC's.

No brakes and no bling. No bike. No fun.

At least it's almost winter when I wouldn't ride anyway.

The hunt continues, chrome or not, I'll be thrilled to find any Morphous MBC.

Bling! and Other Things

I hunted up some chrome master brake cylinders on the good old Internet. (Thanks, Al Gore!) Chrome instead of matte black sounds good to me. The same website had other chrome bling for my Morphous, like a nose cover and front fork covers, a swing arm cover and even more.

Now, I am not sure why anyone would invest in a chrome swing arm cover since there is no way in heck you can see the swing arm on a fully Tuppered Morph. But I suppose someone(s) must want one, or someone(s) ride their Morphs around naked. The bike being naked, not the riders! Tsk. Dirty minds. A Morph without it's full compliment of plastic is majorly ugly, I'm sorry to say.

I'm rather attracted to decorative bike lights too...I guess it becomes apparent I'm the daughter of a woman with questionable taste who loves bling. Sorry, Mom! But you're the only one I know who cheerfully buys and actually uses purses shaped like roosters that are covered in bugle beads, spangles and fringe.

Broke the front off tooth the other day, when I smile it shows. It's the first molar and doesn't hurt since the filling that is in the tooth is protecting the roots. So, do I leave a gap toothed smile and look like a really tough brawling biker chick or not? Um. Let me think....no. I am having a crown put on that snaggletooth. I do ride a scooter trike after all. I think as a type Morphous Scooter Trikers are more inclined toward rooster handbags than snaggleteeth. But I might be wrong. I often am.

Heartless Partless Parts People

The word currently is that the master brake cylinder for Morphous Wrex has been officialy back ordered.

In other words, tough luck sucker, you may never get your part.

Heartless. Unbeliveable. Intolerable.

As 2008 is the last year for the Morphous model to be imported (I honestly don't know whether they will still sell them in Japan) I don't know if I will ever see that darned brake cylinder. Isn't there some law that requires manufacturers to keep parts flowing for a certain number of years? There ought to be!

So, the next line of defense against ridelessness is to look on E-Bay. We do know there's a guy out there parting one out. He met up with a tree. Hopefully, the right hand mbc didn't get introduced too closely to said immovable object.

But the rain has settled in, yesterday being Halloween and so the warm rainy season start date arrived and with it the requisite rain. Warm rain season does not last long around here and before you know it, it's cold rain season, with black ice and snow and colder temps than I like to ride in. Of course, I like temps above 60. Ok, so I'm a weenie. I'll probably never be an IronMom.

Snuffle!

It's been a while since an update, so here goes: We were on vacation for a week and both came home sick with terrible colds. Still trying to get better and not making much headway. Snuffle snort

The part for my Scoot is on it's way from Japan. By very slow boat. I think someone had better start rowing diligently! It's nearly rainy season and will be too wet and cold for the likes of me.

Actually, we have 4 seasons here: cold rain, warm rain, no rain, warm rain. That covers the whole year. Cold rain is the longest season, running from November/December thru til March. The warm rains are the shortest seasons. No rain is the best season even though all that unrelenting sunlight gets tiresome.

But I'd like to ride my scoot again before cold rain sets in. Row, me hearties, ROW!

When did THAT happen???

Last night Ray and I watched a biography of Pete Seeger called "The Power of Music". It was a fun and educational thing to watch. Didn't know Pete had been called on the carpet by McCarthy and the House UnAmerican Activities Commmittee and accused of being a communist!! Didn't know he'd been banned from tv for 18 years.

It was fun to hear again the music we listened to in our teens and 20s, performers like Pete himself, Peter, Paul & Mary, Bob Dylan, Arlo Guthrie, and others, most of them people who were not much older than we were. 'Cepting Pete, who is of our parents' generation. It was fun as long as we got to see the old videos of their performances.

But when they were interviewed and on camera in their more or less present state, oh my. Ray turned to me and said, "Everybody got old!" It really hit me hard when I saw Mary Travers. Beautiful, slender, slender blonde Mary with that sweet voice. Mary may still have a sweet voice, but she looks a whole lot more like me than she ever did before. Mary is an overweight woman just like me!

Wham! Hey! Wait a minute! If they are all old then I'm old too! When did that happen? It actually made me teary to see all these people from our youth--OLD. When DID that happen? When did we all get old? I see the Grim Reaper creepin' up on me. Brrrrr! Maybe if I ride my scoot fast enough, I can get away from him.....

Grumble

The garage is still full of motorcycles, but it no longer feels so good....Wrex is waiting for a master brake cylinder.

It's so frustrating to be experiencing the best weather of the entire summer and my scoot isn't safe to drive. Aargh!!!

On the bright side, if Wrex doesn't get any more exercise than this, he'll last 30 years. Or is that the gloomy side? I'll be over 90 before he wears out. No new bikes in my future?

Grumble.

Aaaaaahhhhh!

The garage feels right again. The hole is filled and Wrex is home.

However, Wrex is still ailing and not braking right. The Motorcycle Doctor is ordering a master cylinder on Monday. He suspected when he finished with the brake line that there was a further problem. Wrex brakes, but not like he should. The power that's supposed to be in the front brake isn't. I think it's weaker than the rear brake. Not terrible dangerous as long as I keep to the speed limits and don't go tailgating, but I don't think I'll do much out of town, highway type riding until the brake is fixed once and for all.

We also noticed that the right rear tire is wearing lots faster than the left rear tire. Jason checked some bolts and found them loose and then he made an adjustment at the suspension, so we hope that's going to fix that. He found it pulling to the right when he drove it around after fixing the brakes, and when I tested on the way home, I didn't find that happening, so perhaps tightening the bolts and adjusting the suspension fixed that.

Oddly enough, Jason does not like riding Wrex. He used the words deathtrap and terrifying, among others I will not repeat. I think he just really doesn't understand how to ride a trike. It is so different from 2 wheels. I think it's really funny that something this little old lady feels so at home on my brave young son finds "terrifying". His word, not certainly not mine.

It felt good to be riding again, really good. We stopped at Kidd Valley for burgers on the way home and when I came out, a man was waiting to talk to me about Wrex. He wanted to know everything! That's the usual Wrex Reaction and it's kinda fun as long as you're not headed toward the potties.

Wrex is badly in need of a good cleaning and polishing. I didn't realize he was so grimy when I handed him over and he spent at least one night out in the rain, which didn't clean him off any, just added to the mire. Poor Wrex!

Ray's working on making a set of heat shields for Silver. He's got the right side one done and it looks really good. As long as it helps to keep his pants from burning up!

Rumor Has It

That I might get my Wrex back tomorrow evening. Maybe. We'll see. It depends, the Motorcycle Doctor says, on how much Tupperware has to be removed and reinstalled. Oh, watch out for the Tupperware Fees! Gulp!

(hey look, no blogorrhea)

Labor Day Ride

TJ, Justin and I (Ray) went for a short ride today about 75 miles and 3 hours (including lunch). The weather was cool and cloudy, about 60 degrees when we started and not much higher when we finished but it started clearing up after we finished and I got back home. TJ lead us through some nice roads in rural Washington a little northwest of Seattle. He's lucky to have such nice roads within just a few minutes of his house. The roads were a little damp in some spots, mostly in the deep shade. It was a nice ride that's worth doing again. I saved it on my GPS and am going to try to make a route out of it.



It was too bad that Susan couldn't go but her bike is still in the shop. It might get fixed this week. Hope hope! I've got some other rides planned and hope we can get to do some of them. One is going up Chuckanut Drive. That's a beautiful drive along the Sound just south of Bellingham. It's noted for it's narrow and tight curves. It has several viewpoints looking out over the Sound toward the San Juan Islands. It is not a fast ride but has good scenery and convenient places to stop and really enjoy it. Maybe next Saturday if the weather and the bike doctor cooperates.

Home Alone

Here I am, all by myself on Labor Day. Why is that?, you ask.

It's because once again, I'm left behind while the men zoom off on their motorcycles for a nice Labor Day ride.

Yes, it's all the Motorcycle Doctor's fault. And the parts place, which inexplicably took a 3 day weekend instead of being open to hand over Wrex's replacement part on Saturday. The nerve of some Laboring people, actually taking the whole Labor Day weekend off. I do guess that IS what Labor Day is for, to honor the people who work, so they might as well have the entire weekend off, but they sure did fox up my plans for a motorcycling end to the Summer.

And around here summer-like weather is in short supply. It's been downright cold at night and twice we've had to turn on the heat to sit in the downstairs and watch tv without shivering. Nuts, I tell you! Heaters in August! We should not have to turn on the heat until late October. What happened to all the global warming?

When will the Motorcycle Doctor finally take pity on me and fix my trike? BTW, he says my trike is terrifying to ride. He's grossly mistaken, but it is a different sort of ride than a 2 wheeler. I do admit that at the moment the braking sucks, but that's only because he hasn't FIXED the brake!

Random Thoughts

I suppose I could whine some more about how much I miss my scooter, but you've heard all that before and it won't make The Scooter Doctor work any faster.

So maybe I'll just mention that the US coverage of the Olympics was pretty dire. Were the only events in the Olympics the really interminable, unending women's beach vollyball matches, gymnastics and Michael Phelps? Were all the sappy, supposedly heartrending "biographical" stories about American athletes really necessary? Does anyone other than Ke-double ell-o-double good good and Michael Phelps care if he signs up to promote Frosted Flakes? Does anyone else remember that spelling of Kellogg? And why do male beach volleyball teams wear real clothes and the women all wear itsy bitsy teensy weensy bikinis? Did the NBC announcers drive anyone else crazy round the bend with their inane commentary and useless remarks? "Oh, THAT's gonna cost her a medal!" as some impossibly tiny gymnastic sprite (apparently successfully) completes some physically impossible move and does that wierd thing with her pelvis at the end of her routine. Well, exactly why did that apparently perfect routine cost her a medal? I don't think they know, they are just flappin' lips.

And speaking of flappin' lips, it's time for the Political Conventions. Major lip flap hurricane force wind ensues, followed by a high pressure zone full of lying attack ads and exceedingly empty promises. We still have months to go and I'm already sick of it all. At this point I think they all reek worse than Limburger. I begin to wish for a limit on campaigning. Let's have campaigning start in June, a national primary in September and the elections in November. Why, oh why do we have to drag it out for years and why are we supposed to accept a formerly despised and zealously attacked, thoroughly pummelled and trounced former opponent as the perfect choice for running mate? And why oh why are male politicians apparently genetically unable to keep wedding vows intact and zippers up? Mothers, don't let your sons become politicos! Let 'em be cowboys, but not in the government, out there with the dogies where they belong.

And then there is Washington weather, which has been totally un-Washington this year. Heavy rains in August? Never happens. Trees blown down in August? Never happens. Until this year. All the political wind is blowing ill here in WA. ("Just say WA", our state tourism slogan. Very expensively produced by some overpaid consultants and very short lived.) It's either politics or global warming or perhaps both. Remains to be seen.

I miss my bike!

I am suprised by how much I miss my scooter. Looking at his empty parking spot in the garage aches like a missing tooth. Every time I go out to the garage, it feels vast and empty where Wrex should be and so, like when I lost a tooth when I was 7, I go probe the spot. I stand there, I walk around in Wrex's space, I picture him home again. I commiserate with Ray's lonely Silver, out there all alone. Poke, poke, poke at the sore spot. By this time, I can feel him missing out there. I don't even have to go into the garage....I feel his absence.

It will be sometime next week before I get him back and it feels like a long, long time. The weather hasn't been the best in the last few days, and some of those days I would not have ridden anyway, but still. I miss my bike. It suprises me that in this short time I've bonded with Wrex so much. I hope the weather's good when he comes home.

Here's another thing I've been pondering. When we went on our training trips, we carried everything we might concieveably need on our bikes. We carried more than we needed and maybe more than we might ever need. Just about every emergency was covered, one way or another. We even carried our pillows with us. I'm attached to my pillow---most hotels have horrid pillows) Turns out my pillow makes a nice backrest when rolled up tightly in a stuff sack and strapped to my top pack.

But still, everything we thought we might find useful on a month's journey fit into 2 top cases and 4 sidebags, one glovebox and one tiny trunk. We did not come home and say, oh gee, we really wish we had brought "X".

When we travel in the mini-van, we can hardly fit in all the stuff that Ray deems prudent and necessary. Go off to spend a week in a fully furnished cabin in Oregon and there's barely room for the poor dog in the van! You should have seen the van the time we hauled the dog, the sons, the Christmas presents and all the prudent and necessary that Ray could squeeze in. We were a van full of sardines and still some stuff had to be left behind that Ray would otherwise have hauled along.

Now, how can it be that we can travel with both so little and so much?

I think about that as I sit here missing my bike.....

Full Face Helmets and Degrees of ATGATT

Several people I know wear full-face helmets. Those things freak me out and I can't wear them longer than a few minutes. Can't get those things off soon enough. Hmm. Since I am in there all by myself, does that mean I'm freaking myself out? No. it's the helmet. A person can't really breathe in there. This person can't anyway.

The question has come up whether a DOT and/or Snell approved 3/4 helmet with a face shield, when worn with all the other standard motorcycle safety gear, qualifies one as an All The Gear All The Time (ATGATT) rider. Thank you, TJ and Brother Bear, I needed a topic for today, since Wrex is in the motorcycle hospital and about to be abandoned by his heartless, vacation-bound doctor.

I think a Snell/DOT 3/4 helmet is safe and surely better than nothing. I am aware it leaves jaw bones and chins imperiled. Perhaps I only think that it's safe because I can't stand to wear a full-face helmet.

Do heavy Levi's qualify as ATGATT gear? I feel safe enough in my jeans, but then Wrex is a different animal than a 2 wheeler. Denim doesn't give you much protection after all. Perhaps denim gives me a false sense of safety, as I know it doesn't take much pavement to grind away jeans.

Ray used to wear Draggin Jeans, which at least had some abrasion protection, but now he has a pair of armoured Flex Pants he likes very much and which should carry him through the year. I guess that puts Ray higher on the ATGATT scale than I am, even though he too currently wears a 3/4 helmet.

We will not get into one of my favorite rants, the failure of Active or Sport clothing manufacturers to recognize the needs of short, fat ladies, or indeed fat ladies of any height. And probably overweight men are also seriously neglected by the same manufacturers.

Is there an ATGATT scale? Is a person either ATGATT or not, no degrees of ATGATT-ness? What constitutes ATGATT?

I think ATGATT constitutes a DOT/Snell approved helmet, motorcycle gloves, motorcycle boots, armored jacket and at least heavy jeans. What do you think?

Takes All Kinds....

....of people to make a world, I guess.

Today on the way to the Family History Center to work my shift, I saw an old truck that stalled exactly when the light turned green. He was obviously trying to get the rust bucket started again, you could hear the engine grinding. The person behind him in a mini-van was apparently in a huuuuge important urgent hurry, as she immediately began to honk her horn. Beep. No moving on the part of the truck. Beep beep beep. Still no movement.

BeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeeeeeeeeeeeeep! Poor guy in the truck was trying so hard and this woman on his bumper was not giving him any credit for trying. She seemed to think he'd purposely stopped his truck there at the light and was stalled there soley to keep her stopped all through the green. Tsk. Soccer Mom road rage. I drove on contemplating society's general impatience and frequent lack of understanding for our fellow man and promising to be more patient, especially on the road.

Then a couple of blocks later what do I see? A father on a Silver Wing is taking his daughter to school. He was wearing full gear and Glory Be! The daughter, who looked to be about 8 or 9, was also wearing full gear! She had on her helmet, gloves, not sneakers or flip flops and a riding suit in miniature size. Protected from head to toe. It looked like a little version of an AeroStitch suit.

So different from our neighbors, who also have a Siver Wing. He rides wearing a helmet only (it's the law here) and his kids ride behind him also wearing only a helmet. They all ride in shorts and flip flops and sleeveless shirts. It gives me the creeps every time I see him toting his kids around "naked" like that. Even if he does not care for his own skin and bones, he should care a bit more for his kids' skin and bones.

I know that wearing gear is a choice and I know we don't all make the same choices. but if the first dad should have an accident, his precious daughter stands a better chance of surviving without serious injury than my neighbor's kids do. Aren't parents supposed to teach their kids the safest/best ways to do things?

On the Wrex front, it seems he'll be in the hospital for a couple weeks. Thankfully, the part to fix his front brake will only cost 40 bucks. The bad news is the part won't be here til next week sometime and next week Jason is going on vacation. The nerve! My Wrex is sick and his doctor is going on vacation! Oops! I already forgot to be more patient.

Grand Tour News

Well, it's been a tough, tough decision, but we've decided the smart thing to do is postpone our trip to Chicago for a year.

There are many factors that went into the decision and they all added up to wait.

We're disappointed, but this is not an abandonment of our idea, it's a postponement.

We still want to make the trip with Wrex and Silver, we just have come to realize that we need to work hard on being in better physical shape, being stronger. So this next year, we'll be back to the 1300 calorie diet and exercising daily. O, how I hate to sweat! But the rewards of the hard work will be great.

In the meantime, there will be motorcycle riding going on and so there will be postings to the blog. Maybe you'll all get in the habit of reading it and maybe I'll even learn how to write a shorter blog.

Clean Bikes and Corduroy Roads

When Ray came home, we washed our bikes with this stuff we bought, S100 motorcycle cleaner. You just squirt it on and then rinse it off right away. It worked pretty good where the bugs weren't. He had to scrub the bugs, which on my bike means alot of scrubbing. Ol' Wrex catches alot of bugs on his wheel fenders.

It not being his bike, but mine, he did not wipe Wrex down and so now I have to Honda Wax him. Wrex, not Ray. Waterspots all over my beautiful trike! Tsk.

Wrex has to go into Jason's shop today to have his front brake system checked. It should just about pop Wrex on his nose if I jam on that brake, and it isn't. And he's got 2 lights out in his rear stop light. Ray says it makes Wrex look gap-toothed.

It came to my attention that I had forgotten to tell you about the mountain roads in Oregon....they seem to have sizeable logs as the first layer under the tarmac. And I thought the washboards in Washington were bad! And to make it more interesting, the State of Oregon's road builders laid the logs in a clever chevron pattern, with the point being at the middle of the road. I don't know if they do it for wet/winter traction reasons or just to rattle a motorcyclist's teeth loose.

Imagine you are an ant with an ant-sized motorcycle and you have to ride that motorcycle over wide wale corduroy. That's about what those roads felt like to us. It was bad enough for Ray, but for a vehicle with widely spaced wheels, it felt worse. Some wheel was always going over a bump, but every wheel hit a bump at a different time. Good thing those wheels have independent suspension!

I bet there's lots of other things I forgot to tell you, but that's what I can remember right now. I should have a microrecorder and talk all day, then I'd remember everything. Mostly I remember we had a great time and even conquered the Road from Heck.

Races With Semis......

....And loves it! Yes, it turns out that Wrex and I were made for 70 mph interstate sweepers. And semi racing. I discovered that there is a kind of trucker that absolutely will NOT be passed by a fat old lady on a 250cc scooter and will go any speed necessary to prevent such passage. No fair!


But I did pass my share of semis and exulted each time. I doubt the truckers had any idea how much it made my day to pass them by on my little mosquito rocket.


I dreaded riding the interstates home yesterday, but much to my great amazement (and Ray's outright astonishment), I loved the rural and mountainous interstates. More love is reserved for the mountain interstate. What a hoot! I was so pumped from zipping up and down the mountain (well, ok, most of the zipping occurred on the downside and most of the chugging on the upside) that I even survived Issaquah-Seattle. Those who don't live around here don't know how righteously awful Puget Sound traffic can be, but it's second only to Los Angeles.


Ray followed me all day and hung so far back he was on the edge of communication device contact....about 1/4 mile. He said it was in case I did something (the stupid part of that statement was only implied) and he needed to evade. I was highly insulted, but as I think about it, I think he hung back so that he could catch up and zoom his bike. His license plate frame does say "Cogito Ergo Zoom."


We made more miles faster than any other day, but the road allowed for 60-70 mph and not 20 mph twisties and we got home about 3:30. We felt pretty good when we got home, but by 8 we were pretty worn out. Ray unpacked his m/c bags and packed up a suitcase for this week's trip to Baltimore.


We had the usual people gather around Wrex every time we stopped. We're almost used to it now. A family in a black Accura sedan took cell-phone pictures of Wrex and I on the road and when I waved back at their little boy, they were so excited. Takes all kinds and if I made them happy, then I'm happy.


All in all, it was a great weekend. Well, except for that Road from Heck that I didn't like. Ray would do that one again, but I think I'll wait a couple of years before I tackle Heck once more. We went just over a 1000 miles in the 4 days. I have learned so much on these trips! We did discover that while a loaded down Wrex can make 70 mph on the interstate on the flats and the small hills, he guzzles gas something awful when he's asked to run at full throttle all day. He also has an altitude problem, which Jason says is not fixable because it's a closed circit fuel injection system and uses outside air, which at altitude is thin enough to make a difference.


The data is in the Zumo. I hope we can post some of that when Ray comes back. We hit some pretty good summits. I got the pics on my 'puter, but can't figure out how to process them into posting size. When Ray gets home...there aren't very many for this day as there are not many places to stop and take pics on the interstate.


Got something wrong with front brake, the braking is not what it should be and two lights are out on my brake light array, so Wrex will have to visit Jason at the shop for examination and rehab. Poor Wrex!


Silver seems to have loved the trip and no matter how high or where we were, he always had plenty of power. Silver is a strong machine. Morphous Wrex was not built to be an interstate bike. Hmm. I need a 650 cc Bergman trike! yeah....

Gasless in Oregon

The day dawned cool and sunny but we could tell the day would warm up. We decided not to wear extra clothes, though I changed my mind after 20 miles and put on an extra shirt until about noon when it warmed up enough that Ray decided to go with only the mesh part of his Flex pants.

Out of Bend, we took 97 to 126 to 26. On 26 we went over Ochoco pass at 4722 feet. Then we took highway 207 and it had a summit of 3600 feet. From there we connected to 19. These were fun roads that were a mix of sweepers, curves and twisties. We turned at Kimberly and took a "local road" to Long Creek (one of many places where there was no gas!)

Highway 207 was 21 miles of brutality. The surface was truly horrid, rough and nasty and the twisties were wicked. Because I felt so good about yesterday's twisties, this road decided to teach a newbie a lesson and threw every kind of curve and camber at us.

That road, I think, was way beyond my beginner's abilities and some of those curves were very intimidating because of the radius and because if I really messed up there were 2 possible outcomes: my molecules would become one with the mountain or I would launch into the abyss and my molecules would become one with the mountain at a lower altitude.

There were no guard rails and there were no shoulders. The land generally ended at the edge of the pavement, which comprised a very rough and none too wide 2 lanes. The twists came quickly one after the other and I don't think there was a straight piece on the entire road. There was very much upping and downing, of which Wrex does not do up so quickly. Luckily for me, there was very little traffic on this road and so I wasn't holding up too many people. I think TJ KneeDragger would enjoy this road very much. I think he might go over this road and then turn around and go back over this road just for the fun of it. But I am more than happy to be done with that road. It knocked the stuffing right out of me and when we finished, I was sore all over from being tense.

We did stop a few places one little county dry (I do mean DRY) camp near a river with a boat launch and rest rooms, thank God. That was at the end of 207. We needed the rest and the rooms. Here are some pictures we did take along the way today:

We met up with highway 395 at Long Creek. There is not much there there. I never saw so many places with names that once you got there you couldn't figure out why anyone bothered to name a place with 2 houses and a barn. One "town" had 4 falling down houses and 2 still occupied. Needless to say, no gas. At the mini grocery they told Ray the nearest gas was at Meadowbrook 16 miles up the road. Luckily it was 16 miles in the direction we wanted to go, but we didn't progress very fast because I was still spooked by the "mean" twisties on the pavement from Heck. Suddenly, my gas gauge said my tank was nearly empty and estimated I could go all of 2.1 miles on what was left. O dear. We're in the mountains, there's trees and curves and not much else.

We come into a beautiful little valley and I spot a small faded sign that says Cafe, RV Park, Store, Propane, Gas. I give Ray a shout and we pull in and low and behold, there is one gas pump stationed next to a big propane tank. Out comes the nice young proprietor, carrying his 18 month old, to start the pump for us. We paid a fortune, but didn't mind. Ray went in to pay and I wandered in to see the store. I spot some tableclothed tables and ask if someone's cooking today. Answer, oh, yes, are you guys hungry? Since it's nearly 3 and we had breakfast at 7:30, the answer is a resounding YES!

We had burgers, and those burgers were worth the wait! Kris is the young man's wife and she cooks. Brandon is the young man and he does everything else. They just bought Meadowbrook Resort this past spring and live there with their 2 kids and 3 dogs, one of which is an 11 month old very goofy golden retriever. They have two cabins, one with an indoor potty and plumbing and one "dry" cabin. Then there are RV and tent spaces and 3 meals a day. Right now it's more of a hunting camp type place, very rustic, but they have plans, if all goes well. We gassed up, chatted, ate lunch, and took pictures. We spent about an hour and a half there, but it was worth it. I can't imagine a better place to raise kids than that. Should you have the desire to get away from it all...no cell phones, no Internet, nothing but quiet and woods and fields, we have all the particulars.

Back on highway 395 to finish the trip to Pendleton. There was a stretch of 35-45 mph twisties and some nice sweepers. It was a road where you don't know whether to slow down and enjoy the scenery going by or speed up and enjoy the road. It followed a river with semi open woods in a valley. We didn't even stop to take a picture. We'll need to come back to do that. We decided that part of highway 395 was our favorite road of the day. 395 was good for Susan because she got to build confidence again after being knocked down a peg by the road from Heck.

All along the way was beautiful scenery. There were very few places that had much shoulder to stop and take pictures and most of those shoulders were loose large gravel. We did stop at Battle Mountain Park 34 miles from Pendleton for a butt break and water break. So beautiful, so quiet and only us there. We couldn't figure out why a nice park like that, within easy driving distance of Pendleton was empty on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Perhaps it's because there aren't that many people IN Pendleton? And it's hot here in town so maybe people didn't know how lovely it was up there. I really would like to drive this route again, with time to stop and take pictures and read all the markers and see all the parks. Maybe some day!

Where did they put the straight bits?

The word for today is twisty! Another word is long. We left our hotel at 7:30 and finally got settled in tonight's hotel at 8:20. Long, long day. We are both worn out and our butts are worn out. I think the only thing that's being toughened is my scoot's seat.

It was cold again in the morning and overcast, 53 chilly degrees. We progressed to Herb's Burgers and Beers where we ate a very good breakfast. Herb's never disappoints! No, we did not have burger or beers, although they have lovely burgers and a large selection of beers.

Then on the road again. It got as cold as 51 when we were crossing the coast range and we ended up with all our warm stuff on again, including the Frogg jackets. The road went up and down and round and round and had many fine twisties. In fact, the road through the coast range was all twisties. We passed many fine bridges, but having such a long way to go and being on a narrow road with no wide spots we did not take any pictures. We'd like to come back and take our time some day.

We peeled off some layers at gassing up time in Carlton, Oregon. It was finally sunny and 65 there. As we were feeding engines dozens of Porches of all kinds passed by on the way to a Porche Festival of some kind...there were old ones and new ones and they were all neat to see streaming by.

Almost as soon as we left Carlton the sun disappeared and it got darn chilly again. We perservered in spite of the chill and made it to some place that had a A&W in a convienient spot and feasted on chili dogs and onion rings....although I appreciated the opportunity to walk around a bit and sit in a different place almost more than the food.

After lunch we had some curves and interspersed short straight bits and went through some nice small towns, places with real tree-lined Main Streets and real, thriving downtowns. At Sweet Home we started in on the twisty bits again.

We went into one curve a bit fast, it was posted at 30, and we don't know how fast we were going, but we do know it was too fast. Ray put a bigger lean on that Guzzi than I'd ever seen him do and I pushed that handgrip and hung off like I was taught to do and we stuck right in the lane all the way through the curve and didn't slow down either, until it was over and then we said, O my gosh! We were both a bit startled by that curve. I'm proud of myself for sticking on that curve! TJ, rest assured that Ray has not yet put your status as Family KneeDragger in jeopardy. But you better watch out.

We stopped at the one summit we saw all day that had not only signage but also a place to stop. So we took pictures just to prove we were really there and that ol' Wrex really can make it over the mountains.

All day long, we saw beautiful things we'd have loved to take pictures of, but the point of this trip is to marathon, so we didn't stop often. Part of the road went through Deschutes National Forest and part of that was badly bitten by forest fire. Acres of dead trees! It was so sad.

It was all twisties until we got to Sisters, where the road straightened out and shot us into Bend. We actually checked into the hotel at 5:30, then went to eat at a place called Johnny Carino's that was about a mile from the hotel, and the closest place. The food turned out to be Oh My Gosh Awesome and we brought half it back to the hotel and may eat it for breakfast. That's the plan anyway. We'll see in the morning. The shopping complex the restaurant was in had one of those nasty parking lots that you can't get out of in the direction you want to go. Miserable thing and we had to spend a few extra minutes on those bikes because of it! Grumble.

As usual, everywhere Morphous parked, a crowd was sure to follow. While we were having lunch 2 different people took his picture (watch for Wrex on the internet!) and earlier in the day a woman had asked if she could take his pic. Many people had questions. Lots of middle aged and older women like it because it's something they can see themselves riding too. We get a kick out of watching people look him over while we're in the restaurant. Twice today, people came back for a second look. Too funny!

We think we'll get a sign made that we can clip to the windshield: This is a Yamaha Morphous 250cc automatic transmission scooter with a Tow-Pac trike kit. It will go at least 83 miles per hour on the flat parts and gets 73 miles per gallon if you stick to the speed limit. It's kind of slow up hill, but you do get up hill. No, it doesn't tip over very easily. No, the extra wheels don't ruin the gas mileage. Yes, you can have one too. Take a trike training class first.

We went 275 miles today. We are currently at 3450 feet and it's supposed to be 43 degrees at sunrise. I think I won't bother stuffing the Frogg Toggs back in their sack tonight.

The Rhythm of the Road---and the Rain!

We made it to Astoria! We got to our hotel about 4, having left "late" at 8:30. We went 202 cold and sometimes wet miles today. We are at a grand elevation of 29 feet, at 46 degrees north 123 degrees 51.35 minutes west. Find it if you can.

We learned that when the bodies need rain gear, so do the luggages. Doh! Newbies! We also learned that pouring rain is probably not the best time to figure out how the rain covers go on everything and where on earth you put everything's raincovers.

Actually, it didn't rain until after lunch. We had said lunch at Rain Country Restaurant in McCleary, Washington and I am sure that was tempting fate. While we were waiting for our food a man came to talk to us about my bike and it turned out that he's a member of Ray's MotoGuzzi group, an older man named Sasquatch Jim. He was an interesting fellow!

It was cold the entire trip and we ended the day wearing all the warm stuff we had...I was wearing 2 long sleeved shirts, a windbreaker, my jacket, tights, jeans and my Frogg Toggs. Ray had on a long sleeved shirt, his jacket, his Flex Pants, and his Frogg Toggs. We did get a chance to try out the visor wipers I bought and they work well. You slide them on over thumb or forefinger and they have an edge that looks like a little windshield wiper. The Frogg Toggs really made the difference for both of us. Those light weight papery things keep you warm. They fill up with air and I don't know how cold air can keep you warm, but when it fills up your Froggs, it does. Of course, we looked like the Michelin Doughman and Woman, but when you're warm, who cares. The Froggs also have a hood that goes under your helmet, so no more cold drips down your neck!

Everywhere we stopped, we got the usual: Can I talk to you about your bike? What on earth IS that? Do you mind if I take some pictures? One of the ferry workers talked to us about the bike the entire crossing.

We met 4 Harley riders sheltering at the Dairy Queen in Raymond. They were from Yakima and hoping that up the road was drier than down the road where they had been. Alas! Not to be as we'd gotten a good wetting down on that road.

As usual for Western WA, the scenery was spectacular, but we didn't take any pics all day. We do have some of the Astoria Bridge, which we took just for Kim. The view is from the balcony of our hotel room. But I don't think this would make a good bridge to live under....too wet. We wished for helmet cams a few times, the views were outstanding.

I have discovered the rhythm of the road and I like it. When we stop, it takes me a while to find the rhythm again, but I do find it. Finally I understand look through the curve. It was not until I got out on the highways that it clicked and I could see how it helped. I love completing a curve in perfect form, it just feels so good when that happens! I love the ballet of the bikes, the lines into and out of the curves one after the other, the pas de deux. That's the best part of following. Ray doesn't get to see that out in front.

It was interesting watching the raindrops scamper up the windshield, but guess where they go when the get to the top...yep, right in my face. I began to see the real value of a full face helmet today. Rain hurts at 60 mph and it's not fun to have a wet, cold chin.

Tomorrow we go 275 miles to get to Bend. That's going to be a long day. We may stop at Herb's Burgers and Beer for breakfast. They have great bisquits and gravy. It's going to be 43 degrees in the morning. How I wish I had not brought my mesh jacket!

Verbosity Rules!

Justin says he does not have time to read my fine, informative and occasionally amusing posts because they are too long.

Therefore, consider the following my post for today:

Watch this space. We leave for a 4 day training trip tomorrow and will have a computer with us.

Susan

Pack Light, Pack Right

That's the title of our most recently purchased motorcycle book and I think we will need its advice as we pack for the upcoming training trip.

The hunt for ultra lightweight items is ongoing and occasionally successful. Seems to me that nobody much thinks short, old, fat women are out there riding motorcycles or doing anything the remotest bit athletic, anything that might require wicking clothing or longjohns. What do the clothing manufacturers think we all do? I know, sit in our rockers and knit and feed our cats, watch tv and eat bon-bons.

Well, not this old lady.

Although we'll only be gone 4 days, we're packing as if we were making our big trip. We want to see if we can actually squeeze everything we need into our motorcycle luggage. The funny thing is the difference between what Susan thinks is "needed and necessary" and what Ray thinks is "needed and necessary". How 2 people who are going the same places on similar transportation can find such different necessaries is a puzzle to me. I do take comfort in knowing that should anything go wrong, Ray will surely have whatever tool or part is needed to fix whatever goes wrong. I just hope he has room for clothing in amongst all the tools as I think he'll get an awful sunburn otherwise.

Last night we got the static cling paint protector plastered on Wrex's sides and while it doesn't look all that elegant, most of it will be hidden by the saddlebags which would otherwise rub the paint. Hanging bags off Wrex's hips is no easy proposition, but we think we've got them mounted securely. I reckon we will find out soon enough.

A Lesson For You (And Us)

Do not think that you will be able to decide to visit the Oregon Coast on a weekend in the summertime on the spur of the moment. Or a week in advance either. Do not think you can find a room anywhere along highway 30 between Portland and Astoria, either. Or anywhere south of Seaside on Highway 101.

The primary reason for this lack of lodging is that there ARE no rooms available. Someone beat you to them, or at least to all the ones that cost less than $250.00 a night, and to a good many of the ones that cost considerably more than that. Oh, yes, they rapidly go up from there.

The lodging in Summertime Seaside is very, very expensive. Most of the motels and B&Bs in Seaside in the summer are very pricey indeed. I am sure the Shilo Inn on the beach in Seaside is a very nice Inn indeed. I am sure the Holiday Inn, the Comfort Inn and every other Inn and romantic B&B are very nice indeed, and in some cases, very romantic indeed. They like their rooms way much more than we are willing to pay. The more reasonable ones (under $125 a night) are full and they want you to pay for 2 nights even if you only want to stay one night.

In this year when no one is supposed to be able to afford to travel by car, by train, by airplane, by motorcycle, by moped, by thumb, there are no rooms at the Inns. Or any other place that rents lodging by anything other than the hour.

Now, where do you suppose all those people came from who are filling up the rooms at Seaside? Is it Seasideinians who are tired of having their fine little town overrun by summer tourists and thus rented all the rooms? Smug Prius owners who glided there silently, electrically? Is it Portlanders who walked the entire way? Is it all rented by out of town relatives in Seaside for weddings? Who?

Who knows! All I know is, should you wish to visit Seaside in the Summer, you better be making your reservations for next year, or possibly for the year after that. If you can stand the rain and the clouds, go in the winter. Oh, my, much less expensive and the weather can be much more interesting. http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/weather/12/04/northwest.storms/index.html

After spending 2 hours on the internet, I was able to hunt down (Oh, mighty huntress!) a room in Astoria. Actually, I found 3 rooms in Astoria that were under $125.oo. This price is an egregious affront to my pecuniary instincts, but unless I wished to sleep under the Cannery Pier, I had to bite the Visa Card and make my reservation. So I did.

No rooms in Seaside, no rooms in Gearhart, no rooms in Warrenton, no rooms in whatever dinky little towns inhabit Highway 30 in Western Oregon. 3 affordable rooms in Astoria, and many more rooms that we considered unaffordable.

Perhaps we are just cheap or living in the past. But I still think upwards of $125 to spend an exhausted night asleep in an ordinary motel is simply outrageous, especially when the same room in the winter is 60 bucks.

So we are staying in Astoria instead of Seaside. At a Red Lion Inn. It better be one fine Inn for the $123 plus tax that it's going to cost us. We had better get the sleep of our lives. And the included Continental Breakfast Bar had better ROCK.

No, wait, Ray said he wants to go to Herb's Burgers and Beers for breakfast. In that case, those beds had better be even better than the ones on the cruise we took 3 years ago. We'll go down to Seaside for dinner at McKeown's if it's not too late when we get there and we aren't too tired. After all, dinner at McKeown's was the reason for this leg of the trip!

Always Plotting

We're plotting our next multi-day assault on the highways of the Pacific Northwest. We'll be going from Sea to Mountains over some very squiggly roads and it should be fun.

So far, we know we're going to end up in Seaside, Oregon the first night. We'll have dinner at McKeown's or Bigfoot Pub and Grub and breakfast at Herb's Burgers and Beer. No, we won't be having burgers and beer for breakfast.

It's Bend, Oregon for the second day....now, don't you wish you were going too?

And Pendleton, Oregon for the 3rd day. Sheep! Wool! Shopping! This will be the squiggliest day.

Home again the 4th day....freeways, rush hour, scary!

I'd like to take the computer this time, see how daily updates are compared to a 3 day recap. I'm sure there's so much more I'd have to say if I do it a day at a time rather than in a giant chunk.

I suppose there is the remote possibility you do not particularly want me to say more....if so, skim.

Here's a bonus pic of Diablo Lake from our last ride.

Yes, it IS that color!

3 Day Training Trip

Take one Retread and one Newbie, 2 loaded bikes, add one freeway and cool cloudy weather and you've got the start of our 3 day training trip.




We wore windbreakers and long sleeved t's under our mesh jackets and that helped some. It was still plenty cold and my thighs, as usual, froze almost solid. Well, ok, it wasn't really cold enough to freeze my thighs, but it felt that way.



Even at 8 am there was more traffic on I-5 than I was really comfortable with and having to go 60 with that short windshield isn't much fun. We were able to merge onto the freeway without trouble and never got tailgated. That's something on I-5.



The first adventure of the day happened when we stopped at the Smokey Point Rest Area. We pulled in and saw a group of motorcyclists all parked together on one side of the lot. We park on the other side of the lot, a little north of the group. Before I could get my gloves off, I was surrounded by the excited members of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club. They loved my scoot! They thought my scoot was so very cool! They thought I was so very cool! I was astonished that such hard core v-twin bikers would be ga-ga over my little trike scooter. But they were and wished us well on our journey before they roared off. They were polite, well spoken, sober and a lot less threatening than I thought a group of 1 percenters would be. It gave me a lift to be well-regarded by an authentic biker gang and not laughed off the road. Easy Rider me.



We went over the mountain on Highway 20. The road was decent and the curves mostly fun. The scenery was wonderful, the traffic fairly light. There were many bikes out on Saturday on the way up the mountains. We didn't see so many going east down the mountains, unless they were coming up. We stopped several times to take pictures at overlooks and rest areas. Everywhere we stopped people were attracted to my bike, everyone from other bikers to little old men and women who looked like the thought of riding a bike had never crossed their minds until that very moment and young men who think it's cool looking. Lunch was found at Marblemount, at the Buffalo Run Restaurant, where Ray had an elkburger. He reported it tasted like a beefburger, but cost more. We sat outside on their back patio in a forest garden and it was a beautiful spot.




We took off our windbreakers after lunch and feeding bikes, as the cloud cover was breaking up and the sun was getting warm. The road headed upwards into the mountains. Morphous Wrex doesn't do speed at altitude, but he gets my butt up the hill eventually. We pulled over to let cling-ons pass, but luckily had no aggressive tailgaters.





Those mountain roads are so curvy and you have to slow down to get around the curve. Sometimes the State is very conservative in posting the curve speed limits and sometimes they seem to be pushing the stability envelope. I wish I could tell beforehand which was which. We did so many curves these 3 days that I have lost my fear of curves. We rode curves of all radii, speeds, cambers, elevations and combinations. It was a total hoot!




When everyone is going around that curve at more or less the same speed, it doesn't matter much whether you have a 250 cc bike or a 1100 cc bike, except the 1100 2 wheeler can get a good lean on, where a trike of any size requires arm and shoulder strength on the part of the rider. I was astonished that my arms, shoulders and upper back muscles were not screaming at the end of the curvy days. I'll get faster on those curves with practice. Ray followed me for a time and he said that I only went over the yellow lines once.



Where Morphous Wrex's lack of oomph matters is when you are having to go up a hill at elevation. Ray could have been there an hour or two earlier if he hadn't had to wait for Wrex to plod doggedly up the hill. Still, I got up the hills faster than RVs and faster than the nuts on their bicycles.



A good stop was had at Diablo Lake where we took several pictures. It really is that impossible color! Talked to several people about my bike and even found an elegant pit toilet, the fanciest pit potties I've ever seen.




Once out of the mountains, we were still at a fairly high elevation, and the road straightened out some. We passed through the town of Winthrop, which was hot and overrun with bikes. We rode all the way to Tonasket only to find both motels were full. So, road weary and grumpy to the max, we rode 28 miles back down the road to Omak. There we stayed at the Omak Inn, the quietest motel I've ever stayed in and got the second to last room there. What all these people are doing in Tonasket and Omak, I surely do not know. We learned this day that in the heat we absolutely MUST stay hydrated and get off the bikes every hour. By late afternoon, I was headachy and cranky and felt much better after drinking 3 large glasses of light lemonade and soda...no not mixed! Our first day's mileage was 271 and we hit 5591 feet in elevation at Washington Pass.




On Sunday, we started out from Omak in a relatively cool 71 degree temp, but the day quickly warmed. The 28 miles to Tonasket passed quickly which is a good thing since it was the 3rd time we'd seen that road. About 2 blocks from the main intersection in Tonasket, we passed by a large doe, who was wanting to cross the road, but changed her mind when Ray's bike got close to her. She was so beautiful and I wish we had a picture.



There was almost no traffic on this bit of Highway 20 and I do not know why. It is one fine motorcycle road! Thousands of bikers are missing this, mostly because they decide to stop in Winthrop. It is a shame more people don't know about this road. For the first several hours of our day we were all alone on this highway with beautiful scenery and lovely curves. The curves on this part of 20 were challenging, but with the absence of traffic seemed much easier to drive. We went over Louploup Pass at 4018 feet and Sherman Pass at 5576 feet and Wauconda Pass at 4010 feet.




At the "bottom" of the road we met Highway 395, toured a little museum, quickly ate rapidly melting ice cream bars (97 degrees) and rode on to Colville, where we had a gourmet lunch at a nicely air conditioned Mickey D's. The scenery around Colville is spectacular and we quite liked the little town. We're going to be watching Colville weather to see if we can live there.



Back on Highway 20 we continued on to Spokane, where we entered the city on the north east and travelled through town to I-90 and went west to Fairchild Air Base. The trip through Spokane was brutal, very hot and very slow and as usual, the roads were not exactly smooth. It was a total shake-and-bake. Luckily, the closer we got to downtown the lighter the traffic got and I was truly surprised by the lightness of traffic on the stretch of I-90 that we were on. By this time, we'd been on the road 9 hours and traveled 251 miles.




Incredibly, Fairchild temporary quarters were full also. Groan. It is such a huge base and their signs are so tasteful and uninformative and unobtrusive that you can't see them. It seemed to take a very, very long time of wandering around the base at 15 mph and 97 degrees to find the proper office for check in. Or not check in. Back out to Highway 2, where we drove back toward Spokane and found a Days Inn with a bonanza of 4 restaurants within walking distance. A lovely, quiet (once the ankle biter down the hall quit yapping and went to sleep) air-conditioned night was spent there. We did better on hydration the second day.



Monday morning, we headed west on Highway 2. Immediately we were in the country, wheat land. Miles and miles of rolling, wheat-clad, golden hills. It really was amber waves of grain. At times the cross winds were bad. They went from Oh, the wind really wants my helmet to the wind really wants my bike to yikes! the wind really wants my face!! We encountered many bugs here and I got many closer looks at bug guts than I ever wanted to have. Ray ended up with them on his windscreen, I got them on the face. Ugh. It was hot again....eastern Washington seems to like 97 degrees. I do not. Frozen thighs on Saturday morning and baked thighs until Monday afternoon.




The curves on 2 were easier, lots easier, but on this road there is much construction and repair and so we had to stop several times to wait for the one lane road to be cleared of oncoming traffic. Bake at 97 degrees for 15 minutes in motorcycle gear and you get steamed buns. We found out that a bit of cold water on your head can help keep you cooler as you go down the road.



We stopped a little outside of Wenatchee for lunch...I wish I could tell you the name of the place, it seemed to be called "Darn Good Burgers" or maybe that was just a large brag instead of a name sign. We had chili dogs and onion rings...both darn good. (Ray reports the place was called "Tom, Dick, and Harry's")



We drove right past a place where a wildfire had been burning last week...it burned right down to the edge of highway 2 along the Columbia River and we could still smell the stink of the burn. When we rode past that into unscorched orchards it smelled heavenly, all that ripening fruit!




The road goes through the charming town of Leavenworth, but we didn't have time to stop. Too bad for the local merchants! We wanted to save our stop time for butt rests and rehydration. We encountered several more one lane sections between Leavenworth and Gold Bar.




Once we hit Stevens Pass (4018 feet), the temperature dropped to 71 degrees and from then on the temps were bearable except for the times we had to stop for lane closures or when we did the shake and bake in heavy traffic.




It was time for a break when we reached Monroe. Traffic suddenly picked up 100 fold! From here on into home, the traffic was heavy. We spent the rest of our trip on multi-lane highways/streets. I think we did well with hydration on the 3rd day too. Ray had packed a small cooler into his top box and we were glad we had it and the cold water it contained. Our highest elevation on the third day was at Stevens Pass and our mileage was 281.



We arrived home after 811 mostly hot miles, many elevation changes and many, many curves. We had a great time and learned many things. We also learned that we can do it, even if I was exhausted after 3 days on my bike.



The worst things were the heat and the seats. The best things were the curves and scenery. Overall, the Wrex got 67 mpg and the Guzzi got 58 mpg. We know that will go up when we're not going through the mountains.