Oregon in July

[azoomm]

Well, started out the trip with a flight into Portland. BMW had me scheduled to meet up with the fleet in Portland for a dealer Demo on Saturday the 10th. Since the BMW MOA rally was scheduled for the following week in Redmond, OR it didn't make sense to fly me home and then back to Redmond with only a few days between. So, we took bikes from the fleet between work days.

I don't like starting out a trip with drama - but, I almost missed my flight. I woke up at 4:50. As you can see - my flight wasn't at a forgiving time:



So, flew in on the 9th to set up. Decided to check the route with this little baby...



The route went along the river - which had these really cool house "boats". They were more like floating houses that were anchored to the side. Just HAD to get a picture of them.



Mt. Hood is rumored to be the most photographed mountain in the world. Just for that reason, I needed to stop and get a picture at our turning point on the route.



After the demos with the dealer we choose bikes for the week and packed up the semi. We were given a list of four bikes to choose from based on the lowest mileage on the fleet. I wanted something that had bags - and due to pain in the ass factor of loading this bike on the truck, can you guess the bike I chose?



It has a trunk, and the little door right above my purse is a vanity mirror



Starting mileage, and yes, that little yellow light on the right hand side is the indicator for the POWER center stand. This bike also has reverse, which is priceless when trying to move around the truck that it is.




See, reverse:


That is one big ass bike:


Lauralynne and I were going to try and get together. The problem was, she had too much going on for the weekend to come down to Portland. So, I decided to head up to Seattle and say hello. The first stop was Mt. Saint Helen's:



I had a group of Harley's come up as I was parked there. All of them were two-up with their wives - who promptly gave me the stink-eye. Apparently, their husbands had talked to them about riding their own. They had told their husbands how unreasonable it was to expect a woman to ride by themselves, especially for any long distance. I broke those rules for them, and they didn't like it.

Well, motor on North. Second stop -


Got into Seattle, this was the striking view from my hotel:


I had valet service downstairs, this I gave a valet a ride to their private garage on the back of the bike. He let me into the garage - then I gave him the key. The very thought of giving them the key to park it was laughable, at best. He told me it was his favorite vehicle to park yet.

I met up with Lauralynne and kidnapped her from her life, if just for one night. We hung out downtown - and my cousin met us for a few drinks as well. I haven't seen my cousin since 1981. It was really great to catch up.

Next morning, of COURSE it's raining:


That just meant I had to maneuver the bus uphill through Seattle streets all the while avoiding their paint stripes. Those little buggers are slippery enough dry!

On to Mt. Rainier on a route Laura's husband was kind enough to share with me. A few stops on the way just to stretch my legs.

IMHO, every town needs a "Dick's"


On the way into the Park


PRETTY roads, and not many cars.


More and more trees as I get closer to the mountain.

[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?

[derf]

Hehe, you said dick

[KSGregman]

Jealous?! Who?! Me?!

Get out of here....feck...who am I fooling. I'm jealous.

What's with all the damn pictures of cloudy mountain tops and none of you in the hot tub, though?

[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

[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]

Originally Posted by KSGregman

Jealous?! Who?! Me?!

Get out of here....feck...who am I fooling. I'm jealous.

What's with all the damn pictures of cloudy mountain tops and none of you in the hot tube, though?

Yeah, because taking my phone into water is a good idea? I'd totally drop it.

Speaking of drop... I did drop the LT. I was heading through Rainier in one of those pedestrian areas when a mini-van popped out and tried to kill me. I stopped, then no! no! no!!!! slow motion tip over. She didn't stop, but she did the "I'm sorry" wave out the window. I picked it up [amazingly easy, maybe it was the weeble effect of the bags] and went on my way.

[Mr Lefty]

Uh i miss home!