"Are you guys lost?"
Too which I've replied: "Not yet, but we're still trying!"
Over the last 4 days we've ridden 2,200 km criss-crossing the Washington and Oregon deserts (yes, there are deserts in Washington and Oregon), going to and fro over the Columbia River no less than 9 times while studiously avoiding Interstates and major highways, using only maps and a compass, and we haven't been lost for a minute. We've taken some wrong turns, and have deliberately taken a road or two not knowing where it went, just because it looked interesting, but not for lack of trying we've not gotten lost. And we're only 4 hours from where we started. At this rate we'll be getting back to Ottawa in 3 months, not 3 weeks. Our biggest problem has been finding gas and coffee. The gas stations start closing at 5:30, and while roadside coffee stands abound along major highways, they are few and far between in our stomping grounds, and close as early as 2! That makes more sense when you consider the fact that there are more abandoned buildings than inhabited ones - not that there's many of either - and it's not unusual to go half an hour without seeing another soul. And Police? Non existent. On the roads that is, no matter where we're staying they seem to wind up in our hotel parking lot. While that has given us licence to go about causin' a ruckus and general mayhem, things such as fuel management have become key. After we passed a few "Last Gas For 84 Miles" type signs we learned to stop and fill anytime we get the opportunity. All the tourist traps we've visited have been deserted, parking lots empty, doing the Mount St. Helens loop we saw no more than a dozen vehicles in 60 miles.
But there is one huge bonus. No RV's. No 10 ton projectiles the size of a bus piloted by old folks whose senses are deteriorating, barreling along like swaying mobile roadblocks on twisting mountain roads, impossible to see around and extremely difficult to pass. Probably because they need to hit a gas station even more often than we do.
Despite our best efforts, the biggest crisis we've had to deal with was a beer bottle packed in Ray's saddlebag that gave way under excessive vibration forcing a laundry night earlier than anticipated. The bikes are performing flawlessly, all we've had to do is check tire pressures and oil the chains daily. When we left Vancouver both machines had brand new tires requiring them to be "scrubbed in", as new tires have an oily coating that could cause them to slide out while leaned over in a turn. We started off going easy in the rain, and as the tires wore in, the rain wore out, and our confidence increased, the speed increased, and there's no reason to slow down.
Wednesday morning we visit the Evergreen Aviation Museum, home of the Spruce Goose - built by Howard Hughes and for a long time the largest aircraft in the world, and one of the few places that has a Lockheed SR71 Blackbird, which still holds a number of world speed and altitude records going back as far as 30 years. Ray is really looking forward to that, his bike is a Honda CBR 1100XX - Blackbird. He emailed the museum a few weeks ago inquiring about getting a picture of the two of them, they didn't reply.
These pictures were all taken within 24 hours, I'm looking forward to the next 24.
But there is one huge bonus. No RV's. No 10 ton projectiles the size of a bus piloted by old folks whose senses are deteriorating, barreling along like swaying mobile roadblocks on twisting mountain roads, impossible to see around and extremely difficult to pass. Probably because they need to hit a gas station even more often than we do.
Despite our best efforts, the biggest crisis we've had to deal with was a beer bottle packed in Ray's saddlebag that gave way under excessive vibration forcing a laundry night earlier than anticipated. The bikes are performing flawlessly, all we've had to do is check tire pressures and oil the chains daily. When we left Vancouver both machines had brand new tires requiring them to be "scrubbed in", as new tires have an oily coating that could cause them to slide out while leaned over in a turn. We started off going easy in the rain, and as the tires wore in, the rain wore out, and our confidence increased, the speed increased, and there's no reason to slow down.
Wednesday morning we visit the Evergreen Aviation Museum, home of the Spruce Goose - built by Howard Hughes and for a long time the largest aircraft in the world, and one of the few places that has a Lockheed SR71 Blackbird, which still holds a number of world speed and altitude records going back as far as 30 years. Ray is really looking forward to that, his bike is a Honda CBR 1100XX - Blackbird. He emailed the museum a few weeks ago inquiring about getting a picture of the two of them, they didn't reply.
These pictures were all taken within 24 hours, I'm looking forward to the next 24.
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