West by Northwest Day 7

The original plan for the day was to head to Preston, Idaho.  Preston is where the movie Napoleon Dynamite was filmed and I thought it might be funny to see some of the places from the movie.  It is only about five hours away from Ontario, Oregon so I wasn't sure what we would do for the rest of the day.
After waking up and relooking at maps and thinking about it, a last minute change of plans was made.  I really wanted to see the Bonneville Salt Flats and it was in a good direction for where we are headed.

After getting ready and packing up the bike, we hit the road.  Once again, temperatures were comfortable as we began to cross Idaho.  The scenery is pretty, but nothing different from what we've seen the last week (or last day).

We headed south on Interstate 84.  Traffic around Boise was heavy, but lite other than that.  We took US93 south into Nevada.  The terrain in Nevada was more desert like, but what was very surprising was the elevation.

Northern Nevada has many mountains, but the plateau that they sit on is also very high.  From a distance, the mountains looked shrowded in haze.  As we continued south on US93, the overall elevation rose.  The highest elevation we have been through on the trip was on US93 and Interstate80 in Nevada.  Once pass was just under 7000 feet.

Other than that, the Nevada Big Empty was just that.

For the second time on this trip, we saw the Google Streetview Car right as we were coming in to Wendover.

Interstate 80 took us east to Wendover, a town bordering Utah and Nevada.  Since the Nevada side has Casinos, which means expensive entertainment and cheap rooms, we got a room at the Rainbow.  The room was cheaper than the room from the night before, but nicer than the more expensive room at Seaside.  Even though we've passed many casinos on this trip, there is something decadent about staying in a Nevada Casino Hotel.

Once checked in we went out to the Bonneville Salt Flats.  Initially we took Frontage Road, a non-maintained road.  It was non-maintained and very rough, so we turned around and headed to the speed trials area.
Happily, the BUB Speed Trials were just wrapping up.  We stopped for a while and talked to some of the racers and took several pictures.  It was probably a zoo a day or so earlier.

The salt flats themselves are surreal.  I had pictured sandy salt, but what it actually is is sticky salt and not exactly dry, with more water around than would be hoped.  With rain storms in the distance, the view was pretty dramatic.  People coming from the time trials were absolutely covered in salt.

Many of the time trial people were at the hotel as well.  The salty footprints were evidence, but the hotel vacuumed them up very quickly.  The people at the hotel were an odd mix of gearheads and gambling grandmas.  To paraphrase Hunter Thompson:  A motorcyclist can learn to cope with things like seeing their dead grandmother crawling up their leg with a knife in her teeth, but nobody should be asked to handle this trip.  That might only make sense if you've seen Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas a few hundred times.

On the way back to the hotel we ate at the Salt Flats Cafe.  Great food at incredible prices and pictures of the salt flats racers all over the walls.  Neat.

We headed back to the hotel and relaxed for a few minutes.  Then we headed down to the casino to waste some money.  The impossible happened and I hit big (for me) on video poker and ended up $50 ahead.  I lost $20 of that, but was happy to stop ahead.  The buffet dinner was better than average and we called it a day early.

Mileage for the day was 397.3.

Post Script:  After finishing this, the casino ploy to only have crappy tv stations worked and I lost another five clams to the gamble deamon.  We did get heavy rain overnight though helping to wash bonneville salt off the bike.

West by Northwest Day 6

Woke up to a moist morning.  Got the bike ready and packed for the day's trip.  We can't go any farther west, and have no desire to go farther north (we already started heading south), so east it is.  But, that doesn't mean we are heading home as the adventure continues.

It was cool and very humid as we left Seaside.  It was amazing how the craziness of a tourist town calms to absolutely nothing in the morning.  It probably would have been nice to walk down to the beach.

We headed east, with the plan to mostly stay on US26 all day.  As we started to gain elevation, it got even colder and started to mist, then rain.  We unwisely decided not to stop and put on rain suits since radar before we left indicated little to no rain.  We suffered no ill effects from this poor decision as the rain did quickly stop.  We continued to gain elevation and it continued to get colder.  The humidity persisted.
We entered Portland at the tail end of rush hour.  Getting through it was not very much fun.  The layout of the city is not very difficult, but the signs were very poor at best.  I don't understand the signage in Oregon.  As we made our way across the state, every mountain, hill or knoll had a sign marking it as "pass" along with the elevation, but signs marking non-obvious road transitions are not where they would be helpful.
Once through portland, the temperature went up and down with the elevation until we descended from the Cascades.  Once out of the mountains, the sky cleared.  Temperature still varied but the rest of the day was very nice.

I don't know what I expected for the middle of Oregon terrain, but what I saw wasn't what I expected.  I really didn't know that much about Oregon but I expected harsh coastline, not the beach at Seaside.  I also expected more agriculture in Oregon, but what we drove through until the last hour or so was mountains and open range land.  It was much more arid than I would have thought.

The mountains were nice to go through.  It didn't compare to Lolo Pass, but it was similar in condition, with good roads and plenty of opportunities to pass to avoid frustration.

The terrain did vary a lot including canyons, mountains and the whole area we rode through was much higher in elevation than US12 in Washington.  The area more resembles the neighboring Idaho than Washington.

We at lunch in the town of John Day at The Outpost.  It was excellent.  I kept seeing things called John Day and was wondering who he was as we rode along.  The menu at the Outpost told the story.  He was an adventurer who went with a westward expedition as a hunter.  He got sick along the way and was left.  After regaining health, he continued on and was attacked by Indians who stole his belongings.  Apparently, he may never have set foot near the town of John Day, but was left for dead somewhere along the river that now bears his name and may have gone insane due to hardships.  I may have got the story wrong, and/or a menu may not be the right place to get historical facts.  I'll have to see if there is a book about this man at some later date.

We continued on; at times it felt like we weren't getting anywhere.  There was evidence of recent wild fires on a few occasion.  Smoke could be seen on covering the horizon a few times and we did see one wildfire not too far in the distance.

Much of the day was through the Oregon edition of the Big Empty.  I still like the open, hot hilly terrain, and Oregon breaks this up with many passes, even if some of them are more like hills.

As we neared Idaho, there was more agriculture including huge fields of onions that could be seen and smelled.  Really.  We also passed a huge field packed with goats.  Wonder what they do with all those goats and onions?

Eventually we made it to Ontario, Oregon.  This was not a strenuous day, but at times it felt like we weren't getting anywhere.  Dinner that night was at Mackey's and it was very tasty.  On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a convenience store and bought...Oreo Cakesters (chocolate, not blonde).
The WiFi in this hotel is stupendous, even though the room is not as nice and one third the price of Seaside.  I love it.

Mileage today was 497.1.

West by Northwest day 5

Woke up early but putzed around the hotel and made a plan of attack for the day.  Objective 1 was to see the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.  The bridge was completed in the summer of 1940 and collapsed during that fall during a time of high but not unusual winds.  This historic event is used by many schools and colleges in physics class to demonstrate the importance of harmonic motion and natural frequencies.  No human life was lost in the bridge destruction, but a dog in a car did die during the collapse.  A new bridge was completed in 1950 and the parallel bridge seen today was completed in 2007.
A video of the collapse can be seen here:Youtube Tacoma Narrow Collapse

After planning the day and eating complimentary waffles, we headed north.  Traffic was heavy but not bad considering that we were heading through the state capitol.  Roads were well marked and there was a surprising lack of mean driving.

We went over the Tacoma Narrow Bridge which was a pretty impressive structure to drive over.  Just past the bridge, online maps showed a small park nearby where the bridge could be seen.  I found a guy walking his dog and asked him where the park was.  He gave directions and after a bit more looking, we found the park.  The park is down a long tree covered drive; almost hidden.
The park itself is very nice and has great views of the water and bridge.  We spent some time there looking around and taking pictures, all under the watchful eye of a Sheriff, who I hope wasn't called by someone just because I was motoring around the neighborhood looking for the park.  Oh well, I was harmless.
Heading over the bridge was free.  However, if we wanted to return across it, it cost $5.  A little bit of a racket if you ask me.

After seeing the bridge, we headed back south and west to US101 to drive down the coast.  US101 was pretty (I guess), but very anticlimactic.  I was expecting more than fleeting views of the actual coast line.  The drive was more like any other hilly tree lined drive, with the occasional view of the water, and then only of various bays, not the actual ocean.

We crossed into Oregon by US101 which enters the state by a very long bridge.  Once in Oregon, I can proudly say that I have been in every state west of the Mississippi.  A minor footnote in my life's goals, and a baby step toward my goal of riding my motorcycle through the 49 states accessible by land.

Once into Oregon, the traffic turned crazy crowded.  I can't imagine what it must be like in the height of the tourism season.  As we went south, I found a small park where I was able to have my picture taken with the Pacific Ocean in the background.  My Goldwing has now been to both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

We got to Seaside, OR and got gas and found a Hotel.  We had made reservations for this hotel as there are many in the area, and many are extremely expensive.  The Inn at Seaside was a nice hotel if not a little expensive compared to where we normally stay.  It had the absolute worst wireless internet service I have ever seen.  A dedicated 56k dial-up line for each room would likely be faster, perhaps even a bell-boy to courier all internet packets by bicycle.
The town of Seaside defines what a Northwest tourist town is.  Bumper cars, indoor minnie golf, shops with ceramic beach themed crap.  I guess we have to do these thing once in a while.  We ate a lite lunch and then walked around town a bit.  We entered one free exhibit about sharks.  I was a little apprehensive as nothing is free and I was worried this was a time share sales pitch.  It was.  The woman laughed about it and said that she was just like the sharks in her exhibits but with smaller teeth.  It was refreshing to see her sense of humor and realism about it.

The beach area at Seaside is one of the theoretical turn-around points for Lewis and Clark.  While that may or may not be true, the beach is pretty nice once you get away from the masses; this is easy to do since they all stay in the main area.  The views are pretty decent as well.
This has to be one of the most pet friendly areas I've ever seen.  Most hotels have a dog policy and many of the shops allow dogs as well.  Several businesses had dog water bowls outside of them for the furry friends.  I didn't see any cats though.

Dinner that night was local seafood including Oysters on the halfshell.  Ice cream on the way back to the hotel rounded out the day nicely.

Mileage for the day was a mere 256 miles.

West by Northwest Day 4

Once again, left at daybreak.  Another glorious sunrise pushed us along the road.  Weather was cool to cold with temperatures ranging from the 50s to the low 40s depending on location.  We almost didn't have enough clothes when we left.  By the time we stopped though, we were very warm as the day was sunny and dry.

Headed north into Missoula.  Missoula seemed like a pretty nice college town, but 97% of the cars we saw were Subarus and 99% of those had a bike rack on them.  Those not driving Subarus were riding their bikes.  Ahhh, the granola lifestyle.  Don't get me wrong, I do admire the bike riding.  I even considered buying a Subaru once, but they quit making the one I wanted.

We headed out on US12 through Lolo and Lolo Pass.  The first half of the day, the smell of smoke from the many large wildfires ranged from minor to overpowering.  Many times, smoke could be seen as a haze covering the horizon.  Many motorcycle roads are great until you get behind the dreaded RV.  Lolo Pass has to be one of the best motorcycle roads since the road is in great condition, turns are a mix of sweeping and hard, but with ample passing opportunities so getting behind a truck or RV is not a big issue.  Switchbacks and technical riding is fun, but not what I'm looking for when I'm thousands of miles from home in a fully loaded touring bike.

US12 itself follows along the Lochsa river.  The views are gorgeous and the road goes on for 10s of miles.  I thoroughly enjoyed this ride.  Probably one of the best motorcycle roads I have been on.  Not sure what it would look like in July, but near the off season it was wonderful.

After going through the mountains, we crossed into Washington and had a quick lunch at Sharps Burger Ranch.  It was billed as Lewiston's answer to fast food.  Overall, pretty good for a quick lunch.

After lunch we went through Washington's Central valley.  Scenery isn't much in comparison to Lolo Pass, but the ride was nice, if a little warm.  Some of the construction areas seemed to be done by Montana construction crews (see post from yesterday if that doesn't make sense).  It was surprising that the elevation of this part of Washington was below 1000 feet in places.  The valley was covered with fruit trees and many, many vineyards.  The range of agricultural species seen on this trip is staggering.  The huge fields of grapes and fruit trees were amazing in light of the fact that they are harvested by hand.  I couldn't help but think of the movie Sideways as we rode through the vineyards.

Once through the valley, we stayed on US12 through Cascades.  Traffic was tolerable and the views were again dramatic.  There was one long delay at a construction zone where we struck up a conversation with a couple who were in the car behind us.  They seemed very surprised we were in Washington only four days after leaving Ohio; we only have so much vacation.  They gave us some tips on things to see and places to stay.
After passing through the construction zone which was right at White Pass, we descended in elevation and stopped to see Mount Rainier. The couple we had been talking to laughed when I asked if we would be able to tell which one it was.  The view was stunning.

We continued on US 12 to Packwood.  There were several hotels there, but they must have been in cahoots since the high price was the same everywhere.  We continued on until Interstate-5 up to Chehalis where we found a room at a much better price.  When getting unpacked I noticed the front tire on the Goldwing was wearing in an odd way, which means in a normal way for a Goldwing.  Perhaps pushing the limits for hours on Lolo Pass was taking its toll.  Good thing we are nearing the turning around point.
Dinner was great at Kit Carson's followed by Zingers in the Hotel room.  There were no Cakesters available.

Mileage for the day was 653.8.

West by Northwest Day 3

We pushed it a bit too far today, Mobridge, SD to Drummond, MT.  But more on that later.

We were woken up at 11:00PM by the phone asking if we had a dog in the hotel room.  Nope, no room for the beagles on the bike.
Was able to get back to sleep and then wake up early to leave.  Temperature was very cool at near 50F and traffic was predictably light.  Saw a beautiful sunrise as we hit the road.

This was Sunday so we had church on the bike.  Enjoying His creation from the seat of a motorcycle and being thankful we are fortunate enough to go on these adventures.
One more picture of sunflowers as this field was in full yellow glory.  It was really nice to see early in the morning with all the flowers pointed at the sun.

We were on US12 all day today.  The highway skirts along the top op South Dakota and into North Dakota.  We got gas shortly before entering North Dakota so we went through the state without our feet ever touching the North Dakota ground.  The small section of North Dakota we were in had many large groups of motorcycles.  There was likely some event in the area, and as best I can figure out after searching online, it was the Bottoms Up Motorcycle Run centered in Bowman, ND.

From there, we moved into Montana.  US12 in Montana describes desolate.  I was expecting little traffic, but this road rivals the Alaska Highway.  I think there was even LESS traffic than the Alaska Highway.  The road is in good condition and the scenery changes many times.  From pure flat scrub land, to large hills, to eroded buttes.  The constant changes kept things interesting.
We also saw many deer and antelope throughout the day.  The deer were their skittish self, but the Pronghorn were happy to hide in the open.

After eating a great lunch at the Pioneer Cafe in Roundup Montana, we continued on the highway west.  Shortly after eating, smoke could be seen in the distance.  As we got closer and closer, we saw the forest just beyond the highway was on fire.  It was very dramatic to see the flames and the smoke covered the area for miles.  For well over an hour, we could smell the strong smell of smoke.

We hit several construction zones in Montana.  There was one by Forsyth, MT that there were warnings about online before leaving for the vacation.  However, it was nearly complete and was an almost new road.  One bridge was being redone which required a detour.  The detour consisted of a secondary bridge as there was no roads to detour on.

There were several more construction zones.  Most had warning signs that said motorcycles should seek alternate routes.  These warnings went unheeded.  Montana construction seems to be done by destroying the road, then doing nothing for some time leaving loose gravel.  At least it was dry.  In 2008 on the way back from Alaska, we went through this same type of construction in northern Montana, but it was deep mud.  Not fun on a Goldwing, but we were accustomed to this after the Alaska Highway construction.

We were making good time and decided to stop near Helena.  Once we got to Helena, for whatever reason we did not stop.  We ended up and I-90/US12 with no hotels found since Helena.  I was getting tired but we kept on by getting on the interstate.  Several exits with no services later, we were forced off the highway due to it being closed from a serious accident.  We exited at Drummond, MT and found a room for the night.  There were not many available since many were taken by helicopter pilots and other firefighters.

We ended the night at the Wagon Wheel Cafe for a good dinner at the end of a long day.  The last of the Oreo Cakesters were eaten as well.
The day's total mileage was 741.2.

West by Northwest Day 2

Woke up early and had coffee and waffles at the hotel.  The complimentary breakfast waffles were surprisingly good - especially saturated in syrup.
We got on the road shortly after sunup.  Immediately after leaving, we got turned around a bit, but managed our way back on track, heading north on US218.  As is usually the case, we nearly had the road to ourselves by leaving early, especially since it was a Saturday.
We rode north as we watched the sun rise to the east and clouds build to the west.  I had looked at the radar before leaving and rain was likely once we headed west.  We stopped for gas and put on our rain gear before heading west (ie we didn't say that it didn't look too bad and end up drenched for hours).  The temperature had dropped to the point that the rain gear was not uncomfortable.  After an hour or so, it started to rain.  It rained steadily for a couple hours - never very hard, but a constant rain.
Once near the South Dakota border, most of the rain had passed and we headed north.  Traffic remained light.  In fact traffic was light to nonexistent for the entire day.  We headed north on I-29 to get to northern South Dakota.  We stopped for gas and a little while later, we stopped at a cafe for lunch.  We almost ended up at fast food, but the bacon cheese burgers at The Grainery Cafe were excellent and the extra time was a nice break.  We hit very minor amounts of rain further on, but ignored it as we had shed our rain gear at lunch.

Heading across South Dakota was nice.  The weather improved dramatically after lunch.  Scenery changed from flat farm land, to rolling hills to some fairly moderate hills.  Not the mountains or anything like that, but I really do like traveling in the upper plain states.  Traffic is almost always light and the subtle changes in scenery are nice.  Just avoid the interstates.

We passed fields of huge wind turbines.  They must have been harvesting them as trucks were headed south with blades secured as loads.  My guess is the wind turbine crop was making up for some of the poor crops due to the drought.  What was interesting is that as we got near central South Dakota, some areas actually looked flooded.

In addition to the wind turbines, we passed several fields of sunflowers.  They were likely just past their prime where they would have looked like a million happy faces.  As it is not a crop we see often near home, it was neat to see.

At one point, when the terrain was very flat, I opened up the bike for a few minutes.  Perhaps sophomoric, but fun to do once in a while and frankly not very dangerous in the middle of South Dakota.

The plan was originally to stop near Aberdeen, but it was too early and the weather was nice so we continued on until Mobridge.  There was a casino hotel nearby but it was booked up due to some special event involving horses, kids and firemen.  Go figure.
Mobridge sits on the Oahe Lake which is formed by the damming of the Missouri River.  The lake is approximately 230 miles long.  I was surprised to look at a map and see that this actually was the Missouri River.
We got a decent hotel overlooking the lake.  Dinner was adequate (ribs and steak) followed by (drum roll) more Oreo Cakesters.
Total mileage of the day was 638.9 miles.

West by Northwest Day 1

Vacation is here!

I got up at my normal too-early hour.  I putzed around the house for a while getting ready for the trip, but we couldn't leave until after the dogs were safely at the kennel so I ended up reading a magazine while drinking my coffee.  Eight o'clock finally came and the dogs were dropped off at the kennel.  Final checks were made of the house and we were off.

I found myself early in the trip thinking about work.  I consciously put it out of my mind which was easier than I had thought.  Normally on motorcycle trips, I avoid interstates and try to stay to 2-lane roads.  Today was all about burning up rear tires and making miles so most of the planned route was on the interstate.
As I hit the interstate, I could feel the stress leaving me.  It leaked out from under my helmet and it rolled down the back of my motorcycle coat.  The stress fell down from the bike behind the rear tire in huge heavy glops onto the road be hind me.  No doubt that stress was picked up by people traveling metaphorically in the opposite direction.  Toward home, toward stress, toward work.  Poor bastards.

Interstate 70 was busy, but 74 had surprisingly light traffic.  Temperatures started out cool, but warmed quickly.  We stayed on I-74 all they to near Iowa.  Somewhere around Goodfield, IL we stopped for gas and food.  There was a restaurant called the Busy Corner Restaurant; unfortunately both the corner and the restaurant were busy and I didn't want to wait.  Subway it was...not the best, but it was faster than the eating on a busy corner.

We continued on and crossed the Mississippi for the 15th time on a motorcycle.  The river looked a little low due to the drought, but not near as bad as some of the smaller rivers we crossed.  Crops looked terrible too, mostly in Indiana, but also in Iowa.
Once across the river, we hit I-80.  This main artery across the country was intermittently very heavy with traffic.  Not the most fun, but we were making good time, I guess.

"Iowa has the prettiest girls." - Jack Kerouac from On the Road
The plan was to stop near Iowa City, IA, but we weren't ready to stop (and the Company I work for has a facility there so it was just a little to close).  We went north on I-380 up to Waterloo where we stopped.  Interesting that on I-380 we saw the Google Streetview Camera Car.  I wished we could have gotten a picture of it, but we were on the interstate and didn't have a camera ready.

We drove around Waterloo and found a hotel.  After checking in, we saw there was a casino-hotel nearby.  I'm probably glad we saw that after we checked in.  We walked over to a Bonanza for dinner, but they had a sign on their door that they could not take credit cards.  With a sketchy looking buffet, we walked down the road past several more restaurants until deciding on a Longhorn Steakhouse.  The steak was bloody but good and we were hungry.  Night came with Oreo Cakesters in the room for dessert.
583.5 miles on the odometer for the day.

West by Northwest T-4.5 days

I can't wait.

It has been over two years since I've done a long-distance 2-up trip on the bike.   With buying a new house, moving, selling a house, etc. it was probably the right decision.  But, I am getting scared that if I don't start to use my Goldwing as it is intended someone will sneak in the garage some night and take it away from me.

Getting ready for the trip started weeks ago.  I am continuing to work through my goal of riding my motorcycle through all 49 states accessible by land and plan on going through Idaho, Washington and Oregon this trip.  I have a rough idea of a route planned, but nothing is very concrete.  If bad weather is encountered or terrible road conditions, we can change plans at will.  Given the time of year, cold weather is a possibility especially in the higher elevations out west.  Road construction in the rural north can be ugly as we learned in 2008 on the way back from Alaska.  I've poured over maps several times over the weeks if for no other reason than because maps are awesome and it continues to build excitement for the trip.  I've programmed the GPS; I'm still using my over 10-year-old Magellan Meridian unit which is an antique by today's standards, but I like it.  It is a great compliment to the maps which I'll take along as well.
So...route and time table are as planned as will be.

Yesterday I mowed the yard.  Much of the grass was not very long because of the ongoing very dry weather, but the chicory and queen anne's lace was getting arrogant.  A few patches of grass were surprisingly long.  It is surprising how much better the yard looks now.
We interviewed a new place to put the dogs in beagle jail.  It is hard to look at their content faces and know they'll be locked in the kennel for that long, but they will adjust.  The place they will be staying has a huge fenced yard where they can run around a few times a day which will be good for them.  I'll feel bad when we leave, but will look forward to seeing them at the end of the trip.

Today, I finished getting the bike ready.

I won't admit how long it has been since the oil was changed because not very many miles have been put on the bike recently, but all is ready with the lubricants.
Even if it rains in the first day of the trip, I like starting out with a clean bike, so the bike is washed and the suspension setup for two people.

There are still four more days of work to endure and a wake-up.  Then, head west old man.

I can't wait.