The Anti-Canadia Tour

Sabbaticals rock and here's the gory details. Read along if you want to be a groupie!

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davek
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Postby davek » Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:37 am

Let's do lunch!

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Postby E-Ticket » Mon Aug 25, 2008 11:34 am

davek wrote:Let's do lunch!


Where? Pendelton? Hood River?

Hey, Tawm-bo .... where do you want to meet, eh!
(the Viffer is gassed and ready to go...)

Oooh-oohhh, I got it! Tom, how about spending the night at Lehman Hot Springs just outside of Ukiah?
It's only about 75-80 miles South of Pendelton and you could have a great soak!

And then do the back roads from there through Spray, Condon, Wasco on the way back to Portland.
That be a great final leg, eh!

Call me on my cell if this is a possibility and I'll check on reservations for Lehman Hot Springs and then meet you there tonight.

Cheers! - RandyB (503-701-2784)
"AYHIN"

Mine: '12 KTM 350 EXC-F ("Wee Beasty"); '99 Honda VFR 800i Interceptor
(AMA Member)
Wife: '22 Kawasaki KLX 140R F; '04 Honda CBR600 F4i (AMA Member)

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Postby Tawmass » Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:41 am

* August 26, morning, Lewiston, Idaho, 4,003 miles: Leaving Missoula, I could tell it was going to be another roasty day. I jumped onto the Lolo Hwy. (#12) heading west. It wasn’t but a few miles up, that the landscape changed majorly to something not unlike the South Umpqua River, with its varying width river and fir trees everywhere. Lolo Pass is a pleasure to drive and there is a rich history of info every few miles, specifically about Lewis & Clark’s journey and the Nez Perce Indian Tribes. It eventually descended down from about 6,000 feet to only about 2,000 feet at Kooskia, at the edge of the arrid Nez Perce Reservation. I took the backroad #162 to Cottonwood, and it was in this section I saw the massive cloud of smoke from a major fire. Wow, was it burning across the fields fast and the billowing clouds of smoke could be seen for miles! After my excitement to get pix of what looked to be a wildfire, I soon realized that it must’ve been a ‘planned’ burn. For something so planned, it sure looked out of hand to me!

Once at Cottonwood, I turned north on Hwy 95 - and the winds suddenly started howling at gale force and throwing me all over my lane of highway, plus I could see the edge of a storm looming in the west - the direction I was going - sigh. The closer I got to Lewiston, the worse it got - both storm and wind. About four miles from Lewiston, the rains were commencing and I pulled over, checked the listing of local motels from the GPS and started calling. The fierce winds almost blew Barney onto her side, then some lady pulled up and asked me if I knew who owned the trash can that was now out on the highway - it had blown out onto the highway and hit her car! Like I said, it was crazy and I reserved a place at some Econo Lodge downtown and auto routed my way in. Dang, I had planned on making it further, but Ma Nature stepped in. I unloaded all my gear and hit a local bar-and-grill for some dinner and then called it a night. I had a very pleasant conversation with my attractive waitress, Shannon, who also rode a Honda 600. She too had returned recently from a week-long trip on her bike, so we compared stories and had a great time for almost an hour. After dinner, the storm finally died down and it started turning somewhat nice again after a couple crazy hours of carnage.

It’s Tuesday morn, and I’d sure like to make it home today, but that’s a long, boring trip along the Columbia. I fly out Thursday to Greece, so at least one day to get things together is the plan. Sorry Randy, the storm changed things a bit.
Take me home Barney,
-Tom
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You don't stop riding because you grow old, you grow old because you stop riding.
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Tawmass
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Postby Tawmass » Wed Aug 27, 2008 9:49 am

* August 27, morning, back home, 4,380 total miles: Wow, was sure nice to sleep in my own bed again last night! Got up very early yesterday from the fleabag motel in Lewiston, Idaho, packed up and left. Chatted with a couple Idaho guys on my way out (the guy with the Beemer had a failed front brake line and he was waiting for the dealer to open) and the one guy’s t-shirt cracked me up. Sailing west from Lewiston/Clarkston on the Snake River, the sun was rising at my back and it was looking beautiful out. The wind started in though and never let up all day, which was to be expected on the Gorge. Once off the river, it was wheat fields, canyons and cold winds. I stopped in the cute village of Pomeroy, WA and had a cup with Jennifer, who owned the coffee shop – a very interesting lass. Waitsburg was another notable, close-knit-looking community. And look closely at the one pic of their hillside, where they had a human figure displayed (don’t know who it was, perhaps Lewis & Clark?). Maybe it can only be seen from space by aliens? And notice how hard the wind is blowing the tree in the same pic! That’s when the windmills started to appear – everywhere at the tops of the hills. I stopped in Walla Walla, WA for another cup of joe and installed a lighter-tension set of throttle springs. Turns out they were too light, but wow, did it make Barney seem like a sport bike, plus it sorta had its own cruise control. And out past Umatilla’s Army Depot mounds, were groves of trees harvested to keep the winds down. Not much after that until Sam Hill’s World War One Stonehenge Memorial. Now I finally understand why he built Stonehenge as the tribute.

Cruising by Hood River, the howling winds where being well used by the board heads, as the colorful sails and chutes were circling their little spaces of the river. I eventually rolled into Stevenson, WA, where Walt and Frank wanted me to stop by at the Soundrider Dualsport Ride. Walt had already left, so I milled around for an hour, when Frank finally showed up. Ilsa also appeared and we all had a good chat, then Barney was egging to get the rest of the way back home. It was grinding on me to get back into the metro traffic. I may need to move soon.

Wow, it’s difficult to believe that particular adventure is over! Time flies so fast when you’re having fun, and it only seems like yesterday that I started out on the 24-day sojourn. This has been a life-altering experience and I’ve learned a lot. I did a three-week motorbike trip years ago on my old R75/6 BMW to the East Coast and back, but that wasn’t nearly as fun, since I had to ride more miles in a day, and I had to be a certain location at the end of each day – a regimented schedule. This trip was not like that at all, since I just went until I felt like stopping, and smelling the flowers along the way. I have a newfound love and respect for our Northwestern neighboring States of Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. FYI, about 90% of the photos were taken while seated on Barney and wearing a helmet, hence the reason some pictures are not quite as aligned as they should be, however I figured that a misaligned picture is better than none.

And my bike Barney – the purple-headed warrior, who has a face only her owner could love, she did me well as always. She’s just like a good woman: adventurous, always faithful, reliable, a great companion, doesn’t whine, never lets me down, low maintenance, nice jugs, and will try most anything. Now off to the next leg of my sabbatical – Europe!
thanks for reading,
-Tom
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Last edited by Tawmass on Fri Oct 10, 2008 7:22 am, edited 9 times in total.
You don't stop riding because you grow old, you grow old because you stop riding.

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Postby E-Ticket » Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:02 am

Welcome back, Tawm! And glad you had such a great time. :thumbright:

Cheers! - RandyB
"AYHIN"

Mine: '12 KTM 350 EXC-F ("Wee Beasty"); '99 Honda VFR 800i Interceptor
(AMA Member)
Wife: '22 Kawasaki KLX 140R F; '04 Honda CBR600 F4i (AMA Member)

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Postby Tawmass » Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:45 am

Thanks! It's good to be home. And here's the summary. Notice those three, 11,000-foot trips over Beartooth Highway...
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A Most Excellent Adventure

Postby Dive » Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:43 pm

Welcome back Tom,

You sure made the most out of a bad start. In a way I kinda wish you were still out there riding the PNW and filling us all in on your adventure.

Excellent write up's and stella photos.

Thanks for the journey to places I most likely will never see.

Now for Greece :D looking forward to it.

Dave


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