Today was a great day all around. Started out with breakfast at Hood River's finest with Jen. I got started riding around noon and went just about exactly 300 miles. I feel like I have started the long trek home.
The weather was pretty steady at about 60F with a brief interlude of a shower and some threatening times, but all-in-all excellent. I went up over the eastern side of Mt. Hood into Central Oregon. The terrain was varied all day making the ride interesting. I must say the route I took was pretty much devoid of gas stations though. I did think to fill up early and often.
I stopped at the John Day Fossil beds and took a quick half mile round-trip hike up to a petrified tree buried into a stone arch. It was pretty cool and I was able to keep an eye on the bike the whole time. The fossil beds were on a new favorite Rd., Rte. 218 through that section of Oregon. It must be a motorcycle mecca because I saw a ton of bikes around there, most of them whizzing past me like I was standing still. It really is excellent motorcycling country.
When I got near the end of my planned day in Ukiah, Oregon, there were about 30 cafe racers parked in the town as it was the SFRC motorcycle club's annual weekend tour out of Portland, OR. There was only one place to eat in town and they had ordered a BBQ and were having a grand old time. I had some hot wings with hand cut fries, really quite delicious and chatted about doing Portland to Portland runs. They wanted me to stay and join in the festivities but I was sure I wouldn't get any sleep, what with the 10 cases of beer (PBR) that were arriving and the fire jump they were planning for later that night. I headed down the road to find a camp site.
The campground I selected turns out to be designed to support dirt bikers and ATVs so the assumption is that you will be sleeping in some sort of vehicle. I had a hard time finding a site with a decent tenting location but I managed. There are only three or four other folks up here. I must say I am concerned about bears getting a sniff of my paltry food supply through the soft sided bags.
I have switched books to The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope. It is read by a pretty good reader and I am starting to get into it. Trollope was a close contemporary of Dickens but mostly writes about the gentry and their foolishness during that age. The book is engaging enough with a lot of interesting character types and is giving me something to listen to but will not likely spur any epiphanies. I do miss the XM radio including the NPR shows, baseball, and Grateful Dead concerts.
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In the early morning rain with a dollar in my hand
With an aching in my heart and my pockets full of sand
I'm a long way from home and I miss my loved one so
In the early morning rain with no place to go
-Gordon Lightfoot
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