Wednesday, June 30, 2010

2010 June 29th:
Mark:
We woke up about the same time this morning. We were greeted with clear skies but very cool air temperature (55°F). There was also a strong breeze coming in off the ocean.
We got up and readied ourselves for breakfast, but breakfast was sort of lame. I had some Tillamook Yogurt (marionberry) and an English muffin. With a little juice to wash it down, I went back to the room to pack.
Knowing that we were going to head inland and most likely warmer temperatures, I dressed in Heat Gear. I was a little chilly for the first hour or so but it did warm up. Once we were loaded up, we headed out of town and up a little road toward Agnes, Oregon. We arrived at a road that was posted with warnings about being a narrow single lane road with no trailers allowed. This sounded perfect to us. The road turned out to be great with almost no traffic and just about as winding a road as possible. The road went up the side of this mountain range and then it followed the ridge for many miles. The views were great and at one point the clouds were coming over the ridge and we were driving through a fog as the clouds rolled over to the other side of the mountain. This was quite a fantastic experience.
Once we were down from the mountain and in the valley, it only took us a couple of minutes and we were in Grants Pass, Oregon. We stopped for some lunch and then we drove up to Crater Lake. The drive to the park was beautiful but fast. When we were in the trees, we both seemed to feel like they were hypnotizing us and we were both getting drowsy. We stopped and took a break and the continued up to the park.
When we arrived we found out that the Rim road was closed because it wasn’t plowed yet. There was quite a bit of snow still and we ended up walking through it just to get over to the edge of the rim to see the lake. We got the passport stamped at the Visitor’s Center and we walked through the gift shop.
On the way back down the mountain, I pulled into a turn out that still had a bunch of snow in it. I thought that it would be fun to see if I could ride the bike through the snow. Well the front tire wasn’t moving very well and the back tire was throwing a rooster tail about twenty feet out the back. The snow was about a foot deep and I was able to negotiate through about ten feet of it. It actually took a lot longer than I thought and I figured that I would get stuck but if the front tire would have had a ski on it, I would have gone right through it. Niko was a little upset at me and wanted to shoot some video, but I wasn’t going to do it again. We were both laughing pretty hard the whole time. I’m sure that it looked pretty funny to all of those cars that happened to drive by at that very moment.
We went back to Grants Pass and found a place to stay. We unloaded the bikes and then cleaned up and walk to dinner. Dinner was fresh fish and pie for dessert. We walked back and then spent a few minutes in the hot tub.
Today was a great day and we rode 280 miles. We saw Crater Lake and we took that crazy and wonderful road. We had a wonderful dinner and a nice place to stay. Thank you, and Good Night.

Niko:
This morning was cold and sunny but dad was sure it’d warm up once we got away from the beach. We dressed in heat gear, with a t-shirt over it. I threw on my riding pants and headed to breakfast in hopes of snagging a Krispy Kreme Doughnut. Turns out the doughnuts the motel was boasting never showed up.
After eating a meager breakfast, we moseyed back and packed up our bikes to leave. Dad went up to complain to the front desk about the Wi-Fi not working, and the Krispy Kremes not arriving. A sort of false advertisement.
We took off and turned on the road to Agnes. The road was fairly curvy, and it slowly warmed, though I didn’t get quite comfortable yet. We stopped at a sign that spoke the embodiment of our trip. “Traveling on this road is not advised, narrow and sharp turns. Rough gravel sections are ahead. Trailers are not recommended!” We smiled and rode on.
The road up to bear camp overlook was fun, scenic, and full of squirrels with death wishes. The road would be empty, and suddenly two squirrels would run across the road in front of us. The gravel sections of the road were mild, and the road was only one lane wide for two directions of traffic. I would recommend that large trucks and trailers should leave it alone.
At the summit of bear camp overlook, the clouds were pouring over one side into the valley we came from. I was getting quite chilled now, and I figured it was because of the clouds coming over the hill. We rode down, off the road, and into Grant’s Pass.
We decided to stop at Carl’s Jr. for a burger to make up for our lack of protein. The girl working there was friendly and cute too. I found out that my CamelBak had leaked all over my groin, and was making me cold on the way down the hill. We checked the map and got back on the bikes.
We continued riding, and riding towards Crater Lake. Shortly after we passed Gold Hill, we both were getting a bit droopy eyed, so we stopped about 15 minutes shy of Crater Lake and had ice cream. We continued on to the entrance, and found out that the road that goes all the way around the rim was closed.
Bummer. We were looking forward to going around Rim drive, but settled for some hiking between visitor centers.
We headed back down the mountain to Gold Hill to see the mystery house at Oregon Vortex. Dad stopped at a turn off on the mountain that had a large 6 inch deep pile of snow, and slowly sprayed his way through. I was cursing myself for not turning on the camera for it.
When we arrived back in gold hill, we got lost looking for the mystery house by following directions. Signs said turn right, but they meant turn left. The vortex closed at 5, and it was a quarter to 6. So we just moved on.
We rode back to Grants Pass and settled into a La Quinta Inn. We unpacked, dad took a shower and then we walked down to a local diner for fish, cornbread, soup, and Oreo pie. We walked back to the hotel and did a few things on the laptop and went to the hot tub.
I stayed there for an hour after dad left to work on the blog (Probably longer than I should have). I came back to the room as dad was finishing up his blog, and started mine. I’m tired now, my eyes sting a bit, and dad’s occasional snores are making me want to sleep.
Thank you for reading, goodnight! 1:00 here.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

2010 June 28th:
Mark:
This morning we woke to bleak dark grey skies. The temperature was below 60°F and it looked cold. I checked the weather and it said cool but no rain with a high of 60°F. I posted the blog from last night and then I woke up Niko so that we could get some breakfast. He seemed a little groggy from being up so late. We headed downstairs for breakfast. I ate a big plateful of scrambled eggs and sausage and some hot cocoa.
I went back to the room since Niko wasn’t done with his breakfast. I got dressed for cold weather and then packed up the rest of the clothes. My bag was a lot easier to stuff into the pannier since it didn’t have my cold weather gear in it. We moved the bikes over to the front door and went to load the entire set of luggage onto one of those carts and rolled that to the front door. Once everything was loaded onto the bike we went back to the room for our jackets and a final look over. When we were putting on our helmets, Niko realized that he didn’t have his glasses, so he went back to the room to find them. With all of this scattered running about, it took us a little longer than normal to get on the road. We left by 9:30am so we did fine.
Traffic was light and we headed south and we were almost to Newport Oregon in a short time. I saw the signs for Yaquina Head Lighthouse and thought that Niko might enjoy seeing this place. He went down to the beach since it was low tide and took the camera for some pictures. There were birds everywhere and some seals and sea lions out on the rocks. When Niko came back up from the beach, we walked around the lighthouse, which wasn’t open yet, and then we left.
Once we were in town, I took Niko around and showed him my old neighborhood and school. We rode around through town and then down around the bay waterfront. We went through town again and then over the bridge to the Marine Science Center. I had always enjoyed that when I was younger. Once we left there we rode for awhile and stopped at Cape Perpetua, just past Heceta Head Lighthouse. There wasn’t much to see, but the view of the ocean was good from that vantage point.
It seemed like we were riding forever but not really getting anywhere. The traffic was slow and we stopped to look at a lot of things. We stopped in Coos Bay Oregon and had some dinner at Taco Bell. We had been riding in misty dark clouds all day and just after we pasted through Bandon Oregon, the sky cleared up and the coast line was completely visible with beautiful blue skies. The only difference was that now it was really windy. The wind didn’t really bother us very much as it was going our way for the most part. We only rode 218 miles today and that was just one tank of gas (3.8g). When we filled up, we went less than a mile and found a place to stay in Gold Beach Oregon.
Once we were registered, we went over to Dairy Queen and had some ice cream. We went back to the motel and unloaded the bikes. I changed clothes and went over to the hot tub and Niko stayed behind to work on his part of the blog. The hot tub made me feel great and I worked on the blog when I got back. Niko had decided to go for a walk on the beach. I would have gone with him, but it seemed a little strange to me without Kathy.
Tomorrow the plan is to ride to the Grants Pass area via Agnes and Galice. Now I have been told that the rode is paved to Agnes but is gravel and dirt to Galice where it turns back to pavement. This is the kind of adventure that we wanted, so we will see how it goes. Thank you all for reading. Good Night.

Niko:
I woke reluctantly this morning as I did not sleep very well last night. I walked down to eat some breakfast and enjoyed a breakfast burrito, a muffin, an apple, and some toasted English muffin. Dad left and I saw the girl I met last night in the sauna, and talked to her over a cup of hot chocolate. Asked for her number, but had no luck. I went back to the room and began packing up.
I ended up running up and down the stairs to our room about four times for things that were still in it. We took off shortly, geared for mildly cold because of the deep grey sky above us. No heat gear today. We rode along a beautiful highway and turned at a road leading to Yaquina Head Lighthouse.
The lighthouse had a huge line, and rather than wait, I took the camera down to the tide pools at the base of the cliff. Found a baby crab the size of my thumb and several starfish. A dead sea-lion lie on the beach and many live ones about a hundred yards away. The massive rock pillars in the bay were covered in Muurs (odd black seagull looking birds).
We mounted back up and continued on down the road. We rode around Newport and saw my dad’s old house and elementary school. He also mentioned that he saw a kid his age get killed by a car on a specific street corner, and pointed it out as we went by the intersection.
After our mucking about around town, we rode over the elegant Newport Bridge, and stopped at the marine science center just on the other side of the bridge. Took quite a few pictures and touched a few tide pool critters while we were there, then got back on the road.
We rode down the road to Cape Perpetua, then visited the center there and ate some beef jerky and other snacks. Our bikes were parked precariously on a slope and I assisted dad with the awkwardly large F800. I just took a deep breath and jumped on without too much fuss.
We continued riding down the coast until we arrived in Coos Bay, and ate at Taco Bell. I was quite hungry and had a burrito supreme and the #3 combo (3 soft taco Supremes with drink). We checked the map because it was getting kind of late, and we wanted to get somewhere early for once!
We hopped back on and kept riding. We stopped in Bandon for a split second until dad re-read the sign he thought said salt water taffy, but actually said “soft serve Ice-cream”
I saw a real taffy place, but we just missed the turn and I wasn’t going to freak out dad by pulling off the road. I would like to find the ever elusive salt-water taffy on our route, because my mother made a tradition of finding a place between Seaside and Depoe Bay to buy taffy. We missed getting it there, but I’d like to find some before we leave the coastline to honor the tradition.
Immediately after Bandon, the clouds cleared completely and ELO’s song “Mr. Blue Sky” began playing in my head. Wind and sun exchanged itself for our cold and cloudy weather, and the change was quite welcome. We stopped for a picture of the nice weather and deep Blue Ocean we saw around the corner.
We stopped for gas in Gold Beach, and upon looking at the time; we decided to pack in for the night. We registered at a motel called Pacific Reef Resort, and then stopped at dairy queen for ice cream. Dad got an over flowing Blizzard, and I had an “extra-Large” vanilla cone.
We rode back and unpacked in minutes, and I began my blog as dad went to the spa. I soon tired of typing, and went for a walk on the beach. I found a few fist sized clear-gold Agates, and drew some things with a 4 foot long, 6 inch diameter piece of driftwood. Soon I found a group that built a nice fire. I talked with them and watched the sun go down as they all departed one by one.
I went back to ask dad to join me, but he worked on the blog instead. I stayed out, tending the fire until it was too dark to see five feet. That’s a problem when you’re six plus feet tall! I used my phone’s screen to navigate back, listening to frogs, the surf, and the foghorn buoy all the way back.
I wanted a shower right away to clean away the smoky scent, and shower I did. I am now finishing up this blog, and would like to say goodnight to our readers and followers. It is 12:30, and I’m getting tired.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

2010 June 27th:
Mark:
I didn’t sleep very well with thoughts of the coming day running through my mind. I woke right up with the alarm and quickly took a shower. I gathered my things and started to pack what I wasn’t going to wear. I got Niko going and he started his shower. Once I was dressed for riding, I started to load up the motorcycle with my stuff. I was having a difficult time putting all of it into the boxes on the bike. I had been wearing a lot of it before and now I wasn’t, so now it had to be packed. I managed to get everything loaded onto my bike and finally I was ready to go. Niko was almost ready too.
I said my goodbyes to Shawn and then we drove to the gas station next to the apartment complex and fueled up the motorcycles. I followed the GPS and it took us through a part of Portland that I had never been in. It took us through the west hills of Portland Oregon that overlooked the downtown area. We were heading toward US-30 in North Western Portland to meet up with Larry. He wanted to accompany us to the coast and join us for a ride. We met up at Jack in the Box so that we could all have some fast food breakfast and then headed out toward Astoria.
When we left the sky was filled with clouds and that kept the temperature lower than we would have liked it. It was below 60°F and stayed that way until well into the afternoon. I felt underdressed. I was wearing my Heat Gear, in hopes of warmer weather and the cool air was keeping me cold. I soldiered on and we reached Astoria and we went up to the Astoria Column. We parked the bikes and then I grabbed the camera and headed up the column. It only took a couple of minutes and I was overheated. I took a bunch of pictures and then we went down and moved the bikes in front of the column and took a few more pictures.
We left and went downtown to the Oregon Film Museum. Larry wanted to go see this attraction and we followed along. It was a very interesting place to visit.
We took off and headed over to the Fort Clatsop National Historic Monument to get a stamp in my passport. We saw the Fort and then we took off and rode down to Tillamook Oregon. We stopped at the Tillamook Cheese factory to sample some cheese and wander around for a few minutes.
When we left, we went down to Pacific City Oregon and found a place to eat some dinner. While waiting for our table, we spoke to many people about our trip. It seems that there are quite a few people who are interested in knowing what we are doing. Once we were seated, we met another individual who writes for a magazine and he gave us a copy. The magazine is called “Overland” and it is about people who travel to exotic places and their stories. Maybe Niko and I are the type of people that could have a story in this magazine.
Our meal was wonderful and it was also where we were to split up with Larry and go our separate ways. Larry took off back toward Portland and Niko and I headed south toward Lincoln City Oregon and found a place to stay. Our day on the coast was filled with beautiful weather, wonderful scenery and many interesting people.
We rode 221 miles today and found a nice place to stay. We spent some time in the pool and Jacuzzi after we got settled and then I took a walk up to the nearest grocery store and bought us some snacks. We have had a busy day and I’m tired. Thank You. Good Night.

Niko:
I was awoken from my insane dreams of legend of Zelda, and walked straight to the shower. I then packed for the day, wearing my heat gear with a thermal shirt over it. With farewells to Shawn and fresh gas in the bellies of our bikes, we rode on towards Jack in the Box on US-30 in North Western Portland to meet up with my wild uncle Larry. The road we rode to get there was unfamiliar and twisted, making for a great ride.
We ate and read a few comics before leaving, one worth mentioning was Dilbert. (Tech/computer service oriented, so I can relate.) My cousin Andy was also set to ride with us this morning, but he lost his keys this morning. I wish you luck on finding them. ^_^ We took off in the direction of Astoria as soon as our windshields were clean.
We passed the column in Astoria based on GPS directions, and there were even paintings on the ground pointing to the streets that lead to the Astoria Column. I noticed that the roads were quite steep here and occasionally freaky. Dad showed off a bit with a wheelie. I was nowhere near that confident in my skill for that. Not on that road.
Astoria Column was quite a sight as always, tall and ornate against a grey sky. The sky cleared as we climbed the 164 steps to the top. The view was great and good pictures were taken. A boy at the top was scared of dying by the tower collapsing if he stepped out into the open, and he kind of reminded me of myself at his age. So I helped him conquer his fear and when I left, he wanted to stay up there.
We continued on and visited the county jail where Goonies was filmed. There were many trinkets from the movie in multiple exhibits. I laughed when I saw all the names of movies filmed in Oregon on plastic movie markers, and only one of the eight displayed was broken… Twilight. On our way out of town, moving on to Fort Clatsop, we rode up the steepest hill I’ve ever been on with or without a vehicle (Roughly a 60+° hill). I honestly felt like I was going to fall backwards and tumble for half a mile.
Upon arrival at Fort Clatsop, Dad got his passport stamped, and I took pictures at the fort and the canoe wharf. A man was demonstrating a flintlock rifle when I was beckoned back by a motorcycle honk. We moved on down the road to Seaside. We wanted a picture on the coast, but the crowd was enormous, so we decided to bag the idea. Forward, to Tillamook!
Tillamook was extremely automated, and I only managed to find 6 workers in the factory rooms. And that was a full production day! Also, it was absolutely packed full of people. It was still cool, but so far from my childhood memory of visiting Tillamook years ago.
We soon moved onto Pacific City. We stopped at a nice brewery pub with a priceless view of Haystack rock called the Pelican. I ate the “Northwest Fish and Chips” and delighted in the fresh seafood (beer battered fresh snapper). Larry had to split, and so we had to wave him off at a turn down the road.
We rode as far as Lincoln city and got gas. We checked the time and decided to stop. We stayed at the Ashley Inn and Suites down the road for a mere $80+ dollars on a Sunday. It has turned out to be a wonderful place to stay, and we went to the indoor salt pool and spa to relax a bit. I met some nice girls and several families visiting from Portland. The dry sauna was set to over 240° F and I only managed 3 minutes before getting out, covered in sweat. I showered and we ate some fresh local strawberries and some “Phish Food” ice cream as we did the blog. I went down and snagged an orange Fanta before finishing this.
I am very tired right now, as it is almost 2, so I’m going to bed, goodnight and thank you for reading this blog.
2010 June 26th:
Mark:
I wanted to post a great big THANK YOU to all, for the extra special effort made for us. The following people went out of their way for us and I want to acknowledge their efforts:

Shawn, for giving us a place to stay. Valerie, for helping us with some laundry. Amy and Alex. Dave, for pizza. George and Silke. Kim and Sam for a wonderful lunch. My mother, Roger, Janet, JanaLee, Kathea, Jordan, and the wonderful dinner and raspberries we ate while we were there. Teresa, for holding a wonderful barbeque for us. Desiree and Jordan. Bizzy, for helping out with the barbeque. Tony, Andy, Nathan, and Josh. Judy and Jeanie. Dave and Nancy, for making a special effort to be at the barbeque. Larry and Ken. And finally, Barb, Teresa’s neighbor.

To have friends and family like this in our lives is truly a blessing. Thank You all so much.
2010 June 22nd:
Mark:
This morning we woke up with the sounds of other people waking up and getting ready to leave for work. There were several people staying at the hotel that were working nearby. Niko and I went to the kitchen area to eat our breakfast. This place had a really good breakfast for their guests. We both ate quite a bit and then we went back to our room to get packed up and ready for the day.
We loaded up the motorcycles and thanked the mangers for a great stay. Thank you, Kim and Dwight for a great stay at Crest Trail Lodge in Packwood Washington. Niko and I had decided to make another trek up to Mt Rainier NP and try to see a little more of the park. The sky was clear and the mountain was very prominent and visible early on.
We drove up to the park and stopped at the Visitor’s Center, but soon found out that it wasn’t open quite yet. The ranger was out hoisting the flag and we followed her in. She was happy to let us stamp our passport book. We had a look around and found several interesting items to check out. We headed out to take the drive up to the Visitor’s Center on the mountain.
We drove over to the road and right off we stopped to take a picture of a big waterfall. Being still on the motorcycle, I pulled the camera out of the tank bag and in the process some trash came out with it and fell onto the ground. I’m not one to litter in a National Park, so I bent down to pick it up. I retrieved the trash and stood back up. In doing so I somehow lost my balance and the motorcycle started to fall over. I was not able to regain control and down it went. I tumbled off and the tank bag spilled out all over the ground. Since I had the camera in my hand it never touched the ground and tumbled with me. I stood up and took the picture that I had stopped to take and then Niko and I picked up the bike. It was heavy and a lot more difficult to right than I expected but we were able to get it upright. Luckily nothing was damaged and the only thing hurt was my pride. I put everything back in the tang bag and then we mounted up and took off on our way up to the Visitor’s Center at Paradise Sunrise on Mt Rainier.
The elevation gain was well over 3000ft. and the views were spectacular. When we reached the end, we went into the Visitor’s Center and stamped the passport and then walked through the gift shop. We wandered around in the building and I was most impressed with the architecture. I grabbed the camera and took some pictures of the building and the bikes outside.
After looking at some of the exhibits, we saddled up and headed down the mountain. We stopped at another Visitor’s Center just before leaving the park and stamped the passport again. We then rode toward the road to Mt St Helens. When we got closer, we stopped and refueled the bikes. We grabbed a snack and then we took off up to Johnson Ridge to have a closer look at Mt St Helens.
I was having difficulty with other drivers since there seem to be an overly large amount of people driving 20 miles an hour under the speed limit. They didn’t want to pull into the slow moving vehicle turn outs either. It was very frustrating, but Niko and I arrived, and we were able to see the mountain fairly clear. There was a little cloud cover but not very much. We took a few pictures and then we walked through the building and then we headed back down the hill.
We stopped at the Visitor’s Center close to the interstate and grabbed something to snack on in the parking lot. We left and headed down towards Portland Oregon on the interstate and ran into a bunch of bad traffic when we arrived in Portland Oregon. We rode over to my good friend Shawn’s, and unloaded the bikes. We took off with Shawn and went to dinner and had a great meal with a good friend.
We will be staying here in Portland Oregon for the next couple of days, so there won’t be much in the way of travels. We have a lot to do during this period with friends and family members. We will try to keep posting though, Thank you.

Niko:
I woke tired, and got out to eat to solve the hunger issue and gain some energy. Had an egg, lots of sausage links, couple muffins, and some apple cider. After packing up, we headed back up to Mt Rainier National Park for stamps and a very twisty road. We stopped at the Visitor’s Center for a stamp, and saw a few cool taxidermies. The beautiful volcano was in full sight today, and we rode all the way to the top. Dad dropped his bike after entering the park after leaning to far over to pick up trash. I almost dropped mine because I thought my kickstand was down and tried to get off to help, but I saved mine from falling too. How silly I’d have been if I dropped mine too!
The Visitor’s Center at the summit was very elaborate, architecturally stunning, and full of information and gifts. The road down and out of the park was a blast, and I spent most of the time with the clutch in, coasting down the mountain. The trees were tall enough to give you vertigo, the ants about a half inch long, and most of the plants were edible (to an extent). Everything was covered in moss too. Ah, sweet Northwest.
We got out and moved on to Toledo Washington. We stopped for gas and got some Pringles because they just sounded good. We got back on the dead end road to Johnston Ridge at Mt St Helens and rode. We were constantly frustrated by people driving 20 to 30 mph under the speed limit of 50 to 55 miles an hour. We were surprised when we arrived at the ridge, because we both remember being there only ten years ago, and seeing only a bit of grass and shrubs here and there. There were four foot high trees now! Real growth after the catastrophe! Most of the downed trees that were prominent then were covered in overgrowth. Also, laws were now in place for a $100 fine for stepping off the path, to protect the flora.
We headed back after we got stamps and took some pictures, and I coasted down the mountain again. After we were out of the park and on our way to Portland Oregon, we both found ourselves falling asleep at the handlebars, so we stopped at the final Mt St Helens visitor center outside the park and ate some beef jerky to wake up. We rode into Portland Oregon and dealt with the insane traffic and idiot drivers we had expected to find as we came into downtown.
We are currently staying at dad’s friend Shawn’s and we’ll be in Portland Oregon for a few days to visit family, friends, and run some much needed errands… like getting new glasses. Our next few posts will be vague and lacking travel, so please bear with. I hope our daily writings have so far kept you entertained, and I have to get to sleep for it is late. Goodnight, dear reader.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

2010 June 21st:
Mark:
This morning we woke up at a decent time and went to get breakfast at the hotel. The complimentary breakfast was not very good with only carbohydrates and no proteins. We ate what we could and then went back to the room to pack up and leave.
The weather wasn’t being our friend this morning. It was rain hard and steady. Niko and I were getting soaked just getting things loaded up on the motorcycles. When we were ready we pulled out of the hotel and hit the interstate immediately. We rode about 30 miles and then had to stop for some fuel. We had escaped the rain by then, but we were wet and the temperature was a chilly 50°F. We rode for another 30 miles or so and then stopped at a Starbucks and got warm with a decaf coffee. Since we were now dried out and warmed up, we were able to ride for some real miles.
We stopped one more time for gas and another time for a short break, but main we kept going so that we could get to Touratech in Seattle Washington. Touratech specializes in parts for adventure rider type motorcycles. I wanted to order some parts from them before we left, but I was impatient and decided to just stop there on the trip and pick up what I wanted. They had several machines outfitted with their specialty parts in the showroom. This made it very easy to see what they had to offer.
When we left Touratech, we rode through Enumclaw Washington and then out around Mt Rainier. It was a very cloudy day and we couldn’t see the mountain until we came to this one viewpoint. It was like the clouds knew we were coming because they parted just long enough for us to see the pristine beauty and size of the mountain. We stopped for fuel in a small town called Packwood Washington. As we were leaving I was thinking that it was getting a little late and that another hour or more of riding was going to be very late for us. We came across this nice looking lodge and I pulled in to see what they charged for a night. The price was reasonable and the place was top notch so we stayed.
The day was productive since we made it to Seattle and then down around Mt Rainier. Our goal for tomorrow is to make it to Portland after stopping at Mt St Helens.

Niko:
This morning began with the sound of rain. A typical northwest day… rainy with no sun. After being ripped from my strange dreams, we walked over to breakfast and noticed they lacked anything to do with protein. Only doughnuts, waffles, juice, sugar oatmeal, fruit loops, and cold gravy. The bikes were loaded and we got on and left.
My jacket was soon wet from rain and my helmet fogged. The wind shot up my sleeves against wet fabric, making my arms freeze. I pushed through anyway, and we soon stopped for gas shortly after we broke past the rain cloud. We rode on and the wind was my blow dryer. We stopped for a couple decaf caramel macchiatos at Starbucks to warm up. We then got back on the freeway and ate up several more miles.
We stopped a couple more times on the way to Seattle, one being a rest area where we met a nice lady and her excited puppy. When we rolled into Seattle, a gravel road led us to Touratech’s Seattle location. Touratech had many fancy bikes on display and we purchased a few parts and a catalog -- and snagged a couple stickers for the bikes. A guy at Touratech complimented my helmet as we were leaving, and on we went towards Mt. Rainier.
Mt. Rainier National Park was beautiful, and full of wonderful forestry. I was wondering which peak was Rainier, until we rounded a crop of trees to a view of the majestic volcano. It towered over the other mountains near it, and was coated in ice. The gorgeous sight was soon gone again, and we wound the road down to a town called Packwood. We fueled at the local Chevron, and decided to head towards Centralia. As we rode out, I saw dad suddenly pull off into the lot of a hotel. I attempted to follow, but overshot. I thought to myself, “This is why my bike has knobby tires” and drove over the gravely grass on the side of the road. When I pulled in, dad remarked at how late it was and that this looked nice.
We checked in and found a nice pizzeria to eat at down the road. We had a medium veggie with pepperoni, and found it to be delicious and filling. We got ourselves back to the room and unpacked in minutes and watched “Gone in 60 Seconds” on Spike TV, then sat down to blog with an apple. I’ve taken so long typing this due to my talking, that dad has already gone to sleep. And there is no service out here for T-mobile, so I’ve got only sleep, myself. I must go now and do just that, and this will have to be posted tomorrow. Goodnight, all!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

2010 June 20th: Happy Father’s Day
Mark:
I fell asleep last night before Niko had finished with his portion of the blog. When I woke up this morning, the first thing I did was go back through the file that he had saved. I made a few quick changes and then I had some more saved the file and then I posted it. I woke up Niko and we went to get our breakfast that was being served in the hotel.
We had a rather late morning and we didn’t even get on the road until 10:30am. This was partially my fault because I ran into a fellow biker and major traveler in the parking lot and we exchanged information about our favorite roads. His name was Ken and he was from the San Francisco area. He was pointing out several different roads for us to go on and I in turn gave him a few great roads in the Rockies. I ended up spending far too much time talking to him and not enough time getting myself ready to go. I wish you safe travels, Ken. Thank you for the information.
I would also like to thank the staff at the Days Inn in Bozeman Montana, especially Marcia, she went out of her way to give me a bad time and to also make me feel welcome. I very much enjoyed the time spent while we were there. The rooms were nice, the cookies were great and the pool was wonderful, but the real topper was the big bucket of towels set out by the front door for bikers to wipe the dew off of their motorcycles in the morning. Now that’s hospitality!
Once we were on the road, we took the Interstate 90 west and rode until we needed gas and then we stopped at Butte Montana. I was way overdressed and I took off some layers and Niko saw a place selling Huckleberry Smoothies. We both thought that sounded really good. I told Niko that it being Father’s Day he should go over there and buy one for each of us. When he came back he was talking about the girl that worked there. I had to ask him if he got her number, and his answer was “No”. We drank the smoothies, which were excellent and then we got ready to ride again. Niko wanted to go back over to the smoothie place and get her number but instead he gave her a business card and thanked her for the great smoothie.
We got back on the Interstate and continued on riding until we needed gas again. We filled up in Superior Montana and right back on the road. Today was really just a travel day. We stopped a little later at a rest area to see about getting a map of Idaho. We asked an attendant and he had one for us. Just as we were about to leave a nice woman pulled up and had to tell us that we passed her back in Missoula Montana. She also explained that she was 86 and traveling across the country from North Carolina to British Columbia. We ended up talking to her for quite awhile because she was really talkative.
When we did go to leave, I led out and got back into traffic only to realize that Niko wasn’t behind me. I pulled over thinking that he had a hard time getting into traffic and would be along shortly. I started to get a little worried because he was taking so long and I decided to ride into the grass on the side of the interstate and go back to find him. It is easy for me to forget that I’m riding an adventure bike that is made for that type of riding. I got onto the concrete drainage ditch and rode back along the interstate until I saw him just starting to get into traffic. Niko pulled over and I drove up the side and back onto the road. We talked for a couple minutes and he told me that he forgot to put on his glasses and they ended up getting smashed. I was happy that he wasn’t hurt or crashed on the side of the road.
We rode until we came to Spokane Washington and then we stopped for something to eat. We found a place to stay and they worked on doing some maintenance on the motorcycles. Niko was reading the pamphlet about the city and found a restaurant named “Niko’s”. He wanted to go and find it and have some dinner there. We had just eaten and I certainly wasn’t hungry but I looked it up on the internet to find out how to get there. It turned out that it was about 10 city blocks away and so we left and went for a walk. When we got there we asked for a takeout menu and when we saw the prices decided to leave. We walked around in downtown Spokane Washington and found the giant Radio Flyer and heard a concert going on so we walked over by that. We headed back to the hotel and stopped to grab a shake on the way back.
We both talked about it being a rather uneventful day but a lot of things did happen, even though we didn’t take any pictures or shoot any video today. We put on 396 miles today. It was a good day and a great Father’s day despite the late start.

Niko:
Today began late and slow with a chef catered breakfast. We got out after ten by quite a bit, and got out on the interstate towards Spokane. The freeway actually wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be, seeing as wind didn’t quite start up yet. We dressed heavily, so the wind didn’t cut so easily into my clothes today. We stopped for gas after a long winding portion of freeway in a town called Butte. I noticed a sign across from the station we were at advertising “Real Huckleberry Smoothies!” Dad told me to get him one for father’s day, and I thought it actually sounded like a good deal. I ordered two from the beautiful Heather at the coffee stand and talked to her a little once we both finished. We got back on the road again and drilled on. There were a couple more uneventful gas stops, but mostly riding and more riding.
We stopped at a rest stop in Idaho for a map from a rest stop assistant. As we were leaving, an older lady pulled up next to us with a cat in the back. We asked to see her map for roads in Washington and talked for a while. Eventually we moved out and I kept thinking, “Wow! Rain made my visor so hard to see through!” then it donned on me… I forgot my glasses. I flashed my Brights to let dad know I was stopping, and turned around, using the emergency lane to get back, and searched the ground. I found them on the onramp crushed, twisted, and missing a lens. After a minute of cursing, I picked them up and rode back to see dad riding back towards me in a concrete drainage ditch off the side of the road. He regrouped with me and we rode to Spokane. Pulling out though, do remark that I pulled my first wheelie.
We arrived in Spokane valley and stopped at Jack in the Box for dinner. Two punk drivers pulled into the lot too fast and came close to hitting the BMW, but turned just in time. They came in with baggy pants and smoking, thinking they were cool, but we settled for “they’ll see the light.” We found a Days Inn in Spokane and unpacked. We then went for a walk downtown and found a restaurant called Niko’s. Imagine that! An expensive Greek restaurant. We saw the sights, had a laugh, got shakes, and went back to our room. Our night reached its end and I must say a good night to all.
2010 June 19th:
Mark:
We had some rude people in the campground last night and because of their rudeness I didn’t get much sleep. These people pulled into their site at around 12:30am and left the diesel truck running and the headlights shining right into our tent. I actually got up and walked over to the restroom and when I had come back to the tent the people were gone and the truck was dark and silent. These same people saw fit to wake us up at 5:30am with their noisy truck and their talking. They left after a few minutes but it was too late for me as I was wide awake.
I got up and did some picking up around our campsite, but it didn’t take very long before I was getting a little chilled. I got back into the tent and my sleeping bag to warm up. I never did go back to sleep because there were some others that were up and making noise. I woke up Niko and we started to pack up the stuff in the tent just as we heard raindrops hitting the tent. The rain didn’t last long and nothing got wet enough to worry about. We put on our riding gear and then I fired up the little stove and boiled some water. We had brought along some instant oatmeal and some instant hot chocolate. After we ate that we also had an energy bar and that was a good breakfast. We cleaned up and then finished packing and we were ready to go by about 8:30am.
We drove over to the visitor’s center to get a stamp in the passport, but they weren’t open quite yet. Since I’m not one to wait around, we drove off and we were in Yellowstone National Park about 5 minutes later. After a brief encounter with the Park Ranger at the entrance gate, we were on our way through the park. We saw so much wildlife it is hard to remember it all. There were Bears, Elk, and Bison by the hundreds, a lone muskrat and birds I have never seen. On two separate occasions a single bison was trapped on the road and didn’t know where it could go. It was too steep on either side of the road and with cars in both directions blocking the road. On the first occasion we were just riding along and came around a corner and here is a bull Bison in the road, confused and not sure what to do. We stopped and started to back up to give the big guy some room so that he could get by us without panicking and charging us. He was way bigger than we were and we didn’t want him to get scared. He was already starting to panic and didn’t know which way he could go. Once he realized that we weren’t a threat, he moved on by us and headed on down the road behind us.
We stopped at Old Faithful and just as we were arriving we saw this plume of steam rise in the air. I thought that this was great since this allowed us some time to park and to go through the buildings. We got the passport stamped and then we went through the grand lodge. We grabbed some snacks from the bikes and then went to sit down and wait. Old Faithful went off about 3 minutes later than they predicted and erupted for about 5 minutes. Afterward, we took the walk around the other geysers. We were both still dressed for riding in the cold and we were extremely over heated in the sun without any wind. We went back to the bikes and got back on the road.
Since this was a Saturday on a holiday weekend, I think that the traffic was more than we expected. We rode over to Lower Falls and did the trip to see all of the lookouts and we took pictures at all of them. We stopped at the visitor’s center at Canyon Village and got the passport stamped again. We headed toward the North entrance of the park so that we could find a place to stay. Once we were out of the park we drove to Livingston Montana and we ate some dinner. We decided to take a quick run up the freeway to Bozeman Montana where we found a great place to stay.
The ladies at the front desk were very nice and supplied us with freshly baked cookies. We both used the pool and the hot tub and sauna for a few minutes.
The day was very lazy as we only traveled 212 miles all day with many stops. I doubt that we would have even gotten that far if it wasn’t for the 75 miles we rode after the park. We got to Bozeman Montana around 7:30pm, so this turned out to be a rather long day.

Niko:
I woke this morning to moist, cold feet and the sound of rain and birds. The rain only lasted a couple minutes, but we got out to dry the tent after it stopped and within minutes we were both freezing. We packed up quickly, cooked up oatmeal and drank hot chocolate. I was so anxious to get something hot in my stomach; I burned my tongue on the hot chocolate. We finished up, geared up, and got on and rode over to the lodge for stamps, but it was closed.
On the road again! Riding up towards Yellowstone was pretty, but not near as pretty as when we arrived. I walked up a path near a waterfall at the entrance that dad decided to skip, and about wore myself out doing so with my boots on. Later, we got to Old Faithful and the nearby “Old Faithful Inn,” which had amazing architecture. We had about an hour, so we did passport stamping, and grabbed food at the bike, and the camera to catch Old Faithful in action. It was a few minutes late and several minutes long, and definitely stunning. We visited some other smaller geysers nearby and walked too far for what we wore. After all was done, we got back on the bikes and rode on the route to Lower Falls. A stop was made in canyon village to check the map, get a stamp, and look for water. Water was a bust, but we hopped on and moved out.
Lower falls was quite a dizzying sight to behold. With sheer cliffs on either side of the lookout paths, we kept to the center of paths as much as possible. A girl with purple tipped blonde hair gave me googly eyes at one stop. We were soon tired of stopping every five minutes, and rode on. Two separate times, bison got trapped on the road, and the first time, I rode in too hot and got too close for comfort to a very scared bison maybe two or three times the size of my bike and I. I backed off to make him feel a little braver and move on and it slowly worked.
Stopping frequently became normal and we were hardly moving through the park at any respectable pace, but we got out and were on our way to Livingston Montana! We arrived at the small, sleepy town and stopped at Taco Johns for food, then moved on via the dreaded freeway to Bozeman Montana. We got rained on during the ride here, and I remarked that it was my first rainy-ride experience. This wonderful Days Inn was full of amenities like an indoor pool, dry sauna, fresh cookies, a large room, and chef catered breakfast for tomorrow. We just drank some creamy hot chocolate and are settling in to sleep. I’m also getting quite tired, so sleep is sounding quite nice. Good night, reader.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

2010 June 18th:

Mark:

We woke up this morning to a beautiful clear blue sky. The air was crisp with the temperature only 46°F. We were staying at a hotel that served breakfast so we got dressed and went to eat. We ate as much as we could. We went back to our room and started to pack up our belongings for another day of riding. We both got dressed for riding in the cold but once we started riding, we realized that it wasn’t quite enough. We had to pull over and put on glove liners to keep our hands from freezing.
We rode until we stopped for gas and we both wanted some real gloves for the cold. I asked a couple of the people at the gas station if they knew of any places that sold motorcycles or ATV’s. One guy pointed us in the right direction and we drove over to this place that sold snowmobiles. It was however a bust because they didn’t have any gloves that fit. The people at the snowmobile place suggested that we go to this outdoor place, but they only had gloves for skiing. We gave up and went back to riding. By the time we made it to Jackson, Wyoming the air temperature had warmed up enough that it didn’t matter anymore, at least not for today.
We stopped at the visitor’s center and stamped the national park passport, and then headed out of town. Somehow, and I’m not sure how, we made a wrong turn and ended up about 50 miles off of our route. We had stopped for fuel and I was looking at a map and saw that we weren’t where I thought we were. We turned around and rode back the way we came. The ride was wonderful and the scenery was great, but we lost about 2 hours.
We arrived back at Grand Tetons NP and found a campground to camp in. On our way through the park we saw many different wild animals. There was a bear, moose, and a couple of elk. We stopped and took a lot of pictures and I know that Niko was shooting a lot of video today. Once we found a campground, we setup the tent and got out the little stove that I bought before we left. We heated up some water and had some good old freeze dried food for dinner. The really funny thing about this camping thing is that I have never camped out with Niko at anytime during his childhood. This will be a different experience for sure.
Yesterday Niko and I put on 455 miles during our journey and today we stopped so many times that our mileage was only 342 today. Tomorrow we are intending to make it through Yellowstone NP. I have my doubts, but we will see.
Everything has been going very well with Niko and I. We seem to be getting along very well almost better than ever before. I know that the experience of this journey will be an important segment in both of our lives. I know that I have been enjoying it a lot.
It is starting to get dark now and I will have to post this at another time.

Niko:
This morning began with a nice breakfast of waffles, bacon, a hardboiled egg, and a swig of coffee, combined with the entertainment of Morgan actively replacing syrup, milk, and the like. We heard it was going to be very cold today, so we dressed in the thermal clothes we had packed little of. We quickly got on the road and rode north quickly, getting miles in before any headwind decided to whip us around. We arrived at a small town for gas because I had run out and we both were due. We both had cold hands and wanted some windproof gloves but after tons of searching we found none and dad settled for liners with rubber gloves under his gloves and I put a liner under the glove of my coldest hand… we only had three liners, you see. We actually felt a lot better with just that, since it had warmed up since then. We rode to Jackson and searched for a motorcycle shop to find gloves, but alas, there was nothing. So, on we rode to Grand Tetons NP!
When we got to Grand Tetons, we didn’t see any mountains as we rode up the hilly road and began to wonder where the Tetons were. Suddenly we rolled around a corner and they appeared suddenly, sharp and crisp against the sky. We rode through the park and took a right at Moran junction and rode over a cold winding pass to Dubois. When we arrived, we realized we should have turned left at Moran junction. So we rode all the way back… only much faster.
When we got back, we rode north to Flagg Ranch in the John D Rockefeller memorial parkway and camped because cabins were extremely expensive. We ate a freeze dried beef stroganoff (which was delicious, especially compared to the sour taste in my mouth after seeing plates at a restaurant priced near 20-33 dollars a plate! So a six dollar freeze dried meal and a protein bar was gourmet! We started a fire with old damp logs from unused sites and the smoke got rid of the swarm of mosquitoes. We talked with our camping neighbors, Jill, Keith and their kids, who were fun to chat with. I saw a bat flapping aimlessly just before the sun went down. Now I’m well ready to sleep and get warm again. It’s very cold here and our fire went out, so goodnight dear reader.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

June 17th:
Mark:
I realize that this is the first posting to this blog in over a year. This last year has been very significant in many ways. My spouse, Kathy, had been suffering from cancer for many years. She finally succumbed to this dreaded disease on May 3, 2010. She suffered for many years and now I know that she is finally at peace and no longer living in pain.
I have been extremely busy since my return home with helping her through her illness and after her passing, with many of the details that are involved with that. The trip which covers the time frame from April 14, 2009 to May 22, 2009, was an escape granted to me for the sake of my sanity. I only left because her health was at a point where she could care for herself and she wanted me to have some relief.
With all of the many details that I have been involved with recently finally coming to a close, my son Niko and I purchased new motorcycles and have planned another trip. From our home in Centennial Colorado we decided to go up through Yellowstone NP and then on to Seattle; from there down the coast stopping in Portland to visit friends and family. Back to the coast and down toward San Francisco. This is all tentative and the plans are being worked out as we go. We have many sites that we want to visit and many people along the way to visit also.
For the past few weeks Niko and I have been working on preparing the two bikes for this journey. Today we left and rode through Steamboat Springs, Colorado and then north into Wyoming, stopping for the night in Rock Springs, Wyoming. Somehow the good ole GPS led us out of Steamboat to a gravel road that ended at a gate and the rest of the road was “Closed for the Season”. In order to continue on we had to back track back to Steamboat Springs which cost us over 2 hours of time and 55 miles out of our way. This was very fun and we saw some beautiful scenery and we would have continued on if the gate wasn’t locked.
We met some people coming from Yellowstone NP at a gas stop, and they said that it was snowing there when they left this morning. We are headed for Yellowstone tomorrow and hope that we don’t run into any issues with cold weather. We are prepared with the proper clothing but if the roads are covered we will have to change our plans to keep moving.
One of the many things that Niko and I have been working on is the actual website for us. I bought the site www.motovoyager.com late last fall and this is currently being forwarded to the blog address. When the site is up and running there will be a link to the blog. If for any reason someone would want to send an email to either Niko or myself, please feel free to do so at motovoyager@gmail.com.
We have many more journeys planned for the future and we hope that you will join us as we tell the story. Thank you so much,
Mark.

June 17
Niko:
My day started with bit of a bad omen. I left my KLR 650 in neutral as I attempted to put it on the kickstand for pictures and the bike fell in my arms. Oddly enough though, it did not hold true for the day. My riding had improved greatly from this morning and by mid-day I was riding dirt road as if I had for weeks. The camera on my helmet is a new addition to Moto Voyager as I am, though we are still working on getting videos from my helmet camera to an easily accessible format. We rode a wonderful road that I enjoyed more than any other ride so far, after coming out of Steamboat; we wound up a lazy curve road and turned onto a bumpy dirt road that proved challenging, yet not hard. We got the bikes dirty and ended up heading back to Steamboat Springs due to road closure. We ate some lunch and headed out toward the dreaded interstate 80 freeway. We encountered a frightening cross wind that turned headwind. We stopped for a moment to stretch and relax in the middle and I lay down on the warm dirt to relieve the cold ache the wind was doling out. At last we arrived in Rock Springs Wyoming to stay for the night at Days inn where the lovely Morgan set up a room for us. We headed to Applebee’s for some much needed food, and then worked our way back to the room to retire.