July 18, 2022 - Georgetown, CO - 233 miles

The day before yesterday we rode from Ontario to Susie's brother Joe's place in Salt Lake City. It was hot; getting over 100 degrees. SLC has grown since I last visited and traffic was solid even on a Saturday. 

Yesterday we rode from SLC to Rangely, CO. It is a small town off the beaten path but we liked it. We stayed at the Blue Mountain Inn and Suites and we can recommend it - it is not fancy but they do the basics and little things right. Very clean, nice sized room, indoor swimming pool, dispensers of ice tea and ice water when checking in, basic self-serve breakfast and a very nice Ace Hardware/Food Market right next door all for under $100.00 a night.

Along the way we stopped to visit the Dinosaur National Monument and touched real dino bones. They have a very cool indoor exhibition called the Quarry Exhibit Hall showing dinosaur bones as they found them. It was also cool in temperature which saved my butt because it was another very hot day reaching over 100 degrees. We made a lot of stops drinking water and dousing our clothes with water which helped keep us a little cooler when riding. We also rode through the town of Dinosaur, Colorado. 

Today we had a nice ride to Georgetown,  CO mainly on I-70 reaching over 11,000 feet elevation crossing Vale Pass. There were several construction sites slowing traffic but it kept moving and temps were in the 70s which was great. We have a really nice room at Hotel Chateau Chamonix for 2 nights and maybe 3 depending on how we feel.

Tomorrow we hope to ride to the top of Mt. Evans at over 14,000 feet elevation. We had to reserve and pay for a time slot due to crowd control. Quite a few places are doing that.

Saying goodbye for now to brother Joein Sal Lake City 

Entrance to the Dinosaur National Monument 

Exterior of the Quarry Exhibit Hall 

Inside the Quarry Exhibit Hall exposing real dinosaur bones 

Susie making sure they used the proper scientific names for the dinosaur bones 

Me verifying carbon dating of dinosaur bone

Susie wondering if the Allosaurus was as fast as our motorcycle 

Fun facts

Allosaurus skull

Live stegosaurus 

Susie took this today while riding at 80 mph (the legal speed limit)

The GS parked outside our Georgetown hotel

July 15, 2022 - Ontario, OR - 370 miles

We were on the bike and moving by 8:30am this morning. Our ride took us through the high desert of eastern Oregon averaging around 4,500 feet above sea level. Temperatures hit 100 degrees by the afternoon and stayed there until 4:30pm when we arrived in Ontario, Oregon. We had full sun all day. The humidity was low by Florida standards but it was still hot. We took several breaks and doused ourselves with water helping us stay cool for maybe 30 minutes until all the water evaporated. 

The roads we took were 2-laned secondary non-Interstate and in pretty good shape overall. Some of the views were expansive, looking miles in both directions with low vegetation, like sagebrush, and very few trees. 

Several times today we rode through swarms of grasshoppers. They plastered themselves on the bike's windshield, our helmet faceshields and all over our riding gear. They even stung a little when they smacked into our arms and hands.

Since we had no internet access for the last 2 days I have included some pictures below from our ride to Crater Lake 2 days ago. Even in person the blue color of the lake seems artificial. It is a deep blue almost florescent. The contrast between the blue lake, patches of white snow, dark brown of the surrounding mountains, topped off with the blue sky and fluffy white clouds is spectacular. 

Tomorrow we continue east probably visiting Susie's brother Joe in Salt Lake City. Temperatures will hit triple digits again so we plan on getting an early start and taking lots of hydration breaks.

Short video by Susie of Crater Lake she took from the back of the bike

https://youtu.be/5uUnecniKc4

Short video of Crater Lake taken from a viewing area

https://youtu.be/IuFN1B4EJCo

Crater Lake 

Riding around Crater Lake taken by Susie while riding

Proof we were at Crater Lake

It happens every year

The busiest place at Crater Lake - the souvenir shop

After visiting Crater Lake we had lunch at the Diamond Lake Resort and I took a dip in Diamond Lake. It felt great.  We really liked the low key feel of the DL Resort and would probably stay there if we ever go back.

Diamond Lake Resort 

Today in the boonies

While riding today we came across areas  of free range, unfenced cattle 

This guy never moved an inch, even as we rode around him

July 12, 2022 - Roseburg, OR - 287 miles

We started off the day packing and straightening up the Airbnb. All of us then met for coffee, said our fairwells and hit the road. I have been following a coffee/ motorcycle shop in Portland for a long time and decided to stop there on our way out of town. We had a chance to chat with Thor Drake, the founder and owner of See See Motor Coffee Co. It's a different kind of motorcycle shop with a kitchen and coffee cafe plus motorcycle gear.

After talking with Thor we decided to ride out to Mt. Hood and Timberline Lodge. Timberline Lodge is a mountain lodge on the south side of Mount Hood in Clackamas County, Oregon, about 60 miles (97 km) east of Portland. Constructed from 1936 to 1938 by the Works Progress Administration, it was built and furnished by local artisans during the Great Depression. Timberline Lodge was dedicated September 28, 1937, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. (Wikipedia) 

Next we headed south to our hotel in Roseburg. The next 2 nights we will be staying in Prospect, OR and visiting Glacier Lake. After that we don't know what we are going to do other than probably start heading east.

Mt. Hood

CD, Connor and Mary coffeeizing 

Amy, Rebecca and Joe enjoying some joe

Axel trying to not have his picture taken

Poor picture of Thor Drake of See See Motor Coffee Co.

See See

See See 

Snowboarding at Mt. Hood

Timberline Lodge 

Timberline Lodge 

From our hotel room in Roseburg 

July 11, 2022 - Portland, Oregon

Tonight is our last night in Portland before we head south to Crater Lake. Our niece CD and her wife Mary had a beautiful wedding at Camp Coltin southeast of Portland. The wedding ceremony was held outside with a wonderful reception in a large meeting area. There were 120 attendees. 

CD and Mary wedding dance

https://youtu.be/QNUqJKjRzss

The happy newlyweds 

Susie and her brother Joe

Sam, Max (acting goofy) and Sooz

Part of Camp Coltin 

Before the wedding ceremony 

Before the reception 

Sam and his girlfriend Miranda 

Mt. Hood from the Portland City Grille on the  30th floor 

CD's grandmother Juanice with Miranda 

Sooz and me on the dance floor 

July 6, 2022 - Portland, Oregon - 170 miles

We landed at our Airbnb in Portland at 4pm today. We will be here for 6 days attending our niece's wedding and goofing off. I'll take the bike in for a 6,000 mile service Friday to the local BMW motorcycle shop. We have put a total of nearly 10,000 miles on the bike so far since leaving Gainesville and it needs an oil change and checkover. The tires look good.

Our Portland Airbnb 

July 5, 2022 - Packwood, WA - 240 miles

Our stay at the Sun Mountain Resort was great. The entire property is beautiful. It rained most of yesterday which was fine since we didn't need to do anything but rest up, which we did. Yesterday was the first day since I left on May 24th that I didn't ride the motorcycle. 

Tomorrow we ride to Portland where we have rented an Airbnb for 6 days. Our son Sam and his girlfriend Miranda arrive tomorrow night and our son Max gets in early Friday morning on a red-eye flight from Orlando.  Our niece CD is getting married Saturday so we will have a nice family get-together.

The evening skies at Sun Mountain Resort were beautiful 

Lobby of The Sun Mountain Resort 

From our dinner table last night

Now we are looking out for rattlesnakes instead of moose

Resort property 

We are in the land of Bigfoot and I am on the lookout