Flyin' & Whinin'

We're planning a 600-mile round trip ride from Idaho to central Washington using the excuse of going over for the wine country tours. It's really just a reason to go for an overnighter.
Thanks to the recent law change in Idaho, freeway speeds are now 80 mph! It won't last long, as Oregon and its Gestapo is a measly 50 miles from here. Oh, well.

Here I am the evening prior, working up a genuine sweat polishing:


As this'll be my first attempt at uploading pictures on the road, please bear with me. The learning curve gets steeper every year!

Nathan

Took me 3 years to learn by myself, to upload and still cant do exactly what i want.. I know where you can borrow a tripod if you want. :lol: :lol: :lol: Just joking...

Good luck with 600miler.....

olChris said:

I know where you can borrow a tripod if you want. :lol: :lol: :lol: Just joking...

Click to expand...

Yeah, that was my very first attempt at a "selfie". Please note the lack of toilet in the background as so many seem to have... :x

I'll get a shot tomorrow morning as we blast off.

Nathan

Drive safe and have a great time.

Well, I didn't spend much time on the road trying to upload images. I can actually do it now, but, with the tiny screen of my cell phone and my tired eyes, adding text just ain't worth the trouble.

We made it back home safe and sound, with the only "casualty" being my cell phone charger and cable left in the hotel.

Here are the first two contestants in my driveway; my good friend Russ...


...and myself.


The gang next to the bikes while others fuel up. Yes, we had two non-conformists that rode in their shiny metal box. Don't worry; they were regularly reminded about what wusses they were.


Looking out the window of a local pub up in our final destination in Walla Walla. We just beat this storm in, and that water's coming clear up over the curb onto the sidewalk. Pictures don't do it justice!


Washington State is one of the more liberal states in the U.S., so it was rather comical to see this on the back of a car there. As with most areas around here, the bulk of the population lives in the major metropolis along the coast with all its politics, while the rest of the state just tries to live out their lives on their own, undisturbed.


All tired out after that long ride in the car. Aw-w-w


Shawn, arguably the scruffiest one of the lot, decided to put up a new set of duds at the local thrift store. Here he is, getting ready to throw himself into one of his famous "Zoolander" poses.

I'll try to finish up my story tomorrow.

Nathan

You look good alongside the Norton, Nate.
Positively Spudly!

Glen

worntorn said:

You look good alongside the Norton, Nate.
Positively Spudly!

Glen

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Why, thank you!

"Spudly"; hm-m-m. Most of the spuds around here are rather shapeless blobs of organic matter, so I'm not quite sure how to respond to this. :lol:

Notice I'm standing behind the Norton so as to allow it more exposure to the viewing public. She's my #2 sweetie!

So, here we are at the top of the Blues out of Elgin on Highway 204.
At legal speeds, it's a wonderful ride for the cruisers, and a very enjoyable afternoon stroll for the Norton. Turns are nicely supered, there's very little traffic as most everyone else takes the freeway, and chipmunks and the occasional deer are the only real concern.


At the summit overlook, with only Harleys, Hondas, and BMWs for company. I love it!

Looking south-west across the Oregon Umatilla Indian Reservation. Can you guess which are the two that aren't riding motorcycles? :mrgreen:


One the return trip, early-morning cool air and its associated crisp throttle response, coupled with virtually no traffic, brought out the worst in me. As expected, I had to turn the screw, but I did manage to keep it under 100 (just). It didn't last long, and nothing popped out in front of me. The cruisers properly chastised me, but I was grinning too big to put on the appropriate submissive act that I should have. Bunch of babies!!! Don't worry, guys; it's all about knowing when and where....

Back home, and she took me to work the next morning without one gripe. The minor head to jug oil seep is now almost wrapped clear around the jug, so I guess the head will be coming off this fall as planned.

I'll end the photos with a shot of one form of weirdness that you can find all over the west coast. I would never have guessed by the sign that this is a used record shop, specializing in old vinyl and 8-tracks.

If you look up his web sight, don't be fooled by the clean isles and bright lights. The place looked like my dad's garage after living in the same place for 36 years. My kind of place!

Hopefully, next Spring, we'll be going to some of the parks in Utah for pictures of the crazy rock formations. That, or my wife Allison thinks I should take the Norton down to the Salt "just to see how fast it'll go". If you haven't guessed already, Allison's my #1 sweetie!

Nathan

Nice ride you went on.
I see you did get in some whale watching while you at the coast. :shock:

All tired out after that long ride in the car. Aw-w-w


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As a resident of the farther reaches of NW Washington (about 90 miles north of Seattle and about 70 road miles (50 crow-fly miles) from the border, I often think we have more in common with the Eastern WA folks than the Seattle yuppies.

Anacortes is a town of about 18,000 people, primary industry is ship-building (from big tugs and navy research ships to pleasure craft and expensive motor yachts). We recently had an embarrassing incident where a brand new $10M motor yacht rolled over and sank immediately after being launched.

It's one of the friendliest towns we've ever lived in and the climate is great (from an ex-pat Brit's point of view). We get about 40% more sunny days, 40% less rain than the Seattle metro area, and the high temperatures at the height of summer rarely exceed 75F. Having a large bay just south of us that is 350 feet deep and is predominantly fed by snow-melt may have something to do with that! Last winter, we had just a half-inch of snow one day and it was gone by dinner time. I'll only leave this place in a wooden overcoat!

frankdamp said:

As a resident of the farther reaches of NW Washington (about 90 miles north of Seattle and about 70 road miles (50 crow-fly miles) from the border, I often think we have more in common with the Eastern WA folks than the Seattle yuppies.

Anacortes is a town of about 18,000 people, primary industry is ship-building (from big tugs and navy research ships to pleasure craft and expensive motor yachts). We recently had an embarrassing incident where a brand new $10M motor yacht rolled over and sank immediately after being launched.

It's one of the friendliest towns we've ever lived in and the climate is great (from an ex-pat Brit's point of view). We get about 40% more sunny days, 40% less rain than the Seattle metro area, and the high temperatures at the height of summer rarely exceed 75F. Having a large bay just south of us that is 350 feet deep and is predominantly fed by snow-melt may have something to do with that! Last winter, we had just a half-inch of snow one day and it was gone by dinner time. I'll only leave this place in a wooden overcoat!

Click to expand...

As far as I'm concerned, the Seattle/Portland megalopolis can float right out to sea, and take New York City with them!

Find me a little patch of land, and I'll be there. Besides, you have one of the world's premier stretches of highway just to the east of you over the Cascades.

Nathan