Day 8, Eastern Oregon

We left Pasco this morning after breakfast at IHOP. Crossed over the Columbia River where they had the Columbia Cup Hydroplane races over the weekend.

Those are the cranes they use to lift the boats in and out of the river.

We decided to travel down the Washington side of the river. That's Larry directly behind us. We tried to avoid any highways on this trip and travel back roads when possible. The Washington side of the Columbia Gorge is a little more scenic and interesting to ride.

We're coming into Biggs Junction where we will cross over into Oregon to follow Hwy 97 down to Sisters.

They were cutting the wheat fields today. There are three combines lined up in the field. So, we started singing "America the beautiful", you know, amber waves of grain, purple mountain's majesty. So, what's a "fruited plain?"

We traveled into the beautiful little ghost town of Shaniko and tried to have lunch. But, there is no place to eat here, so we just got off the bikes and walked around the 1 block of "town". Ron and I stopped here on our honeymoon traveling from Pendelton to Disneyland.

Trying to find a shady spot. It was about 100 degrees today.

We drove on down the road to Madras and had lunch at the Black Bear diner. Really good food.

Larry and Kathy at the Black Bear. They were in Pasco when we got there and traveled back with us.

Not sure what this look is all about. After leaving Madras we went another 20 miles or so and then turned off Hwy 97 at Terrabonne to go the last 20 or so on back roads.

A little oasis in the desert.

We passed an Alpaca ranch and these were all the babies. So cute.

There are the Sisters Mountains.

We got the most beautiful cabins at the Five Pine Resort in Sisters. This is the main office.

Front lobby.

This is our cabin, #11. They all have fireplaces, waterfall tubs, flat screen tv, patios with wildflowers surrounding the cabins. Beautiful.

We love this store in Sisters. We get our hot pickled okra here.

Kathy standing on front of the wagonful of flowers.

Sue and I had to have our picture taken too.

After a dip in the pool and a relaxing time in the hot tub, we all met at the 3 Creeks Brewery and Restaurant right on the resort property for dinner. By this time Mike and Jackie had joined us for the evening and the ride home tomorrow. We're staying in this beautiful place as long as we can, we don't have to check out till 11. And then it's off to the coast and home.

Day 7, Sunday in Pasco

It's Sunday and we went to a really cool church that a lot of my family now attends. They are in a strip mall and it's done really nice. Great worship, lots of interaction from the crowd and good preaching. We all really enjoyed it. Bob went to my home church to preach this morning and then on to Prosser to preach tonight.

Then it was on to "Cousins" restaurant, with my cousins, for lunch.

After church tonight we all gathered at my cousins house for dinner and catching up. We've had a great time in Pasco, but we're ready to get on the road again! We meet in the morning at 8 am at IHOP and then leave for Sisters. We're trying to beat the heat. Hope it's cooler in Sisters than it has been here, hovering at 100 degrees.

Day 6, White Pass

We left Morton this morning with blue skies and warm weather, crossing over the pass toward Eastern Washington. This is Mt. Rainier.

We're nearing the summit here with snow on the Cascades in the distance.

We've reached the summit of White Pass and Ron is telling stories of his past, can you believe that? Notice Bob is still wearing black socks.

Coming down the mountain on the East side, the trees are getting fewer but you get to follow this river for most of the way. Still beautiful.

We stopped in Yakima at the famous Miner's for a BIG burger. So warm we ate outside. You might notice some new faces. My cousin Craig and his sister, an old friend, and Larry met us in Yakima for lunch and to ride to Pasco with us.

No, this is not the typical housing in Eastern Washington, but we were on the Yakima Indian Reservation. It's a campground and you can rent the teepees if you want the real experience.

Yes, we're still in Washington, the Evergreen State! The only green on this side of the state is in the fields. I think we made a wrong turn and ended up in Iowa or Nebraska or some other corny state. We rode through miles and miles of crops.

That's all five of the bikes riding in front of us. Fun riding in a group. They had all ridden in large groups before so they knew all the rules, made it a lot easier to ride together.

Made a little stop in Prosser, Washington where Ron spent his formative years as a young teenager. His dad pastored this little church in the 60's and will be preaching here on Sunday night.

That's my home, we're coming into the Tri-Cities.

My cousins hosted a barbeque for all of us. That's my mom, Aunt Adrenia, Sue and Kathy enjoying the warm summer evening.


Bob and Larry with Craig. We had a great time, got to visit with family members we haven't seen in quite a while. We have a break here today and will be back on the road tomorrow, but we'll probably have a little blog tonight, so stayed tuned.

Day 5, Oyster Run, Pudget Sound

We started the morning leaving Anacortes going south. Our first stop was at Deception Point.

Isn't it beautiful?

We walked up on the bridge to look at the fantastic view. We're way up there!

Then on toward the Port Townsend Ferry. We arrived at 10:30 and got in line to leave at Noon. Just about a 30 minute trip to Port Townsend.

There were 12 bikes getting on board.

After leaving the Ferry we headed south along Hwy 101 toward Olympia. Great ride, we enjoyed every mile of it. By the way, Lilliwaup & Humptulips? Who named these poor towns. Someone in Washington State is laughing, hard.

Our next stop was at 4 p.m. at Cabelas in Lacey, Washington. This was the highlight for Bob and Ray!

Grampa is pretending to "feed" the stuffed deer. He's so cute!

This is the display at the front of the store. Pretty cool.

From there we took back country roads heading toward Morton for the night. Fun ride, lots of curves and turns and wide open roads without a lot of traffic. So much better than the freeway. Warm, too. We stopped Alder Lake for some Dam pictures. Ron refused to take the Dam tour though. All this part of the trip was in the shadow of Mt. Rainier. It was a beautiful clear warm day and the mountain was really shining.

Our last stop was in Morton at about 8 p.m. The weather was still warm and the night was beautiful. Looking forward to going across White Pass tomorrow.

Day 4, Victoria, BC

Got up early and in line for the ferry to Victoria by 7:15.

I just don't know what to say about this photo. I'm speechless.
Except that Donna would be horrified!

Getting ready to load up. They actually put motorhomes, a city bus and a semi truck and trailer on this boat!

Ron and Ray riding onto the Ferry.

Caught Ray snoozing. It was only a 90 minute ride.

We're about to dock in Victoria.

There I am standing in front of the beautiful Empress Hotel.

The gang

Across the street from the Empress is the Parliment Building. It's outlined with lights, beautiful at night.

The rotunda inside the Parliment Building.

Time to eat, again. Lunch at a bistro on the waterfront.

Then it was on to Butchart Gardens. The weather couldn't have been more perfect today.
The sunshine really showed off the colorless legs against those black socks. Ron is buying him white short socks tomorrow.

Beautiful Begonias

Ravishing Roses. . .oh and me

Ron is gazing. It's a gazing ball. What else can you do with it. I'm sure he's wishing he was anywhere else but a garden.

This looks like a postcard, but it's not. It's just my amazing photo taking techniques, I'm sure.

This is the Ferry from Sydney to Anacortes, Washington. It's a 2 1/2 hour trip.

A stop in Friday Harbor before landing in Anacortes for the night. Got to our motel about 9:30. We're tired, it's been a long, wonderful day. Tomorrow, heading south to Morton for the night.

Day 3, Port Angeles, WA

We started the morning heading out of Aberdeen, Washington going East. Oops, wrong way. Turned around and headed Northwest, right way. We headed into the Olympic National Forest. Pretty cloudy all morning.


An hour or so up the road and we stopped off the highway at Quinault Lake. Beautiful. Had some coffee and light snack at a quaint little mercantile.


Then, we rode just down the road to the World's Largest Spruce Tree. Had to see that!



A perfect photo op. Isn't that the biggest tree you've ever seen! Well, we were impressed. No picture, but we stopped next in Forks, Washington where the movie Twilight was filmed.

Then on the road again. This is Lake Crescent.

Once we reached Port Angeles, we got this adorable (?) little motel room, and I do mean little, unpacked and jumped into the car to drive 17 miles up to Hurricane Ridge. Breathtaking views of Victoria, BC and snow capped mountains, deer everywhere and beautiful flowers.



It's kind of hazy, but that's Victoria, B.C. over my right shoulder across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We'll be going across in the morning!

Had dinner at the Bushwhacker. Good food, lousy service, but oh well. Went back to our "little" room and retired for the night. Tired, a very good tired tonight. We're all excited about our trek into Canada tomorrow. We have to be at the Ferry by 7:20.

Day 2, Aberdeen WA

Well, we lost 2 riders and 1 van this morning when leaving Tillamook. Larry left early and Mike, Jackie, Jason, Kara and the girls left to go back to North Bend as we went north.


Bob, Ron, Debbie, Ray and Sue are the only die-hards in the groups now, traveling into the wilderness of the great Pacific Northwest! But first, a stop in Seaside for coffee. Then it was on to Astoria, across that extremely tall bridge to my home state of Washington.


We rode to Long Beach for lunch, clams and fish ...


a walk through town.... with these three old hippies we found.


stopping at the most unusual Museum you'll ever wander through ...


.... Wayne's frying pan isn't so big ...



and then finishing off with a great go-cart race. Ray won, but only because... oh well, you wouldn't understand.


We left to head to Aberdeen, another 1 1/2 hour ride. Really winding road, through hills and valleys. Great bike riding day, and we even saw some sunshine today. A little bit, well mostly foggy again but with a few "sun breaks". You know coastal weather.


Ended the day with hot bowl of soup at a local bar, yes that's what I said. Good food, but no drinks thank you very much. We're at a very nice motel, where we all relaxed in the hot tub before retiring for the night. A very enjoyable day. Looking forward to tomorrow, riding through the Olympic National Rain Forest. Hummm, I wonder if it will rain?

Day 1, Tillamook, Oregon

Well, we hit the road today, leaving the church at about 9:15. Had a foggy, cold ride to Newport and then we saw a little bit of sun the rest of the way. We stopped in Florence for coffee and then on to Newport for pizza at Izzy's.


Going through Tillamook, our mighty leader led us through town to make an illegal turn. Mr. Policeman stopped everyone but "the leader" and gave them a warning. He also said that their leader owed them dinner and drinks for leading them astray! They tried to explain that he was their pastor, but that some of them weren't going to follow HIM anymore.

Then back on the bikes to the Cheese Factory and a Smoke House in Tillamook. We loaded up on ice cream at the Cheese Factory and then bought 2' long pepperoni sticks for $1 each at the Smoke Factory, yummmm. It's a must stop. Then it was only about 10 miles to the Beach House between Netarts and Oceanside. Pulling up in front of the house, Ron parked too close to the edge of the driveway and promptly dropped the bike, and Debbie! Ouch, but luckily it was in the sand. No damage done, only humiliation.


Beautiful home, and if it wasn't soooo foggy it might be a beautiful view of the ocean and rocks on the beach. My question, what good is an ocean view beach house when you can't see the ocean?! Oh well, it's beautiful anyway. A huge home with big windows, a covered deck, 5 bedrooms, 4 baths. Nice, very nice. We'll be leaving in the morning for Seaside, Illwaco and then on to Aberdeen, Washington.