Summer Ride: Deserts, Mountains, and Oceans
July - August 2019
Each summer a group of us, four couples, plan about a two-week motorcycle ride. This year our planned ride is to ride areas or roads that we have not ridden before and it will take in deserts, mountains, and cross oceans…well, at least parts of water that hook directly to
oceans. But you get the picture.
Well, it’s time to start planning for
the summer ride…where to? Where haven’t we been in the western United States,
sometimes that’s a harder question? Not that we have been everywhere, but we
have seen a lot over the past seven years doing these trips. About two weeks
for the trip works well for the group, three weeks is pushing it, some of us
still have jobs, ugh. So, east of the Mississippi River starts putting those
areas out of the question, and the end of July time frame puts the south and
southwest out too, too damn hot. Time to pick everyone’s brain.
I suggest the northwest, since moving
to St. George getting somewhere cool at the end of July sounds pretty good. A
few years ago, we rode around that general area and really loved it. We rode
through the Northern Cascades in the rain so it would be nice to see them. So,
it starts…deserts, mountains, and oceans.
Day 1, July 27, 412 miles
The trip is planned and we head out to the
high desert of southwestern Utah and eastern Nevada. The weather is perfect in
the low 60’s. We get gassed up in downtown Enterprise, UT. Fought off the
hordes of green stink bugs that were migrating through. About an hour later,
enjoying the sunrise over the farms and sagebrush. A lone buck antelope decided
he had to be on the other side of the road. Antelope don’t jump fences, they go
under them unless it's a sheep fence, six-inch wire squares to the ground, which they
don’t fit through! But he stayed put until we all got by. The vastness and
remoteness of Nevada are truly amazing. There is more than one loneliest highway
in this state.
A good hour or so later a minivan had
pulled off the road in a large pullout. A young boy was outside of it peeing,
nice arc, I look back to the road and another buck antelope is right in front
of me running down the middle of the road towards me, not sure which way to go,
nearly gave me a heart attack. He finally, made up his mind and left us alone.
Man, take your eyes off the road for one second…
Ely, Nevada, in the eastern end of the
“Loneliest Highway” and a much-needed place for gas and a short rest. The
weather is perfect, considering it’s close to 100 degrees at home. We keep
heading north, if you broke down out here you would have to wait for a piece for
some help, the nearest Harley dealership is just north of Provo, UT, 250 miles
east.
Downtown Wells, Nevada, is bleak, even
the diner we found would have been a hoppin’ place in the late sixties, it
hasn’t changed much since. Speaking of the sixties, our hotel in Elko, NV, was
solid in that décor, but clean. The owner was nice to give us old towels to
clean our bikes.
Day 2, Jul 28, 299 miles
Today we ride in an area that we have
always skirted around, Highway 225 north, a thin white line on Google maps. I can’t remember how I found out about this road, but we really enjoyed it. When
you get to Wild Horse Reservoir the fun really gets going. We stopped at
Owyhee, ID, at “Our Grocery Store” which was the center of the local Indian
reservation and was several types of stores combined. The funny part was two dogs were hanging around by the outside picnic tables and it reminded me of
the old joke about the young Indian boy asking where his father got his
name…”Why do you ask Two Dogs?” I guess you have to know the joke. We talk
between bikes with CB radios and one of the riders was having CB issues he
quickly figured out it was the ground and was able to fix it.
On up to Mountain Home, ID for gas and
lunch, and then up to Bellevue, ID. We had a hard time finding a hotel in this
area, there was a music festival happening this weekend that we didn’t know
about when we made our reservations. The pool and hot tub were awesome, what a
great way to relax after riding. One of the wives fell in the shower that
evening and scared us and, she has some physical limitations already but,
she was ready to go the next morning.
Day 3, Jul 29, 360 Miles
We rode into Sun Valley, ID, and waved
at all the celebrities, just kidding. My GPS said to turn right in the middle of
town. Now, this didn’t seem correct to me, but onward we went. I stopped a
couple of miles later and asked one of the guys about the road and he said this
one showed it went through on the GPS.
Well shortly, it turned to gravel and started up a steep grade, I guess
it will get us to where we are going but it was a little more than we wanted. Two
of us got turned around at a wide spot and started back down. One of the guys has a
prosthetic foot and a boot brace on the other foot. He does amazingly well
99.99% of the time, until he’s two-up, on an incline, in gravel, trying to
dodge a bunch of cars crowding you to get by. His bike decided it was time for
a nap. Everyone was okay, we got the bike up and turned around and we were back
on track.
When we got back to the highway where
we should have been, we stopped and put on our rain gear. Oh, what fun it is to put on rain gear on the
side of the road, one unmade rider figured out that if you drop your pants and store
them, then the rain gear slips right on! Traffic be damned.
We stopped at the store in Stanley,
ID, for a break, and a diet coke. Sitting outside on a bench was a real treat,
there was a wide, very wide, assortment of people coming and going. One lady,
big build, wearing a tank top, had some of the biggest boobs – half a
basketball each, and she forgot her bra. Not sure what else she forgot as she
back and forth from her car to the store several times. The best was as we were
leaving, a twentyish girl, parked right in front was also leaving with two-fifths of whiskey in her arms. I said that it looked like the party was at her
house, she turned and said, “no way, this is to just get me thru this!” as she
held up a box of tampons.
We headed north and stopped in Challis
for lunch and shed the rain gear. When we stopped for gas in Salmon, ID, we got
gas and waited for a major rain cloud to push through. Other customers stated
that we had made a wise decision because of some pretty violent hail. We
finally got to Missoula, MT, where we stayed for the night. Today was my
birthday and I was wanting a steak dinner, but we ate at the bar in the hotel
and a hamburger was as close as I got. I’ll keep working on it.
Day 4, Jul 30, 356 miles
We are meeting the goals we had for
this trip and today we will check off a major one, HWY 12 through the panhandle
of Idaho. Not far from Lolo is the summit of Lolo Pass, just over the summit, there is a large yellow sign that says, Winding road ahead 99 miles! Life is
good. The scenery is great. The road is awesome.
Lewiston, ID, for gas, the Old Spiral
Highway to get out of town, up to Plumber, ID, for lunch, and into the wheat
fields as far as you can see. Didn’t Garth Brookes sing about this? Spokane,
WA was our stop for the night.
Day 5, Jul 31, 445 miles, 1861 miles so far.
I wish I was retired; this is life. We live in an amazing country where you can ride a lifetime of beautiful
roads. Today Loon Lake for gas, then Jump Off Joe Lake, Fancy Frog Forest,
Corkscrew Canyon, you can’t make this stuff up. Fields of sunflowers, wheat,
and orchards of fruit and Twisp, WA, for lunch. Did I mention, the second goal
of the trip – the Northern Cascades? Huge mountains, twisty roads, turquoise-colored lakes, sun shining thru the clouds onto the mountains! Life is good!
We got across the border at Sumas,
B.C., surprised at that…just kidding, it really was easy and no wait. On the
Trans-Canada Highway, the freeway is the freeway, to Maple Ridge, B.C. where we will
stay for two nights. I guess it is the exchange, but how do people afford to live
in Canada? Wow.
Day 6, Aug 1, 66 miles
Today was rest up, do laundry, see
the sights type of day. First up we rode over to the Vancouver LDS Temple and
checked it out. Beautiful grounds and buildings in a newer subdivision of
townhomes. Next up was the Harley dealership just a couple of blocks away. We
then headed across the valley to the Golden Ears Provincial Park, a nice lake
that was huge. The mountains go straight up! We then headed for lunch and found
a sushi place. It was very small, just three or four tables, and it was run by
one woman. She did everything! The food was excellent. When we were done, she brought the bill and she also brought figs. I have never seen or eaten
figs, I would have never guessed what they were, but they were very good.
For dinner that night we also had
poutine for the first time. If you don’t know, poutine is French fries with
brown gravy and cheese curds. Very good.
Day 7, Aug 2, 311 miles
Well, today we cross the ocean! Well, at
least the Strait of Georgia over to Vancouver Island, a two-hour ferry ride.
Motorcycles are first on first off the ferries, so we got to ride to the front
of the line past a hundred cars or so. This ferry runs about every two hours.
We were headed to the other end of the
island, Port Hardy, about 275 miles away. I pictured seeing little fishing
villages like the northeast coast. My idea and reality were a long way apart.
Very rich nice area for over half the distance. Lunch was in Qualicum Bay at
the Sandbar Café. We ate out on the deck; it was very nice.
We stop for a break in Campbell River,
one of our riders was behind us and was on the phone not paying attention, and
rode right past us. He was lost for the rest of the day. Just up the road was
some road construction with a ½-hour delay. He figured that is where he lost us
and could never catch up. When he got to the hotel and we were not there he got
worried. But we showed up a few minutes later.
From expensive homes and vacation
stops to the wilderness. The next stop was in downtown Woss…back in time, we went.
No cell service but the gas station/market had two working payphones in phone
booths!
We finally hooked up with everyone and
went to check on the ferry. We were headed to Bella Coola on the ferry. The
ferry was full! Finally, the lady figured they could get the four bikes on
board, then the next problem. In our research the ferry was $198 US for the
ride, she said the price was $506 Canadian (each bike and two passengers), wow!
Well, that won’t work. So, at dinner, after another miss on the steak, we did a quick
reroute back to Vancouver and then to Kamloops, the motel in Bella Coola was canceled, motel in Surry just outside of Vancouver was booked.
Day 8, Aug 3, 351 miles
One thing we have noticed is the roads
in Canada, at least British Columbia and Alberta, are in very good condition.
They seem like they were just repaved last year. The ride back down the island
was nice, foggy in the morning, no problem, and sunshine the rest of the ride.
Found out that there was an earthquake
in Port Hardy last night, 4.3, didn’t notice. We stopped for a break in Keta Lake, six ADV riders were doing the same. One of them took off as I was walking
by the group. The ride pulled up a wheelie as he went down the road, I said, “I
can do that!” which brought a good laugh from the group.
Picked up the ferry at Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen
Springs, an hour and a half ride, then on to Surrey. Well, the hotel is a real
dump. Our bed was falling off the frame, old musty smoke smell, crap all around
the outside, and none of us with a gun. The 2.5-star rating must have been on a scale of 0 – 50.
Up and ready for some new roads, I
look out to check the weather and one of our guys is taking a leak at the edge
of the parking lot, when in Rome… After breakfast at the local McDonalds, we
head up Hwy 99 to Whistler and beyond.
The ride is great, the mountains are
huge, the twisties are good and up we go. Not sure what was happening at
Whistler, but they have five very large parking lots and they were jammed
packed, so we got gas and kept going. The twisties got better, the grade got
steeper, and down we went burning up the road. What a great area and road. We
stopped at a rest area to look around, we were still a thousand feet above the
river at the bottom of the canyon. A road sign was warning travelers that the head
was a 13% grade! When we got to Lillooet, (pronounced “little wet”), we had
lunch. Big reservoir and pretty farm area. At lunch I talked to a fellow who
rode this area quite a bit, I told him about our foiled plans for Bella Coola, and he said you made the right choice and had a better ride, he said the dirt road
from Bella Coola is terrible and boring country-side.
The rest of the ride that day was great, and
we stayed in Kamloops. We ate at a Chinese place behind the hotel, they served
us a ton of food. One of the wives ordered a bowl of soup, it was so big we all
had some. We rolled out of there and walked back to the hotel.
Day 10, Aug 5, 264 miles, 3159 miles so far.
Stopped at historic Peachland and
walked around. Two-lane roads, lakes, orchards, what more can you ask. Stopped
in Oliver for lunch, two RMCP officers were having lunch there also. I gave
them a law enforcement challenge coin and thanked them for their service. Next
thing I know they are buying our lunch! Thanks, guys. More and more orchards,
just a nice peaceful ride. Just before the border, there was a large forest fire
and helicopters were lifting water across the roadway right overhead, a little
concerning, to the fire.
The afternoon was a little warm, but I
took advantage of the pool at the hotel when we arrived. We had to go back up the
road to Omak for dinner and we found a great Mexican place.
Another pretty day riding, more
orchards, and riding next to the Columbia River. Stopped in Yakama at the Harley
store and then went across the street to a waffle café for lunch. The roads and
scenery at still kicking it. But the heat is getting miserable. When we got to
the hotel we were well done. As we were getting off the bikes one of the wives
passed out from the heat. Things were messed up for a few minutes, but she was
okay. I guess everybody wanted a break because of the heat, but nobody said
anything, everyone just wanted it over and knew the motel was just ahead! They
had an outdoor pool we thought would be refreshing…it was heated, ugh!
One couple had to get home for a
family event and took off early and burnt it home, which turned out to be a
real story. Today will turn out to be the most interesting day for me on the
trip. We headed south through the middle of Oregon, wheat fields forever, and
some of the smallest towns anywhere. I have never burned a tank of gas and
didn’t find a gas station. Well, we did find a gas station, two of them, with
two pumps – diesel and 85 octane gas. That’s it. The second town was even the
county seat. The store next door was right out of the sixties. But, once again
the roads were twisty, the scenery was awesome, and life was good. I just
really enjoyed this section of the trip.
We got checked into another sketchy
motel and tried to find a place to do some laundry. The only place in town
closed at 5 pm, how does this work for people. We found some LDS missionaries
and asked them where a good place to eat was, they directed us to a bar a
couple of blocks away and it was really good…I finally got my steak for my
birthday.
Day 13, Aug 8, 400 miles
The ride today was starting out like
yesterday, we stopped for a break at a gas station, it was abandoned…well
should have been. The pumps hadn’t been used in years, not really sure what
they were selling. The green-haired girl inside was nice, she was a hoarder and
owned the biggest black lab I have ever seen. Some of the group used the
bathroom, brave souls.
So far, no bad days of riding are still
holding strong. Got to Sparks, NV, for lunch just in time to miss a horrendous
downpour of rain and hail. The food was good too. The hotel was not far away.
The car show was going on, Hot August
Nights, and we enjoyed the cars, concert, and booth food for the evening.
Day 14, Aug 9, no miles
Spent the day messing around, doing car show
stuff, and enjoying life.
One couple stayed for another day of
the car show, The other couple with us are out of here. We headed home on the
“Loneliness Highway” across the state west to east. Five hundred plus miles is
a big day two-up. It can be done no problem though. We stopped at Cold Springs,
not sure it’s a town, just a place, for breakfast. We pushed it to Eureka for
gas, we were glad it wasn’t much further. About another hour to Ely where we
will split ways again, the other couple stayed there to break up the trip. We
stopped at Mcdonald's and had some lunch and malt before the final push home.
What a great trip. We are truly
blessed to live in this amazing country and can have the opportunities to ride
the roads, enjoy the company of family and friends, the scenery, and most of
all the freedom to do it.
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