……MOTORCYCLES!!
After spending a month on the road for “work” it was time for a few weeks on the road for pure vacation. No plans (mostly), no worries (mostly), and no rain (yahoo).
After our great time in China, Patti flew direct to the west coast (aka the “left coast” by some of my coworkers) and I caught up with her a few days later. It was nice to cash in on the frequent flyer miles, especially with the big increase in airfare recently. We split our time between visits with family, friends, and riding randomly around Oregon and Washington on the scooter – letting the weather dictate our itinerary.
Our first few days we spent with John and enjoyed the Washougal International Film Festival. It was interesting to learn about the world of independent film making and had a great dinner along the Columbia River at the Puffin Cafe. John worked a 48 hour shift so we enjoyed a quiet weekend catching up on sleep and adjusting to the 12 hour time change.
Union Station in Portland
On Friday, we enjoyed a quiet train ride from Portland to Salem, it is so convenient and a pretty good price. Our welcoming committee at Salem was special as well!
Welcome Home
We loved our time in Salem…enjoying the family time and great Pacific Northwest weather (no humidity!!). A special treat was being able to watch Brooklynn learn how to swim with her mommy…what a little ducky!
Refreshing!
Hanging out with Dad after the swim.
With the temperatures in the Willamette Valley forecast to hit 100 degrees it was definitely time to load the saddle bags and head west toward the ocean. We took some new roads along the way and enjoyed the King’s Valley Highway and Oregon Route 34 – two new roads that were fun to explore. We had a nice stop at the Ritner Covered Bridge - enjoying the lack of traffic after our time in China.
Ritner Bridge circa 1927
I can still outrun the timer!!
Even though we tried to outrun the 100 degree temperatures, they caught up with us along the way and we were pleasantly surprised by the 60 degree temperature as we rolled into Waldport. The intermittent fog was not as welcoming…but it was fun to laugh about the contrast of “Oregon Coast fog” and “Great Wall of China fog” that we had experienced just a few weeks ago.
We booked a room at the Troller’s Lodge in Depoe Bay, our favorite little quaint hotel on the coast. No frills but plenty of charm and very close to the ocean. Patti was the first to spy the spouting whales and we had a blast watching them swim.
Whale watching at Depoe Bay
Buying salt water taffy in Lincoln City
Our initial plan was to ride Hwy 101 along the Oregon coast through Astoria and up into the Olympic Peninsula, but the “refreshing” 55 degree temps and wet fog helped convince us to modify that plan and head east. After a planning session in Tillamook (over a great lunch of chicken from the Fred Meyer deli) we saddled up for a ride on Oregon Route 6 – next stop was John’s Bed and Breakfast in the ‘couve. We had a great ride and enjoyed a nice long stop at a new interpretive center along the way. The Tillamook Forest Center is about 50 miles west of Portland and has a wonderful suspension bridge and lookout tower. It is definitely worth a stop on your next trip to the coast.
A quick waltz on the bridge
Overdressed for the lookout tower
We arrived back at John’s house a little latter than anticipated….mostly due to the 2 hour traffic jam through Portland. Patti warned me …. but seeing that I wasn’t wearing a watch….I thought we pulled into Portland about 330 pm…we actually got there about 530 pm (on a Friday evening…so you can imagine the traffic). We “camped out” in Vancouver a few nights and enjoyed visiting with John at the firehouse for dinner. Sure brought back good memories.
The tones went off just as we all sat down for dinner!
With a few days rest it was time to pack the saddle bags again….this time we headed northeast to Mount Rainier National Park. The weather was perfect for riding and Highway 12 was very relaxing. We enjoyed a great burger at the Viking Cafe in Mossyrock- it is your basic “old school” drive-in. The chat with the proprietor was equally enjoyable, lots of laughs!
Sharing a burger, fries, and chocolate shake
Our cabin for the night was right at the Nisqually entrance to Mount Rainier and we enjoyed the quietness of being in the woods. The Gateway Inn also has a cute little cafe so we feasted on a huge piece of blackberry pie (ala mode for sure!) for dinner. Breakfast was equally enjoyable and the staff was great!
Log cabin and chrome!
The temperature dipped into the mid 40’s overnight so we took our time packing up and checking out. Good thing the speed limits are low on the ride up to Paradise, otherwise the wind chill might have caught up with us! Riding scooters with leathers doesn’t give much opportunity for hiking, but we did enjoy a quick stop at Narada Falls for a quick stretch and a good look at the scenery.
Narada Falls
Our week of relaxation continued as we wove through the back roads of Clark County, Washington and landed in Vancouver (again). One more night there and then it was time for another harley ride – this time landing in Salem (again). All totaled, we managed to add about 800 miles on the scooter’s odometer and we were lucky to get it cleaned and parked on the stand (in the garage) before the unpredicted rainstorm came on Monday night.
It was nice to visit with Michael, Traci, and Brooklynn for one more night and we feasted on some great sweet corn (again 
).
What's your favorite color?
On Tuesday we headed to the Salem train station for one more ride to Union Station in Portland. This was our first time to ride Amtrak’s Coast Starlight train (we usually opt for the Cascades) and saw some great sights from the two-story railcar. Our welcoming committee at the train station (John and Rachel) whisked us off to Peet’s Coffee, a softball game, and then dinner (taco Tuesdays at On the Border).
After 2 weeks of couch surfing the northwest, we packed our suitcases (again) and headed to PDX for flights east. It was interesting – I was flying to DC via Chicago….Patti was flying to DC via Phoenix….and John was flying to Chicago via Salt Lake City. I was quite disappointed when I found out my flight would be delayed 2 hours (missing my connection in Chicago and arriving in DC at midnight) but was ecstatic when the United agent was able to move me over to a US Airways flight that got me back on schedule ….. I even got to sit next to this cute girl from DC who just got back from China … and she likes harleys too (small world!! 
).
Our flight was very nice and we had a great view of the Grand Canyon on the way.
The Grand Canyon from 36,000 feet
After 7 weeks of China, Mongolia, the Pacific Northwest, thousands of airmiles, hundreds of harley miles, and a few relaxing train miles we’re nestled back on the 11th floor of our Arlington apartment. We celebrated our return by visiting a new Chinese/Peruvian restaurant that is just a few blocks from home (Yaku) and then backed it up with a trip to The Cheesecake Factory for our “Cheesecake of the Month”. Good thing we fit it in…we almost missed August! This month was Patti’s turn to pick and she went with the Kalua Cocoa Coffee Cheescake …. an excellent choice.
It was wonderful to be able to visit friends and family, although the time is never long enough to see everyone on our list. Time to start shopping for airline deals again….can’t wait to get back to Oregon!
