Finally a Ride

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Had a busy weekend. Saturday we attended the swap meet in Albany. Didn't sell as much as we liked but managed to get rid of a few things. Troubadour sold a pair of riding pants and a riding jacket, but I didn't sell any of my gear. Oh well, there is always eBay.

We had use of a easy up shelter or quick tent as they are sometimes called. It was a beautiful day with brilliant sunshine. The warmest we've had all year. I managed to get a sunburn on my feet, back of my calves and a bit on my arms. Sunburn never felt so good.

(Taken today so you can image how red the stripes were on Saturday)

** Note to self, taking sunscreen with you does not work unless you take it out of the car and actually apply it.

We were home from the swap meet by 3:30 pm so we puttered for the afternoon and watched a movie that evening.

Yesterday dawned nice and sunny. We relaxed on the back deck and had our coffee in the sun and talked about where to go for a ride. We decided that we needed to head to Falls City as our local forum had a game going and we needed a picture of a city sign starting with an "F".

We went west towards Philomath and decided to stop at NutCakes for breakfast. RickRick had mentioned it and was even using it as the start of a group ride the same day. We got there too late to see the group off but did have a pastry. I thought we might have a muffin or a scone but all they pretty much had were donuts. Did I mention they had donuts, cuz they had donuts if you wanted a donut. We each decided on a fritter. They were big but too sweet. I don't think we'll be back.

Sufficiently tweaking on sugar we headed west then north on the Kings Valley Highway. We made our way to Falls City and Troubadour got his picture.

I knew that he wouldn't be long in taking the picture so I just waited on Max, didn't even bother to put my kickstand down.

(Me and Max hanging out in the dirt)

We headed further north to Dallas where we stopped for a break at the Hunter Arboretum Botanical Garden. Finding it was a happy accident of Troubadour's. Will be neat to go back and wander around some day. We did manage to get a few pictures.

Notice the sunshine in the pictures. Little did we know at the time this was about the last we'd see of it all day. From Dallas we got lost on some back roads trying to get on the main highway. We weren't used to being in that part of the city and managed to see some back roads we didn't know were there. They ended in gravel so we did some u-turns and finally found what we were looking for. A quick jaunt on the highway heading west and we were at Grand Ronde.

After getting the "F" city we needed a "G" city and this was the closest. Grand Ronde - home of Spirit Mountain Casino and not much else. We didn't partake of the casino; too many people and way too much cigarette smoke for us. A little bit of sun managed to filter through the clouds at this stop.

We decided to continue west towards Lincoln City on the coast for lunch. On the way Troubadour saw a sign for the Drift Creek covered bridge so we took a little detour.

The Drift Creek Covered Bridge was originally constructed in 1914 on Drift Creek just south of Lincoln City. In 1997, when it was scheduled for demolition, the Sweitz family offered to salvage what timber could be saved and reconstruct the bridge on their family property east of Lincoln City. Construction was complete the summer of 2001.

We were getting hungry so we continued on to Lincoln City thinking of a fuel stop and some lunch. The sun had gone behind the clouds as we got closer to the ocean. It was chilly as we arrived in Lincoln City. I had turned on my heated grips by this time.

After a quick fuel stop Troubadour spotted the Jasmine Thai restaurant (Thai food is always a good bet for vegetarian options) and we stopped for a late lunch. By this time it was 2:30 and I was starving.

We started with salad rolls:

And ordered the spicy noodles and noodle delight to share family style:

(My choice - Noodle Delight with tempeh)

(Troubadour's choice - Spicy Noodles with tempeh)

Sufficiently full we took some leftovers home. The restaurant was nice and provided us with a plastic container with a tight lid. That was pleasant surprise as we expected a clam shell type of foam container.

We headed south and then turned east on Oregon Route 229 or the Siletz Highway. A local favorite that parallels Highway 101 along the Siletz River, only with a lot less traffic and terrific twisty roads with smooth pavement. It didn't warm up as we headed south and it was decided that once we got to Highway 20 we'd book it for home.

We were surprised it didn't warm up as we headed into the valley, then the rain shower hit. I think I jinxed us the other day when I mentioned I didn't mind getting caught in a shower. Luckily it wasn't too heavy and stopped before we got home. We managed to make a jagged loop for the day.

We made it home by about 5:30 pm without any trouble. Another 196 miles on Max. The bike has just over 1000 miles on the odometer now. I even added a tank protector. It looks like a clear one but it is actually a blue one we found on clearance that happened to match really well.

My knees, right forearm, and buttocks were slightly sore from the ride, but what surprised me was how tired I was. Tried to have a bath and soak the tired bones but kept falling asleep. Self preservation had me getting out of the tub and crawling into bed before 8:30. Was nice and rested when the alarm went off at 6:01 this morning.

This coming up weekend we are looking forward to the annual Day to Ona Beach gathering put on by the Triumph dealer in Eugene. We have wanted to go the last few years but it has conflicted with other events. Good excuse for another ride to the coast.

- Au Revoir

"Life is too short for traffic." ~ Dan Bellack
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