Small Thoughts: A Little Motorcycle Riding

I was looking at my blog and realized that I haven’t posted anything since last August! Life marches on and some things drop off the radar I guess. A lot has happened in the past 9 months, of course. I started my new job - that was a real eye-opener. Danny is finishing up his senior year and we are preparing to be “empty-nesters” in the near future. Good times!

We practiced by making our first camping trip of the year without Danny, at least initially. He had to work and showed up the following evening for dinner. Had a wonderful sunset the first night and some success with my dutch oven on the second evening. I found a recipe for a chicken enchilada casserole in the dutch oven that turned out pretty tasty.

Wilson Enjoys Camping - Lots of Play Time

Sunset on the Beach

My Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I have of course found time for riding. I just completed the Big Money Rally (same as last year) and made a trip down to Reno for the banquet. I coudln’t take as much time off this year since my new job leave balance started at zero, but did manage to break free on Wednesday and took three days to ride down. I wandered all over western Oregon and California before cutting across California near Redding to make my way down to Reno. The weather was OK - not great. Misty and cool with occasional rain. Nothing that made me break out an extra layer of rain gear.

My trip included stops in some areas of California that were familiar and others that I had never considered seeing. Paul Bunyan has an amputated limb now - I almost never miss a chance to stop and visit while in the redwoods. The Oregon coast never disappoints. The fantastic scenery pretty much evens out the frustration of the slow campers and other car-bound sight seers. I visited California’s “Lost Coast” for the first time this trip. I imagine it is a stunningly beautiful site when the weather cooperates. The road going out to the coast in this area is a barely two-lane country road with a lot of poor quality pavement. It took me twice as long to get out there than I had planned, and I wound up driving the last few miles with a setting sun - never ideal for my aging eyes.

My ride across norther California included some absolutely fantastic motorcycle roads. CA 36, CA 3, US 299, US 199 and CA 70 were fantastic!

I am getting ready to compete in my first timed rally in a few weeks. Three days and just about 2,100 miles is all it takes! I start in Bend, OR and ride to Ridgecrest, CA followed by Tooele, UT (near Salt Lake City) and then back to Bend, OR. I have the option to stop along the way for extra points, but the cost is a longer day. My goal is to just finish the first time and not worry too much about how many points I can obtain. I plan to post a link to my GPS tracker so anyone who is interested can track my progress.

The last picture has a back story. The dog pictured pushed the rock in the picture under my tire while I was parked. I moved the rock and then he used his two front paws to push it back under the tire. It didn’t really matter how far I shoved that rock away from my bike, he got it back there before I could get on my bike and get away. It was funny at first.