Day’s distance / Total distance – 542 miles / 8,627 miles
The temperature this morning at the hotel was 45. The skies were clear and the air was still.
I traveled north towards the Idaho border and crossed it almost exactly an hour later.
Not all states have a place to pull off the road at these signs. I think they should. Just sayin’ 🙂
I stopped at the first rest stop in Idaho to warm up. Luckily the building was heated. I had the yogurt I brought from the hotel breakfast bar.
Temperatures in general warmed up pretty quickly but it was hardly linear. The thermometer on the bike fell as low as 31 and would vacillate between freezing and the low 40s often, depending I suppose on the local terrain and its features. It reminded me of spring in Seattle – you get a nice week of weather in February and then it gets cold again, then repeats the cycle through the end of June.
The speed limits were 80mph most of the way today, so I was able to cover ground pretty quickly.
My next stop was in Jerome, Idaho, for coffee and second breakfast for me and fuel for the bike.
Will was keeping an eye on the weather and we touched base often. It seems I had a clear cell signal most of the day.
I crossed into Oregon (which does not have a safe pullout to take a picture of the border sign – just sayin’ ) before stopping again near Ontario (I think). I needed fuel again. While I was filling up the bike, I noticed some food trucks across the street. One was making Mexican food so I stopped.
I ordered and quickly consumed three delicious tacos al pastor.
When I was finished I noticed two other bikers had pulled up to the food truck next to mine. One was riding a KTM and geared up in Klim, the other a Harley and geared up in leather chaps and jacket.
I had to ask if they were friends or what. You don’t usually see these two types riding together. They laughed and said they were father and son.
They came from the north and confirmed some strong winds and some rain south of baker city.
As I continued my quest north, I could see the clouds over the mountains and the rain that was in my future.
It wasn’t long (near Lime, OR) before I pulled off the highway to put on my Frog Toggs.
It was only the next exit where the road was wet from earlier showers but it would not start raining for about 10 miles more.
The rain wasn’t as hard as what I experienced in Kansas City but it was more than predicted.
Temperatures fell from the mid 60s to the low 40s as I approached the edge of rainfall. North of Baker City, the rain stopped. Deadman’s Pass was clear and the road surface mostly dry.
I thought once out of the Blue Mountains it would be smooth sailing but I was hit by some strong winds between Pendleton and Hermiston. At first they were coming from my front quarter, so were not too hard to manage. But as I got within about 20 miles of my hotel, they became cross winds, coming at me from the side. They were as bad at this point as anything I experienced the day before.
I guess I can count myself fortunate. Though I had a cold morning, a rainy afternoon, and strong cross winds to finish, I did not have any two at the same time. 🙂
Tomorrow’s ride to Seattle will be along the Columbia River to Vancouver, WA, then up I-5. Snoqualmie Pass had snow today and will not be safe, so I’m taking the alternative.
I should be home by mid-afternoon. As is my habit, I usually am a day late on my final blog entry. I’ll have to shop for groceries and get some other life maintenance items done. Look for my final blog entry on Thursday.
Thanks for following this far. Stay tuned for my final post and, in a few days, some reflections on this trip and its design.