http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Dos-Dirty-Padres/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Dos Dirty Padres en-us Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:41:57 +0000 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:41:57 +0000 Reverend BillOn the final day home we awoke to sunshine at the Condon Motel. I was up early to watch the MotoGP qualifying live in Mugello and soon Reverend Chuck wandered over. He watched a few minutes of the penultimate motorcycle race class then said Let's put a few cattle guards and a herd of deer on the track and see how these boys do.The wheat lands of North Central Oregon are now g http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Oregon/blog-403958.html Morning in Oxbow brought pink skies and a balmy 60F. Soon we were honoring our compatriot Rob by roasting bacon on a stick. Mmm goodThe ride out of the canyon to Baker City was a great stretch of high speed sweepers and canyon curves.Soon we were ordering breakfast at the Oregon Trail Cafe. Nineteen year old Sandy who had waited on us at the same table last year brought us a big helping of h http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Oregon/Antelope/blog-403424.html Wednesday eveningrsquos fire left a hot bed of coals for a morning fire Thursday. We rolled down the miles of dirt road without incident aired up our tires at the pavement and rolled the last couple of miles to Crouch. Suddenly Reverend Chuck braked hard and turned into a barber shop parking lot. Could it be Yes. Haircut time. Diane told an interesting lifersquos tale as she spent a l http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Idaho/blog-403318.html Thursday morning brought sun to the Sawtooth peaks well before reaching our camp. The ride to Challis the best breakfast so far was through some remarkable high country vast grazing basins cattle antelope and miles of sage and grass. Down the Salmon River to Stanley the twisties were fast and fun. We headed over the pass and south toward Lowman where we turned west in search of hot spri http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Idaho/Salmon/blog-403080.html We couldn't get out of Jackson Hole fast enough Wednesday morning. We gassed up and flew over Teton Pass into Idaho. Skirting yet another thundershower we enjoyed a small mountain pass and were soon blasting across the flats of Idaho toward Idaho Falls. A stop at Fred Meyer satisfied our Starbucks jones Reverend Chuck's sweatshirt purchase and provisions for the evening meal. By the time we http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Idaho/Idaho-Falls/blog-403075.html The ground was dry in Vernal as we prepared for departure Monday morning. An encroaching thunderstorm grazed us as we rode North over the East Shoulder of the High Uinta mountains.Beautiful green meadows and aspens along the road set against some fine twisties and empty road riding.Passing Flaming Gorge to the East we flew over a beautiful road toward Rock Springs. The headwind caused horse po http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Wyoming/Jackson-Hole/blog-402382.html Waking to pouring rain again another look at the weather maps encouraged us to settle in to Vernal for a day and rest. Sunday in Utah. Little is open. Northbound tomorrow early. Naps all around. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Utah/blog-401770.html Rain all night woke up to rain. Retreating to the pavillion Dos Wet Padres poured over the weather maps and forecasts. A large low pressure system was lingering over Utah with no real hot mud drying weather on the horizon. There is a high pressure system sitting over Montana and the weather in northern Wyoming looked fairly dry. We decided to head North and find the sun and with it some dry http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Utah/blog-401577.html The campfire coals Friday morning were hot enough to easily start a morning fire. A nearby woodpecker continued with his calling from the night before tap tap tapping Hey girls Get a load of this Sullen grey skies did not welcome the day.The morning planning was led by the idea that Memorial Weekend crowds would descend on Zion and the other popular spots in the region. We thought it bes http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Utah/Zion-National-Park/blog-401562.html Sunshine arrived by 0530 Thursday morning in our Great Basin National Park campsite. The sound of the rushing creek was punctuated by the buzz of hummingbirds looking for nectar in the colorful prayer flags. We were soon underway crossing more of the Great Basin.The Great Basin is remarkable in it's series of NorthSouth oriented mountain ranges all pushed up by tectonic plate movement. Betwe http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Utah/Zion-National-Park/blog-401433.html Wednesday dawned cool in the Rubys. The sun didnrsquot reach Taylor Canyon campground before morning hands were chilled breaking camp. We rolled out and went just five miles to breakfast in Lamoille at the bitter End Tavern. Under the menu section for beverages was a section ldquoBetter Beverages.rdquo Bloody Mary Bloody ChristSent here by Detective Mike we were soon preparing for http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Nevada/Ely/blog-401331.html Tuesday dawned clear with the cacophony of bird calls. Crystal Crane Hot Springs creates a small wetland and Spring is in the air. The hot springs were largely peopled with birders visiting the Malheur Wildlife refuge and they were up at 0500 preparing for their day. The first 100 miles to Fields took us through Frenchglen and over the Catlow Rim. The Malheur wetlands fed by the Blit http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Nevada/Ely/blog-401309.html Rolling out of the garage at 0500 seemed early enough. By the time wersquod gone over the GPS route and maps the Issaquah Starbucks went from empty to full of Monday morning working stiffs. Bummer. Wersquore on vacation Too bad the four State Troopers drinking coffee got on the road before us. The miles of slab to Vantage went quick enough. But our Kiona turn on the vineyard sid http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Oregon/blog-400131.html Bill A trip of a thousand miles begins with a single step. And a trip begins with a thousand freaking details. Over coffee and cupcakes at the West Seattle Cupcake Royale shameless plug Brother Chuck and I recently made our final plans for the ride to Utah. The Plan leave Monday May 18 and return Sunday May 31st. The destination Utah desert twistys gravel dirt campfir http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Washington/Seattle/blog-398547.html Alturas California makes a great staging point for a run up the middle of Oregon. A clear night produced morning temps of 24F at 0600. I enjoyed my morning coffee and yogurt watching Moto GP Free Practice 2 from Estoril Portugal. By 0900 temps had risen to 38F sunshine and it was time to hit the road.Gassing up in town before departure I noticed coolant leaking from my bike. I was about t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Oregon/blog-266878.html There were three days left for riding and some choices to make when I chose my route home from Fortuna. Having been thwarted by the weather on the southbound leg I still wanted to ride my favorite central Oregon roads on the way home from the coast. It would require a traverse west to east across the north end of California.Last April I had ridden such a traverse and my experience on that tr http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Redding/blog-266556.html Having spent a delightful time on California's Central Coast it was now time to ride the epic Pacific Coast Highway northward. Considered by many to be the finest drive drive in America we experienced a portion of the PCH last summer on the family vacation road trip that blog can be found at httpwww.travelblog.orgBloggersArnimHucksRoadshow. Much of the time while piloting Lurch our http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Big-Sur/blog-266099.html Monday brought more clear warm weather and after a little campsite blogging the days plan reformulated. A brake lever was waiting for me at a Honda dealer near San Francisco but rather than ride up the coast that day the Central Coast region beckoned further exploration. The plan was to loop inland over the Santa Lucia coast range run north a ways through wine country and cross back over t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Paso-Robles/blog-265409.html After yesterday's limp up from Jalama this was a perfect day to kick back and enjoy the locale. Camped just a few miles away this morning was spent touring Heart Castle.Hearst Castle was one of six homes built by William Randolf Hearst heir to the largest silver mining fortune in the world and builder of the first multimedia empire. He was not permitted by his mother to build on the site be http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Luis-Obispo/blog-265080.html My lovely wife Dana suggested todayrsquos title. Shersquos the woman who bought me eleven sixpacks of beer for my birthday a couple years backFriday April 4th dawned clear mid40s and breezy. Before sunrise surfers were in the water and fishermen were casting into the waves. After unburdening my bike of all itrsquos luggage for my day ride I down loaded a route into the GPS. Intell http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Santa-Barbara/blog-264521.html