Two Weeks On The Road - June 22nd 2009

Part of the Rattlesnake coming into Washington from Oregon on the Nez Perce National Historic Trail.

In Lewiston, Oregon. I sure wish that the history of the treatment of Native Americans read more like a fairy tale with a happy ending than the harsh reality that it is!!

The Old Spiral Highway as I climb out of Lewiston.

I've always wanted to spend time seeking out and photographing old barns.

Farm country in Washington State.

I awoke to partly cloudy skies and a 38 degree temperature in Enterprise, Oregon. I am posting a picture that I took outside the Best Western Motel that I was staying in. (I don't normally give chains free advertisement but the folks at this motel were super friendly and helpful.) You can see that the parking lot is only a few thousand feet lower than the snow line. No wonder it is so cold.

Today is the first day that I used all my heated clothing. I have Gerbing's jacket liner, over pants, and gloves. The combo kept me toasty warm all day. The down side is that I sort of felt like Ralphie's little brother in the Christmas Story when he was dressed up to go out in the snow. But warm is better than cold and is worth the price.

Entering Washington State I ran into rain once again. What a bummer as this area is called the Rattlesnake because it has so many turns. (It also has steep grades.) So once again I was forced to go slow and cautious instead of enjoying the turns. And even worse, it was a beautiful area that I was not able to try and capture with my camera. (I think that I need to get a digital, waterproof camera to use on my camera mount on the motorcycle.) The rain lasted about half and hour and gave way once again to partly cloudy skies.

The landscape turns from mountainous to beautiful rolling farmland as you travel northward in eastern Washington State.

I veered back into Oregon for a brief time at Lewiston. It is here that I rode the Old Spiral Highway. It is approximately 7 miles long and is on a fairly steep grade with many switchbacks. It wasn't raining so I got to really enjoy the ride!!

I arrived at my motel in Spokane mid-afternoon after a fairly short day of only 233 miles.

I have reservations for tomorrow night in Surrey, British Columbia. I am really looking forward to the ride through the Northern Cascades. Sure hope that it isn't raining!!!