Thread: The Journey--2017

Hi Guys,

Last Friday the 11th of August I returned home to the Boars Nest after a 3500 mile ride on my Harley through four states. It was a very pleasant and interesting ride with some ups and downs/both emotionally and physically. The riding conditions ranged from 103+ deg temps to 30'sh degs to 50-60 deg with very dense fog.

My first stop was at my buddy and fellow member here at SRP--pinklather's home outside of Portland OR for an afternoon of friendship and a nice meal then a very comfortable bed for the night.

After an early start I made my way to a Redding CA motel where the temp was 103 degs when I landed.

The next morning I headed to Fallon NV to visit an old friend. I can't verify how low the temps in the mountains were that morning when I was riding at about 5700 feet above sea level, but I could see my breath! I swear to God that if any precipitation had started to fall it would have been Snow!! Finally the sun had come up and warmth had returned by the time I landed at my friends home. After 2 hours of nice conversation I headed out across the desert and ended up in Bishop CA motel for the night.

The next day found me at my cousin's home in Simi Valley CA and a nice visit. After a night in yet another motel I headed to my best friends home in El Cajon which is just outside of San Diego.

The next 3+ weeks were spent with my old friend working on home projects and just hanging out.

One project was to mount an Art Piece on his wall. My old buddy is a retired engineer and is very fussy (to the point he'd used dial calipers to measure the width of the slots that the attaching screws would slide through. This project took 2 days to complete and we had to rent scaffolding to finish. If you can read the print in the picture/the ceiling is 16 ft and the display was about 4-6 inches below the peak.

Here's a pic. The camera really doesn't do the art justice!! These are Real Butterflies! They are imported from Asia and the artist modifies them to her needs.



Well I hope that Glen will be proud as my buddy had a couple of old cast iron pans that were pretty grungy so I helped him get them back into service. First to burn the crap off:



Then after following Glen's method for seasoning cast iron the two pans were ready to use!



Tc had sent me several significant patches for my denim vest and I'd paid to have them sewn on but the one that I wanted for the back hadn't arrived so I just took it along to ask my buddy's wife to sew it on for me. Now my old buddy's wife is quite the seamstress and they are very involved in square dancing and she makes her own dresses. In fact she has over 200 dresses that she's made.

Anyway here's the patch on my vest followed by a pic of my buddies lovely bride.





My buddy and his bride fed me very well. However for the second year in a row I celebrated a birthday at their home by fixing supper for them. What could this be the start of???



A BACON BOMB!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT ELSE????????



Sorry about no more pics of supper as I just spaced off taking them but the corn on the cob, the baked beans, rolls, and the homemade 'Smore's Ice Cream Pie along everything else was really good!

Before I headed out I once again had the privilege of meeting up with my friend and fellow member here at SRP (smyth). We met at a wonderful old style diner called Bonny's there in El Cajon for breakfast. What a great meal and a wonderful time spent with a friend! I'm surprised that we weren't asked to vacate the booth as we'd been there eating and then just talking for over an hour and a half!!

When I left my old friends home I headed North toward San Francisco to meet up with fellow member Paul Kidd. I'd planned on riding CA Highway 1 and US Highway 101 which basically follow the CA and OR coastline but there is a major slide which has part of it closed so I took the interstate roads to Paul's home.

I'd met Paul back in about 2011 at the Spokane Meet and it really was good to see him once again. However there was icing on the cake! Paul had invited a fellow member here at SRP/ (Dan) 'dan656' to meet with us for a BBQ.

What a great time! Dan brought along a Livi razor and another custom that I've spaced off the maker of (Dan please forgive me) Dan had also brought along some goodies from his garden including tomatoes and onions which were perfect on the hamburgers that Paul fixed for our lunch.

After letting Paul know how much I appreciated his hospitality I headed for a motel and a good night's sleep. The next morning I headed to CA Highway 1.

Highway 1 is known for it's curves and the beautiful scenic views. Well I did enjoy the curves, I just wish I could have seen them along with the scenery as the coast was socked in with fog so thick that being able to get up to 30-35 MPH was Racing Speeds!

After 2 days of riding in that dense fog I'd had enough so when I loaded up in Newport OR I headed inland. Within an hour the fog was gone and there were just regular clouds overhead (that was at about 8:30am) and at 10am there were sunny skies!!!

I must say that the MOTEL 6 in Newport is the fanciest Motel 6 I've ever stayed in! I had a frigging gas powered fireplace! The bedding was Butt Ugly but overall it was a great room!



I could have just ridden the interstate home along the Oregon side of the Columbia River but I took the slower, more enjoyable ride along WA Highway 14.

My son has been taking care of the Boars Nest while I'd been gone and I'd let him know when I'd be home so he'd started the airconditioner so things were very pleasant when I arrived.

Anyway it was a nice ride and time well spent with friends.

Thanks for taking the time to view this. :