Oregon & Washigton State

I woke up on the Sunday morning to that eerie silence that you only get when it’s snowing outside. The cover on the bike had about two inches on it that was frozen. In fact the bike cover was actually frozen onto the bash plate.


South Lake Tahoe


Sunday morning!!


The roads were clear though

The forecast wasn’t any better for Monday or Tuesday, and they said the temperature was going to drop dramatically overnight. The roads were clear but I figured that it might get worse if they froze!! So I packed the bike and set off very carefully for the shortest distance out of the mountains, that meant going East towards Carson City. I then turned north and went up to Reno. While I was in a McDonalds having a coffee and trying to warm up I asked a couple of fellas which was the best way to get back over into California? They recommended that I take highway 70 towards Chico. “That road runs through the canyon rather than over the mountains, you might get wet but it should be clear of snow” So I set off again. I got wet driving snow, hail and freezing rain on the way through, but by the time I reached Chico I was back in the valley and things were better up to Red Bluff for the night. On Monday I continued west until I reached the Redwood National Park. What had started as another very wet day had finished as a lovely sunny afternoon to see the trees again.


The Oregon Coastline


It's hard to do these giants justice with a camera


One of the few left that you can drive through!!
This tree is still in remarkably good health despite having a bloody great hole cut in it!!

The next days ride was wet again, all along the Oregon coast was wet and cold, not my favorite weather for riding a motorcycle in. If it had been finer then that part of the Pacific coastline would have been magnificent and would have given some good photo opportunities, as it was I was just glad to find a motel for the night and dry everything out.

Wednesday was fine again, and the ride up to Seattle in Washington was good. I wanted to find the American headquarters of Touratech to buy the mounting for the windshield that was broken. I also bought another ram mount, which now means I can have both the GPS and the video camera on the bike at the same time. They were very friendly and interested in my travels and even had a fully equipped workshop if I wanted to do any maintenance. Nice service with a smile and no rough end of the pineapple!!

After settling into my motel room I caught the bus into Seattle on the Thursday and explored the city.


The Space Needle In Seattle


Another view


Downtown from the top


Pikes Market has some great seafood




And the flowers are pretty too. A lot going on there.

Today has been spent finishing the second of the Mexican video’s which I have uploaded and getting prepared to cross the border into Canada and start the final push up to Prudhoe Bay in Alaska.