Monday, July 23, 2012

The iMBC2012 is over

I've been without internet access since Friday night so while everyone else has been posting our activities I am late and there is not much left that I could add. I do have photos and some things to say about my trip but I will now concentrate on the CURRENT and catch up last weekend's Blogger Convention when I get back home, which will be next week

I can't believe that a few of us had travelled so many miles to be at our get-together in Baker City, then onwards to the mountains of Hell's Canyon. Richard came from Fairbanks Alaska by way of Santa Cruz California. Karen rode her Vstar from Kingston, Ontario Canada. Erik from Minnesota on his lime green Ninja. The weekend was too short and now we have all gone our separate ways, mostly from where we came.

I left Joseph, Oregon early this morning, around 6:15am. I stopped by the hotel where Brad & Brandy were staying to grap a few bites of their continental breakfast. Actually I felt a bit quilty just walking into the breakfast room to fill my plate so I took it to their room to be devoured in peace. I thought that I would continue my journey to Central Oregon and it made more sense to ride together.

While we were at the Chevron station in Enterprise we saw Richard riding by. We soon caught up and passed him, then Brad had quilty feelings about leaving Richard behind in the dust so we pulled over to see Richard wave and pass us again. Richard was moving at a very brisk pace and we were unable to catch up to him. We were hoping that he would wait for us at Elgin so we could say our final goodbyes, but he must have been "in the groove" and just continued on his way heading North towards the Canadian border.

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We continued our trek to La Grande into Flatistan and the land of semi-trailers until we arrived back in Baker City, the place where we started out on Saturday morning. The idea was to have a quick snack and beverage at that healthy bakery that we wanted to try out on Saturday morning before heading into the Mountains of "Hell". Most of the stores made so much money on the weekend that they stayed closed. The lady in the building a few doors over said that their food wasn't very good so we went on our merry way

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Hours later we stopped for photos at the John Day Fossil lookout. It was getting warm and the sun was beating down

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Brandy was looking for relection photos and I managed this one in the mirror . I don't recall being a sandwich before but . . .

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it felt gooood. Then Brad started winking at me. He may have felt right at home with those joyous people at the LogHouse RV park.

Brad was our squadron leader, from the mountains of "Hell", to Flatistan then Curvistan. I must say we were doing very spirited riding and I didn't even know that I may have been singled out for a ticket as I was the last bike to make the pass after the right lane vanished. I was in turbo mode with screaming pistons trying to keep up whilst attempting to pass a long line of cars. Later I find out that the Trooper actually made a U-turn and was about to start his pursuit . . . ignorance is BLISS, I knew nothing about this until later

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We said our goodbyes at a Starbucks in Redmond, Oregon where they still had a 3 hour ride home in heavy traffic.

After our short beverage break I continued down Hwy 97 into Bend, OR to find the local REI so I could buy the Monarch folding chair. GULP, they did have them in stock but for $69.99 I didn't need one. I went to the desk and explained about the special REI email I received which offered these for sale at $39.99 for a limited time. I thought I was in for a battle, but she said OK and I walked out of the store with an Orange one under my arm.

Try as much as I did to find a Campground here in Bend, most are RV facilities with hook ups so I ended up at IronDad's favour haunt, the EconoLodge with A/C and WiFi. Finally, my computer can talk and I don't feel excommunicated with the world

today was a great day with Brad & Brandy. I rode just over 356 miles.

Tomorrow I will be heading west toward Sisters and Hwy 242 and perhaps Aufderheide Memorial Drive
Instead of putting on the miles, as was first intended, I am going to explore the local roads which I have been hearing so much about. I should end up somewhere between Eugene or Albany and the next day may find me on the coast

26 comments:

  1. Sounds like IMBC was a success. Sometimes there is nothing better than a comfortable room, wifi and a nice place to rest your head. Have fun exploring and ride safe.

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    1. Dar:

      If there was a choice to be alone, or with other people I would always choose not to be alone. Yesterday, with the heat, the A/C was good

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  2. Bob my friend - I'm as jealous as heck what with all you great folks getting together and enjoying some darned good weather. Great to see the badass coming out in you all. Suppose radar detector sales will leap up shortly :-).

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    1. Geoff:

      I am not a hooligan, preferring to go the posted limit, plus or minus room for speedo error. Today I was at the end, trying to keep up. All I had to do was to fixate my eyes on "you know who". I was chuckling all the way, all day long

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  3. Glad you're back online. I've been wondering how y'all were fairing. I envy you just being able to go where your whims take you for several days. That's way cool about the chair. Stores that do stuff like that build clientele. So many other merchants would have said "tough!" Sounds like a fun day with the two Bs!

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    1. Kathy:

      I do like the Monarch Chair. I like the way it folds up and takes very little room. I was surprised that the female clerk at REI didn't even check anything. It was like I could have told her "any price" and she would do it.

      I love to meet people. It has been hard the past few days listening to myself

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  4. BobSkoot, Sounds like a huge overall success. I echo the "jealous as 'hell'" sentiment! Keep riding safe and have a fantastic time!

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    1. Jimbo:

      I am hoping that one day you will visit your relatives in Vancouver, WA. I am lucky that a few of us live here in the West. Oregon is only a day away for me. Hope you are feeling better, and you should post about other things in your life

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  5. Bob,

    Sounds like a great time. I'm sad I wasn't able to make it this year - but coming back from Germany was kind of a big deal, I suppose. I hope you guys plan another one sometime soon, I'd like to meet everyone, provided we're not moving again. It looks like it's worth it.

    Brady
    Behind Bars
    www.behindbarsmotorcycle.com

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    1. Brady:

      You have moved around the world and back so understandably that we didn't get to meet you YET. One day our time will come. Our next iMBC will be in two years, most likely a bit farther EAST . I think everyone wants to meet you too

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  6. Hi Bob,

    Glad you are enjoying your vacation! It's good not to have a time limit when traveling the back roads too. We are heading out Sunday for our anniversary ride to the states and will be gone for a week as well. BUt we will have at least one computer with us. So, we will be able to keep up with your updates! Thanks for the Ride Report!

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    1. Scooterchick:

      I will be interested in your camping adventures. I should be home late Friday or Saturday for sure. If you are passing through Vancouver, email me your approx time and location and perhaps we could give you a "send off"

      BTW: Happy Anniversary

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  7. Hey Bob,
    Welcome back to Oregon! Hope you are having a great time. Unfortunately I'm one of those guys that is still a slave, still needs to work for a living. And you caught me in one of the bad weeks here in the office, and we are all busy getting ready for a mega meeting next week in DC. Otherwise I would be riding a couple of segments with you. Instead I'm going from meeting to meeting... And to make matters more complicated, I'm meeting some friends tonight to "celebrate" one of my friends that is moving out of the country for warmer pastures. Although with all these challenges, please keep me posted about your whereabouts, to see if we can connect.
    Cesar

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    1. Cesar:

      I am in Eugene, Econo Lodge 1185 sw 7th, unit 221 if you have time. Leaving in the morning, perhaps around 9am. Not sure which way I will go

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  8. Thanks for the report on yesterday Bob and for the great pictures (and yummy coffee in Redmond).

    And for the record the State Trooper didn't actually do a u-turn but those brake lights sure came on. I think he realized there was too much traffic to turn around. Needless to say Troubadour set a more sedate pace after that.

    Have fun on tootling around the backroads.

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    1. Trobairitz:

      all the time as we were closing in on Redmond I was getting a bit teary-eyed as I knew we would be parting ways. I prefer being with others, so the thought of having to fend for myself, making plans and heading to who knows where was on my mind.

      I never even saw the Trooper as I was concentrating on building speed and passing that first car before the lane "ran out"

      As for yesterday, Hwy 242 was okay because there were lots of cars in case you ran into trouble, but the Aufderheide I should have left for another day. It is too remote, not well travelled and I found myself dozing. It is a long road which I wished would have ended as I was tired and there are no places to stop and pull over. Plus it put me much farther south than I wanted

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  9. I had a fantastic weekend and really enjoyed myself, thanks for the photos and writeup.

    ...and by the way, it wasn't a spirited pace... your speedometer is in kilometers so it just seemed faster ;)

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    1. Troubadour:

      It was a great weekend. I felt funny taking food from your continental breakfast as we didn't have anything to eat from our place, and I knew we wouldn't be eating for "hours" .

      I forgot, kilometers seems like you are riding faster, I forgot. It was so sad to see you two leave when we were at the Starbucks parking lot

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  10. Bob - have fun on your vacation - a chance to catch up on some 'fast' twisties - Miss you already.

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    1. Karen:

      I thought of you all day today. You will see why when you see the photos. This road was worse than the one you didn't like. and going fast scares me. I miss you too, I wanted to try camping again but couldn't find a place like the one in Baker City

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  11. Bob, sounds like it was a great trip. Now, if you are able to take another short one, how about this: I am in the PNW, and will be visiting with friends in Seattle for the next four days. I am going to be at Sound Harley-Davidson, 16212 Smokey Point Blvd. Marysville, WA 98271 between 10-10:30 on Saturday morning, July 28. We can visit there and/or ride someplace for lunch. This will be convenient for some of the folks who might come from Vancouver. I'd love to meet you in person. Others too. --Brent

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    1. Brent:

      I was planning on returning home on either Thursday or Friday, leaving Corvallis in the morning. I could stop in Seattle on my way . . . send contact info to: bobskoot at telus dot net

      I too would be honoured to meet "the Legend"

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  12. Enjoy your trip. I was really enjoying the cool weather that morning and I assumed that you guys had stopped somewhere for coffee or other treats.

    Have a great trip!

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    1. Richard:

      We pulled over to let you catch up. I think Troubadour felt guilty by passing you and leaving you "in our dust". I really thought that we would have a final coffee, or at least stop at Elgin before we parted ways

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  13. Woohoo!! Nice and spirited. So I am assuming that Brad had his eye out on the trooper for you to now about the possible u-turn?

    I miss the atheling, but don't miss the temps! :)

    Have a safe a good ride towards home!

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    1. Lori:

      You and Oilburner are on a long ride yourselves. We are waiting for photos of Jack, Tom and Mike, and "your side of the story" before it gets distored.

      I should be homeward bound on Friday morning, and perhaps stop in Seattle for a day to see friends.

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