Over one year ago, I took my first ride to the beach. It was a big deal for me in that I love the Oregon coast and I love riding a motorcycle. Then I stopped writing about my journeys. I have taken many a good rides since, even giving a shot on very cold days. In October of 2009 I went back to the coast, Tillamook and visited some friends.

Then winter hit and as I said, my rides were few. Some got me only 1/2 mile and then I turned back. We had a very wet spring and many weekends I sat there watching it rain only to dry on Wednesday, while I am at work. When we did get dry and fairly warm days, I hit the road. I was not baby sitting my grandson as much and we are still under-employed, so off I have gone.

I have explored some back roads of Washington state up around the Battle Ground area and beyond. The only down side with many of these trips is that I have to spend sometime on I-5 freeway and north of Vancouver the speed limit it 70 mph. Now my little baby is only a 600cc bike, not made for those speeds. She handles well on the back roads and plotting out back road trips can be tough. I have at least managed to go a little ways north of Vader, Washington. It is my goal to go to the Hood Canal area and maybe Port Townsend. However that would cost some over night stays and money is tight right now.

My longest day trip for 2010 is the trip I took to Florence, Oregon down highway 99. I started as early as I could and headed towards Albany to get to 99E. I cut off at Monroe and headed to Mapleton. My bike has a 2.9 gallon tank and I can get about 120 miles between fill-ups, but I never challenge it on the open road. The sign said that Florence was 65 miles away and that would put me right at 100 miles on my odometer. So off I went, hoping there would be no challenges such as slow traffic. I was blessed and rolled into Florence just as it flipped to 100. I then headed north on highway 101 but that proved to be a challenge because of the strong winds. My goal was to head to Newport, but exhausted, I cut off at Waldport and came into Corvallis. I loved the ride and look forward to more.

A month ago I rode to Lincoln City and went to Newport. I discover the back road to Toledo and got a few great pictures along the way.

Advertisement