Ron and I got there early, but Bev was there already. She rode in from Albany! Way to go Bev!! Ace and Jo are the ride leaders. The weather is cool, cloudy but dry. We headed out through Jefferson neighborhoods out to the highway. We made our first stop at Green’s Bridge where some rafters were loading up down in the river. The blue house was visited, and on the road once more. The next stop was at the old barn on Shelburne to decide who wanted to go the flat route and who wanted to tackle the hills. Ace, Bev,and Jerel opted for the flat route. Bill, Ron Jo and I headed for the hills. Bill and Ron sped up the hills like they weren’t even there. Jo stayed with me, as I slogged my way to the top after dropping my chain twice.
Once we were all at the top we enjoyed the view towards Richardson’s Gap took a pic or two, and got back on the road. Someone said the hills were through, but we were still climbing up a false flat (I hates those!). More riding, more views and a fantastic downhill with a nice maximum speed around 37 mph. It didn’t even feel fast. We paused at a stop sign and admired an old historic barn/farm, then off again on our way to Stayton. Earlier Jerel asked if we were going to Subway. After some discussion Subway it is. Nobody told me that Subway was several miles farther down the road! Now, there needs to be a rule about route changes that add more than a few yards to the route. Still, gotta love Subway. Lunch was yummy. When is food not yummy on a bike ride!?! We took a different route back since we were on the far end of town. Went out through Marion and back to Jefferson by that route, where we had a crosswind sometimes but a nice tail wind most of the time.
Warning: Long post alert! A week or so ago Ron and I took a hike at Silver Falls State Park . Warm summer afternoons will find hundreds of people hiking at the park. It's a constant battle of passing slow hikers...usually in groups, and bumping past oncoming hikers. Not exactly a peaceful forest experience. Take a hike on a cool, wet afternoon, and you'll find far fewer hikers. The hike is called the Trail of Ten Falls . On this day we will visit 6 of the 10 falls, and be treated to a number of unofficial falls running off the slopes of the canyon. South Falls is probably the most visited of all the falls. It's close to the day use area, and can be viewed without hiking down the canyon. The trail goes behind the falls, but we opt to take the foot bridge for the better view. An aside, my co-worker claims to have repelled over South Falls (and came up short on rope). South Falls, 177 ft. Canyon Trail Off we go down the trail and to a series of stairs taking ...
March 1-2, 2026 Shake down cruise, er camp. Found us a teeny, tiny camper van to run about the countryside wreaking havoc wherever we go. Meet the new money pit. God help us it’s another Dodge, or rather a Ram. A Promaster with the infamous terrible transmission. What can we say it hit a price point that no Sprinter could meet. We actually adore her. I just hope she doesn’t fail us on some dark and lonely road. We spent too much time and money getting her appropriately outfitted, then took ourselves to the coast for a night of camping in the rain. If anyone knows our past camping history you would know it always includes rain. Fortunately the rain wrapped up over night and the next day was pretty nice. Spent some time at Yaquina Bay on Monday. The sea lions were busy hunting lunch and having a very successful hunt. The water was this wonderful color of blue and turquoise. Didn’t know it at the time but per another post the color is from herring that are spawning in the bay a...
Our son brought us along to be the voices of reason, strength in the face of temptation, shining examples ruled by the mind and not by passion. He probably should have brought someone else. He sold his pickup, and was looking for it's replacement, a four wheeled replacement that is. There were several options to be viewed up in Portland then after that a visit to one of the motorcycle stores to do a little shopping. I wanted try out some jackets - the never ending quest for the perfect jacket. We should have known it was a mistake to even point the car in the direction of Portland. We knew there was a bike up there, exactly what he was looking for. The whole auto shopping thing was just a ruse, a deception. We were really there to look at bikes. We were only fooling ourselves. I went to the apparel department, father and son went to the showroom. The bike of his dreams: 2006 Yamaha V-star 1100...with ape hangers Later when I joined them I found my own Yamaha...don'...
