Day 10

Ken was my roommate today. Chuck and C.E. roomed together and Jan and Bruce. were roommates. The alarm sounded at 6:30 AM and Ken was already up answering a nature call. I got up and we both got dressed, packed and went to the breakfast room by 7:00 AM. We were the first ones there. We wanted to make sure that there was enough Fruit Loops and Raisin Bran for the two of us. Jan came down early soon after Ken and me. Jan had a motive. Jan went to his Motor to make sure that it started before anyone went outside and before we were ready to leave. The others came down soon and we all had breakfast. We were all pack and on our Motors and left at 8:59 AM with no problems.

Chuck led the group north from the motel and onto a bridge that crossed over the Columbia River. This river is HUGE! Once we were across, we were in the state of Washington. We turned eastbound on Hwy 14. It was a two lane road on the side of a mountain overlooking the Columbia River. We rode for 14 miles and Chuck stopped at 9:14 AM at a scenic overlook called the Klickitat County Information Center. This Information Center consisted of a paved parking lot and a gazebo with four frames on its wall with information. We were looking at the river and saw a bridge with its drawbridge up so that a barge could go through. There was a railway station, green landscape on both sides of the river and in the distance, we saw Mt. Hood with its snow cap. What a sight! We took pictures. you know, the tourist thing. We left at 9:26 AM. Our plan, which was set this morning at breakfast, was to ride to at least Boise, ID. We are en route to Yellowstone National Park. Most of you are familiar with this Park. It is the home of Yogi, Boo-Boo and Ranger Smith. They call it Jellystone.

We continued eastbound and got to a fork in the road and a sign which read, "No gas for the next 82 miles." I got on the CB to Chuck and asked him if he had read the sign. I also asked him if he had enough gas to make the 82 miles. Chuck pulled over and we all stopped. I checked with Chuck again to see if he had enough gas. Chuck stated that he didn't have enough so we made a u-turn and went back to the fork. The other road was US 97 which led us over another bridge and back into Oregon. We rode into a small town named Biggs. Chuck saw a Shell gas station with a Subway inside and it was habit to ride into the gas station and stop for gas. We had traveled only 117 miles when Chuck stopped in Biggs to gas the Motors. He caught hell for stopping so soon! We told him that we were going to register a complaint on him for shirking his duties and stopping too soon. Jan started on him because it was now Jan's turn to lead. We left at 9:53 PM.

Jan took the lead and we headed eastbound on I-84. We rode for 80 miles and stopped for a much needed pit stop at a gas station and convenience store in Hermiston, OR. We, again, made a pit stop, bought some drinks and snacks. There were tables and chairs inside the store so we sat and talked about the last 80 miles. We were all tired because of the drive. It was warm and there was not much to see. Most of us were bored! I was so tired and bored that I put my Motor on cruise control, put my music louder and started playing "air drums!" You should have seen the faces of the other drivers that we were passing. I had a good laugh. The Motor handled quite nicely at 75 mph, on cruise control and "auto pilot." We left at 11:33 AM.

We continue eastbound on I-84 and after riding through much nicer country, we arrived in La Grande, OR. at 12:46 PM and after riding for 84 miles. We pulled into a Shell gas station with a Subway. It was time for lunch. After parking our Motors by themselves in a neighboring Dairy Queen parking lot next door, we walked into the Subway and enjoyed lunch. After lunch, we talked about gassing up again and stopping for our customary "after lunch break" in about 30 to 40 minutes. We gassed up our Motors and it was Ken's turn to lead.

Ken took over the lead and we sped eastbound on I-84. We didn't really speed, well I guess we did because the speed limit was set at 65 mph and we were going 75. We sped eastbound on I-84, but traffic was light and the countryside was nice to look at. The weather was also a little cooler. Did I mention that we also made a pit stop at the Subway? Well, we did. Any way...Ken rode for another 35 miles and at 2:14 PM, we stopped at the Baker Valley Rest Area. YES, we made a pit stop and then did a little stretching. Chuck went to a cement park bench on the south end of the rest area. It was under a ramada. I walked over to where Chuck was and laid down on the cool cement bench. Ken joined us as did the rest of the guys. C.E. also sat at the bench, Ken stood by and Jan laid on the grass. Bruce finally joined us and sat on the grass. We rested for a while...it's a "rest area" isn't it? We finally got back on our Motors and left at 2:41 PM.

Ken continued to lead. He didn't stop real quick to gas up with only 100 plus miles so that he didn't have to lead like someone we know! Ken took us another 60 miles and stopped at 3:34 PM at a gas station and convenience store in Huntington, OR. We had just passed a sign a couple miles back indicating that we were now in Mountain Standard Daylight Savings Time. This means that instead of it being 3:34 PM, it was now 4:34 PM. We lost an hour. We made a pit stop and Chuck started something that everyone of us had to do! Chuck bought an ice cream bar! With the temperature what it was, we all bought some form of ice cream bar or sandwich. It was 82 degrees and we packed away our jackets. We were all outside of the store when there were three kids, their mom and grandma getting into a Lexus SUV. The grandma was telling the three kids that they were not going to get any cookies while in the car. Jan spoke up and told the grandma that she could leave the "homemade" cookies with us. Nice grandma walked over to Jan and Ken and gave Ken a Ziploc bag of "homemade" chocolate chip cookies! We all had some cookies and Jan made sure that he had two cookies and Ken only had one. After all, remember Cave Junction two days ago at the Subway when an employee gave me a bag with six cookies? There was a cookie for each of us. Ken ate two and Jan didn't get any. This was payback! I took out the Best Western book and looked for a place to stay for the night in Boise, ID. I found on which looked very nice and set the Navigation System with the address. We left at 5:06 PM after finishing the cookies.

Ken took the lead with Chuck following, Jan was next, then me and Bruce and C.E. We continued and soon passed a "Welcome to Idaho" sign. We continued on and I kept telling Chuck how many miles we needed to travel before we got to the exit for the Best Western. As I was telling Chuck on the CB, he was telling Ken. We finally arrived at the Best Western at 5:22 PM after 106 miles. It was good that we arrived when we did because Chuck was almost out of gas. We parked our Motors under the front porch and we walked inside "to make the deal." The lady at the desk, Rachel, was the Assistant Manager. She was extremely nice to us. She gave us a GREAT rate, changes her mind and lowered the rate. She then told us that she would give us the Manager's Special rate and lowered the rate even more. On top of that, she told us that once we were settled in, she would be serving beer and wine and the first drink was free. She also told us that we could leave our Motors parked under the porch to keep it our of the rain. She told us that it is supposed to rain tonight and maybe even hail in the morning. She also told us that after 8:00 PM, she would be putting our complimentary cookies and milk. WHAT A GREAT PLACE!!! The motel is very appealing to the eye. On the property, a very short walk away, was a Perkin's Restaurant. Rachel told us that they were very good. After getting our stuff our of our Motors and taking the stuff to our rooms, we tucked the Motors in for the night. We were in the lobby area and drank our "free" beers. We then walked, not staggered, to the Perkin's Restaurant for dinner. We were greeted by the Manager, who was working only with the cook. The Manager, Tanya, told us that because we were staying at the Best Western, we get 10% off of our meal. What a great thing! We had a good meal and spoke with Tanya a little while, there weren't very many people in the Restaurant. Tanya told us that she used to live in Phoenix but moved because she didn't like the people. She told us that she worked at a Denny's on Van Buren. We knew that it would be at 32 Street and she confirmed that. While Tanya was checking us out...no, not that way!...I mean taking care of our bills, a family of four came in and Chuck stepped in and assisted Tanya since she was busy with our group. Chuck welcomed the family to the restaurant and gave them two adult menus and two kid menus along with coloring books and crayons. He told them that they could sit wherever they wanted. Tanya couldn't stop laughing. Neither could we! We returned to the motel and, sure enough, the cookies and milk were waiting for us. We had some and later went to the hot tub for a while.

We had a good day today despite the tiring 80 mile ride. We rode for a total of 371 miles today and spoke with some very interesting and fun people. Tomorrow we will attempt Yellowstone National Park. Chuck checked the computer for the weather and found that it has a 70% chance for rain with a high of 40 degrees. If it is raining tomorrow morning, Bruce said that he would put on his rain gear and ride 11 miles away to a Harley Shop and get some required maintenance on his Harley. We will see what tomorrow brings. Until tomorrow...