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Welcome to Boring, Oregon.
- Thread starter nev
- Start date
nev
Super Térrarist
Great Shots beautifull HD Quality
Thanks, some of the clips aren't as sharp as I'd like, but I'm just using basic editing software and no shake reduction and that sort of thing. The camera was just a cheapie ($65 on ebay) and I think the quality is pretty good considering the price paid !
nev
Super Térrarist
When you're paying rental charges by the day, parking the bikes for a day can be expensive (especially BMWs and especially at the current exchange rates) but we took a day off riding to spend as tourists in Vancouver.
Vancouver had quite a skyline of highrises. Most of them were apartment buildings, not office buildings, and most of them looked pretty new.
We visited the aquarium which was in a park on an island in the middle of the river. It had been rebuilt/remodelled. This was the old penguin enclosure
They had a pair of Beluga whales
and other stuff that I didn't take photos of. The weather was fantastic, mid 20s. We rode the bus system to get around.
Saw some funny signs
ate some great Ethiopian food
Weren't feeling sick, so didn't need to see the doctor. If we did, the doctors here only seem to prescribe one thing...
Vancouver had quite a skyline of highrises. Most of them were apartment buildings, not office buildings, and most of them looked pretty new.
We visited the aquarium which was in a park on an island in the middle of the river. It had been rebuilt/remodelled. This was the old penguin enclosure
They had a pair of Beluga whales
and other stuff that I didn't take photos of. The weather was fantastic, mid 20s. We rode the bus system to get around.
Saw some funny signs
ate some great Ethiopian food
Weren't feeling sick, so didn't need to see the doctor. If we did, the doctors here only seem to prescribe one thing...
nev
Super Térrarist
Yes, last time we were in USA, in 2010, I think Colorado was the only state where we saw this kind of think, actually I think they had pot smoking rooms or something, but this time just about all the states we visited in USA and Canada had legal medicinal marijuana dispensaries. About half of the states of the USA have now decriminalised marijuana for small quantities and it is legal for prescription use. I think Utah might have been the only state we visited that didn't have the essence of grass wafting down the streets.
- Yep, I can believe that! hehe
nev
Super Térrarist
Leaving Vancouver we spent a day and a half riding Hwy 3 which followed valleys through the countryside north of the USA-Canada border. The roads were beautiful to ride, but it was mostly just lots of trees and a road widing through them and not much to stop and take a photo of.
We stopped for a break at this fruit stand.
Check the pictures on the side of the building. Really not sure what that is all about.
Coming down the valley into Osoyoos
Nice park beside the lake
Leaving the next morning. Osoyoos was the indigenous name meaning the narrow part of the lake, and you can see why here.
more of this
Near Creston we crossed the border back into the USA, into Idaho. This crossing was even easier than entering Canada. Again, just flipped the front of the helmet up, handed over the passport, answered a few questions and we were on our way.
The only other point of interest for today was a stop on the side of the road about 50km south of the border, to the spot on the road where the bloke who started the FarRiders forum Davo Jones (he was an austouring.com member also handle AussieDav) had a fatal accident (deer strike) about 6 years ago. The accident scene was pretty unremarkable, just a few metres before the outskirts of town.
A little further down the road, not far around the bend) was a sign with a yellow flashing light warning of wildlife. Not sure if that sign was in any way related to the accident. It was the only sign with a flashing yellow light that I noticed on our entire trip, but maybe I wasn't looking that hard at the others.
We stayed the night in Coeur d'Alene. There were a few places in this neck of the woods which had French sounding names, which dates back to the days prior to the Louisiana Purchase, when almost all of central USA was controlled by the French.
We stopped for a break at this fruit stand.
Check the pictures on the side of the building. Really not sure what that is all about.
Coming down the valley into Osoyoos
Nice park beside the lake
Leaving the next morning. Osoyoos was the indigenous name meaning the narrow part of the lake, and you can see why here.
more of this
Near Creston we crossed the border back into the USA, into Idaho. This crossing was even easier than entering Canada. Again, just flipped the front of the helmet up, handed over the passport, answered a few questions and we were on our way.
The only other point of interest for today was a stop on the side of the road about 50km south of the border, to the spot on the road where the bloke who started the FarRiders forum Davo Jones (he was an austouring.com member also handle AussieDav) had a fatal accident (deer strike) about 6 years ago. The accident scene was pretty unremarkable, just a few metres before the outskirts of town.
A little further down the road, not far around the bend) was a sign with a yellow flashing light warning of wildlife. Not sure if that sign was in any way related to the accident. It was the only sign with a flashing yellow light that I noticed on our entire trip, but maybe I wasn't looking that hard at the others.
We stayed the night in Coeur d'Alene. There were a few places in this neck of the woods which had French sounding names, which dates back to the days prior to the Louisiana Purchase, when almost all of central USA was controlled by the French.
nev
Super Térrarist
Next morning we were off south again, and shortly into the lush green agricultural areas of Washington State.
After a big feed the night before, and not too many towns this morning, we eventually stopped in a place called Washtucna at about 10:45am where the only shopfront in town with any sign of life "Sonny's Tavern" had two signs out the front, one said Food, the other said Open.
Neither was true.
After we parked the bikes it became apparent that the closed sign was still on the door and that the two vehicles parked outside were owned by the owner and a friend of the owner who were inside chatting. They saw us standing around outside and invited us inside. They were waiting for the cook/bartender who ran the place during the day to turn up. He normally turns up at 11am they said. Of all days it was today he was running late. They got us a cold drink and chatted till he arrived. The convo continued with the cook while he set things up for his day at work. The boss had fired up the frier and the oven so the entire menu was available. He did such a good job of selling the "Famous Chicken and Joes" that we ordered it. One serve to feed us both. And boy did it. He explained in fair detail the process of brining the chicken and coating it and then chilling and eventually it's trip to the pressure frier.
We were not disappointed. Expect Jo to post a photo here soon. 4 huge pieces of chicken and a jacket potato. Noone left hungry.
The road continued westwards across western Washington and what a change of scenery we went through. Soon we were in flat desert like country with little sign of agriculture or life.
The further west we went the bleaker it got. For a couple of hundred km we barely saw a town, and the one we did see we just skirted (later as the day warmed up it became apparent that we should have stopped there and bought something cold and wet to drink because there were no other towns along the way to our destination (not even by a short detour).
As we got closer to our destination, Yakima, we reached agricultural areas again. This time it was mainly hops. Rows and rows and rows of hop trellis. Mile after mile after mile of hops. It was quite incredible. 75% of all of the hops grown in the USA grow in the Yakima Valley. Craft brewers are booming and so are hop growers to match. At the warehouses and packing plants where the picked fruit were stored for shipping, the crates either full or waiting to be filled were stacked high, long and wide, as large as a warehouse, many times over.
As we'd been on the road for over 3 weeks, we checked into a motel in Yakima for 2 nights. After 3 weeks on the road, it was nice to not have to wake up and pack everything. Next day we walked across the road to the local bike shop. Jo was shopping for new boots (her boots weren't as waterproof as she'd hoped, especially after some stitching had come adrift). She didn't find any boots, but did take a shine tosomething else to keep her feet dry. We actually saw a few of these Slingshots on the road in the USA.
We went for a short ride, 100km out and back to somewhere for lunch. The first and last part of the day were through the Yakima Gorge. The road followed the river along this gorge like this for about 20 miles. I'll probably have a video to post at the end of this thread at some later date.
Yakima itself was probably the place I liked the least out of all the places we stayed.
After a big feed the night before, and not too many towns this morning, we eventually stopped in a place called Washtucna at about 10:45am where the only shopfront in town with any sign of life "Sonny's Tavern" had two signs out the front, one said Food, the other said Open.
Neither was true.
After we parked the bikes it became apparent that the closed sign was still on the door and that the two vehicles parked outside were owned by the owner and a friend of the owner who were inside chatting. They saw us standing around outside and invited us inside. They were waiting for the cook/bartender who ran the place during the day to turn up. He normally turns up at 11am they said. Of all days it was today he was running late. They got us a cold drink and chatted till he arrived. The convo continued with the cook while he set things up for his day at work. The boss had fired up the frier and the oven so the entire menu was available. He did such a good job of selling the "Famous Chicken and Joes" that we ordered it. One serve to feed us both. And boy did it. He explained in fair detail the process of brining the chicken and coating it and then chilling and eventually it's trip to the pressure frier.
We were not disappointed. Expect Jo to post a photo here soon. 4 huge pieces of chicken and a jacket potato. Noone left hungry.
The road continued westwards across western Washington and what a change of scenery we went through. Soon we were in flat desert like country with little sign of agriculture or life.
The further west we went the bleaker it got. For a couple of hundred km we barely saw a town, and the one we did see we just skirted (later as the day warmed up it became apparent that we should have stopped there and bought something cold and wet to drink because there were no other towns along the way to our destination (not even by a short detour).
As we got closer to our destination, Yakima, we reached agricultural areas again. This time it was mainly hops. Rows and rows and rows of hop trellis. Mile after mile after mile of hops. It was quite incredible. 75% of all of the hops grown in the USA grow in the Yakima Valley. Craft brewers are booming and so are hop growers to match. At the warehouses and packing plants where the picked fruit were stored for shipping, the crates either full or waiting to be filled were stacked high, long and wide, as large as a warehouse, many times over.
As we'd been on the road for over 3 weeks, we checked into a motel in Yakima for 2 nights. After 3 weeks on the road, it was nice to not have to wake up and pack everything. Next day we walked across the road to the local bike shop. Jo was shopping for new boots (her boots weren't as waterproof as she'd hoped, especially after some stitching had come adrift). She didn't find any boots, but did take a shine tosomething else to keep her feet dry. We actually saw a few of these Slingshots on the road in the USA.
We went for a short ride, 100km out and back to somewhere for lunch. The first and last part of the day were through the Yakima Gorge. The road followed the river along this gorge like this for about 20 miles. I'll probably have a video to post at the end of this thread at some later date.
Yakima itself was probably the place I liked the least out of all the places we stayed.
nev
Super Térrarist
Leaving Yakima we can see Mt Ranier in the distance, and we head in that direction, but the road through the forest doesn't offer any more views of it close up.
Stop at a waterfall. (There's a story about these waterfalls but more about that later)
We had to do a bit of backtracking to get to the entrance road to Mt Saint Helens.
The weather wasn't being kind. Misty drizzle on some sections of the road.
And you'll just have to imagine what the volcanic cone of Mt Saint Helens looks like, same as we did, because it was completely hidden behind cloud
The road there and back was a beauty though. With some long bridges over valleys, and plenty of corners.
and the odd scenic lookout (I'm sure if the sun was out this would have been lovely)
On this road we came around a corner and saw this in the front yard of a property ...
Apparently they're farming emus to extract the oil from their feathers which is the latest snake oil potion.
We crossed the I5 just north of Portland and continued heading west, following the Columbia river to the Pacific. It was overcast and occasionally drizzled, but otherwise a nice run and again, plenty of corners here.
Around one bend the clouds parted, the sun came out, and the day improved immensely. We crossed the bridge which crosses the river mouth from Washington state into Astoria, Oregon.
The bridge is a 3 mile long causeway, with a slight hump on the washington end to allow small boats to pass, and an enormous hump at the ORegon side to allow all sizes of ships to enter the river mouth.
This was the view from our hotel room which was right on the marina. The balcony was over the river.
Stop at a waterfall. (There's a story about these waterfalls but more about that later)
We had to do a bit of backtracking to get to the entrance road to Mt Saint Helens.
The weather wasn't being kind. Misty drizzle on some sections of the road.
And you'll just have to imagine what the volcanic cone of Mt Saint Helens looks like, same as we did, because it was completely hidden behind cloud
The road there and back was a beauty though. With some long bridges over valleys, and plenty of corners.
and the odd scenic lookout (I'm sure if the sun was out this would have been lovely)
On this road we came around a corner and saw this in the front yard of a property ...
Apparently they're farming emus to extract the oil from their feathers which is the latest snake oil potion.
We crossed the I5 just north of Portland and continued heading west, following the Columbia river to the Pacific. It was overcast and occasionally drizzled, but otherwise a nice run and again, plenty of corners here.
Around one bend the clouds parted, the sun came out, and the day improved immensely. We crossed the bridge which crosses the river mouth from Washington state into Astoria, Oregon.
The bridge is a 3 mile long causeway, with a slight hump on the washington end to allow small boats to pass, and an enormous hump at the ORegon side to allow all sizes of ships to enter the river mouth.
This was the view from our hotel room which was right on the marina. The balcony was over the river.