Yes!!!  The trip was fun and I would do it again.

Next time though, I would be a little smarter.  Unlike Rick who went through Death Valley early in the day, I  started in about Noon on Saturday.  It was 116 degrees in the shade at Badwater, and my thermometer in the sun ran off the scale after 121 degrees.  I drank lots of liquids, but I was still a little nauseous and exhausted by the time I got to Lone Pine in the cooler, higher elevations.  Ferocious side winds west of Stovepipe Wells made that
part of the trip rough.  Oh well!  Now I can say "Been there, done that".

Sunday I cruised up US 395 through Reno and on to Lakeview, Oregon.  They were so glad to see me in Reno that they sent the Blue Angels out to greet me.  It was Air Races weekend.  It was a pretty ride up over several 8,000
foot mountain passes.  The road is relatively curvy, but mostly high speed sweepers.  A nice change from 180 degree switchbacks on the PCH and the Lost Coast.

From Lakeview, I continued up US 395 to Pendleton and then home to Yakima via I-84 and I-82.  The road is  pretty variable in Oregon.  Some long straight stretches (drive 4 miles, turn, drive 2 miles turn, etc.) and as you get further North, more twisty sections.  The land seems to tilt up from the South, so you climb up through a series of sweepers to a ridge top and then descend through a series of much tighter curves into the next valley, then do it again.

Gloria was glad to see me home safely.  Someone at her work crashed his dirt bike in his back yard while I was gone and was in a body cast.  He dropped his front wheel into a hole and was pitched over the bars.

That's all for now.  It was a great trip and a pleasure meeting and riding with you all.

George Hilsinger
97 PC
Gypsy
 

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