Day 21 was spent just wandering around Reno and having fun. We checked out the bikes, gambled a bit, and just sat and people watched a bit until the night time came.
Reno for some reason is a totally different vibe from Las Vegas. It seems people are more pleasant and are happy to see you. The gambling is the same, at least for me ( it just takes all my money), but the food is better and cheaper, and the people seem to be there to make the fun, instead of watching the fun.
Street Vibrations was great! A lot of good bikes, a lot of vendors, The bands sounded good and no matter where you went there was always something going on. The Silver Legacy has a big fireworks display and Harrah's had a beer pong contest that was fun to watch. There is a "Gentlemen's Club" only a couple blocks away that was hopping. There wasn't enough room for all the bikes to park.
The only part I did't get to do that I regret (we had to leave Saturday morning) was to participate in the Cat House Poker Run. I really would have liked to do that.
Anyway, we got up early Saturday and headed north for the final 2 days of travel to get home.The Weather report showed it raining along the northern coast, so we stayed inland. We found a lake right at the California/Oregon border that is a complete opposite of Lake Tahoe. It is called Goose lake.
The lakes are about the same size, but where Lake Tahoe is a deep water lake, this lake is only about 2-3 feet deep for the most part, so you have this gigantic area of mud.
It was nice to get back to the Northwest and the tree's and canyons instead of flat dry land, but the Speed limits in Oregon went to 55mph. What a killer from day after day of 70-75 mph. It seems we were crawling.
Saturday evening put us in Northern Oregon so we made the decision to head west and chance the rain. As soon as it turned dark we headed up and over the pass around Mt. Hood. At that point Lori was not a happy camper. She does not like driving a bike at night and the road over that pass was not lit well and lots of grooves. Her bike still has the Original Dunlop tires so it gets moved quite a bit by grooves and ruts. While this is not a real big deal in the daylight, at night you cannot see them and the bike gets moved when you are not ready and it is a spooky feeling.
By the time we were off of the pass and into a populated area, she had had enough. We stopped at Sandy, Or. for the night.
Sunday dawned to overcast and rain, so we suited up appropriately and headed North once again. Once we crossed into Wa. the rain let up for a bit, but was back by the time we got to Seattle. As soon as we were in Lynnwood, the sun came out as if to say "Welcome home" We got home at 11:30 AM
The bikes did amazing, they performed flawlessly and never missed a beat.
It was great trip and one that I will back at fondly. We went a total of 8439 miles in 23 days (20 driving days).
People were asking what was the best part of the trip, and while the scenery was awesome and we got to see a lot off the country, the best for me was meeting up with friends and getting to see people that you have only had a passing acquaintance with from comments on a forum.
From seeing a name on a forum to actually meeting the people and having a good time together is a great feeling, and I want to thank Shannon and Kevin, Diane and Robby, Morg and Cris and Cliff and Jackie for making this trip truly a Motorcycle trip of a lifetime. To Paul, I wish the timing had been better to meet, But we will meet one day, I am certain :-)
I will try and put together stats and impressions within the next couple of days for those that are interested.
Thank you for following along!
For those that wish to see the complete trip together with the pictures it is at;
http://garytjandlori.blogspot.com
September 28, 2010- -
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September 28, 2010- -
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Report