Ride Map for Eastern Oregon 2006 Ride

We've already ridden these roads at different times, but we're running out of unique combinations.

Saturday morning, Sept. 16, we'll meet at the Bridge St. Inn for breakfast at 8:00. We'll plan to leave at 9. From there, we'll head up Hiway 7 to Hiway 245 - Dooley Mtn. -

stop at the Unity Reservoir for a break.

From the Reservoir we'll head to Ukiah. If anyone needs fuel (it'll be 135 miles to Ukiah from Baker City) they'll need to fuel up at Austin Junction. At Austin Junction we turn onto Hiway 7, go about 1 mile, and turn left onto the Middle Fork Road. At Hiway 395 turn right, go about 30 miles, turn right to go to Ukiah.

Fuel up, eat lunch and/or snacks in Ukiah.

From Ukiah we'll ride to Sumpter, stop at the Gold Dredge in Sumpter for a break, then on to Baker City.

It's roughly 225 miles. We originally planned on the Hells Canyon Loop, but it was close to 300 miles and thought that was a little far since most people have to travel so far to get here in the first place.

We'll BBQ at our place Saturday evening. We'll supply the hamburger, buns, and fixings.



  

Page 2

It didn't save large enough to read the first time, so here's page 2 a little bigger.

  

Oops!

An R6 will not go 200 miles on one tank of gas at freeway+ speeds. It will go 191 miles - 6 miles short of the gas station. Don't ask how I would know this. I did get a picture of a nice sunset that I would not have stopped to take otherwise.


 
 
  

Women with wanderlust

Jim and I had the honor of meeting these two lovely women. They traveled in RV's for 10 years and ended up in Baker City. We met with them on a Sunday afternoon and visited for a couple of hours. They had lots of advice and stories to share. We appreciate the time they spent with us and look forward to visiting with them again.

Jim's Famous

There was a large motorcycle rally in Baker City and the newspaper interviewed Jim for an article they were writing up.

Women Riders Now article

Women Riders Now article by Penny Devlin







http://www.womenridersnow.com/PublicFiles/DepartmentViewer.asp?DepartmentID=14&ArticleID=249

Movin' on out...

We've moved probably about 90% of our stuff to where we'll be living for the next year. The amazing thing is, I don't even miss it. I'm able to function with the remaining 10% of the stuff we haven't moved yet. I haven't needed to run out to the apartment to look for something because I miss it, or "need" it. I think it's amazing that we accumulate so much "stuff" and think we need to have it, but when it's boxed up and out of sight, we forget we even have it.

If I was really brave, I'd leave a lot of stuff in boxes and after several months simply toss the entire box without ever opening it to see what's inside. I know that won't happen, though.

posted on March 22, 2006 4:03 PM (PST)

SOLD, to the highest bidder

Actually, sold to the first bidder. We sold the house. We signed papers today and the buyer signs tomorrow. Yippee!! We are in the process of moving a little bit of stuff each day, plus getting ready to have a moving sale. Maybe someone else wants our junk? Never hurts to try.

We're moving from a nearly 3,000 square foot house to an under 1,000 square foot apartment built in a barn. Needless to say, we're getting rid of a lot of stuff. Our goal is to get rid of enough stuff that we don't have to get a storage unit.

Our dog loves it where we're going. The people we are renting from have 1 black lab and a chocolate lab. Our dog is a black lab mix. She thinks she's gone to doggy heaven. She'll have more than enough space to run around in. She's a fairly old dog but I think being around these dogs will add a few more years to her life.

posted on March 14, 2006 4:20 PM (PST)

Cleaning up

Cleaning Up

In preparation for selling our house we've been going through all of our junk. Wow!! How much stuff can two people accumulate in a few short years? A lot!

We've managed to clean out two bedrooms completely - giving away the beds and other stuff to people we knew could use it. We've thrown away a couple of garbage cans of junk, and taken a couple more loads to the Salvation Army. I'm hoping we can get rid of enough stuff that we won't have to have a yard sale.

We're going to try to sell the house ourselves. That might be interesting! At least I work at a mortgage company so I have somewhat of an idea of what needs to be done.

We already have a place to live once the house sells. It's out in the country so we can keep our dog. We've had her for 11 years, so I was hoping we wouldn't have to give her away. I have a friend who said she'd take her if we needed her to, but I'd rather keep her as long as we can.

The place we'll be living in until we head out on our travels is a nice apartment that a local rancher built in his shop. It's only a one bedroom, which is fine. That forces us to get rid of more stuff before we move in. We'll be allowed to park our vehicles in part of the shop while we're living there, so we'll have a place for the bikes and cars.

We're still moving ahead with our plan.

posted on February 14, 2006 9:28 AM (PST)

The "no plan, plan"

My husband and I ride motorcycles. He rides a 2000 Honda VFR and I ride a 2002 VFR. About two years ago we came up with this crazy plan to quit our jobs and ride our bikes for a year. It was a "no plan, plan." Our "plan" was to just ride - no specific destination in mind, just hit the road and follow wherever the front tire led.

It started out with a 5 year plan- we were going to slowly work up to taking off. We'd sell our house, sell what we didn't need and store the rest, quit our jobs, and take off. After a year, we had to add another year to the plan. The first year, we just talked about it between the two of us. The next year we started telling a few select people. Then we actually started planning in earnest.

Once the planning stage really started, we realized we wouldn't be able to take off an entire year. Our finances wouldn't allow for it, so the plan was modified to 3 or 4 months, or until the money ran out.

This month, January, 2006, we both gave notices at our jobs. Due to our positions we felt we needed to give quite advance notice. We'll take off in April or May of 2007. My boss was great, accepted my notice graciously, and thanked me for giving him such advance notice. My husband's boss is trying to work out a deal with my husband for him to take a leave of absence rather than quitting.

Once we know for sure what we're going to do, the planning will move ahead full force.

Jim and Penny

In May of 2007, my husband, Jim, and I will be quitting our jobs and traveling on our motorcycles. This blog is a way for our family and friends to keep track of our travels and see where we've been, where we're going next, and to join us on our ride.