Sunday morning I awoke about 7 or so. My big sister was already up, and had the coffee made. Her and I sat around drinking coffee and chatting, and about 8:30 or 9, I heard my cell phone in the bedroom. I ran back and grabbed it, and returned the call. There was a situation with my son & his Mom, where she is angry, he is tearful, and they want me to bail them out, but I�m 3 � hours away. There is nothing I can do about it, but talking with my Son while he is upset bothers me a great deal. I hop in the shower and get things ready to leave. I check over the bike, and all is well, oil OK as is the coolant. Go thorough my departure routine, and my sister laughs at me, getting all my gear on. I�ve learned that if I do it the same way each time, I can get on, put my gloves on last, and leave knowing I have not forgot something.
A final wave, and I�m off down the road. I�m still distracted, calculating time to see if I can get to my Son in time to make any difference. 410 to 512 and I am just thinking of hitting I-5 and slabbing it home. I finally realize that all I will accomplish by doing that is ruining my own day, to help him I would have had to went home last night, which I had offered to his Mom then. I might as well enjoy the trip, so I take the Highway 7 exit, and head east. I think about stopping at my little sister�s house in Spanaway, but it�s Sunday before 10AM, and I�d hate to wake her. <grin> I�ve not been past Roy �Y� in a while, and did not realize how much it has been built up. Damn, a Wal-Mart and a Freddy�s.
20 some years ago, I parked my Dad�s International Travelall in a ditch out here, with my girlfriend. I�d tried to pass an old man in a hat driving a Dodge Dart. He was doing 40 when I started, and he accelerated right along with me. Finally, I had to move back behind him, as I had a car coming up, and naturally, he slowed to let me pass. It was hit him or hit the brakes, and we wound up in the ditch. Today, nothing bad happens, and I am enjoying the ride.
It started to rain somewhere about Tanawax I guess. I keep thinking that I can cut over to 507 if it looks like the rain is going to get too bad, because Morton is up there in elevation, and could be cold. As I cruise by each of my �bail out� turns, I say the heck with it; unless it�s snowing, I�m going through Morton to Highway 12. I don�t HAVE to be home until 7:30 Monday, so worse case, I�ll just turn around and retrace my steps.
I came swooping down the hill by the Pioneer Museum, I�ve always loved these fast downhill sweepers. The rain is still light, and the road mostly dry, and I accelerate back up the hill on the other side of the valley. Over the next few miles, the rain picks up more and more, and pretty soon the road is nice and wet. I�m slowing down a lot more for turns now, and in one the front slips a little, a very weird feeling. Somewhere past the Eatonville cutoff, I find an overhanging tree, and stop to put on my rain jacket, and a pair of sweatpants under my riding pants. I manage to get everything on without getting my socks wet, and thus protected, go on. Alder lake is up, and looking beautiful as ever. Coming into Elbe, I slip slide a bit over the railroad tracks, but I�m ready for them.
The road from Elbe to Morton climbs, all while the rain stays the same steady rate. Enough rain that there is standing water in the ruts, but not really pouring. My pants and rain jacket do a great job keeping me dry, unfortunately my boots and gloves both leak. Oh well, it�s only water, but it is kind of cold.
I�m hungry, having not eaten breakfast, and I think about stopping in Morton for lunch, but I�d like to get back down in elevation, so I turn right onto Highway 12 and cruise. The lower I get, the more the rain slacks off, so that by the time I�m to the I-5 junction, it�s barely raining. I stopped at Spiffy�s, next to a couple GoldWing 1500�s and a KL1200LT. My little SliverWing looks like a baby wing next to these rolling couch�s. After waiting almost 20 minuets, I give up and decide that I�m not THAT hungry, grab a handful of dried fruit, and hop on I-5 south to Castle Rock.
At Castle Rock, I start to retrace yesterday�s route, south on 411 to Longview. I stopped in Longview at some Diner, and had a horrible chicken fried steak, and a couple of great cups of coffee. While waiting for the food, I took advantage of the facilities to change into dry socks, which actually made me feel much better. OK, the cute waitresses flirting didn�t hurt either!
Back over the bridge into Oregon, and US30 back to Portland, I�m getting close to home now. It sprinkled on and off all the way, but it did not bother me at all. Even my hands seemed to be OK. Maybe I am getting a little tougher, but the grip heaters are still going on RealSoon �! I�m almost home, and I�m not sure I�m ready � briefly think about taking a long cut, but finally decide that I want to get home and call my son. The trip odometer on the bike shows about 182 miles after my fill up in Parkland, so my total mileage is just under 400.
Since I am a new rider, pretty much all my gear is new, and some was new this trip. The balaclava I mentioned is a HJC CoolMax, and I liked very well. My helmet is a Bieffe AirTech, and is not that great, the visor flips up on it own, and the vents are so-so. I recently bought a ButtBuffer dry-polymer pad, and it�s fantastic You would not think a �� pad would do al that much, but this thing really helps a skinny butt like myself. $40 for a pair of underwear is ridiculous, but LDRider shorts are worth it if you suffer at all from �monkey-butt� or have moisture control problems. I got some Heine Gierke Tourag textile pants after my inquiry about textile pants, and they worked out well. Waterproof, comfortable and well fitting. I�m not sure how they will do when it�s hot, but for cool weather they are nice, staying warm even without the liners in. I prefer sweatpants to the liner, as I can remove the pants when at a restaurant, so I�ve not tried the liners that came with them. I did not wear anything under them except the LDRider shorts Saturday, and my legs never got cold, even at 70 on I-5.
My tank bag is a Ortlieb magnetic mount. It�s a bit of a pain to get into, and has no external pockets. To cure the later, I�ve added a camera case to the left side, and a fanny pack to the back. Being 100% waterproof was the main reason I bought this, and so far it is. The trunk on my SilverWing also seems to be waterproof, as everything stayed dry. I had no problem getting an overnight�s worth of stuff in between the trunk and the tank bag, even with the tank bag only having riding gear (sweatpants, rain suit etc) in it, and having Harry Potter 3 in the trunk.
I need rain covers for my gloves and my boots, but I already knew that. Heated grips are going to be put on once I get the bars sorted out. An electric vest and power to the GPS would be good, as my batteries ran dead. Overall, I�m very happy with my trip; I checked out my new gear, and got some much needed experience. The bike ran flawlessly, although one screw vibrated off. V-twins, what can I say? I averaged about 47MPG, which is a far cry from the 18 that my truck gets. Most importantly, I had fun.
Zoom, zoom, zoom.