Mother's Day Ride

[ridingAK]

Since the girls are in Alaska, and Bobby was away, I decided that rather than staying home feeling lonely this weekend, I should do something fun. I packed up the bike Friday night so I could get an early start on Saturday morning without feeling like I had to rush.

My first stop was fuel, for me not the bike. I had ridden to work Friday afternoon and it was already gassed up and ready to go. Nut and I have posted about this place before. Rogue is an awesome coffee shop, and the barrista was excited to hear about my plans for the weekend.

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After my coffee and Morning Glory muffin I hit the road for real. I cut straight South through Spokane until I was back in the country on 195 South. It is pretty, rolling country.

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Soon I came to the little town of Rosalia, home to Steptoe Battlefield and State Park (http://www.byways.org/explore/byways/54775/places/54918/). It is close to home and definitely a place I want to return to.

As I admired the town a crop duster caught my attention (you can just make out the plane in the photo). They do some amazing flying, but I am SO glad Nut decided on 747's instead!

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Soon the rolling hills gave way to rocky outcroppings and irrigation canals.

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Just past the small town of Washtucna I found the turn-off for Palouse Falls State Park. The area is arid and not where you would expect to find a 200 foot waterfall! The road leading back to the park started like this,

http://alaskadualsport.smugmug.com/photos/533344566_Xod6G-M.jpg,

and got better for the entire ten miles back to the Park entrance road. I was very surprised that as popular as this park is that the entrance road was gravel!

The waterfall is spectacular!

http://alaskadualsport.smugmug.com/photos/533346456_qSGZ6-M.jpg

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and if you got tired of looking at the falls, the view the other direction was pretty nice too.

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this little guy liked it too.

http://alaskadualsport.smugmug.com/photos/533344876_8JjDd-M.jpg

I spent about about two hours walking around and exploring the area.

When I left the Falls I continued South on back roads. I was enjoying myself a lot until my gas low light came on, and I wasn't sure how far it was to Pasco. Finally I got to Pasco but then couldn't find a gas station! I finally drifted into a gas station on fumes.

After gassing up I went over to the local park to check out the river and the bridge.

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After leaving Pasco I chose to stay on the Washington side of the Columbia River on Highway 14. The views were outstanding.

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This area sees a lot of railroad traffic on both sides of the river.

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There are also miles and miles of wind farms.

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I got closer to this small wind farm. These generators are far smaller than the ones in the previous picture, but they are still huge!

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I stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at Roosevelt. The cheeseburger and fries were excellent but I was so hungry I didn't even think of taking a picture until too late!

As a kid I remember my parents talking about the John Day Dam. I don't remember ever having gone there as a family, not to say that I couldn't have forgotten, but it is a pretty cool dam.

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Just before going down the hill into Maryhill I came across Stonehenge (http://www.legendsofamerica.com/WA-Stonehenge.html):confused::chin:!
I needed to check this out!

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Looking down from Stonehenge at the bridge between Maryhill, WA and Biggs, OR. The greenbelt along the river is my campground!

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Here's my little tent with the Columbia River in the background.

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As I was unloading the bike a gentleman came over to me and asked if I was hungry. I told him I was just getting ready to cook. He said he knew how tiring it is to spend a long day on the road, set up camp, and then have to cook, and If I wanted he would heat up the pasta and red sauce he and his wife had for dinner. It was awesome! Good conversation and good food I didn't have to worry about!

The campground is in a prime location.

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I love trains, hate the noise at night. I didn't hear this one at all during the night.
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I retired early and slept hard. My reward was an early morning filled with bird song and gorgeous light.

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On the advice of the park ranger, I headed up highway 97 toward Goldendale looking for breakfast. She said it was about 12 to 15 miles. I didn't make it that far before I was finding more stuff I had to stop and learn about.

This road was closed at the top, and I was told they use it for races and filming commercials. I want to ride it!:drool:

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Almost immediately after pulling out of the overlook by the road, I came to another overlook that is a bit more sobering.

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This is the area.

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As I approached Goldendale, yet another overlook captured my attention. In addition to Adams and Hood, you could also faintly see St. Helens and Rainier in the distance.

Mt Adams
http://alaskadualsport.smugmug.com/photos/533354541_3uBc9-M.jpg

Mt Hood
http://alaskadualsport.smugmug.com/photos/533354784_qBhpA-M.jpg

This old house also caught my attention. The barbed wire fence was already down, so...
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Finally I arrived in Goldendale and got my breakfast. While in the restaurant I talked to Nut and to my mother-in-law, and sent a text to the girls. The food was pitiful, but in celebration of Mother's Day all mothers got a red rose.

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After thinking of telling the folks in the restaurant that I couldn't travel with a flower I decided to improvise instead.

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Most of the day from there home was through endless patchwork farmland.

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On the Yakima Indian reservation I stopped and caught this guy guarding his nest.

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If you look closely at this picture you can see the bee that was destined to become lunch...

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I don't think my girls have ever seen a redwing blackbird. They were everywhere!

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I don't remember the name of this rest stop, but they had a fish and game van set up where sports fisherman could register to get paid for every Northern Pike they caught and brought back to the van.

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Getting closer to Spokane I started passing a lot of these fields. Know what they are?

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They're hop fields. Most hadn't started really growing yet, but a few were starting to climb the twine already.

In Odessa there were a few impressive old buildings, but this was my favorite.

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and one more on highway 2 as I was approaching Spokane. This is someone's private home. They were staring at me from the window as I sat on the side of the road taking this picture. :lol:

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I hope all of you had a mother's day as wonderful and memorable as mine.

[Astir]

:wootrock: That rocked! What a great adventure, and fantastic pictures! Thanks rAK!

Stonehenge in Washington? Who wudda thunk it... :lol: But then again, we also have the London Bridge. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Bridge_%28Lake_Havasu_City%29)

[Luna Tique]

What a great way to spend your weekend.:wootrock: Wonderful pictures to remember your time away. ( not that I would expect anything less from you :D: )

I was totally impressed with that waterfalls It is amazing
and since I can only imagine the distance from where you took it, what is the green that grows on the left of the falls . It almost looks like moss but it can't be can it?

http://alaskadualsport.smugmug.com/photos/533346456_qSGZ6-M.jpg


and what are the squares? Are they shadows? If so of what??

http://alaskadualsport.smugmug.com/photos/533354784_qBhpA-M.jpg

[ridingAK]

The green is moss LT. And the color was even more intense than it shows in the picture.

The squares are shadows from the signs at the overlook. I don't know why you can't see the posts, but the boards were definitely not hovering. :lol:

[ridingAK]

After looking at this thread this morning, I realized how tired I was when I was writing it last night. It is edited for the correct pictures and directions. :redface1:

[KansasKawboy]

:wootrock: That rocked! What a great adventure, and fantastic pictures! Thanks rAK!


What a great way to spend your weekend.:wootrock: Wonderful pictures to remember your time away. ( not that I would expect anything less from you :D: )




:iagree:

[TigerLady]

Great pics!:wootrock:

It's fun to see the local riding areas of others.

Your experience in the campground and being offered food is perfect. Over the years I have developed a technique of arriving in a campground by myself, setting up camp and sitting on the picnic table looking REALLY hungry. On a good day, I will get offered several meals by other campers.:lol: Others have referred to this as Yogi'ing. My last succesful yogi was bbq ribs, sweet corn and cornbread!:yahoo:

[Astir]

Hey TigerLady - you will have to enlighten us on your looking hungry technique! :rofl:

[KCDakar]

Yogi'ing (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=yogi-ing) :chin:

[TylerR]

I hope all of you had a mother's day as wonderful and memorable as mine.

YAYAYAYAYAYAYYYYYYY!!! I finally get to see pics of some of YOUR neck of the woods!!! :wootrock: Great pics... I especially liked the waterfall/view and the old barn... that kind of stuff just is so interesting... the textures and colors. What a great gift to yourself!! :cool::howdy:

[Abosit]

How wonderful to see the green again and mountains. I miss them very much. Lovely pictures!

About camping alone as a women have not done that (done lots of camping very primitive but always with friends or my husband and kids). Now when I want to have my alone trips would really like camping alone. Still feel as a foreigner after many years, and still guesing the intentions and meanings of people in unfamiliar areas specially thinking about campgrounds.

Could you describe me some scenarios what to look out for. Sometimes I would be more inclined to camp at a regular farm house and ask for one night to put my tent up.
Any thoughts.

[indianscout]

That was fantastic rAK! I know your area is very diversified but had no idea on just how much. Just goes to show you that you shouldn't pass up a road just cause it doesn't look like it goes anyware special. Yes, thank you very much for bringing us along.





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[1Koolemom]

Those were Awesome pictures of your home area. :): Thanks for sharing. The weather was spot on. That looked to be a GREAT Mother's Day seeing all the gorgeous & interesting places.:clapping:

1Koolemom
'02 Hyosung GV245

[Luna Tique]

:wootrock:I learned a new word and its definition today........ YOGIIING Thanks TigerLady :w2:

[ridingAK]

Yogi'ing is a skill I will definitely work on. It was great to get to try someone else's cooking and to eat off their dishes, especially since I had forgotten to pack a fork. I had been planning to "drink" my Mountain House beef stroganoff out of the packet. :redface1: This is not the first time I've walked off without utensils. I need to put a set in my tank bag and leave it there!

[KCDakar]

I have a small bag that has all I need for Yogi'ing. It is in the bottom of a pannier along with my camp stool. I have been doing this for years and never knew it was "called" something. :shrug:

I have been known to go into a fast food restaurant and pick up a set of utensils for the trip. :D:

[ridingAK]

Could you describe me some scenarios what to look out for. Sometimes I would be more inclined to camp at a regular farm house and ask for one night to put my tent up.
Any thoughts.

I generally feel comfortable either being completely alone, or in a campground where there are a lot of other people. I figure not too much can go wrong if there are a lot of folks around within hollering distance. I am also more trustful of RV's generally than pickup style campers. I know it is stereotyping, but it seems that you are more likely to find families or couples in RV's, and single men more often with campers. I feel safer in the family crowd.

If a campground looks dirty, and run down I would also rather go somewhere else. In my mind litter and a rundown appearance make me feel like it is frequented by a seedier crowd than a well-maintained campground.