Wednesday - 04-30-08

Hood Canal Run

Today started as a pretty nice day. The sun was shining and it was warm. Neither of those things has happened around here much lately. My wife’s boss called this morning (and woke me up) saying Carol did not have to come to work today because of a light work load. Carol had put her name on a list of “let me off the hook” names for just such an occasion. Suddenly, we had a day off together!

I brought Carol’s car to Fife and ran it through the testing station so we could renew the license tabs. This was the first time this car had to go through the test. It is just 5 years old now (and 95 thousand miles). I learned that these newer cars do not have to run on the rollers like the old ones. They just plug into the computer and it’s done in a flash. Sorta makes me feel like my $15 was a bit of a rip off, but it passed, allowing me to spend $43 more for the tabs. What a system. I wonder if any of Al Capone’s relatives ever worked for the State of Washington?

Upon returning home I ran the mower around the lawn then came inside all proud of myself proclaiming that my chores were done for the day and it wasn’t even 10 yet. I asked the babe what she wanted to do today. She thought a bit and said we could maybe go for a ride on the bike. She didn’t have to say THAT twice. In no time at all, we had our leathers on and I began warming up the mufflers. “Where should we go?” I asked her. “If the mountain is out, let’s go up there” she said.

I made a couple of corners and got to a place where we have a magnificent view of Puget Sound with the mountain behind it. The Mt was "gone" today. She hit the intercom button and said I should go where ever I wanted since Mt Rainier was missing in action. I decided to head for the Hood Canal. Last time I was there, it was scenic. Maybe I’d get lucky again.

I took the back way through Olalla then onto SR16 and Gorst. Once at Hoodsport I turned off and followed the water around to Quilcene. We had encountered a bit of rain and the bride was getting a little cold. Being the Chivalrous knight that I am, we turned into the Twana Roadhouse and took turns chugging hot coffee. While our butts were warming, I noticed they had “today’s specials” listed on a board hanging above the counter by the till. There were 5 kinds of pie in the list! What can I say? It was pretty good too.




Before leaving, I dug out my rain jacket and had Carol put it over her leather coat. I found a scarf to keep her neck warm and gave her my heavy leather gloves to compliment my newly acquired “hero” status. The rest of the trip was gravy….

I had purchased my rain suit large enough to fit over my leathers. My jacket was pretty big on her, she said. Here is a picture of my Babe.


We made out way over the Hood Canal Bridge, Down Hwy 3 through Gorst back to SR 16 and home again. "I60 miles" the odometer said. It was a pretty good ride even if it did rain.

My GPS didn’t work today. It would not turn on. I assume there is not power going to the unit. I will have to open the tool box and fiddle around a bit. Let me see… "E=IR" if I remember right. Give me a couple minutes here (insert noises of rummaging in the tool box here).

As it turns out I have approximately 12 volts of potential between connector one and two on the power side of the cable. The mounting bracket has continuity through all points. The grounding circuit was complete. What I get from this is that the GPS unit itself has an open circuit. I hope this was not too technical for some of you. I just thought it sounded better than “that one little thingy didn’t seem to work.” It’s under warranty, who cares what the deal is?

Tomorrow I will take Babe (the blue one) into the dealer in Silverdale to get the right handgrip replaced. The chrome cap came off and decorated the scenery somewhere between here and there. By the time I get there, I will have just over 5,000 miles on my shiny new toy already. Hard to believe. Every one of those miles has been pretty fun so far (put a big smile here). Hopefully it won’t rain on me tomorrow.

Thursday - 04-17-08

Some of you have read my Wheel Spinning Adventure to the L.A. area last week. I have moved on to more current things.

Today, I was able to get two of my required rides in for my club. With those two rides, I have fulfilled all of my club requirements and will be a full member at our next meeting.

The first of the rides took me from Fred’s house in Gig Harbor to the retired guys meeting in Tacoma. Jim and I met Fred at his house and we headed for SR-16 where we crossed the Narrows Bridge into Tacoma. We took the Fircrest exit then Orchard Street to S 66th street. We made our way through the neighborhood to the other Jim’s house so he could join the ride. Dave H. was there also. That was a welcome surprise for me. I wasn’t aware that he was back in town.

After forming a pose, we headed down S 74th street where we gathered stares and nodes from some along the way. The weather had been threatening but turned out to be fine once we got out of Gig Harbor. Just a few sprinkles is all we got, just enough to dampen the windshield, then a dry ride for the rest of the day. We made our way to I-5 then City Center exit where we made a bee-line for the waterfront. The waterfront area is always a good bet and popular in the summer months. It’s always nice to run the chrome down along that path either “to” or “from” somewhere.

We poked along the waterfront until we came to the Ruston Tunnel. Once inside of the tunnel, we all had to give our horns a couple of good toots. Fred had installed one of those air horns and it was pretty loud in there. We rolled into Ruston then into Point Defiance Park. The park was mostly empty today due to the cool weather and today being a weekday, I think. Five Mile Drive is always scenic and we took our time with it. It was a nice part of the ride. After exiting the park we went south on Narrows Drive down to 6th Ave. where we went down the hill to the Beach Tavern. That is the spot several of the retired guys keep in touch once a month. We had lunch with them then parted ways.

Here are a couple shots of us. The first is outside of the Tavern and the second is inside with the other guys (cool guys have orange pants).

L to R: Dave H; Jim Y; Jim B; Fred D and me.

L to R: Jim Bass; Fred Dryer; Billy Barnes; Dave Antonson; Bob Goodwin; Roland Otis; Jim Richburg; Doug Margeson; Ron Gilmore, Jim Young.

Both Jims, Dave H and I agreed to meet later for another ride before our monthly meeting. Right around 5:30 we met on 6th Ave and took a short ride across the Narrows back into Gig Harbor. This was right around the after work rush traffic, but it was light and we were not crowded at all on the freeway. We exited at the Wollochet Exit and made our way down to that waterfront. A couple of corners and we were on Peacock Hill Rd heading up to the meeting. This month’s meeting was at Gary H’s place. As we turned into the driveway I could see that we were not the first to arrive. I contemplated making a U-turn in the driveway but it was not clear and I changed my mind in the middle of my turn. I stopped and rocked the bike over onto its frame (A cardinal sin). For my efforts I was awarded “The wings.” Anyone who had ever worked traffic knows what those are.

Since this club is fairly new and because others will not readily admit to it, I was to become the first Washington Road Dawg to have this dubious honor. I won’t be the last. By the way, this is SO NEW to this club that we do not even have wings yet. I am sure they will have a shiny new pair next month for me.

Topics discussed at the meeting (other than me) were mostly preparations for our upcoming fundraiser in June. A couple of us “prospects” finished our mandatory rides today and should be “patched in” at the next meeting. It is good not to be a “probie” any longer. Jim Y suggested that we need a club photographer. Since I have proven that I like to play with a camera, I volunteered to do it. What he had forgotten is that last year I “fiddled” with a few shots and made one of the guys wear pink leathers while hugging Elton John. I even put a feather in his hair. My talents with Photo Shop still being in place, I will not forget who “granted” me the wings. More on that to follow…… some day.

After the meeting we all lined up again and headed out. This time we peeled off as necessary as we each headed home. It was sort of a bitter-sweet time for me. Having all my requirements behind me felt good (even with the wings), but with the end of this day my time off also ended. I had to return to work at 5:00 AM tomorrow. It will have been 16 days since I uttered the word “work.”

Day 10 - Saturday 4-12-08

As I was leaving Bend, OR northbound on Hwy US-97 I began to see mountains. I saw mountains half the day. I do not know the name of this mountain. Maybe someone out there does?



I know you didn’t get any pictures yesterday. I will try to make up for it today.


Here is another (below) mountain just north of the one above. I took this on the go through the windshield "on the fly."


More mountains:



I went through farm land, canyons, hills, pine forests, gorges, desert, cities and towns today. There was lots of variety on this ride. The morning was cold and the afternoon became hot.


I thought this deserved a picture. It was taken on US Hwy 97.



One last mountain…. My wife likes them.



One doesn’t see these things much any more. It was spinning when I took the picture. It obviously was not pumping any water because the drive shaft was not hooked up. You would have to be a “farm boy “ to know that,



This is where I ate my lunch and send off yesterdays blog post. They advertised free Wi-Fi on bill boards along the freeway. It worked on me! A sub sandwich and tall glass of iced tea and I was in business. I got the computer out and fired off yesterday to the blog.



Here is a picture I took along the Columbia Gorge. The temperatures are getting around 80 now.



Multnomah Falls along the Gorge. The parking lot was absolutely full there today. I could tell I was getting close to Washington: The drivers are getting stupid out here.



After leaving the falls, I went into Dodson to get some gas. Then I continued along I-84 into Vancouver. As I was crossing over into Washington, I saw this sternwheeler. Not many of those around.



I stopped in at my cousin’s house in Vancouver.



This is Holly and her husband Bill. The dog is named Jack. I took a short break there before heading home. I took off all of my warm clothes before leaving Holly and Bill’s.



When I can see Mt Rainier, I know I am almost home!





3,243 miles later this Road Dawg returned home. Tomorrow I will wash the bike.


Thanks for “joining me” on my wheel spinning adventure.

Day 9 - Friday 4-11-08

Friday 4-11-08

Today I went from Reno to Bend OR. The day was slower and more relaxed than the last two days. It was welcomed. I got sort of a late start this morning because I logged onto my blog site and re-read my entry from yesterday. I found a couple of typos in it and decided to fix them. The way this works is like this: I write the stuff and send it to my daughter who puts it on the site. I logged in when I got up to see how I did and found a couple things I could have done better.

The wireless connection I had at the hotel was not the best. I edited the page and “sent it in.” after a pause, I got the “the page cannot be displayed” message. No problem, I thought, I will just hit the “back button” and try again. Nope. It was all gone. THREE times. Finally, it went. That took me about 30 or 40 minutes.

I packed my stuff in the bike and got the heck out of there.

I took a couple of pictures along the way, but I bumped the control on the camera to “video.” Instead of taking pictures, I was taking video clips. I will try to put them in here, but I do not know if they will work right or not.

Most of the shots I took were just scenery anyway. I was in the high desert today. The temperatures were in the 40’s. I spent the day climbing up and down from about 4300 ft to the valleys (how ever high they are). Several spots had snow along the roadway.

I had a shot of Mt Shasta, but I camera was screwed up today.

Since today’s pictures are pretty crappy, I will not include them.

I went through a lot of pine forests today. The smell was incredible. It looked a lot like eastern WA except that I was higher. Lots of trees with little underbrush. I spent a good share of the day on hwy US395 and CA139. The pace was slow and the scenery unbeatable.

I originally planned to stop in Klamath Falls. I got into town before 3 PM and decided to keep going. I aimed for Bend. That would take about 2 ½ hours off of my trip tomorrow (to my home). I checked into the Best Western and went to the Outback for chow.

Once I settled in, I found the Mariners on the TV. What could be better? Tomorrow would be my last day on the road. It will be good to be home again.

I tried sending this on the evening of the 11th but it did not work. It took me awhile to figure out that my e-mail did not like the video clips. I deleted them this morning while I ate lunch in The Dalles, Or.

Day 7 and 8 - Wed 4-9-08/Thur 4-10-08

Today was the last day of my training. We had only two classes this morning and we were out at about 11:30. I loaded up my bike and headed out. The GPS took the back way down the mountain and saw some great scenery. I took this picture along the way:



This is a shot between Lake Arrowhead and Vegas. The snowy hills are where I came from. The roads were dry but it was cold as heck. My leathers and the heated grips felt good.


I made my way along to Hwy 15 which took me to Vegas. I stopped along the way at Victorville and had my bike fixed. They had a hard time finding the source of the oil leak. My bike was so oily they had to pressure wash it to find the problem. It turns out the leak was at my oil cooler. The oil cooler had been purchased when I bought the bike, but they forgot to add that to the paperwork… “Not covered by warranty” they said.


Victorville Harley:



The way it worked is like this. The salesman forgot to order the oil cooler. I paid for it (including the labor). The item did not get added to the paperwork. So, warranty did not cover the repair. A phone call to the Vancouver Dealership in Washington straightened it out this time but they told me the oil cooler will not be covered in the future. Sort of a bunner if you ask me.


I blew 4 hours at Victorville. After they were done, I hit the trail and had 200 miles to go to get to Vegas. I called my brother and told him I would be late (I hate that). One short stop at Baker,CA for gas and on to Vegas. The GPS took me right to the parking lot. That thing sure makes it easy.


I met my brother in the lobby of the Monte Carlo. I threw my things in his room and we went downstairs for a bite to eat. By this time it was about 9:45 PM. I had skipped dinner so I could get into Vegas as early as I could. My brother, Paul had gotten us tickets at the MGM to see “Crazy Horse Paris.” It was a pretty good show, but it was mignight when it was over. I jotted down a few notes for this blog and hit the hay. I was beat.


Here is a shot of the front of the place. My bike is the third one.





I was going to send this last night but the Hotel wanted $13.95 to hook up to the internet.

I DON’T THINK SO. I only needed it for about 10 minutes. My public can wait one more day for this vital information ;-)


In the morning, I got the camera out and took a few pictures of the place. I didn’t have time to gamble, and wasn’t inclined to anyway (too cheap). I am smart enough to know that if one doesn’t know what he is doing, he is better off to keep his wallet in his pocket.



This is my big brother, Paul.

I programmed my GPS and headed out. I had wanted to go and see Hoover Dam as it was only about 15 miles from where I stayed. With my delay yesterday, I had no time. Today is a 500+ mile day. No time to fiddle around. I gassed up and headed for Death Valley.


Here is of the strip from the gas station on my way out of town.



I wanted to drive through the entire valley. Surprisingly, riding in the desert was fairly cold. I left my pants off this morning (….um, my leather ones) and had to stop and put them back on. I stopped right before going into Death Valley to gas up. I was only about 50 or 60 miles into the day. I climbed up over a pass (3,300 ft) and started down into the valley. I snapped a couple of shots as I want along. About 50 miles into the park I came to “Bad Water” which is the lowest part. Now it was 85 degrees.


Here are a couple of shots of Death Valley and the road to and from it:


I am at 3300 ft here. I am about to start down into hell. The scenery is real pretty here. It is mostly blue with lots of chrome. Oh, there are some rocky hills and some other stuff too.


This is before I got to the hot part.

Death Valley is the largest national park in the US with 3.3 million acres of desert wilderness. It is home to the Western Hemisphere’s highest temperatures and North America’s lowest point below sea level. In 1849, a group of gold rush pioneers entered the valley, thinking it was a short cut to California. After barely surviving the trek across the area, these pioneers named the spot “Death Valley.”

In looking at a map I got at AAA, I found places named: Furnace Creek, Stovepipe Wells, Badwater Basin and the Devil’s Golf Course.



Bad Water Basin


This is the hot part.



This is the park ranger. He doesn’t say much, but he took my debit card just the same. $10 for motorcycles.



The names of some of the places here make you hot just reading them.



I am glad I didn’t need gas while I was there.



I took my warm stuff back off. I drove through another 25 or so miles of park and headed east to Hwy 95. Hwy 95 is back in Nevada. I set the cruise to about 75 mph. It was windy as heck today and cold. I climbed over another pass about 4,000 ft. Then back down and back up again. I went about 150 miles or so before I stopped for lunch. I was freezing. I ate a hot beef sandwich and about 10 cups of coffee. Then I put all my warm stuff back on and hit the trail. I had lunch at about 3:30.


Having no time to fiddle around, I had to hit the road again. I had about 220 miles to go to get to Reno.


I set the cruise for about 85 and didn’t stop for anything but gas. I got to Reno just as it was getting dark (right around 7:30 or so). I have put about 2200 miles on Babe so far on this trip.

Day 6 - Tuesday 4-8-08

Today I got up and went to chow. Eggs Benedict, orange juice and decaff. I took a peek at the morning paper then I got on the net to find a Harley Dealer. It turns out that the dealer in Victorville, Ca is right on my way from here to Vegas. I gave them a call and scheduled an appointment. He told me they were not too busy and he could get me right in. That made me feel better knowing that if they did have to get into something, they would most likely have the time to get it done. I told them I suspected one of the sending units, which is an easy fix anyway. I hope they clean off the oil. The underside is just caked with grime. I am so ashamed.


We had a three hour class from Lt. Col Dave Grossman this morning. What a dynamic speaker he is. I assure you there were no droopy eyes in his class. He gave me one of his books: “On killing.” He even signed it for me. What a guy. The main topic he spoke about was school threats and events. Grossman has a passion for his job.


In the afternoon we were broken into teams and assigned to assess a threat to a mock business. It turned out to be a bit of a bust, I think. Most of the cops there wanted to snatch the guy up and send him to jail. The corporate people wanted to pay the guy off just to stave off any trouble from him later. We did learn how to put a plan together, however. In the end what happened (based on THE real incident) was the company did not pay the guy off, and instead spent more than two hundred thousand dollars trying to keep him away. They hired private security, etc. What the guy wanted was $40,000. The whole thing was a disputed pay out of life insurance when his wife died of cancer. There were no winners in the end. Enough of that.


It occurred to me that I have to leave here tomorrow afternoon! I have things to do. I threw in a load of laundry, I got my things packed up to leave, The GPS needed to be loaded, I worked on this vitally important blog… I was on a mission!


It occurred to me that I had taken no pictures of the inside of my “house.” Here they are:


Here is a look at this place from the front door.



You can see by the picture below that I have a stairway. There is another bedroom and bathroom upstairs.



Below is a picture into the bathroom. Between the bed and bathrooms is the closet area.



I don’t know how many square feet this place is, but I am spoiled now.


I will have to go throw my laundry into the clothes dryer now then dine like a king (again). What a drag.


I have an appointment at the Victorville Harley dealer tomorrow afternoon. After that, it’s Vegas, baby!


After dinner (Salmon) we had another fireside chat. We discussed threats as opposed to fear of threats. We also threw in pre-incident indicators. When should the red flag go up? How do we know when we have done all we can do? After we have done all that we must do, what else can be done? When can we stop? We tossed around a few ideas, and then we had beer. That’s when I knew I could stop.


Here is a shot of our fireside chat:



Our “chat” had not yet begun when I took this picture. The guy seated facing the crowd, nearest the camera is Gavin De Becker. He is pretty sharp.



No training log would be complete without a picture of “The Dream Team.” Here we Are:



On the left is Marci Scott. She is the leader. To the right of her in front is Thu Ament. He is the principal of Foss HS. Behind Thu is Bill Westfall. He is a PCSO Sgt. The handsome guy in the center is me. Just right of me is Caroline Anholt. She works for the Peninsula School District. On the far right is Scott Brown. He is a PCSO Sgt.


My face looks funny because I had been sunburned and it is now beginning to peal. That is always a joy.


After all of this evenings festivities, I began to get ready to leave. I gathered my things and started packing what I could. One of the things I was given was a bag containing treats to eat. I used to train my dogs that way, but that’s another story. Anyway the bag itself became useful in helping to organize some of the loose items in my tour pack bag. The bags Harley made to fit inside of the saddle bags are great. The bag they made to fit inside of the tour pack is too flimsy. The sides need to be stiffer so it holds it’s shape better. When several small items are stored in it, they just slide around and become a pile of tangles. I will be able to keep smaller things in my new bag, which will go inside of the other one. I think it will work better.


I do have more to pack home than I came with. I have a couple books and two bags. One of them is small and a couple of training DVDs (no problem there). I think I can do it. My leather pants will go on the luggage rack. There is no need to wear them after I get off of this mountain (too warm). However, this evening everyone was freezing. It is cold up here. Soon I will be in the desert. What more could I ask?

Day 5 - Monday 4-7-08

Today was all classroom stuff. Nothing exciting there. I have no motorcycle stories for you today. The days are sort of spaced out here so we have classes from 0800 to 2100 (9PM). There is no time to run around and do things. I sorta wanted to get my bike washed up a bit. It’s covered with road grime and of course a bit of oil here and there. I wanted to shine it up a bit.


I walked around the place during our break before supper and snapped a few pictures for you.



This is the entrance to the place (snappy, I know).



The above picture is the building where the class room is and also the dining hall. The food here is to die for.



There are many buildings here. Its hard to get the layout for you because it is spread out too much. My room(s) are in a duplex in the center of this picture.



Here is a closer shot. One cannot tell the size of this place. Below is another view.



This is the other side. You can see here that I have two stories on my humble dwelling.


During one of the breaks, I came to my room to find a plastic litter bag with chocolate covered expresso beans inside hanging on my door handle. We had a class yesterday of assessing threats such as suspicious packages. The class went into why some people call 9-1-1 and why others dismiss the event as a hoax even if they were not expecting a package. One of the things we do everyday is critique each instructors class. I noted in today’s entry that I was too ashamed to call 9-1-1 regarding my “unexpected suspicious package.” We were taught that this is sometimes an aversion people have which turns out to have violent consequences. For those of you that know me, you know I couldn’t help fiddling with the instructors.



Here are a couple more shots of the grounds around here. Someone was handy with a carving knife and made a few bears. You can see tennis courts (4 of them) in the background. There is also a basketball court, putting green and a hot tub here.



And of course, Lake Arrowhead. I took this through the chain link fence. I didn’t want to take the time to walk around and get closer. Maybe tomorrow if I get the camera out again.



This is a picture of the chow hall. We were getting ready for dinner here. We all have to wear name tags with our names on them and where we are from. There are a lot of people from corporations here. A lot of the guys are retired cops who found jobs in the private sector. There must be 2000 years of experience in this picture.



This is a picture of our class room. The chairs are not usually in this configuration. We had a “Fireside Chat” this evening with the owner of the company, Gavin De Becker.


He talked about the difference between the bomb threat and an actual bombing occurrence. Two very different types of personalities. To heavy to get into here.


Tomorrow we will hear from Lt Col Dave Grossman. His class will be three hours on the Psychological effects of violence. Some folks know he had written a few books on the matter. Should be interesting. A couple of the guys we had today just about put everyone to sleep.


Speaking of sleep, I intend to get some right now.


Later.

Day 4 - Sunday 4-6-08

Today, I left my motel in Carpinteria and went back to Santa Barbara. I needed another look around the place. I drove along the waterfront and noticed a lot of palm trees. See for yourself.



I drove onto one of the docks they have there and ate breakfast on the wharf. A seafood omelet it was with an English muffin for good measure. I took this picture out of the window while I was waiting for my chow:



Here is a picture of the dock that the restaurant was on:



This is not the best picture and it is taken toward the beach. I didn’t think to take a picture of the whole thing from the land side. Oh well. That’s all you get.


After having a great breakfast, I got back on the road and headed for San Bernardino. The trip there was pretty uneventful. As I neared Los Angeles I could see what I thought was a rain cloud threatening. It turned out to be smog. It had a strange smell. When I climbed up a bit in elevation I could see what it was.



Now, if you saw that in Washington, you would get ready for rain.


I had programmed a real cool hwy into my trip that I had seen in my mapping program: Hwy 138 (I called it hwy 2 yesterday by mistake). It has more twists than a bag of pretzels. Looked like the perfect bike road. I got onto it and rode like crazy. This turns out to be the local motorcycle hot spot. I had the company of at least 200 bikes on that highway (no kidding). About half way up there were two Harley MC clubs and one younger (kid stuff) bike club at a restaurant and bar. I waved and continued on. I twisted and turned for 35 miles. What I DIDN’T KNOW was that the road was closed at the other end! I was up to 7018 ft and in the snow. The roads were clear, however.



Just after this patch of snow I came to the gate…. maybe ¼ mile down the road. I wish I had taken a picture of that gate for this blog (dammit).


Anyway, I got myself turned around and took another run at the curves. Although frustrating, it was fun on that road and I had plenty of time to get where I was going.


I stopped for gas, found a Starbucks (Mocha), pulled out the laptop and programmed myself another route to Lake Arrowhead.


As I made my way up the hills to Lake Arrowhead, I saw a sign that said elevation 9000 ft. and I was still climbing. I crested the Mt then started down a bit to where UCLA was. The place looked like a country club.


I checked in and went to my room. I called my honey and let her know I had made it this far. Then we had an hour of class, some dinner (four courses) then more class. We are supposed to have a social hour now. It’s dark now so I will get pictures tomorrow.

.

If I get some free time in the next couple of days, I will wash my bike. It’s filthy.