Got up early and on the road by 0830 knowing that the route would be clear, and would be warmer than that I've dealt with for the last 4 days.... Well I THOUGHT. Made it about 30mins before I had to stop and warm up my hands. it was 17* in Ontario when I left. I stopped in the next town, Baker City, and bought some more toe warmers, and this time... some hand warmers. Grabbed some Subway and hit the road again at about quarter after 9. Just before I got on the bike, I got a text from my Dad telling me Cabbage Hil and the Blue Mountains require chains to be carried, and may require use. I wasn't too worried after yesterday morning, but the Law states if Chain's are required, motorcycles can't travel. I'll watch my mouth on this blog, but F*** that I'm not going back to just go around.
Turns out... I had nothing to worry about... the roads were completely clear.
The ad-hawk grip heaters worked well... so much so that I'm gonna keep a pack in my tool kit just in case (along with a set of toe warmers) my fingers still got cold... but with warm palms, all I needed to do was flex my fingers a bit, and they'd warm back up.
The ride was very un-eventful but filled with memories... The Ukiah exit, that leads to my favorite hunting grounds as a kid, Starkey. Pendleton, which has always been a favorite point along I84... no idea why, but it just really reminds me how close I am to home. The John Day and The Dalles Dams, (wanted to stop for pictures but was low on gas and wanted to Fuel up) The town of The Dalles, where my Dad went to High School and plans on retiring. Cascade Locks, and the Bridge of the Gods (though quite a bit smaller than I remember. Multnomah Falls, Crown Point. both of which I stopped to take pics, but the damn rain and fog had hit, and obscured any sight of it...
here is the last photo of the trip to Portland taken on the route to Crown Point.
So this is the end of this portion of the trip. I'll be updating less frequently over the next week and a half, but hope to gather a couple decent photos of my home city before I start the trip back to Mississippi.
