2009 SPAMS Ride August 1-7
xxxx mile route over 7 days.
Pictures from everyone, narrative by John
Day 1 - 8/1 Saturday Seattle - The Dalles, Or
Day 2 - 8/2 Sunday The Dalles, Or - Burns, Or
Day 3 - 8/3 Monday Burns, Or - Burney, Ca
Day 4 - 8/4 Tuesday Burney, Ca - Clearlake, Ca
Day 5 - 8/5 Wednesday Clearlake, Ca - Eureka, Ca
Day 6 - 8/6 Thursday Eureka, Ca - Klamath Falls,
Or
Day 7 - 8/7 Friday Klamath Falls, Or - The
Dalles, Or
Day 8 - 8/8 Friday The Dalles, Or - Seattle
On day 1 we drove south thru Mt Rainier Park on 410 and then via Mt St Helens to
the Columbia on 141. Roads in
that area are bumpy but weather was good and a nice ride along the river to The
Dalles for a overnight and
dinner at Sharis. Our favorite restaurant with pictures on the menus!
On Day 2 it was thru the central Oregon Canyons on 197 south to John Day then
395 to Burns with Radek part of
first 20 miles only before he turned back home and we overnighted near the state
line with California just before
some rain storms in Burns.
Day 3 was sunny and we rode south 395 thru Northern California and over to the
north side of Lassen Nat. Park
on 299 to Burney where wildfires were aplenty. We had a great steak dinner
across the street but no water in
the pool!
Day 4 was a detour due to the fires and thru the volcanic Lassen Park on 89
which is scenic and little traveled,
great scenes then south on 99 and west to get a new tire for Tom after rear
tire wear at a great Suzuki dealer in
Chico. Then some nice roads to Clearlake on 20 but we arrived late and had gas
station food for dinner including
Paul with the 'big bomb' burrito. Not a fine meal.
Day 5 was west on Orr Springs road then north once we got to the coast in
Mendocino on Hwy 1 to Hwy 101. This
last 22 miles of section north of Fort Bragg is great, very twisty and tight and
the roads are cambered and bent
like a roller coaster rail. We did the whole stretch with no stops a few cars
pulled over. Zowieeee! This are is
worth staying a few nights and just doing that section and the coast and
redwoods areas. Then north of Hwy 101
to Eureka for a overnight and good Italian dinner. Toms boots were missing
somewhere.
Day 6 we backtracked a bit and went south to 36 west then hwy 3 north which are
also great roads with larger
turns and sweepers. We had some rain and a good breakfast in Hayfork and then
north to I -5 and a few miles on
the freeway. We exited to go east to Klamath Falls and this section of 66 about
60 miles is also a great road and
quite varied as we pulled in to Klamath Falls in the late evening.
Day 7 In the morning it was cool and got colder as we drove north to Crater
Lake on 62 and foggy as well. It
cleared up at the lodge so great pics and scenes of the area before we got back
into the fog and cold. We then
turned north on 97 thru Bend/Redmond to The Dalles and back to Sharis and Motel
6. Steve did great on his
GSXR 600 and he did have a leak which Greg fixed with his kit in 5 minutes and
we were set. Tom was wondering
where he left his boots and making calls to the motels.
Day 8
We split up and Paul Tom and I rode up theu the same route via St Helens and Mt
Rainier home and Greg and
Steve took 97 then I 90 home. They had wind issues but we had rough road issues
as we worked our way home.
Great weather except a bit of rain near Hayfork and a good trip! The boots are
found in early pictures so
somewhere in Oregon they were lost!