Day 01 - Klamath Falls

Our front yard  - nice & foggy at 7:00am

D-Day today, started out all foggy and misty, looked like it might be a bit dicey but eventually it turned out nice. The dogs always seem to sense when I’m going away so they shadowed me all morning right up until I left. This always strikes me as a bit odd since neither one like to travel.

It's OK, I won't be gone long



Where the hell's my Oregon map, this thing's for Mexico!



Dammit Toby, stay home! Bye Honey!

My departure was pretty uneventful; I rode north into town, stopped as I always do for a weigh-in at the truck scale – 750 lbs – which I think is pretty manageable. My gear added 100 lbs to what the bike usually weighs with just my fat self on board so that’s not bad at all.

I decided to head east rather than south down 101 since I’ve been that way lots of times. Highway 42 out of Bandon takes you through some pretty country along rivers and farms with lush pastures, bovines, all those farm smells.



Foggy highway 42

 The fog set in pretty heavy on 42 and I had to keep wiping my visor off to the point my glove’s thumb was beginning to get soaked. I found a spot to pull over and put one of those little rubbery squeegees on it which took care of the problem. While I was busy doing that I felt like someone was watching me and sure enough I spotted him out of the corner of my eye, and old geezer across the road was keeping me under surveillance. When I looked up he gave me a toothless grin and a wave. Sort of like in Deliverance….   



There be critters out there....in the fog



Not too far up the road I saw a flock of white egrets so I turned back to see if I could get a photo of them. Darn critters heard the Ninja’s throaty little motor and moved off so all I got was the keep out sign. I stayed on 42 through Coquille and Myrtle Point, then followed it all the way east till it hooked up with I-5 south, the big slab. At least by this time the fog had gone away and things began to warm up considerably. As a point of interest I hadn’t worn my electric vest as I wanted to see how well the new Darien Light outfit from Aerostich was going to work. It did great, I’d layered a long sleeve T-shirt underneath a fleece jacket and that was more than enough to keep me warm.

Around 11:00am I stopped in Canyonville to gas up and grab an early lunch at Burger King and while there met a guy who had done a lot of biking himself. We compared notes and I would have liked to know him better but neglected to catch his contact information. Seems like I do that every year at least once.



Snow is cool as long as it's not on the road.

I stayed on the freeway until it was time to turn off and head towards Klamath Falls where I figured to spend the night. Going over the mountains was great, the sun was fully out, no more clouds or fog and riding conditions were as good as they get. I stopped for a few pics along the way, then arriving in K Falls I checked into the Quality Inn where I’d stayed on previous trips. I like it as the best Chinese restaurant is right across the parking lot and I think is operated by the motel people.



Beautiful downtown Klamath Falls



How fancy can you get?



When I got unpacked and ready for dinner I ambled over and since it was still fairly early there were few other customers. The menu was huge, packed with all sorts of delectable delights (their words) and everything sounded great. There was just a minor problem – all of the dishes were ala cart`, no #1 or #2, or with #3 you get won tons. Nope, just single dishes for people who eat together with other people.



Hey, maybe you want me slap you head?



The waiter must have sensed something was amiss and when I told him I wished they offered a full-meal deal he brightened  up and said “Oh, we can do, we can make special for you, any two items and we include rice and noodles, all for $10.95! What you think, you like try?” I liked this guy, he probably grew up in K Falls but the pidgin was a nice touch, one I’d use myself if I worked there. I wasn’t terribly hungry since I’d had the burger fix just a few hours before but I told him to do it to me and he did. The plate of food arrived shortly, piping hot and absolutely delicious. Probably left over from the lunch menu but I didn’t care, it was fabulous.

While waiting for dinner to arrive I watched some kids doing stunt riding on their bikes in an abandoned service station lot across the street. One kid would ride his bike straight at the wall and at the last instant he’d flick it sideways and hop it up onto a ledge against the wall, then down onto the pavement. While he was doing this another kid was filming him while riding his own skateboard. Just before the biker kid started his jump he’d squat down on the skateboard and hold the camera at an upward angle to film it. I thought they were being pretty creative for kids and if they were still at it after dinner I wanted to ask to see the video. Sadly a couple of nubile came strolling by and they followed like a couple of mouth breathers, totally smitten. Men should have antlers I think.

Gravity will prevail



So that’s it for today, see ya tamale`

LL

PS.....



You can run but you can't hide....