The Columbia River Gorge!

I had a tough time selecting a title for this blog.   Ultimately, I went with The Columbia River Gorge because it’s where we spent most of today riding.   But I could have just as easily gone with The Bridge of the Gods because that bridge is one of my favorite spots on the planet.  We rode across it today.   More on all of this in today’s CSC blog, my friends.

When we left yesterday morning, the skies were overcast and they grew darker as we continued west.   We hopped on I-84 and we had only ridden a few miles when the rain started, so we exited to pull on the rain gear.   That tactic worked.  We cleared the crest of the next set of Oregonian mountains and the sun came out.   It was a clear, crisp, and refreshing ride.  It was like that all day.

The views along the Columbia River Gorge were spectacular.   We stopped at a viewpoint and the cameras started clicking.

Here’s Hugo, checking out the mightiest river in the Pacific northwest.   And in the next photo, King Kong and John jumped in the shot.

Everyone was overwhelmed with how clear and how magnificent the day was.   The views along the Columbia were spectacular.

We went another 150 miles up the road and opted for an early lunch in Biggs.   Subway drew the winning ticket for our noon meal.   The guys like Subway.  I do, too.

We headed due north out of Biggs on 97 to cross the Columbia River.    Just crossing over on the Biggs bridge was amazing.

Washington:  Check.

Yep, that river crossing put us on Highway 14 in Washington.  One more state to the Western America Adventure ride tally.

Highway 14 was amazing.   One of the guys said it was the best road yet.   The concept of the “best road yet” has been a continuing theme on this epic journey.   They just keep getting better and better.    These next couple of shots are from the Washington side of the Columbia.

I still had all of my rain gear on and I was roasting.  I saw the main office building of a lumber company so I pulled in to their parking.  We parked in front of their main office building to rearrange what we were wearing, and a woman came out of their front entrance and beat a path straight toward me.  I thought she was going to tell us to move.

“We have a restroom inside if any of your guys need to use it, and we have a soda machine, too,” she said.

What was coming next would be spectacular.  It was the Bridge of the Gods.   It is spectacular.  At a quarter of a mile long and built in 1926, this cantilever bridge represented the start of the bridge-building art back in the day.  The wildest part is the iron mesh road surface.  Look down while riding a motorcycle across it and you’ll think you are flying 200 feet above the Columbia.   It is one of my favorite spots.

Here’s a shot of my RX3 after we crossed the Bridge of Gods.    It was awesome.   Everything on this ride has been awesome.

Hugo, Kong, and Zuo with the Bridge of the Gods in the background…we’re back in Oregon in this shot.

Tony taking a picture of Joe taking a picture of the Bridge of the Gods.

Lester makes a new Harley-Davidson friend in Oregon.

And one more photo.   I sure like this place.

When we arrived in Beaverton, we had a couple more folks show up.   Joe Gresh’s friend Gary wanted to get a ride on the RX3, and we were happy to make that wish come true.

And Dave joined us.  Dave bought a red RX3 with just about every possible accessory.   It’s cool.  When I see another RX3 in the parking lot, my first thought is “who’s motorcycle is that, and why is it so clean?”   That’s happened several times.  It takes me a minute or two to realize these are bikes belonging to our friends who just want to hook up and ride with us for a while.

Ah, the daily update…

Oh, and one more thing…here’s a video I’d forgotten I shot a few days or a week ago…it’s when we left Cody, Wyoming at 5:00 a.m. bound for Yellowstone National Park.   It’s cool (and it sure was a cool morning) because I haven’t seen any other videos of the RX3 on a night ride…

We’re headed west for a bit and then south when we see the Pacific Ocean today.   We’ll be spending most of the day on Oregon’s spectacular coast highway.

Our evening’s destination today is the Seacrest Motel, 44 US Highway 101, in Port Orford, Oregon.

Enjoy the day, my friends.  I sure will!