updates from last two days

Right now, it's raining in Newport, OR. That's ok because it's giving me a chance to update this blog. So, I'm sitting in my tiny tent and writing this up for you.

I think last time I gave any kind of real update we we're staying in Patricks Point, which was an absolutely beautiful place in N. California. The past two days we've been motoring north and have spent the last two nights in Oregon. Sunday night, we stayed at Crater Lake (which you can see a few pics of below). It's an old volcano that blew its top and is now the deepest freshwater lake in the US.

Yesterday we went northwest back out to the coast to fairly decent sized city: Newport, OR. We're staying a little bit outside of town at a campground right next to the water. The pics of the boats that you see below are right across the street from the campground.

It's hard for me to say just how amazing this trip has been so far. Riding a motorcycle through these mountain roads and along gorges and rivers and winding oceanfront has been one of the most unbelievable experiences of my life. I can't say enough about how cool the guys that I met are and we've been having an absolute blast.

The rides can get long and about 3oo miles is all you can reasonably do in a day. You could do more if you sat on an interstate all day, but that's no fun, and we've been taking back roads as much as possible and asking people along the way for suggestions for the best roads to take. None of us have showered in 3 days so once the rain let's up we're going 150 miles north to Portland where we'll actually get a hotel room and get cleaned up a bit.

My plan in Portland is to hang out for a couple days, rest up and make sure my bike is ready for the 2100 mile trip back to Chicago. For all the people that have sent me suggestions on places to go, THANK YOU. I'm going to figure out my route back to Chicago once I'm in Portland and your suggestions will help. I want to take back roads most of the way and that means I'll need to say goodbye to my motorcycle friends and need to start heading east by Thursday if I want to make it back before labor day.

Anyway, I have to go get some coffee now. Will send some more pics and videos once I get to Portland.