When I was young, say 7 years old, I remember traveling by car from Billings, Montana to my grandmother's cabin on a lake in Iowa. It felt like a bloody long trip, but it exposed me to "Americana," in the form of road house restaurants, by-the-side-of-the-road motels, canvas waterbags hung from the grill of the car ... are you feeling this?


Now, I can relive this nostalgia trip on a journey with my daughter, on our Ducati motorcycles, from Seattle where I now live around Crater Lake (Oregon) and back ... 1,200 miles. I treasure the time with my daughter. And I delight in the nostalgia trip.
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DigitalQuixote > Our route: Freeway to Olympia and secondary roads to Cape Disappointment, which was a disappointment. We were unable to hike to the lighthouse because the Coast Guard was conducting live firing exercises and didn't want to kill the tourists. We continued south to Manzanita where we spent the night. Next day we're south to Bandon where we spent the next night: Great lighthouses; Cool dunes; Cheese factory with samples; and Breathtaking views ... or there would have been except it was foggy and misty much of the day. From Bandon to Crater Lake the road rises from sea level to about 7,000 feet. As we climbed we rode through different bands of insects. First there were mosquitoes. Next there came a band of flies. And finally there was a band of butterflies ... the kind that splat orange when they hit your helmet. We looked like refugees from a paint ball war. The next day we descended from Crater Lake and crossed hot hot hot Eastern Oregon. By the time we got to Goldendale, it was 102. We rested up in our air conditioned motel room until dinner and then visited the observatory. Very neat. The astronomer was intrigued by my standard stumper question … “So, what is the speed of light measured in furlongs per fortnight?” The road home took us to Yakima, where it was 82 by 8:00 AM. Then we climbed White Pass near Mt. Rainier and got rained on pretty hard for the last 150 miles of the trip.
DigitalQuixote > My daughter next to her Ducati Monster and my Ducati ST3. These are powerful bikes, capable of 3-digit speedometer readings, but we are conservative and careful. No motorcycles or riders were harmed on this trip.
DigitalQuixote > Our first night's stop was Manzanita, Oregon. Here's Manzanita beach from the rise in the road just north of town.
DigitalQuixote > Manzanita beach. Pacific Northwest beaches are fantastic, but cold, and with dangerous surf. If the August teperature were 20 degrees higher, we'd call this beach ... Wikiki.
DigitalQuixote > Manzanita beach.
DigitalQuixote > Manzanita beach.
DigitalQuixote > Barefoot photographer, my daughter.
DigitalQuixote > A cool sand castle on Manzanita beach.
DigitalQuixote > Manzanita beach.
Our first night's stop was Manzanita, Oregon. Here's Manzanita beach from the rise in the road just north of town.
> Our first night's stop was Manzanita, Oregon. Here's Manzanita beach from the rise in the road just north of town.
Our first night's stop was Manzanita, Oregon. Here's Manzanita beach from the rise in the road just north of town.
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