Wednesday, August 20, 2014

LAX to PDX Adventure August 2014

 My good friend and Moto Soul Sister Wendy Schuss, has moved to Portland for work....i love this area of the USA...such a great place to be...i have many friends there...and now one more.
I wanted to visit her and rent a motorcycle so we could explore the area together...but none were available...and in my research i discovered a company called MotoQuest.  Now I have heard of this company before, i even saw them at Overland Expo in Mormon Lake AZ, last May.  I had not really gotten the information on all that they did...i was under the impression they worked mostly with tours in Alaska...but i was very wrong.
This company offers all sorts of options for a part time adventure traveler like me....\
I of course want to quit my job, load up my bike and ride RTW (round the world) like most...however this is not possible for me at this time...
So i definitely can squeeze in a few weeks and rent a bike, create my own smaller route, see the things that are on my Adventure/Bucket list...
this to me is better than not doing it at all...
So this 2000 mile Trek was born from one simple phone call and my desire to see more of California and Oregon, that i previously had not seen.   And as far as visiting Miss Wendy, well she wouldn't mind  at all!  Thanks Wendy for always inspiring.
the planning stages....maps are so fun

the bike:  2014 Suzuki V Strom 650
(no secret i love Suzuki) 
so today was uneventful in the fact that i picked up the bike with no problems...loaded up at the Queen Mary and headed out....unfortunately ...the traffic going to Morro Bay , made for a very long and excruciating day...
the highlights were i got to see my friend Dave and i made it to my hotel just in the nick of time to see about 5 minutes of a beautiful sunset..
looking forward to the next 10 days will be epic i believe...good scenery and no traffic..

picked up the bike from MotoQuest

headed back to the Queen Mary to pack her up
Morro Bay, 1st night
Coffee Break on the Pacific Coast Highway
Big Sur

Yosemite


Yosemite

Sonora Pass

Sonora Pass


Sonora Pass
Donnell's Vista
Monitor Pass
Monitor Pass
Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe

Heavenly Gondola, Lake Tahoe
Lassen Volcanic Park
Lassen Volcanic Park

Lassen Volcanic Park

Hat Creek Resort, Old Station California
Mt Shasta Viewpoint 7800 ft

Mt Shasta Viewpoint 7800 ft
Crater Lake

Crater Lake


Crater Lake


Crater Lake


Crater Lake

Crater Lake
Painted Hills, Mitchell OR

Eastern Oregon

Eastern Oregon

Made it to Portland, Columbia River
My final route outcome