Sept. 03 - Day 20

Leaving Ashland - Thank God.

We were happy to be heading out, on a little shorter day and to travel through Crator Lake. So, we slept in a little late and were little lazy getting going, spending our time in advance. We had a great little warm up with some nice tight sweepers on the Dead Indian Memorial Rd to the junction for Klamath Falls, where we were delayed by new paving construcion. A really cute flag girl had to hold us back as the rest of the traffic from the the road entering left got to go first. Sucked but we were turning off in 7 miles anyway, heading North for Fort Klamath and Crator Lake.

What an incredible contrast of colors. Heading up to the lake the road winds up (park again) providing many different view points to take your own perspective of the huge crater. We spent (I spent) quite a bit of time taking pictures and taking in the view as this was one of the places that I was looking forward to seeing in person. Looked everywhere for the Old Man but he was no where to be seen. Instead I settled for a good shot of Wizard Island.

Finally heading out towards Diamond Lake, we ran into 4 other riders from Canada (3 AB and 1 BC) out for a week's travel. We headed down the 138 but turned off at Steamboat Creek for a hidden Forestry road and an adventure as neither of our GPS were absolute on the route. Winding through the woods for 30 miles we successfully emerged on the other side on the Row River Road, leading us through Cottage Grove. From here we stopped, thinking of either continueing to Eugene or hunting for a small hotel. We decided to push to Veneta and see what we could find - which was nothing, so we headed for Eugene. Now, the road from Cottag Grove to Veneta is a great little treat. If I lived in Cottage Grove, I'd want to date a girl in Veneta just to ride it every day. Real nice!

Well, it was 5:15 and rush hour heat was really getting annoying, so we turned in at a main street motel and booked. Finding out later that there is a huge dog show in town with plenty of owners staying here too. It's all good though, with some custom security for the VFR.

Tomorrow, we're meeting keithbob in Monroe for an espresso and guided tour into Newport. A short 3 hour ride day and some well deserved rest, with a special birthday dinner tomorrow night.

The adventure is drawing to a close with less than 5 days left. Or is it? Who knows? Maybe I'll take a right and head out somewhere else? Stay tuned to find out.