Well, my adventure began yesterday and I'm having a great time. I flew into Portland and then stayed with my 2nd cousin and her husband for the night in Camas and Washougal.
This morning I picked up the rental Goldwing (2007 Navi model) and we headed north a bit, spent some time with family and then headed eastt to Mt. St. Helens. It was nearly 65 degrees when we left I-5 and by the time we climbed up to 5200 feet in elevation, it had dropped to nearly 40. Oh, yeah, windy as all get out as well. I actually had to turn on the grip heaters for the first time. While we couldn't see the top rim of the crater, we could see a good part of the mountain (or what is left of it!) Even after all this time, it appears positively lunar in appearance in places.
Yes, I have pictures, but my connection here is terribly slow, so I'm hoping to be able to upload them tomorrow night.
Chopin, you'll be interested to hear that the rental has a Kurakyn backrest on it. It took us a couple of minutes to figure out how to adjust the thing, but while it is comfortable, I can see where the bars might cause a bit of an issue for any passenger. I think this only confirms that a Utopia backrest is in my future.
Our plan for tomorrow is to follow the Columbia River, then turn south to Baker City and head into Hell's Canyon. We may have to save Hell's Canyon until the following morning, but we'll see.
Until then...
Rapier
This morning I picked up the rental Goldwing (2007 Navi model) and we headed north a bit, spent some time with family and then headed eastt to Mt. St. Helens. It was nearly 65 degrees when we left I-5 and by the time we climbed up to 5200 feet in elevation, it had dropped to nearly 40. Oh, yeah, windy as all get out as well. I actually had to turn on the grip heaters for the first time. While we couldn't see the top rim of the crater, we could see a good part of the mountain (or what is left of it!) Even after all this time, it appears positively lunar in appearance in places.
Yes, I have pictures, but my connection here is terribly slow, so I'm hoping to be able to upload them tomorrow night.
Chopin, you'll be interested to hear that the rental has a Kurakyn backrest on it. It took us a couple of minutes to figure out how to adjust the thing, but while it is comfortable, I can see where the bars might cause a bit of an issue for any passenger. I think this only confirms that a Utopia backrest is in my future.
Our plan for tomorrow is to follow the Columbia River, then turn south to Baker City and head into Hell's Canyon. We may have to save Hell's Canyon until the following morning, but we'll see.
Until then...
Rapier