Traveling

Last week was a busy one.

On Thursday I headed out to the airport for my weekly trip Las Vegas. When I got back the next evening, I checked my favorite weather Apps, Saturday looked good for a ride. I bundled myself up and headed out early Saturday morning for my last ride out to central Oregon for 2020.

If felt good to get out and blast around on my old GPZ, but the weather was getting cooler and the fall winds were starting to blow harder across the flat plains the farther east I rode.

My two hour trip turned into an eight hours ride as I raced around on all my favorite roads, when I pulled into my driveway later that day I had knocked out 400 miles!

It was still dark at 5am on Sunday morning when the Uber driver pulled up to take me the airport. I was heading out for my four hour flight to Chicago to see my daughter for a couple days. We covered a lot ground together. Sightseeing, visiting the museum and just hanging out with each other. But before I knew it was Tuesday, and I had to head back to Portland.

It was a whirlwind week, but it was all worth it.

Fourth of July

The holiday gods blessed Oregon with perfect weather for the 4th of July weekend. I decided to get out to town for few hours, and headed east for the open roads of central Oregon. I was surprised with the amount traffic, I guess everyone felt like getting out of town too.

This time I took hwy 26, which takes you around the base of Mt. Hood. While the sun was out, the mountain air was cool and crisp, but as I drop elevation and headed closer to central Oregon it started warming up. While, it would have been nice to be enjoying a big celebration like in years past, getting out alone on the open road is a great way to celebrate too.

Ride around Mt. Hood was a shot of the mountain looking to the north.

Social distancing shadow.

Getting out

The dry weather has arrived in Portland just days after the summer solstice, hopefully our rainy June will be replaced with sunny days in July.

I did manage to squeeze one bike ride at the beginning of the month, I headed out of Portland in search of nicer weather in central Oregon. I was optimistic, so I headed east and managed to out run the rain. My luck held out the whole day until I was ready to cross back into Oregon at the Bridge of Gods. I got caught in one of the biggest, wettest rainstorm I’ve ever been in.

I got soaked! It was raining so hard the cars were pulling off the highway. I pressed on for the next thirty miles and was almost dried out when about ten blocks from my house, the Oregon weather gods emptied their clouds on me again.

I’m hoping to get out of town for another trip after the fourth of July, wish me luck!

A Hometown Visit

Last week was busy full of travel for me.

It started with an overnight trip to my hometown of Spokane, Washington with my daughter, Jo. We went up to attend to my aunt's memorial and got to say hi to a couple of old friends along the way. The trip from Portland to Spokane takes about six hours. When we crossed into the state of Washington, we decided to take the back roads to enjoy the scenery of eastern Washington; which in my daughter's view, was... Bo-ring! At least I can take a decent selfie. We took a detour to stop at Palouse Falls - lots of water this year.

I enjoyed the company. It was nice to be able just to have some one-on-one time with my favorite daughter. Okay, she's my only daughter. But still... We ate junk food, went for ice cream, and had a great big greasy Denny's breakfast.

It was a fun couple days of travel, connecting with with my relatives, and enjoying the beauty of the state of Washington.

Have a wonderful Easter Weekend.

Like father, like son

My son Spencer has worked by my side for many years now. He helps me out a great deal, mainly at fundraisers, and my auction team loves having him around. It's great that he'll put on a suit and hang out with his dad! I have watched him mature and learn a bit about the business world, sharpen his social and life skills, as well as build his confidence. It's hard for me to believe that he'll be graduating from high school next year. Where does the time go?

I'm lucky that we have the chance to work together and that he actually enjoys it. It gives us an opportunity to spend more time together since fundraising events are often on weekends. That way, we don't feel like we're missing out too much on our family time. We probably have as much fun as the guests at these fundraising auctions. The energetic and exciting atmosphere of an auction can't be beat. Especially if the alternative is having my son sit in front of a television or computer screen for the night. Plus it's extra rewarding to be able to feel like you're contributing to a worthy cause; whether it be for bettering the greater good of the community, improving a kid's educational experience or raising funds and awareness towards battling a life-altering disease.

Thanks Spence! I'm so proud of you.

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