Day 6 - Burns, OR to Marysville, Wa via Salem, OR. – 551 miles
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Heading down to sea level.


Got up and had the obligatory motel continental breakfast. At least they had peanut butter. Blasted across Oregon. Started making good time, but then lost it when stopped for construction. I saw a Bumper sticker that said “Need Less”. Got through Bend and decided to get gas at Sisters. Should have had a bathroom break in Bend. Man those 20 miles to Sisters were excruciating, I kept looking for a big bush to hide behind. Finally I found a gas station to take a break at. From there it was a fun sprint over the north Santium Highway to Mill City, OR. The Mountain Edge café was a checkpoint on the Grand Tour. It was a piece of Americana. The café is owned by a family. The girls were cooking and waiting tables. They had family members visit; it seemed they hadn’t seen each other for ages. The woman visitor was pregnant, and the father was a young Iraq veteran. At one table was another woman that had brought her retired mother to have pie together. My food was good too. It was a neat little place to come across.
By now my bike and I were getting anxious to get home. Get home mode. I continued west over to I-5. I could see both Roger and Doug’s houses pass by on my GPS. I felt guilty for not stopping. It was still the middle of the day and I assumed they were busy. But I should have stopped. Heading north on I-5 I saw Harley skid marks and investigation paint on the road in Wilsonville, OR. The weekend before there had been a huge pile-up of Harleys riding in formation. Not me, I am flying solo.

My next checkpoint was up in Pe Ell, WA. I took a little detour off of I-5 to the west at Vader, WA. I found some cool twisty roads here. And I saw the strangest thing on my trip. A camel. I fly by this field and out of the corner of my eye I spy a camel. I thought why would there be a camel out in a field? I still don’t know why. I did stop to take a picture. A camel, now I have seen it all. I stopped at the café in Pe Ell. It is a neat 40’s style diner inside. I’ll have to go back and check out the food sometime.
From there I cruised up I-5 to home.

Wheewww…. 2793 miles total. I rode through WA, OR, ID, WY, UT & NV. Thankfully before the trip I cleaned the air filter and changed the oil. I finished off my back tire. I was able to see lots of cool scenery, new roads and met great folks. I was able to push my own distance envelope safely and comfortably. I really enjoyed seeing the gang in Baker City. I also enjoyed the scenery every day. Utah was pretty neat I will have to go back that way sometime. It’s amazing what you can find riding a motorcycle!

The End


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