Sure enough, there was no WiFi in the motel in Heppner:
Before I get into the last two days of riding, I want to take some time to acknowledge a good Samaritan who I failed to mention earlier. On the first day of my trip, when the bike was quitting on me and I thought it had something to do with being low on fuel as well as a hot day, I stopped at the Cant Ranch not too far west of John Day to see if I could bum some gas. The Cant Ranch is a historic old ranch that has been preserved by the National Park Service as an example of early 20th Century sheep ranching. There was a man in a Park Service uniform standing by his truck apparently getting ready to go home from work at the ranch site. I described my problem as asked him if he had any gas that I could buy/bum from him. He said he had no gas, but there was a mini-mart selling gas just eight miles further down the road if I thought I could make it. He also said he would follow me there to make sure I was OK. I asked him if he was going that way anyway and he replied that he actually lived eight miles back in the direction I had come, but he wouldn't abandon me. So he followed me 16 round-trip miles out of his way to make sure I made it. The bike quit on me twice on the way, but each time it started back up and after I got gas it ran fine until the next time it got really hot in eastern Colorado. I don't even remember if I thanked the guy, as I was so caught up in my fear that my trip was looking like it might be over before it even got started.
It just so happened that I modified my route home two days ago and ended up going by the Cant Ranch exactly one month after I had passed by before. I thought it would be great if I could stop in and find the guy and properly thank him and maybe even get his picture for the blog. Unfortunately, he was not at work that day, but I think I now know his name and it's Scott. I left a card with my blog address on it, so Scott, if you read this, please know that I really appreciate your help and kindness.
I spent Sunday night in Winnemucca, Nevada and then headed out early Monday morning on some more desolate roads in Southern Oregon. It started out fairly mild, but soon became colder, windy and cloudy. It stayed that way until I got near Burns, when the clouds went away, but it was still cold and windy. I don't think it got above the mid 50s all day, and since it had started out mild, I had put away my balaclava and rain pants, and didn't want to stop to dig them out. By the time I got to the motel in Heppner I was getting pretty chilled.
I also had some deer encounters, for the first time on the trip. The first one was a single deer that I saw as it was getting on the road just in front of me.....a big, healthy critter. I had to get on the binders hard and I startled her so that she ended up running down the road in front of me. Pretty scary, but at least I saw it in time to do something about it. The next one was as I was nearing Heppner and it was late, with lots of shadows. This single deer was in the shade and I didn't see it until it turned and ran away from the road. This was more scary, actually, because it was just luck that it ran away from the road and not onto the road, in which case I wouldn't have had time to do anything. The next encounter was just outside of Heppner where a group of about five deer were standing in the road. I saw them from quite a distance and it was no problem. So, all you deer hunters.........get with the program and kill, kill, kill.
Today was the coldest start on the ride......30 degrees and heavy frost on the bike. However, I rigged for it and had a relatively short ride home, so it wasn't bad. At least it wasn't raining, which is very likely at this time of the year. Also there was no wind in the Columbia Gorge, which can be a real hassle when heading into it. A hot bath at 2 pm when I got home sure felt good, though.
Speaking of the gorge, I stopped to take this picture of it. I sure live in a pretty part of the country.
Tomorrow I'll get started on a summary of my thoughts about the trip.
Safe home yay! What a fun ride we've all had with you Dad! I think you have to keep blogging...which means we have to come up with more trips for you to go on!
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