Day 17 complete after about 340 miles. We are at a trip total of around 4,400 miles. We have landed in Jerome, Idaho. The convection oven heat continues.
Last night was a great experience in Pendleton Oregon. Quite a nice town, with a population of around 17,000. We were told by our friendly bartender/server that number swells to 80,000 the 2nd week of September when the rodeo comes to town.
Our Dinner was at the Hamley Steakhouse & Saloon. What a gem to find. A classic turn of the century saloon converted into a fine dining establishment. And a beautiful Brunswick wood bar back and top. Just amazing to see the craftsmanship and ornateness of the place. And the dinner, oh boy, the friendly and chatty bar tender recommended the soft ball cut house sirloin. Make it 5 of them, sir. It was absolutely the best sirloin we have had, with a few peppercorn kernels garnished on top, a side of mashed taters with brown gravy and the bacon cooked green beans. Oh boy, it was an excellent recommendation. Even better, Ski Doo Matt lost the Rock, Paper, Scissors match between himself and Hedgie, and dinner is always better when someone else gets the tab!
After dinner, we had to venture into the Rainbow Bar, another establishment that has been in continuous operation for over 115 years if I remember correctly. A lively mix of locals had the place hopping on a Wednesday night. Both of the above establishments are worth the visit if you just so happen to be near Pendleton, OR.
We were turned in pretty early, as we wanted to get on the road by 7-7:30am this morning to try and beat the heat the best we could. Mission accomplished, after our quick continental breakfast, but after 40 miles on the road, we came to a dead stop on I-84 due to an accident on the highway. The rumor, from the friendly truck driver parked in the slow lane next to us, was that some one was being pursued in a highspeed chase, lost control, and was splattered across the highway. His description, not mine.
As we shut the bikes off and put the kickstands down, a grumble was felt, and sweat begin to bead on my forehead, and anxiety set in. Nature was calling, and we are stuck on the expressway. I quickly ran options thru my head about how to solve this problem. I grabbed the handy nature paper out of my emergency saddlebag, like American Express, never leave home without it. And started to play scenarios thru my head about how this was going to go. The least of my concerns was the 3 camera phones that would inevitably be trained on me if I just used the side of the road median without abandon. But after a quick look around for my options, at the top of the hill of the median, there was a fenced in electrical box. With a walk thru gate. Now, just make it there. I get to the gate, it’s chained shut, but it didn’t take long for me to climb the ladder like rungs and take privacy on the back side of the screened fence. And the only pictures are of my trek to privacy, thankfully. Other than a few comical remarks from the friendly truck driver, my dilemma was resolved, and all was right in my little world again.
Anywho, after about 30-40 minutes, a few laughs, a few selfie pictures, and we were back headed South East to where, we still didn’t know yet. Just somewhere on the other side of Boise, Idaho. When the heat becomes overwhelming, we will find a layover place.
Not much else to talk about, we ran I-84 all day because we are just trying to get on a path headed back east, towards home, and we didn’t want to run roads, or go thru towns we have already traveled. Around 2pm local time, we are now back in the Mountain time zone, we stopped at gas station/Burger King to start figuring out our overnight town. The heat had climbed to about 96 degrees, and rising. While eating our whoppers/chicken sandwiches with onion rings, Monkey Brother Rick found us a place about 80 miles further south, just short of Twin Falls, ID. We were hoping for only about 40 miles, but apparently motels are filling up around here from some reason we can’t determine. The Best Western in Jerome, ID is our first available. Book it, Dano.
We got in around 3:15pm, hot and wore out from the heat. The heat is taking it’s toll on us, but we just keep telling ourselves that ice cold chest of rocky mountains will solve our problems. While the weather is heated, our companionship is not. We are having a blast thru it all.
After check in, Monkey and Hedgie took a dip in the indoor pool, Ski Doo took his customary hot shower (we still can’t figure that one out, the rest of us are taking cold showers), and I’m working on this stupid blog for my 7 followers… if you are still there?
I am in the lobby at the computer station, Monkey & Ski Doo are sitting in the wood and fabric lounge chairs working on tomorrow’s destination. We will probably try and leave even earlier tomorrow, because the heat forecast for tomorrow is a high of 105… gross.
We shall see.
Bye for now,
Stick