Monday, February 17, 2014

Road trips on the Sportster-- Part 2

Timeframe Summer 2000

I spent 4th of July with Rick and Nadine, and as is typical for Seattle, it was cloudy, but thankfully not too rainy.  It was nice to have a day off the bike, and have them drive me around in the warm car, after spending so much time being cold on the bike.  I had always wanted to go to the Jimi Hendrix museum there, so we went.  The building itself was pretty cool... it was purple and had no definition to it, it was just a blob of purple.  Whoever the architect was, did a great job, presenting museum goers with a psychedelic experience just walking up to the museum.  Once inside, I realized I could spend a week there.  There was so much memorabilia, so many videos, exhibits, pictures... I did my best to soak in as much in as I could.  I hope someday to get back to it and experience it again.

The next day, Thursday, July 5th, I rode back down I-5 to Portland, Oregon, where I met up with my old friend Mark... remember Mark, who helped me with my bike and pranked me with the sparks flying out of his hand, and I pranked him back with the magnetic nose piercing?  Mark and I met up when I rolled into town, and he showed me the new house he recently bought.  We went for a bite to eat, we spent some time relaxing at his house, then as planned, he allowed me to crash in his guest room.  The next morning, Friday, July 6th, we went out for breakfast and I was on my way again.  As I left town, I made a quick stop at Langlitz Leathers, where I had my first set of leathers custom made.  I still have the pants, but sold the jacket many years ago.  The owner, Tom, remembered me, and it was nice talking to him.  Whenever I'm in Portland, I love to visit Langlitz Leathers.  It's like taking a trip back in time... it's like a shop from the 40s or 50s, and the women working on the leather are right there in the shop, sewing away.  It's really a cool place.  When I left there, I went to the scuba shop I used to go to, and Travis was there.  He worked there when I lived in Vancouver before, and he and I got to be friends and did a couple dives together.  We caught up for a minute then I was on my way again.

I rode out to Bend, OR, where I had stayed in 1999, when I left to go back to NJ.  I think because I had said goodbye to Keith there, it will always be a special place for me.  I grabbed a bite to eat and stayed the night in Bend.  Saturday, July 7, I rode down the 97 and turned off to visit Crater Lake.  If you don't know about Crater Lake, it's beautiful.  It is a lake that was formed when a volcano imploded.  It just collects rain water, there are no tributaries that flow into it, feeding it... therefore the water doesn't move much and there is very little silt, so the reflection of the sky in the lake is very pure.  It was a little chilly there, compared to everywhere else, about 60 degrees, but I was still warm enough.  I walked around the lake admiring the beauty, stopped in the gift shop to walk around and stretch, then got back on the bike to start heading towards home.

This picture doesn't do it justice... the camera didn't do to well with the mirror like finish of the lake, but hopefully you get the general idea of how beautiful it is there.

I made it to Susanville, CA that night, then Sunday morning, I left for the last leg of my trip, back to San Jose.  I was feeling good about making the trip... the difficulties I experienced, and overcame, the friends I got to see along the way, and the strangers I met and befriended, even if only for a few minutes.  I wasn't sure if I was happy to be going home or not.  I was really enjoying the freedom of being on the road and going where I wanted to go.  I also somehow felt more confident... I figured if I could make that road trip and deal with the issues I had without freaking out, I could handle just about anything that comes my way.  I was somehow changed after that road trip.  Stronger, calmer, things just didn't bother me much after that trip.

When I got back to work on Monday and told everyone about my week, they all thought I was crazy, but to me it was just what I do, it wasn't crazy at all.  It wasn't until many years later, thinking back, on it, that I realized that yeah... it really was pretty crazy.  But I wanted to do it, and I didn't really know any better, so I just dealt with the hand I got along the way.  Also, many years later, I would look back at a little notebook I kept on this trip.  I kept starting and ending mileage each day, and made some sparse notes about things that happened.  When I looked at this notebook many years later, I realized I had traveled close to 2000 miles in that one week.  My starting mileage at the beginning of the trip was just a little over 3000 miles.  I hadn't ridden many miles on the Nighthawk when I had it, and I realized that in that one week, I had probably traveled more than half as many miles as I had under my belt on a motorcycle up to that point.  Yeah... crazy.  But, I'm pretty stubborn and when I want to do something, I do it and I make it work, one way or another!! 

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