Day 6

I slept like a baby listening to the waves roll onto the beach all night. My body was still on central time so I got up early. The camp was packed and I was on the road before 7am. Today's travel would take me to Oregon wine county, then Portland for lunch and on to my destination of John Day Oregon.

On the map I found a road that looked like it went close to where I was going. The road not having a name on the map should have been a hint. It was a little back country road that went from Blaine, OR to Carlton, OR. I hoped the road went through but I my doubts increased as the tarmac went to dirt and gravel.


I took my chances and continued on up the pass. At the top I was rewarded with this.




I ran down the back side of the pass and into Oregon wine country.
I wanted to stop Sokol Blosser, the vineyard's of one of my favorite wines. I found it on my GPS and it took me right to their front door. I can't find their Pinot Noir anymore in Minnesota so I had some shipped home. They told me they don't ship the Pinot because the demand regionally sells them out each year. I remember when this stuff was the best value at about $10 a bottle but that sure has changed. :( Here are some shots of the Vinyard.






I had a lunch date in downtown Portland with a friend from college. It was a very nice to see Sean again and catch up about family and friends.



After lunch I had a 275 mile trip to John Day. Along the way I stopped and ran up Mount Hood to the . It was a beautiful old lodge that was built as a WPA project during the Great Depression.




The trip to John Day, Oregon was pretty uneventful except the radar detector was lit up quit a bit due to the heavy enforcement areas along the route. It also got quit hot through some valley's with the thermometer on the bike hitting 101 degrees. I saw this tree full of shoes along the road and had to turn around and get a pic.


I pulled into John Day that evening and set up camp at the county fairgrounds. Here is my view out from the camping area of the local wildlife.


After I got my camp set up I went to dinner with other members of the BMWST.com forums that were also camping. After dinner I got to meet some other great members sitting around the campfire. I am definitly the am on the younger end of the demographic of those riding BMW's but they come from all walks of life and had great story's to tell.