0-dark thirty...

January 30, 2010​

It was 0-dark thirty as I wheeled my trusty ship into the morning air, light was at least an hour away. A lingering mist from last nights rain hangs like a fog obscuring anything distant. I lit the candles on my voyager, their light slices thru the darkness making a path to follow guiding us towards our destination. We would meet at Allan Brothers in Albany where coffee would be the first order of the day. Bernie, who lives on the Washington side of the Columbia river would be leaving about the same time, in the mood we were...

The farm country in the mid Willamette Valley provides and interesting network of roads, most of them paved. We cross the freeway stopping in at the Thompson Flour Mill, not much going on here yet this morning. The day was still new so, back across the freeway on a different path. That lingering mist is still with us leaving radiant rings in all the puddles. We continued thru Brownsville, Crawfordsville and then Sweet Home. Here, the decision was made, we would see just how far we could get before snow and ice invaded the roadway.

The river was beautiful as we cruised along its banks. The water crystal clear as it slides over the smooth rocks then turning frothy cascading over the boulders on its way to the sea. The road here leans left then right and back left again, repeating itself with an occasional straight stretch. I keep thinking as I watch the temperature go down and down we will hit snow and have to turn around. Somewhere Oregon has lost much if its normal snow pack, it is not until we are almost at the summit there is snow.

thanks !!

Glad to hear and see that some are riding.