July 17, 2022

Last night was in the Tumbleweed Motel again. It's run-down and barely hanging on maintenance wise, but is clean and relatively cheap.  I like such motels.  Besides low price they have a bit of character.

Breakfast spot before leaving Cache Creek.
It's easy to take only pretty pictures on trips, but it feels a little dishonest.  Wherever humans
are you find debris, old tires piled up, graffiti, an ugly chain link fence, a polluted stream.

Destination today was the border crossing at Abbotsford and then on to Bellingham, WA.  Started down 93-C but was feeling weirdly out of sorts and like I wasn't in good control of the bike or seeing the road well. So, I backed off and went down the Trans-Canada Highway.  This follows Fraser River for about 100 miles starting at Lytton, south of Cache Creek.  

The Fraser is a big, fast flowing river that occasionally narrows to produce impressive rapids. It's bordered by spectacular mountains and cliffs.  The road winds and a lot of drivers take it very fast. The TransCan crosses from the north to south side at Hope.  You can stay on the north side of the river on highway 7.  I have never gone that way.

This is heading south just before you cross the river at Hope. You can
just make out some of the towering cliffs that frame the river farther on.

Some of the most turbulent rapids on the Fraser.  For scale that's a foot bridge. It's
railing is about head height.  Farther upstream the river is many times wider so a lot of water
is pouring through this narrow gorge.

I stayed at Days Inn Motel in Bellingham.  It's kind of shabby. As I loaded up the next morning I watched a drug dealer take up his station in front of the Chinese restaurant next door.

The route the last 3 days has been pretty much directly north to south.  One notices the days becoming shorter (no more daylight at 11 pm) and the spruce trees becoming thicker and more christmas tree shaped.  Farther north they are thinner.  I've read that this is an adaptation to take advantage of the low angle of the sun.   Still further north than I went this trip they become really scraggly and short.  I suspect this is because in the far north they live in shallow soil above the permafrost layer..

July 18-19, 2022

Bellingham, WA to Portland, friends' house.

As usual got twisted around in Portland.  Reason was that a major street, Lombard, that I was looking for did not have a name sign.  It seems like they label every little cross street but neglect to put up signs on major thoroughfares.

July 20, 2022

Down Martin Luther King Blvd. to meet I-5 around Oregon City.  Note:  This is an uncomplicated way out of Portland to the south but don't do it at rush hour.   It took a long time to get out of the city.

I'm definitely in "get home" mode.  Wheels just latch onto the freeway and go mindlessly as fast as possible.  Weather was warm but not too bad.

Washington state has really nice rest areas along I-5.  A few steps from
your car you are in deep woods among towering trees.

Stayed again at Sunny Valley Camp Ground.

Bike looks as hot and bedraggled as me

There were a couple of very nice old oak trees that
I didn't notice before.

For identification their leaves look like these on a seedling
underneath.

July 21, 2022

Last night was horrible.  I was in bed shortly after 9 and managed to get to sleep despite truck noise from the I-5.  But about 10:45 was awakened by an horrendous racket that sounded like what you might hear if you suspended a microphone between the wheels of an 18-wheeler going 80 mph.  I think it may have been some kind of maintenance activity on the highway because over the next half hour it seemed to fade very slowly into the distance to the north. Eventually fell asleep again but was awakened at 3:30 by the roar of trucks that had seemed to diminish for a couple of hours (even truckers need some sleep, I guess).

Way too hot heading down I-5 to Sycamore Grove today -  like riding into a gigantic hair dryer.

I should have planned to go straight down I-5 and stay in motels instead of making my habitual stops in Sycamore Grove CG and Fresno.  Sitting here now in the campground in 100 degree heat it's not too bad in the shade if I soak my shirt with water.  

It's quiet enough here to hear birds though there is the distant sound of freeway noise.  There are a couple of robins about searching for worms.  That called to mind a conversation last week in which I said I'd seen a bird very much like a robin but that it couldn't be because robins hop (my memory from Pennsylvania) and this bird walked.  The birds here are walking AND hopping.  Google informs me that robins are, in fact, one of the few birds that both walk and hop. So, my memory was faulty (not news that).

Note:  For shade the best sites are clustered by the main entrance.

July 22, 2022

A long slog down CA-99 to Fresno pulling in around 2 pm.  Fortunately, the Airbnb let me check in right away to get out of the 100+ heat.  There was a lot of truck traffic on 99.  I didn't remember it being so heavy.  I doubt I'll come this way again.  I enjoyed it much more 5 years ago.

July 23, 2022

Got up at 4 am to get ahead of the weather.  This worked out well as I got south into the LA basin before the heat and wind revved up late in the morning.  My rewards were a lovely view of the Tehachapi Mountains in the low morning light and the fastest trip over the Grapevine I've ever had.  Saturday morning traffic was light and everyone was flying at 80 mph.  Just over the pass the winds struck but were not bad.  An hour later and they would have been nasty according to the forecast.

FINAL STATS

Miles: 7908

MPG:  between 47 and 48 early on, but then I lost the notebook in which I was tracking gas purchases

Bike routine maintenance: 1 rear tire, 2 oil change (one w/filter)

Bike problems:  0 (she ran like a champ in heat, rain and cold)

Overnights:  24 Motel, 6 friends, 2 Airbnb, 9 campsite