From Bend, we took Hwy 97 South to Hwy 138 west and then left at the Park Entrance, roughly 100 miles to the park entrance.
The temps for the ride down to the park were cool and windy. The ride back was slower, much busier and the temp topped out at nearly 83 degrees. I was ready to dismount when we pulled into the Hampton Inn.
Its hard not to recognize the impact that volcanoes have had in forming this region. There are huge, ancient lava fields all over and you see further evidence in how the highways are constructed. Just south of Bend on Hwy 97 we passed through Newberry National Volcanic Monument with dark lava fields lining both sides of the highway.
The 33 mile tour around Crater Lake on the Rim Road was beautiful. The deep (1900' deep at its deepest) blue lake sits about 1,000' below the rim. The walls of the crater are rock, some of which are absolutely vertical drops. The crowds were light, the road had pullouts everywhere, the park was easy to navigate and the roads were in excellent shape. We lapped the rim once and headed north, back to Bend. The roads were straight. And when I say straight, I mean you could see the end of the road 15 miles away.
Views from the Rim Road looking away from the lake were also spectacular. We took turns seeing Mt. Scott and Mt. Thielsen. At one vista we thought we could see mountain ranges a hundred miles away.
On our way back we passed a slow moving vehicle. When we cleared the vehicle I noticed a red sports car of some sort behind KC and closing fast. And in a flash he passed KC, then me and the truck in front of me. The car was low slung with a very unique shape...clearly a supercar.
As it drove out of sight KC said, "McLaren", a VERY high end, limited production supercar made in Great Britain.
We have enjoyed spending two nights in the same hotel. It takes a significant effort to unpack, pack, and lug our stuff around...I appreciate a day of not doing that. Having said that, it's 6:00PM and I need to pack for tomorrow.
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I want to say how appreciative I am of the motorcycle coaching that I get from KC. His riding skills are deep and he helps me identify improvements I can and should make. I feel that its important to continuously improve and the only way I know to do this is to seek out feedback and coaching. KC does this for me...thank you KC.
1 comment:
As I told you, I only wish I could still DO all the things I've learned over the years instead of just remembering HOW to do them. But as the songs goes "I ain't as good as I once was: but I'm as good ONCE as I ever was"
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