Around 6 PM on Friday, I rolled into Hines, Oregon and found a room at a new Best Western. I met a couple from British Columbia on a big Honda touring bike. They had been all over Utah, Nevada, and Oregon, and were heading back to Canada after 10 or so days on the road. We ate at the same cafe that night, the Apple Peddler, and traded stories. Al Brooks is a motorcycle cop in the Delta, B.C. area of Canada, and a motorcycle instructor as well, so he knew his stuff. Al and I talked for awhile about bikes, the roads and dirt roads in the northwest, and about how motorcyclists are never alone out there. Safe travels, Al and Glenda!

 
Dessert and coffee at The Apple Peddler.
 

This morning at Crater Lake Lodge, we awoke to The Shining. Our bikes were covered with some of that 500 plus annual snowfall they get up there. It was decided that no amount of haste in checking out would make the descent off the mountain road any drier, so we opted for hot coffee in the Great Hall and a full breakfast. Let me tell you, you can’t go wrong with Crater Lake Eggs Bennie. Suiting up was grim and our bags were lighter because if it was wearable, had holes and a zipper, we put it on. At the bottom of the access road was where our routes diverged. Darth and Obi-Ben were heading coastal, and Moto was in for a solo ride East. After a few high fives, like three spacemen after planting flags on the moon, I pointed it east to Bend, and the Brothers Rafferty sought out the next leg of the Trans-America Trail.

 
All three bikes started up, no problem. The riders had a tough time.