Oregon Coast: Siletz & Toledo - June 18, 2010

(l-r: Glenn, Jennifer, Tollie, Olivia, Ricardo, Greg, Russ, Kevin and Patrick at Hwy 22 Junction)

After record setting rainfall for the month of June in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, we finally got a break in the weather and were able to get out for a group ride.The Salem group (five bikes) met at the corner of 25th Street and Mission Street in SE Salem. We traveled east on Hwy 22 and met up with Patrick, Ricardo and Ricardio's daughter Olivia at the Kings Valley Hwy & Hwy 22 junction near Dallas, Oregon.

We followed Hwy 22 to the Oregon Coast and then traveled around the south side of Devils Lake stopping at Devils Lake State Park.

Devils Lake State Park: Rest Break: (l-r) Tollie, Olivia, Ricardo & Russ

Devils Lake State Park: Rest Break: (l-r) Greg & Patrick

Devils Lake State Park: Rest Break: Kevin

Patrick just returned from a trip to the east coast where he visited the Harley-Davidson factory. Here he is explaining to Glenn how these bikes come down the assembly line.

We then rode on Hwy 101 before turning east onto Hwy 229 and we rode along side the Siletz River and into the town of Siletz, Oregon. This is a beautiful stretch of road and shouldn't be missed!

Next we connected with Hwy 20 and headed west towards Newport, Oregon where we turned south to Yaquina Bay Road. We rode up river towards Toledo with the Yaquina Bay off our right side.

Stopping along side Yaquina Bay Road

Continuing on Yaquina Bay Road we rode into Toledo and up Elk City Road to Elk City where we stopped at the city park before riding back into Toledo for lunch.

Lunch break was at Stu Miller's Pig Feathers BBQ. We sat outside but the tables were in the shade. Jennifer mentioned it would be nice to sit in the sun so we proceeded to pick up our tables and moved them into the parking lot. The waitress didn't mind and we had a great meal.

Lunch Break in Toledo, Oregon

Jennifer, Good call to move the tables into the sunshine!

Great place for lunch: Stu Miller's Pig Feathers BBQ in Toledo, Oregon: http://www.pigfeathers.com/

After lunch we traveled east on Hwy 20 back to the Willamette Valley. We took a small detour on Hwy 180 (Nashville Road) before joining back up with Hwy 20. We then turned north of Hwy 223 (Kings Valley Hwy) and our next stop was Ritner Creek Bridge.

After our break at Ritner Creek Bridge, the group from Dallas, Oregon (Patrick and Ricardo) followed Hwy 223 back to Dallas while the Salem group headed east on Airlie Road to Hwy 99W.

Being I needed to get to Stayton, Oregon I continued east on Airlie Road to Buena Vista, Oregon crossing the Willamette River byway of the Buena Vista Ferry then through Jefferson, Oregon to Stayton. The others followed Hwy 99W north to Monmouth and Independence, Oregon and then along River Road back into Salem.

This trip covered about 220 miles.

Here is a link to the route we rode:


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Oregon Coast by way of Elk City - May 15, 2010

The weather looked good on this Saturday so I rode solo over to the Oregon coast. I followed back roads most of the way. Along the way I stopped in Elk City, Oregon which has a very nice city park where you can camp right by the Yaquina River.

On my way through Toledo, Oregon I saw this train car with the OSU mascot (Benny Beaver). This is how I remember Benny looking when I went to OSU, way back in the late 70's early 80's.


I followed Yaquina Bay road into Newport, Oregon then wound over to Siletz, Oregon where I stopped for lunch and watched the Waldport, Oregon Jr. baseball team playing against the Siletz Jr. team.

I encountered some gravel roads on the return trip but saw some amazing scenery along the way. I should have taken the time to take more photos but I was having too much fun.

The trip took 6 hours driving time and covered about 230 miles.

This is the route I followed:

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Linn County - February 21, 2010

(l-r): Dave, Kyle, Ron, Kevin & Cole

Five of us decided to take advantage of February temperatures in the low 60's and sunshine to go for ride around Linn County.

Cole (son-in-law) on a Suzuki DR650, Ron on a Honda 1100 Shadow Sabre and Kevin (me) on a Honda 1100 Shadow Sabre rode from Stayton to Waterloo where we met up with Dave (Cole's dad) on a Triumph 650 Bonneville and Kyle on a Honda VLX 600.

Cole getting ready to ride

Kevin ready to roll

Dave's bike in pre-electric starter so he has to kick start it

Heading down Dave's driveway

Out of Waterloo we rode on Berlin Road then around Foster Reservoir into Sweet Home where Kyle left us to visit his family in Lebanon. The rest of us took Hwy 228 to Brownsville where we crossed over I-5 and into Halsey. Next we headed north on Hwy 99E before turning east and crossing back over I-5 and into Sodaville. We wandered on back roads ending up at Dave's house in Waterloo where Cole and Dave stayed while Ron and I rode back to Stayton.

The entire trip was 127 miles.

Here is a map of the route we took:

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Foothills Church Poker Run - May 30, 2009

Foothills is a church in Stayton, Oregon just down the road from my house. Russ on his Honda 750 Magna and me on my Honda 1100 Sabre joined about 100 other folks for a Poker Run in the country. The Poker Run followed roads I'd ridden many times before but that didn't matter as they are always fun.

Our stops along the route to draw our poker hands were: Scio, Lyons, Silver Creek Falls, Cascade Hwy just south of Silverton and Foothills Church on Fern Ridge Road in Stayton.

I was feeling good as my first two cards drawn were ace's followed up by a pair of jacks but the best I would get was two pair. You needed at least three of a kind to be in the money.

After the ride everyone enjoyed a hot dog BBQ and a raffle drawing. One guy and his wife were the luckiest people I'd ever seen. Even though they only bought a few raffle tickets they won three of the four big items: two riding jackets and a helmet - Amazing!

Hard to beat a sunny day in Oregon in May

Stop along Silver Falls Hwy

This route was about 70 miles

Here a map of the route we rode:


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Alsea & Mary's Peak - September 26, 2008

The ride began in South Salem at the Union 76 station on Commercial Street SE where Greg, David, Russ and I met up. We'd be taking back roads from Salem to the east side of the Buena Vista Ferry to meet up with Terrie and his wife.

Crossing the Willamette River on the Buena Vista Ferry

After crossing the river we traveled into Albany and over to Corvallis & Philomath. We topped off our fuel tanks in Philomath and then followed Hwy 34 to Mary's Peak Road turn off. Marys Peak, at 4,097 feet, is the highest point in Oregon’s Coast Mountain Range.

Taking a rest break on the road to Mary's Peak

After enjoying the views on the top of Mary's Peak we rode down to the town of Alsea where we had a great lunch at Deb's Kountry Kitchen.

Lunch Break in Alsea, Oregon

After lunch we headed south on Little Lobster Valley Road. This took us though some amazing valleys and then we connected with Five Rivers Road and Hwy 34. Next we traveled east on Hwy 34 back to Alsea. Back in Alsea, we connected with road South Fork Road and rode east to Alpine and north on Bellfountain Road to Philomath. We then worked our way back to Corvallis. In Corvallis, Terrie and his wife split from the group since they live in Millersburg, while the rest of us wandered back to Salem.

These were great motorcycle roads with beautiful scenery and no traffic.

This trip covered about 200 miles

Here a map of the route we rode:


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