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| First Day |
OGRES MC members and guests met at the Garage Cafe for breakfast, at 8 a.m., prior to participating in the OMC Fall Run. Everyone rolled in, more or less on time. To be clear, G-Man was barely on time rolling in 2 minutes prior to the safety briefing at 8:45 a.m. Everyone else enjoyed great conversation and a hearty breakfast.
OMC members present: Bomber, Grim, Gundy, Rip City and G-Man. Emeritus member present: Smooth. Guests present: Lee and Joy.
OMC members absent: Krome, Duke, Slick and Rowdy.
Grim wants to start out by thanking Rip City for taking almost all of the photos and doing such a great job of directing and producing the "RELIVE" version of this event. It is a lot of work and attention and Rip City did a fabulous and gnarly job.
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| Breakfast at The Garage Cafe in Notus, Idaho |
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| Late Arrival Greeting |
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| Grim Pontificating at the Safety Briefing |
It was a very nice morning and almost perfect riding temperature. After the safety briefing, everyone saddled up and we headed out towards Unity.
As you can see from the map, we deviated from the route taken on the first day in years past. This route turned out to be much nicer than the one we have used the last ten years. However, some members missed the smell of cultivating marijuana along the previous route.
After Grim's experience riding in the pack, on the Beartooth ride, announced speeds were a bit faster than previous years; between 5 and 10 mph over the speed limit.
Traffic was light and it is always kinda fun rolling through Parma, Nyssa and Vale. Grim had a slight hiccup at the turn towards Vale as he was looking for a sign for Vale and failed to extrapolate that the road to Burns would be the same. After a quick U turn, all were headed in the right direction again. Grim was even in the correct right lane to make the turn towards Unity.
As we headed north, the temperature remained just about right and the roads were enjoyable along this route.
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| Ready to Rumble |
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| COVID Bumpkins |
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| A Whole Lotta Trouble |
A "bio" break was made in Unity at the Burnt River Market. This stop always takes a little while as there is only one bathroom in the joint. An "old boy" struck up a conversation with Grim asking him if Grim had been to Lake Fork and other parts. The "gentleman" had a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath, as was appropriate, because all his inquiries were if certain bars were open in the towns he asked about. Turns out he had a similar conversation with Smooth. Also interesting, he had lived in all the towns we talked about. Probably not. It gets lonely in those little towns, I guess. It was clear his bath tub was lonely.
We climbed back aboard our lovely iron horses and headed on up the road taking Route 245 through Hereford and up over the winding twisting road towards Sumpter and Baker City. It was a lovely, fast and exhilarating ride along and over the burnt forest road. What a blast! Grim really enjoyed his new rear shocks as he was able to take the corners at a higher speed while still feeling in control.
We only came upon one car during this leg of the Run and it pulled over for us making for a great interlude through the mountains.
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| G-Man and His Ride |
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| Bomber Can't Believe It |
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| A Tough Bunch of Hombres |
We stopped at the Sinclair gas station on the outskirts of Baker City. Folks grabbed gas, goodies and used the facilities. We jumped back on our bikes and took the truck route that skirted the town. It was a great route that we had not traveled before and took us a different but nice way into Haines.
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| Hunting for Grub |
Grim called for a quick stop in Haines. just before noon (local time), to make a call to see if the steak house in Cove was open. The thought was that if the Cove place was closed, we would have lunch in Haines. Turns out, the steak house in Cove did not open until 2 p.m. A quick check at the steak house, in Haines, found that the restaurant did not open until 4:30 p.m. It was decided we would press on to Elgin for lunch which is where we ate prior to last year's lunch in Cove.
It had warmed up, so most riders shed some gear before firing up their Harley-Davidson and Indian motorcycles as required by the OMC Charter and By-Laws. We rode a good clip up through North Powder, Union City and Cove. Traffic was light and the weather remained pleasant. Grim managed to find the short cut between Cove and Island City to allow the group to bypass the congestion and truck stops at the Island City junction. Instead, it was smooth sailing through Imbler and right into Elgin.
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| Cowboys and Angels in Elgin |
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| Checking Gear |
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| Hungry but Intrepid |
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| Rip City wanted "Indignant" |
The posse rambled inside the "Cowboys and Angels" restaurant demanding grub. We had a great server and service improved as the place emptied towards the closing hour of 2 p.m. The food was pretty good, the waitress was spunky and entertaining. She was disappointed she wasn't able to wear G-Man or Rip City's cut.
Some riders changed gear for warmer temperatures and the group straddled their machines for the final dash into Enterprise and Joseph. The temperature remained quite nice and we were able to roll along in light traffic. We did get behind one slow vehicle who turned out to let us by in Wallowa. Almost immediately an even slower Ford Ranger pulled out right in front of Grim and slowly headed out of town. Fortunately, the Ford turned off a few miles out of town and the entourage was able to pick their speed back up to 8 mph over the speed limit.
However, it was soon clear that part of the group was missing off the back of the pack. Bomber, G-Man and Smooth were nowhere in sight. The remaining group figured they must have smelled rust in the area, or some other plausible reason, as no alarm had been raised. We decided to keep rolling into Enterprise to stop for fuel and we would then research the reason for the trio's absence.
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| A Joy to Be Around |
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| Where is your Cut? |
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| Happy to Be Here |
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| Chase Car Captain |
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| Grim Smile |
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| Which Way Did They Go, George? |
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| Forgot his Choker |
As we were fueling at the Chevron gas station in Enterprise, the lost lambs rolled in with engines roaring. Turns out a deputy sheriff had rolled out behind Smooth as they left Wallowa. Bomber had great situational awareness and kept his speed at the legal limit. Smooth and G-Man wondered why Bomber was going slow but soon saw the lawman. We got back together at the gas station and proceeded into Joseph.
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| Walter Brennan's Legacy |
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| Lining Up |
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| Chillaxing |
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| Getting Accommodations |
We rolled into the Indian Lodge Motel for the 10th year running. The owner's daughter greeted us after her 7 year absence. Grim always gets his room number mixed up and had to apologize for causing the poor girl consternation with his grouchy incompetence. All was straightened out and everyone got their rooms. All unloaded their gear, slipped into something more comfortable and headed down to the shops. Rip City and Grim found their traditional chocolate haystack candy and checked out the two restaurants looking for reservations. Unfortunately, we had arrived later than usual and didn't get to do our usual exploration of the shops as the retail part of the town shuts down at 5 p.m. local time. We did, however, finally decide upon a place and time for dinner.
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| The Stubborn Mule in Joseph, Oregon |
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| She's the Good One of the Bunch |
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| Semper Fi |
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| Shrimp |
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| Ripped |
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| Can you touch your nose with your tongue? |
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| Still Smooth |
We assembled at the Stubborn Mule and enjoyed a lot of conversation, discussion and general frivolity while waiting for our meals. The service is generally slow at this restaurant so members and guests took advantage of the time for socializing, catching up, bad-mouthing absent and former members and making fun of each other. A few lies may have been told. Our meals finally arrived and they were as good as advertised although Smooth's monster ground steak could have been cooked a little longer. We then had an "Einstein Convention" to figure out the single ticket that the waiter gave us. Next time we will ask for separate checks.
Everyone was tired and hit the sack after the dinner. The trip to the lake was postponed for a later time.
The group reconvened the festivities at the Cheyenne Cafe the next morning. Smooth arrived soon after having made the drive to the lake to check out the water level and the wildlife.
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| Early Birds |
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| Joy Picking on Grim Again |
As usual, the breakfast was great with large portions. The owner and the waiter entertained the group between the delivery of the scrumptious repast. Rip City kept himself awake while trying to engineer the cutting of a huge cinnamon roll into seven pieces. The waiter suggested making it easy with Rip buying seven cinnamon rolls. Rip City did finally conquer the challenge without buying more baked goods.
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| After Breakfast Stylin' |
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| Larger than Life |
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| Gathering for Briefing |
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| Late |
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| Watch Out for the Cattleguards and the Deer |
A quick safety briefing was held prior to leaving for the day. We left a little earlier than usual as we would lose an hour riding back into Mountain Daylight Savings Time. The temperature at departure was around 57 degrees which portended a cooler than usual temperature day.
We headed out of town and up towards the valley to Hell's Canyon. The mountain road was new smooth pavement for the initial part of the ascent. However, it quickly reverted to the pot holed, rough road we knew at the first cattle guard. The road surface could not spoil how much fun was had on the deserted twisting road leading to the overlook. Grim only had one near hit when a passing Suzuki car took a corner a little wide going the other direction. We soon arrived at the Hell's Canyon overlook.
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| Arrival in Hell's Canyon |
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| Smoky |
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| A Meeting of the Minds |
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| Just Happy to Be Here |
It was smoky at the Overlook and was deserted when we first arrived. We chatted about the fun we had just experienced in the twisties except for Bomber who lamented the twisties did not give him the ability to "look at stuff and think about stuff". Other folks filtered in and were also enjoying the scenery. We checked out the smoky view and a young lady graciously offered to take a group picture.
We eventually climbed astride our bikes and headed down the mountain. Up to this point we had seen no wildlife until we were about halfway down the mountain. Suddenly, we came upon five deer in the roadway. The doe and three young deer adroitly left the roadway into the meadow adjacent to the road. However, one wayward young deer darted directly into our path but we cleared the animal easily.
We exited out onto the highway and bypassed Scotty's, deciding instead to check out the Gateway Store and Restaurant on the other side of the dam inside the great State of Idaho. A great ethereal sigh of relief could be felt as we passed the sign proclaiming the Idaho state line. Grim always enjoys the twisty roads leading to and around the dams, causeways and power plants.
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| One Gas Pump....One Long Line |
As we entered the store, we began the obligatory COVID-19 mask donning. A 90 year old couple inside chided us for our folly telling us, in no uncertain terms, that masking behavior was not needed in the store as we were in Idaho now. We grinned and removed our masks making sure all the folks present knew we were Idahoans arriving back from the Oregon wasteland. We all bought the traditional ice cream treats we get a this stop every year. We decided to gas up here, even though there was only one pump. We were directed to remember our gallon amount to come back inside to pay. A long line ensued at the one pump but it was non ethanol premium and we also would not have to stop in Cambridge after gassing here. Double win.
On the road again, we headed up the canyon and enjoyed the swooping fast curves up and towards Cambridge. The temperature remained fairly cool but fluctuated interestingly as we passed farmland and desert. Again, we encountered almost no traffic. We passed through Cambridge and headed to our lunch stop in Midvale.
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| All the Bikes Except G-Man's...As Usual |
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| Waiting Patiently |
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| Friends Watching Friends |
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| Grim's Masterpiece |
OMC members and guests parked and ambled into the Cafe in Midvale. To think for years we scrambled to find mediocre restaurants in Cambridge while this great little cafe was eight miles away. The waitress was very attentive and fun. She even made Bomber a PBJ sandwich even though it wasn't on the menu. Rip City again revealed that he eats often with his grandchildren by dipping his grilled cheese sandwich in ketchup. Grim asked his table mates to pinch Rip City to keep him awake. It was a great meal and we all enjoyed the company and the food. Smooth had a great dinner roll and pie and ice cream were enjoyed by many.
We eventually gave up the cool, quiet cafe and sped away down Highway 95 through Weiser. Passing though Weiser, a huge tent and table stand was seen roadside, peddling all manner of Trump paraphernalia. Grim was tempted to stop as it was quite a scene but kept his head and continued on. We passed through Payette and turned on Old Highway 30. Traffic remained light and we were not held up from our swift passing through farmland and desert. It is a nice road and we passed through Hamilton Corner without incident. Sand Hollow Road was also clear and quiet as we rumbled through.
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| OMC Members: Rip City, Smooth, Grim, Bomber, G-Man and Gundy |
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| Guest: Joy and Lee |
We rolled into the gas station, now a Chevron, at Old Highway 30 and Highway 44 to conclude our Fall Run adventure. We took the obligatory pictures and passed out hugs and goodbyes. During our farewells, a fellow rolled by on his Road King and parked next to us. Of course, G-Man was quick to strike up a conversation but then left him to Rip City and I. It was clear he had experienced a hard life and had been on the road alone for awhile. We were able to extricate ourselves from him eventually as all the OMC Fall participants headed home their respective directions.
Grim is very sad the three OMC sanctioned Runs are in the books for the summer. It was not enough. But as Tom Petty sang, "Too much is never enough".
Special thanks again to Rip City and all his hard work and contributions to this blog and to the "Relive" blogs. Great job!
Also, special thanks to Smooth and the enhancement that his chase car brings to our Runs. Smooth does a great job blocking traffic for us to pull out and he does a great job watching our "6" as we roll down the road.
Sincere sympathy and condolences to those that missed this ride. It was the smoothest and most pleasant Fall Run in recent memory.
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