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| Hangry G-Man |
The OMC 2022 Fall Run actually began the night before, the scheduled day and time, when the Vice President notified the President that the Garage Cafe opened at 8 a.m. instead of the usual 7 a.m. time. It was decided we would meet at the aforementioned Cafe at 7:45 a.m. and decide whether to venture forth on empty stomachs or have breakfast before departing.
All OMC members attending, and guests, met at the above place and time and decided to sit down and have breakfast.
Members present: Bomber, RipCity, G-Man, Grim, Gundy and Rowdy. Guests: Joy and Lee. Members absent: Krome, Duke, Smooth and Slick.
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| Bomber |
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| Rowdy |
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| Grim |
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| Joy |
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| Gundy |
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| Lee |
Service and food were the COVID norm...slow and barely acceptable. RipCity's eggs tasted a bit like spittle the second time around. We finished up and headed outside for the safety briefing.
After our safety briefing, we headed up the road towards Oregon. The temperature was not nearly as cold, as in the past couple of years, and we were able to ride without shivering. We rolled through Parma, Nyssa and cruised by Vale. It became quite warm as we headed towards Unity and we made a stop to shed some gear.
After this short stop, we pressed on down the road to Unity. This stretch is actually quite nice with swooping curves and very little traffic. It was a nice ride and we found some shade to park in when we arrived in Unity.
Some had ice cream, some had water, while others chowed on some free popcorn. Guess who was eating the free stuff.
After a short break in Unity, the intrepid bikers headed up the road towards the twisties between Unity and Baker City. This stretch was as much fun as usual and went by much too quickly. Presently we rolled into Baker City and stopped for gasoline.
The gaggle of riders took a quick break and filled our bikes up with gasoline just at the edge of Baker City. We consulted our google net devices and found that the steak house in Cove did not open until 2 p.m.. We decided to try our olde haunt in Haines. Off we went through town and out the other side.
We rolled into Haines and parked along the curb just prior to the location of the restaurant. G-Man's bike was very tired and decided to lay down to rest. We finally convinced the Road Glide to stay upright and be a good bike.
We sauntered over to the restaurant while Gundy and RipCity took the scenic route circling the area several times before taking the door of their choice into the restaurant. RipCity brought the "Golden Helmet of Mambrino" in with him so the local miscreants would not make off with it.
The server was very nice and helpful and it was a fun meal and time.
Somehow Grim ended up wearing three "cuts" and RipCity's golden helm had transmogrified to a bench outside the restaurant. All were reunited with their garb and noggin covers without much further incident.
We climbed aboard our rides and headed northward toward Powder River, Cove and Elgin. This stretch is fun with a lot of nice curves and it is fun rolling through all the small towns along the route.
After rolling along a ways, Grim found a place next to the river to stretch our legs and get some hydration and treats aboard.
A car pulled in behind us, after a time, and a woman emerged volunteering to take our group picture. We took her up on her offer and was able to get everyone on "film" along with our usual photographer, RipCity.
We rolled on down the road with everyone refreshed and ready for more rolling vistas and adventure. We soon rolled into Enterprise and stopped for some fuel before heading on in to Joseph.
We arrived at the Indian Lodge Motel and checked in. We met the new owner and she was just as nice, in person, as she was on the phone. We checked into our rooms and found a lot of improvements and upgrades to our rooms. Very nice. Some of us went over to the Stubborn Mule to make dinner reservations while others showered and rested.
At the agreed upon time, we all headed over to the Stubborn Mule for dinner. We were able to sit out on the rear patio and it was quite nice. Our server was also the bartender but the service and food was great and it was a very nice time.
In fact, RipCity was so "attached" to the place that a chair stuck to his butt and he was almost forced to take the chair with him. We managed to extricate him from the sitting equipment.
After dinner, we walked down to the little grocery stored and procured our traditional Fat Boy ice cream sandwiches for dessert. We sauntered back to the motel eating our ice cream sandwiches and checked out all the bronze statuary on our return trip. Everyone hit the sack early anxious for the upcoming day of riding.
The following morning we all met at the Cheyenne Cafe for breakfast. Very slow service but the food was good as usual.
We had a safety briefing after arriving back at the motel and summarily exited the waking town prior to the car show people taking over the area.
The weather was warmer than usual and it was a pleasant trip up to the twisting roads that eventually led us to the Hell's Canyon overlook. That stretch of road is always fun although the potholes make for careful travel. Everyone made it in one piece and we rolled in for some leg stretching and photo ops.
We also met and conversed with several groups of people also in attendance at the Overlook. It was a very nice sojourn for our traveling circus.
We reluctantly departed and headed down the mountain towards the dam and reservoir. It is always fun riding down the mountain, over the dale and around the reservoir to the dam and beyond. It was very hot and a much need stop was made at the little store at Halfway.
Grim found a nice spot for everyone to park in the shade. G-Man galloped past everyone and slid to a thundering, sliding stop in front of the store as if his britches were on fire. He vaulted like a gymnast into the store as if he really needed to find the head or the water cooler. We paused to avoid the stampede.
We filled up on water and such while Rowdy paid a king's ransom for the gasoline on site. He might have made it to Cambridge but his gas "gauge" had ceased to function.
We climbed back aboard our bikes and headed up the rolling hills and sweeping curves to Cambridge and on to MidVale for lunch.
We parked at the great cafe there and found our usual table waiting for us. We had a nice little snack as it was too hot to eat very much. The usual light banter was fun and we made sure to take this opportunity to make fun and talk trash about any and all OMC members who were absent from the Run.
Maybe someday we will have all members attend one OMC Run at once.
We head on down the road unimpeded by traffic for quite some time until we came upon a junk truck around Weiser. Unfortunately, we had to follow the line of cars behind the truck all the way into Payette. The driver of the truck had no damns to give about the long line of cars behind him. We finally passed the truck but not until we had turned left onto the little byway that would take us to Sand Hollow.
After we were able to pass the truck, it was smooth and fast sailing all the way to our final group destination at the Chevron west of Middleton.
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| OMC Members |
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| Guests |
The final photo opportunities are taken advantage of and hugs and goodbyes transpired. The final OMC Run of the year was over but hopefully there are many more to come.
White faced RipCity was very forlorn that the OMC riding season is over but knows the Barbecue with the Spouses will cheer him up in the upcoming weeks.
Photos and Video: RipCity
Story and Text: Grim
