Wow, where did I leave off? Oh, yes, we had been windblown off the Columbia Gorge and took refuge in White Salmon, Washington. We had a very nice relaxing time at the White Salmon Inn with a killer breakfast the next day. We had a frittata and about 70 different pastries and cheesecakes to choose from. Too bad we couldn't try them all. Around 11am, our friend Kathy rode her bike from Portland to escort us over the bridge and went on  a ride with us. The bridge was just a little nerve-wracking, but the wind had died down considerably. I told Monica, "Look at the river now because it's the last time you'll see it from here again!" She peeked over my shoulder. "Yes, that's very nice. I never want to come here on the bike again!"

Mt Hood
Kathy led us up toward Mt Hood where the temperature dropped little by little. Well, not so little. By the time we reached the top and stopped for lunch at 6000 feet at Timberline Lodge it was in the low 40's, which is nippy on a bike. Monica continued to remind me that it was 15 degrees colder for her, which put her in the freezing range, but I reminded her that she was 15 degrees cooler when we went through the 102 degrees in British Columbia. She's arguing with me now about that point.

Timberline Lodge
Anyway, we had a nice lunch at the lodge with Kathy and then she led us into Portland where she and Susan welcomed us into their home with their canine buds, Jessie and Mattie. Mattie, I am quite sure, is the cutest dog on the face of the earth, barnone.

We had a good time with her. Kathy and Susan made us  a nice homecooked meal.

The following day, Kathy had to work and she let us take her car into town to explore Portland. The first thing we did was go to the Wingman to get an oil change. Kathy had set us up an appointment with her mechanic who referred us to the team at Wingman. What a great group of people. We had a great time talking to them and they showed us all the toys we could get for our motorcycle. I broke down and bought a face mask so that it wouldn't rain on our trip anymore. As we were leaving, John, the owner, came out and invited us to join their GWRRA group for breakfast in the morning. Since Kathy and Susan were having a yard sale on Saturday morning, we thought it would be a great opportunity.

Afterward, we went back and got Kathy's car and Monica drove to give me a break from behind the wheel. We had a good time exploring the neighborhoods and visiting the Rose Garden.

Monica poses with the roses

Monica's favorite rose

Monica loved the Alphabet district with all its cool shops and coffeehouses and lots of trees. Growing up in LA, Monica wasn't used to trees. The strangest thing is that as Monica was on her way to the post office to mail home a pair of pants she purchased when a car pulled up right in front of her and a guy stepped out of the car that she recognized. It turned out to be Don, a guy we met on the Green Tortoise trip to the Yucatan last March. He is the only person we knew from Portland and all of a sudden he appears in front of Monica. Even stranger was that he said he never parks there. Talk about Synchronicity.

Portlander humor

On the way back to Kathy's we got incredibly lost. We wandered back and forth over the river 800 times until I was so carsick that Monica had to pull over so I could barf into the dumpster. It was the highlight of my trip. Finally, we called Susan who told us to stay put and she'd come and rescue us.

On Saturday, we joined the GWRRA group for breakfast. They have a huge, active group and we had a lot of fun meeting new people and seeing other people's bikes. We met a guy named Larry who had a platform on the front of his handlebars to hold his Dachshund, Oscar, as he rode his motorcycle. We were amazed at how Oscar could hold on and not fall off the bike. After breakfast we explored Portland's Hawthorne district and then met Kathy and Susan for dinner. They took us to a really cool place called McMenamin's, which was the old poor farm turned into a brewery/winery. We had a great time in Portland and really want to thank Kathy and Susan for their hospitality and generosity.