June 12th, 2026
Oroville, Washington
Woke at 7am again, showered and then worked on various
things. My laundry was not dry, but
close, so left them hanging (I had rigged up a clothes line in bathroom and
left window open all night) and put a few out in front of the AC unit and some
in the front window which was getting good sunlight.
Sorted rest of the gear and then figured out the route
again, as it seems I get different routes at different times.
I liked the new route this morning, so decided to take it.
Once I had 1 pair of everything dry enough, I dressed and
then packed up what I could other than damp clothes. Started to load the bike, and eventually had
to put the clothes in, though they were just lightly damp, so hoping they will
be okay in the bags all day.
Finished loading the bike and checked out of the room, then
rode across the road to get fuel, but the stations network was down, so was
cash only, too much hassle and I still had at least half a tank, so will just
get it later.
Rode out onto the road and pulled over to side to start the
GPS plot and make sure rest of gear was turned on (I usually do this after the
gas pump, but did not get gas).
Turned a few blocks down onto a secondary highway which
quickly left town and meandered through the Oregon countryside, mostly fields
and a few vineyards.
I stopped along the way to get some photos of the rolling
grasslands and play with the DJI mic again which I had tested the night before
and got working, only now I had the issue that the only place inside the helmet
to mount it makes it impossible to reach in with gloves on and turn it on. A bit annoyed at this, will need to research
later. I could just leave it on, but
then would record hours of wind noise…and I would need to sort through all that
to find my dialogues.
Finally reached the Washington border, actually riding along a road called Stateline Road, but then turned north and started moving across Washington. Mostly was a northbound route with a few zigs and zags along the way both east and west.
Reached the town of Pasco which I had routed too to stop at
the Loves Truck stop. I know they are
good places to stop, usually with restaurants, nice restrooms and anything I
could want to buy. I actually signed up
with the company’s app as I get 10 cents a gallon off gas with that. Too bad that was the last Love’s I will see
till I return to the US later this summer (do not believe they are in Alaska).
While I was fueling the bike, the gentlemen in the car at
the next pump commented on the bike and asked a few questions, and then we
discussed my plans and route. After a
few minutes he asked if he could give me a little thing to take on the trip, a
small plastic figure of Jesus, which I agreed he could. I gave him my social media card and he left.
Once fueled, I moved bike and went inside the Arby’s to have
lunch (later start today on purpose), and work on my tech issues.
After eating, I sat and messed with that mic more, but never
did find a solution, however, I did figure out how to use the Cardo com system
on the helmet to record voice to my phone.
It requires me to start the action using the app on the phone though,
and my riding gloves just do not work well with the phone, even with the
touchscreen patch on the fingertip.
I decided to cut away that patch and expose a small section
of the finger to use the phone screen while riding, way too many times when
something happens and the GPS closes or I bump something with the glove and it
actually works, but then cannot fix it without stopping.
That trick seems to work, the hole is small enough to not
expose the finger fully, but I can get just enough contact to use the screen nearly
all the time to change back and forth between apps and use the voice mode. Not great, but workaround till I can solve
the other method.
Finally got back on the bike and routed to the hotel I
booked last night, this destination was close enough and was not going to cross
border today, so figured I could safely book ahead.
The highway ran north for a bit, very heavy traffic, but
then I turned off onto smaller highway that was only 2 lanes, and much lighter
traffic.
This route winds across the open plains, mostly grazing or
crop land, and the winds were intense.
Blowing me all over the road and times, and worse when a big truck would
pass in the opposite direction.
Eventually the road did dip down into a river canyon and
that was a nice ride. I stopped for a
few photos at a pull out, but then got in behind some slow-moving camper and
cars, and as seems to be the issue in this area, no one has the skills to pass
someone!
I was able to get around two cars as they were slower than camper, then in turn got around another car and finally the camper.
But after several miles, we climbed back onto the higher
plains and the winds were even worse here.
This went on for quite a while, but then we started to get
into more hilly terrain, and while winds did not stop, they seemed to calm down
some.
I was starting to get concerned on fuel though, I had passed
a fuel station, figuring I had enough to get on, but the winds really used up
the range. I finally stopped at some
small, run down station in some little town and fueled up. Prices are just getting worse as I head
north. Things were low $4 range in Arizona;
now regular fuel is low $5 range.
A bit later I went to stop at another fuel station to use
the restroom, only to see 2 full busses of what appeared to be farm workers
getting off and going inside. Figured
that would tie up restrooms and the cashier for a while, so turned around.
I had just passed a view point overlooking the nearby dam,
and it had a restroom there, so back tracked the ½ mile to reach it. Nice views, out of the way and no one else
around.
Used the restroom then spent 15 minutes taking photos and just walking around to stretch legs and give me and the bike a rest.
But had to get moving, was already 30 minutes behind my original schedule, so back on the road and heading north again.
Lots of wind, lots of fields and vineyards (and a strange
cluster of satellite dishes on a hill) and we finally rolled into Oroville, WA.
I will stay the night here and the Camaray Motel. Bit higher cost, but about the only place to
stay this close to the Canada border.
It’s an old place, but looked good online and when I arrived, I was
pleased with it. Views are not too bad either.
Sadly, they only had rooms on the 2nd level, but as luck would have it, I was able to park right next to the stairs going up, so made the bike unload task bit less strenuous. It takes about 4 trips to get all the bags off the bike and then a last trip to secure and cover the bike.
Once done, I took a shower, though not a very long one. Was just about done rinsing when the water
went from mildly warm to ice cold in a heartbeat. Never seen a hot water system vanish so
quickly (though have done many cold showers in countries where hot water is not
normally available.)
I then sorted a few things, checked some stuff on the phone,
plugged my helmet com into the charger and then walked over to the pizza place
across the road.
Had a pizza and drink while I moved all the footage off the
phone and camera. I was going to type
this up there, but food came quickly while I was doing some research on the
phone, and I just ate while doing that, so decided to return to the room to
type this up.
Once done, I walked a block down the road to the convenience
store to buy something to drink tonight and get more water for the hydration
pack.
Once back in the room I put a few more things on chargers
and filled up the pack. It was not as
low as I thought, so like my Nevada stop, I bought a 1-gallon jug of water, but
only used half of it to fill the bag. I
have a 1-liter bottle I am also filling with water to bring along as a backup,
though seems I am not drinking as much as I thought I was.
I will leave the rest of it around to drink if need,
otherwise will pour down the drain when I leave tomorrow.
I am now done typing this day’s events and it is only
8:00pm. I will be leaving a bit later
again tomorrow as I only have a 4-hour ride to my next stop, though not sure
how long the border crossing will take, though not expecting any massive
delays.
I am going to try to complete a video tonight, so hopefully
you will see it online later tonight as well.
I will also be taking a day off after tomorrow, so can work
on videos then as well.
Catch ya down the road.
Chris
Todays Route:
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