On Friday evening (July 25),our friends Peter and Frances Galea, arrived at our house in Olympia, Washington, USA. They rode from Vancouver, British Columbia; normally about 4 hours ride from Olympia (on a very good day). The ride took them almost 7 hours due to a series of unfortunate circumstances.
They have a special pass for crossing the border from Canada to the USA called a Nexus Pass. These are quite hard to get, but if you have one, it allows you to go thru a special border crossing lane. Normally it is very fast compared to the non-Nexus border crossers. However, on this day, they were doing a routine 'extra' security day, which meant EVERYONE had to be searched, including them on their bikes. The result was an hour long period of lost time sitting at the border.
Then; as is always the case, Friday afternoon traffic on Interstate Highway 5 was having serious problems. The backup of traffic began at Everett, Washington and lasted until almost Olympia. So the 3 hour ride from the border turned to about 6 hours.
When they finally arrive just past 5 PM on Friday, they were exhausted and very frustrated from sitting still for so long.
We helped them relax Friday night by sharing some Pisco (one of the biggest drinks of South America, a kind of wine like drink).
Luckily, the ride on Saturday from Olympia down that same I-5 to Salem, Oregon, was smooth all the way. Once you head south from Olympia, I-5 goes thru country all the way to Portland. Once you get thru Portland,Oregon, it is country again until Salem. So, a nice ride even on a major highway.
We had a wonderful ride and found our hotel near Dave's Farm in Dallas, Oregon without too much trouble. Well, yes, we did actually have to ask somebody where it was, once we got to Dallas...but hey, we did ask after a few misguided attempts at using our built in male compass (which failed again).
They were having the annual summer festival in Dallas, Oregon, so we got to see a little extra local color also.
We stayed at the Best Western in Dallas (the only hotel actually in Dallas). It was very nice. The managers there were some of the nicest folks I have ever met as manager's of a hotel that I stayed in. They were also very curious to learn about our bikes, and I spent 30 minutes with them explaining mine and talking bikes.
They had just moved to Salem from the midwest; transferring from another hotel to run this one. The couple was originally from India, and the gentleman had owned a Royal Enfield back home. They were both thinking that they should be getting a bike after they got used to their new surroundings, and got their new jobs under control.
Anyway; after we checked into the hotel, we drove over to Dave's Farm to visit. Peter, Fran, and I had stopped by there for about an hour as we drove south to Las Vegas back in June on another trip.
This time I had my wife Joyce along, as I really wanted her to see the place.
Dave moved there just a few months earlier, and it is the perfect place to relax. A small farm out in the country; with big farms, and several wineries within the immediate vicinity of his place. It's a nice quite area with beautiful rolling hills type scenery. I glad Joyce got to see this place.
So...Dave was his usual wonderful host, and we got to meet his son's lady and her daughter Katie. We took Katie to dinner with us (she rode with Dave in his pickup truck). Katie is just turned 4 years old, and is quite smart. She conducted a very adult conversation with all of us at dinner in Dallas, Oregon, at Murphy's Grill (another good find in Dallas).
After a very mellow visit to his farm, we went back to our hotel to get off the bikes before dark. Dave took Katie back home to her mommy about 8 PM, then came back and joined us as we walked over the closest bar, and had a couple of beers to end the night. A couple of hours sitting around the firepit/counter with a steady flow of beer and food was a great way for old friends to catch up and share some thoughts.
I highly recommend the Best Western in Dallas, OR. as a great place to stay while on a ride in west/central Oregon.
The bar where we had our drink and sat at the firepit is called North Dallas Bar and Grill (or something similar), that is literally across two parking lots from the hotel. So, after parking your bike for the night, you can walk the 1 1/2 blks to it, and avoid driving at night, or after you've had a drink, for those who do that. (we did).
Both of our rooms had a jacuzzi tub. I forgot to ask if all rooms had them.
The next morning, Sunday, we rode out to Dave's again to see some of his crops in the daylight and share a bit more catching up conversation. After an hour of that, we jumped on the bikes and headed north back toward Olympia.
Our route from Salem/Dallas, was up old Hwy 99 North from Dallas; eventually traveling thru the heart of Oregon's Wine Country in Newberg, Oregon. This was a great backroad ride, and there was constantly something pretty to look at as you drove by.
After Newberg, it gets a little tense as you get into the heart of Portland, Oregon, and all the Sunday traffic. We skirted around the west side of downtown using Hwy 217 and the Hwy 26. We connected from Hwy 26 onto Hwy I 405 in downtown Portland and snuck around the edge of Portland and then onto Hwy 30 (from Portland to Astoria, OR). We rode along Hwy 30 as it goes next to the Columbia river for about 60 miles to Longview, Washington. There is a bridge to cross back into Washington State at Longview.
There is a wonderful stopping point at Sauvie Island, about 15 miles up Hwy 30 from downtown Portland. Sauvie Island is an island in the Columbia River. It's quite large, but very country.
There's a huge bird sanctuary there, and some amazing sandy beach that goes for miles along the river at that point, making a great place to get your feet wet.
We didn't have time to ride out there, but we did stop at one of the Island's fresh fruit stands. We each bought a 'Rich Lady' peach (that's the brand of the peach). They were totally amazing.....wow....a peach at its perfect point of ripeness is hard to beat!
After crossing the bridge to cross over to Washington and Longview, we decided to stop and fill up our tanks and our stomachs with some coffee and pie/ice cream at a little road side diner attached to a Chevron Gas Station. Ummmmmm.....hot berry pie with vanilla ice cream on top.....yummmmmm!!!
Finally the end of our ride. You connect to I-5 at Longview, and it's quite busy on a Sunday afternoon. The traffic will always be heavy on this route, which connects all the major west coast cities (or passes nearby to them), from Mexico to Canada.
We got lucky, and just stayed in the fast lane the entire way.....choosing to flow with the traffic at whatever speed the lane was going. (turned out to be 85 mph most of the way).
We arrived back in Olympia at about 5 PM, it was good to get off the highway (1 hour of very stressful riding in heavy traffic at 85 MPH). The exit we take to our house goes off the highway and into the area of Tumwater Falls Park, and progresses down next to Capital Lake, in the heart of Olympia. It was so mellow driving by the Falls and around the Lake....sort of set the tone for relaxing when we arrived home.
So....there it is.....The Ride to Salem and Dave's Farm! It was a great ride, a great visit, and now we're back home. Peter and Fran still have to travel back to Vancouver today (Monday) from Olympia. The plan is for them to leave Olympia between 9 AM and 10 AM.. Normally if you head north at that time, you'll miss the rush hour, and the midday Seattle traffic. At times, if you are lucky, you might actually be able to go from Olympia to Vancouver without stopping.....although in the heavy populated Puget Sound area, it is rare to have no slow downs or stops as you travel that route.
So....I'll wish them safe riding, and hope that the road is kind to them today.
They called at 3:30 PM and reported that the ride home was smooth and easy and with no unnecessary stops along the way.
That's the end of my 'Ride to Dave's Farm' story.
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