The
two day journey home literally paved the way for even more Oregon beauty. Highway
7 out of Baker City weaved through initial desert into the similar mountain and
prairie blend of a few days earlier. A short ride on previously traveled Hwy 26
brought me to 395 South and up to the Summit and 'Starr' campground. As the
first two evenings, I enjoyed the site all to myself.
At
dawn I broke camp, headed a couple miles further on 395 before turning west
unto the longest 'Lane' that I've traveled on called 'Paulina-Izee'. I never
saw any remnant for Izee and Paulina was pretty tiny for sure. All morning my taste
buds were calling out for a good three egg omelet. But arriving upon 'Post'
known as the 'Center of Oregon' and having a sign stating 'meatloaf sandwiches',
I quickly caved. The right choice it was.
Beauty along Paulina-Izee Lane
Fueling
up the Yamaha one last time with 265 on the odometer, for a nice 56 miles per
gallon. Then a short ride over to a favorite, the 'Sisters Coffee Company'.
Asked if I could join an 80 year old gentleman by the name of Larry. His story
of both a 40 year history of logging and being a circuit musician out of his
trailer was quite fascinating. Within a few minutes a friend of his named Ed
joined us in conversation. Ed, a retired LA Police Officer who later worked for
a few years as a 'Peace Officer' for Hollywood movie sets. He said, "What
a deal". They paid for him to fix his Suzuki to look like a Police bike
and would block intersections while filming was under way. "Essentially
they paid me to ride my motorcycle at about 3 times the rate I was making for
the city and was 'stress free',"
With
a couple rumbles of the Cobra pipes I was off unto the final stretch with one
last stop into a friend’s new abode in Lyons. What a journey it was, coming in
at just under 1800 miles total riding around this great state of Oregon. Nice
highways that took me through some gorgeous and diverse scenery, collecting 15
of our ABCity towns, all the while connecting with many new lives and their
stories. Now home and ready to plan the next travels on the bike. But wait! It's
already set...Yellowstone, Rushmore and Glacier National Parks in August. Here
we come :)
How can
you beat spectacular? When you think that you've seen the most beautiful area
of this state of Oregon, you're struck by 'Lower Cove Road' and 'Highway 204'.
The first one especially had me thinking,"I could live here!". And once again I was reminded of a
desire to have a 'GoPro' or something similar in order to capture the sites
along the way.
Unable
to find 'Union Junction', I came upon 'Union Station' in the same vicinity. Hey
Curt, does this count? It appears to be an OSU Agricultural Extension. From
here less than a mile into my final ABCity town of this ride, that of 'Union'.
I was able to find another mural (not as defined as many, but) that told some
history about the area of Catherine Creek.
The
day concluded meeting up with friends in Farewell Bend State Park along the
Snake River. A lovely site indeed along this giant of a river. Good
conversation, stories and dinner before heading of to my 'Passage 2' tent, safe
from what I'm sure are 'Idaho mosquitoes' :), for a nights sleep under a
spectacular view into the heavenly stars above. Oh thank you Creator God!
Happy
Father's Day to all you dads, self included. A quiet day for riding as I went
about 70 miles into Lake Wallowa. I was able to set up camp before the 'light'...here's
for hopefully staying light, rain. So light that in three hours the road is yet
mainly dry. A test for the REI Passage 2, I'd rather not, thank you very much
:) Opps, no more mainly dry road...
In my REI Passge 2...Comfortable!
As I
write from within my tent, sitting on my 'Alite Monarch' chair (perfect for my
two-man tent) I am reminded of days of yore when camping with young ones. One
cries across the road in his trailer, then a young family just arrived in the
site next to me with two little girls. They call to dad to play, mom says "go
play in the playground", husband says to wife to hold the tent high, to which
she replies, "But I'm not tall enough". "Oh yes you are".
"No I'm not!" All in conversation, no real arguing. And I chuckle to
myself. I even offered help, but they politely said no thank you. It's just
refreshing to hear conversation and not yelling. Again, all of this while it
continues to mist. And I considered heading out upon viewing the potential 'rain
clouds'. Then, I would have missed all of this.
Anyway,
back to the ride. A stop in Enterprise along the way to attend church service.
'Enterprise Community Church', let's give it a try. It ended up being a United
Church of Christ. Perhaps a name in attempt to draw the community.
Unfortunately it does not appear to be working. Many would perhaps wonder why
and how they're still open, though the world around displays a multitude of
expressions of the body of Christ. The message, the power of God demonstrated
through Jesus walking on the water; the music, hymns; the fellowship and the heart
of this 'community' for Christ is evident. Maybe one or two just under 50, but
the average is likely 70 plus. A congregation that will likely struggle to
exist in 10 to 15 years, but for now, it is a place of solace, a place that is
familiar for 30 to 40 brothers and sisters in Christ. So exist they should and
will.
Prior
to arriving at the camp I made a stop at Joseph for a couple ABCity photos. A
nicely manicured town that surely caters to the tourist. 'If you build it they
will come', and they do. The lake and surrounding area, absolutely beautiful!
So there
it is, the fourth entry of this ride. Tomorrow, Union and perhaps Union
Junction, if it still exist. I believe that will conclude the ABCity part of
this ride. Afterwards over to 'Farewell Bend' for a night or two to meet with
friends. Well, it's 7:30, I've already been in the tent for an hour, having had
dinner and a shower. The rain has stopped, I hope for good, but I'm ready
whatever may come.
I look in the mirror and think...who is that guy? One of my
stops through Mexico last winter was at Lake Chapala in order to spread my dad's
ashes. It was his last and most desired home. Anyway, while searching for his
old friends I came upon JR. This was my third time meeting JR and being true to form to the
previous two he was fairly inebriated. I say this because it took a few moments
for him to make the connection of who I was and his response once he remembered
was just so...very special..."Man you're old!" I'm pretty thick skinned, so it
didn't effect me, but...he really didn't need to repeat this couple more times. Each
time was spoken with quite the surprise of just how old I looked.
What happen to the cute kid :)
I guess the fact is...I am old! My birth certificate and drivers license both agree
with me. And the fact that I'm being offered 'Senior Discounts' at a greater frequency brings it that much closer to reality. Though this is my 'Heinz' year, that is 'Heinz
57', when I recall what my grandparents looked like at my age or even a decade
younger, I remember some pretty 'old' people, and they were. They were older partly
because their life was harder, for a number of reasons, but also because they
(and most of their generation) did not quite have the attitude for diet and maintaining
physical conditioning. The fact is that they, in all accounts...were older. Yet regardless,
this body still finds itself aging no matter how many attempts that I make to
slow the process.
USAF Airman Williams
Look at Mr. Jack LaLanne for example, who opened the nation’s
first fitness club in 1936 and is considered the "The Godfather of
Fitness", he too died at the age of 96 in 2011. They say he died of
pneumonia, but the fact is, he was just 'old'. The difference though is found in one
of his quotes, "Dying is easy. Living is a pain in the butt. It's like an
athletic event. You've got to train for it. You've got to eat right. You've got
to exercise."
PAF& R EMT 2 Williams
What does all this have to do the title, "This
Body...Not What it Once Was"? We've been planning for quite some time a
trip with some good friends of ours for a 2 1/2 week journey on our
motorcycles. Because of an exacerbation of an ongoing illness, they will no
longer be able to make the ride. Both couples are equally disappointed, but I
tried to assure them that this could have resulted from either one of us. Sure,
young or old all have injury and illness, but the fact is that the curve just
so exponentially climbs as we age.
Retirement Pic...
I find myself often getting up from a sitting position much
slower these days. And pains...shoulders, knees, feet, thumbs, cramps...ok, let's stop there.
You get the point. This body truly is NOT what it once was. I often hear, "Rick you're in such good shape". To a degree that's true. The only problem is that they see the signs, not the symptoms. That is, they see the active part, the external shell. They don't often see me getting out of a chair...Oh, not a pretty sight...and are not able to feel the pain that results simply from standing. Yet, viewing the
result of every other living creature before me...they ALL have experienced the same...they have pain, become old and died.
Morbid you say! Perhaps so. But Jack is right, "Living IS a pain in the
butt"! I just hope that it is a pain that is always worth the living for.
Keeping with my tradition of adding a song in my blog here's the perfect one for 'This Body...Not What it Once Was...
Paul says some remarkable words that
enhance what I was attempting to say in this blog…that is: II Corinthians 4:16 “We
do not lose heart. Though our outward man is decaying, but the inward man is
being renewed day by day.” And in the
next chapter he says, "For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we
have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation
which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found
naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want
to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by
life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given
us the Spirit as a guarantee."
Paul suffered affliction to the point where he said, "death is working in
us," yet he did not lose heart - because he knew something -->
"...if our earthy house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from
God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." Good stuff to
chew on indeed :)
With
a couple rumbles of the Cobra pipes I was off unto the final stretch with one
last stop into a friend’s new abode in Lyons. What a journey it was, coming in
at just under 1800 miles total riding around this great state of Oregon. Nice
highways that took me through some gorgeous and diverse scenery, collecting 15
of our ABCity towns, all the while connecting with many new lives and their
stories. Now home and ready to plan the next travels on the bike. But wait! It's
already set...Yellowstone, Rushmore and Glacier National Parks in August. Here
we come :)
