I had planned to sleep in today, but nature called and I needed to use the facilities. I guess I'm up at 5:30 am again today. Turned out to be a good thing because Bob's BMW crew, saying goodbye to Nancy Foote and Walt Fulton of Streetmasters Motorcycle Workshop, saying goodbye to Scott and the Canadians, running to Walgreen's for Jonny, and lastly, getting gas. Whew! I finally got out of there around 11:30. I wasn't feeling all that well, so I took it easy through the windy roads of Oregon. My route was 97 N, 293 E, 218 E, 19 N, 84 E, 730 E, 12 E to Walla Walla, Washington.

It really was beautiful throughout. 293 and 218 were especially fun with some twists and turns. 84 is scenic along the Hood River. On 730, I crossed in to Washington and began to follow the Columbia River. Walla Walla is a nice tourist town with many wineries. The best hotel rate was at La Quinta. A nice place with all of the necessary amenities.

Total Miles = 442

We had a lovely brunch at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. Sandra and I parted ways with Jonny at this point. Jonny was riding north to participate in an Iron Butt. Sandra and I were heading west to towards Oregon.

As we left Yellowstone Park, we saw more bison and beautiful sites. As you mayhave heard, there is a lot of construction going on in Yellowstone. We waited for 30 minutes at one point due to a lane closure. We met two very nice couples from North Dakota on Harleys. It takes a while to get out of Yellowstone. Yes, there is traffic and construction, but I found the stay there completely worth it. I only got to see a small portion of what the park has to offer but the sights I did get the chance to see were truly amazing.

Our plan was to continue on Hwy 20. This took us through Montana briefly and then into Idaho. We missed an exit for Hwy 20 and had to re-route northwest for a bit. On this road and when we returned to Hwy 20, we encountered very high winds. At least 50-60 mph. It was scary and I was so tense!

I'm pointing to the place on the map where we rode through 50-60 mph winds. Because we were riding through desert, there was nowhere to stop. We tried stopping once, but just got blown around more. So we carried on until we reached the town of Unity. After resting and getting our nerves under control, we carried on. There were winds but they felt like baby's breath compared to what we had just been through. The rest of the ride was quite nice. We rode through the Idaho National Forest, by the Magic Reservoir and saw lava rocks along the way. I didn't know what they were then and I was puzzled by the sight of them. Our stay for the night was in a Comfort Inn in Boise. Ron, the manager, gave us a good rate. Thanks, Ron! We met some other fellow BMW riders, who were on their way to the motorcycle rally as well.