The Chief Joseph Rally was such a total blast! Yeah, the weather was iffy. I decided to wear my winter-grade Aerostich Darien jacket rather than the summer-weight BMW rally jacket. Good move, as it turned out.
Thursday, 25-Jun-26: Met Beecher, Officer Bill, and Don at the North Bend McDonalds. We were outta there at 10:00. I led over Snoqualmie Pass (I-90 to Ellensburg, I-82 to Toppenish, south on 97 to gas at Goldendale. We crossed the Columbia River into Oregon and rode twisties to the small town of Maupin, where we stayed at the Imperial River Company. I've been riding in all sorts of conditions in order to "maintain proficiency," but one thing I've been neglecting is fast twisties. Need to get back into the groove.
Friday, 26-Jun-26: No need for a zero-deer-thirty launch, as the planned ride is relatively short - no rush. We rode up Bake Oven Road to Shaniko, then Hwy 18 to Antelope. From there we took Hwy 218 to Fossil, where we had a gas stop. My corner chops were coming back on Hwy 218. It started to rain a bit, so we just took the standard route out of Fossil - Hwy 19 through Spray and Kimberly. The ride through Picture Gorge is always special. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Pi...oASAFQAw%3D%3D. We gassed at Mount Vernon and soon rolled into the rally grounds at the Grant County Fairgrounds in John Day. Got registered, meal tickets, wrist-band, ride pin, etc., then rode the three blocks to the Dreamers Lodge motel. I consider the owner of that place to be a friend - he's a good guy. We had dinner at the rally site, then walked back to the Dreamers, where we sat outside and watched the black clouds roll in. There were a few really close lightning strikes, then a massive downpour. Glad we weren't tent camping!
Saturday, 27-Jun-2026: Mostly we just hung out. Had breakfast at the nearby Outpost Bar & Grill, then walked down to the rally site. The weather was temporarily nice - sun shining through the clouds. Dry pavement. Around noon Beech suggested a ride south out of town to the road to Paulina, then back again. Why not? 395 south through Canyon City. Then the turns get tight and you start going uphill. Up at the top you finally get to the Izzee-Paulina Road. This is a classic example of the perfect Oregon road. It's a nice two-lane, providing access to the local ranches up on the high plateau. You can go really fast, but it's polite to get quasi-legal when you go past the rancher's homes that are close to the road. Don't want to piss 'em off. My RS loved it. My BMW iPhone app shows that we rode 92 miles, I got 34 degree lean angle left, 35 degree right, and hit a max of xxx mph. Fun ride. When we got back to the Dreamers, we saw that Don was working on the rear tire of his R1300GS. Hmm - guess he should'a stayed on the pavement. Yeah, he should'a been riding safely, like us. Beech helped Don apply the tubeless tire plug, while I documented the process. We had dinner at the rally.
SIDE NOTE: Do you have a tubeless tire repair kit? Here's where I get my tire repair stuff: https://bestrestproducts.com/shop/. I've got the tire pump, the inline pressure gauge, and the tubeless plug kit. Only had to use the tubeless repair kit once, but when you need it, it's really good to have it. Sort of like a Colt M1911. Highly recommended.
Sunday, 28-Jun-26: Another casual getaway. It was actually kinda weird. Everybody was ready to go at about 07:30, because that's what we're conditioned to do, but we knew that we really shouldn't leave until 10:00 because of the distance we had to go and the sign-in time at the motel in Prosser. Claude, the eternal Boy Scout, had driven his van all the way up from Arizona to hang out with his fellow Fools, and he had volunteered with the Oregon Beemer guys to help clean up the rally grounds. We finally all got together at the Squeeze-In restaurant and had breakfast. It was good! Claude headed out back to Arizona, and the rest of the Fools rode back toward John Day, then to Mount Vernon, where we gassed at the Chevron. Then we proceeded on what was, in my humble opinion, an amazing ride. Get out your map. Or fire up Google Maps. North on 395 to Long Creek. West on 402 to Hwy 206/207 (little known, but really nice pavement) which we rode through Hardman, and on to Heppner. Mucho twisty. The RS loved it. I just hung on and tried not to blow it. Gassed at a Chevron in Heppner. Chugged a bottle of Gatorade. North on 207 to Lexington, which took us up to I-84. Yuck - freeway. From there we rode past the nerve gas incinerators of Hermiston, to I-82, which we took back into Washington, where we got off on Hwy 21 and rode backroads (Hwys 14 and 221) into Prosser. Checked into the motel, a Best Western Plus. It was OK. They had a pool! I had my swim trunks! I went for the chlorine dip. Swam underwater a bunch. How clean can you get? I was there. We all went to dinner at the tavern, which Beecher had told us has the best burger in the world. Maybe, on a good day. But the day we were there this one dude was running the whole show, and he was really moving, but things were barely in control. We tipped him very well. The burger was good and the price was right, but I still prefer the Five Guys Burger place up in Monroe. Oh well. Back at the motel we sat around outside and talked about all sorts of stuff. We are all getting old. Much of the conversation is about upcoming shoulder replacements, what's the best way to go on cataract eyeball lens replacement, etc. But, one thing that we totally agreed upon was that it was really great to be right here, right now, with our good friends, on a great ride. We are truly f**king lucky to be riding with our good friends. It is totally cool to be a Fool!
Monday, 29-Jun-26: This was more like your typical, old-school HRF launch. We were up at 05:15. Bikes loaded by 06:00. Free breakfast at the Best Western Plus. I had a blueberry bagel with cream cheese and mucho coffee. Plugged in the heated liner on my Aerostich Darien jacket. We were outta there by 06:32. Direct boogie. West on I-82. Still a bit cold, but that thought went away when we bumped the speed a bit. Gassed at the Firing Center Road 76 (used to be a Chevron station), then burned on. Rode over I-82 to I-90. More freeway boogie. No lock-on from the WSP (Washington State Patrol). Got off the freeway at the Preston turnoff and rode home on the local roads, Hwys 202 and 203. Home at 09:30.
Hey man - I gotta tell ya. It is really cool to be a Fool.
Stay tuned for our ride to Pateros on July 7-8.
Seeya
ATB
Thursday, 25-Jun-26: Met Beecher, Officer Bill, and Don at the North Bend McDonalds. We were outta there at 10:00. I led over Snoqualmie Pass (I-90 to Ellensburg, I-82 to Toppenish, south on 97 to gas at Goldendale. We crossed the Columbia River into Oregon and rode twisties to the small town of Maupin, where we stayed at the Imperial River Company. I've been riding in all sorts of conditions in order to "maintain proficiency," but one thing I've been neglecting is fast twisties. Need to get back into the groove.
Friday, 26-Jun-26: No need for a zero-deer-thirty launch, as the planned ride is relatively short - no rush. We rode up Bake Oven Road to Shaniko, then Hwy 18 to Antelope. From there we took Hwy 218 to Fossil, where we had a gas stop. My corner chops were coming back on Hwy 218. It started to rain a bit, so we just took the standard route out of Fossil - Hwy 19 through Spray and Kimberly. The ride through Picture Gorge is always special. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Pi...oASAFQAw%3D%3D. We gassed at Mount Vernon and soon rolled into the rally grounds at the Grant County Fairgrounds in John Day. Got registered, meal tickets, wrist-band, ride pin, etc., then rode the three blocks to the Dreamers Lodge motel. I consider the owner of that place to be a friend - he's a good guy. We had dinner at the rally site, then walked back to the Dreamers, where we sat outside and watched the black clouds roll in. There were a few really close lightning strikes, then a massive downpour. Glad we weren't tent camping!
Saturday, 27-Jun-2026: Mostly we just hung out. Had breakfast at the nearby Outpost Bar & Grill, then walked down to the rally site. The weather was temporarily nice - sun shining through the clouds. Dry pavement. Around noon Beech suggested a ride south out of town to the road to Paulina, then back again. Why not? 395 south through Canyon City. Then the turns get tight and you start going uphill. Up at the top you finally get to the Izzee-Paulina Road. This is a classic example of the perfect Oregon road. It's a nice two-lane, providing access to the local ranches up on the high plateau. You can go really fast, but it's polite to get quasi-legal when you go past the rancher's homes that are close to the road. Don't want to piss 'em off. My RS loved it. My BMW iPhone app shows that we rode 92 miles, I got 34 degree lean angle left, 35 degree right, and hit a max of xxx mph. Fun ride. When we got back to the Dreamers, we saw that Don was working on the rear tire of his R1300GS. Hmm - guess he should'a stayed on the pavement. Yeah, he should'a been riding safely, like us. Beech helped Don apply the tubeless tire plug, while I documented the process. We had dinner at the rally.
SIDE NOTE: Do you have a tubeless tire repair kit? Here's where I get my tire repair stuff: https://bestrestproducts.com/shop/. I've got the tire pump, the inline pressure gauge, and the tubeless plug kit. Only had to use the tubeless repair kit once, but when you need it, it's really good to have it. Sort of like a Colt M1911. Highly recommended.
Sunday, 28-Jun-26: Another casual getaway. It was actually kinda weird. Everybody was ready to go at about 07:30, because that's what we're conditioned to do, but we knew that we really shouldn't leave until 10:00 because of the distance we had to go and the sign-in time at the motel in Prosser. Claude, the eternal Boy Scout, had driven his van all the way up from Arizona to hang out with his fellow Fools, and he had volunteered with the Oregon Beemer guys to help clean up the rally grounds. We finally all got together at the Squeeze-In restaurant and had breakfast. It was good! Claude headed out back to Arizona, and the rest of the Fools rode back toward John Day, then to Mount Vernon, where we gassed at the Chevron. Then we proceeded on what was, in my humble opinion, an amazing ride. Get out your map. Or fire up Google Maps. North on 395 to Long Creek. West on 402 to Hwy 206/207 (little known, but really nice pavement) which we rode through Hardman, and on to Heppner. Mucho twisty. The RS loved it. I just hung on and tried not to blow it. Gassed at a Chevron in Heppner. Chugged a bottle of Gatorade. North on 207 to Lexington, which took us up to I-84. Yuck - freeway. From there we rode past the nerve gas incinerators of Hermiston, to I-82, which we took back into Washington, where we got off on Hwy 21 and rode backroads (Hwys 14 and 221) into Prosser. Checked into the motel, a Best Western Plus. It was OK. They had a pool! I had my swim trunks! I went for the chlorine dip. Swam underwater a bunch. How clean can you get? I was there. We all went to dinner at the tavern, which Beecher had told us has the best burger in the world. Maybe, on a good day. But the day we were there this one dude was running the whole show, and he was really moving, but things were barely in control. We tipped him very well. The burger was good and the price was right, but I still prefer the Five Guys Burger place up in Monroe. Oh well. Back at the motel we sat around outside and talked about all sorts of stuff. We are all getting old. Much of the conversation is about upcoming shoulder replacements, what's the best way to go on cataract eyeball lens replacement, etc. But, one thing that we totally agreed upon was that it was really great to be right here, right now, with our good friends, on a great ride. We are truly f**king lucky to be riding with our good friends. It is totally cool to be a Fool!
Monday, 29-Jun-26: This was more like your typical, old-school HRF launch. We were up at 05:15. Bikes loaded by 06:00. Free breakfast at the Best Western Plus. I had a blueberry bagel with cream cheese and mucho coffee. Plugged in the heated liner on my Aerostich Darien jacket. We were outta there by 06:32. Direct boogie. West on I-82. Still a bit cold, but that thought went away when we bumped the speed a bit. Gassed at the Firing Center Road 76 (used to be a Chevron station), then burned on. Rode over I-82 to I-90. More freeway boogie. No lock-on from the WSP (Washington State Patrol). Got off the freeway at the Preston turnoff and rode home on the local roads, Hwys 202 and 203. Home at 09:30.
Hey man - I gotta tell ya. It is really cool to be a Fool.
Stay tuned for our ride to Pateros on July 7-8.
Seeya
ATB