What I Did On My Summer Vacation
- Thread starter Tony D.
- Start date
Tony D.
Beta Tester
You missed truly stunning opportunity @PBKrarup
I hike at elevation, so I know how quickly things can change. Saturday was something else altogether.
Approaching 70 degrees at 2 PM on the beach, wind kicks up, northern clouds obscuring the horizon so we left the sand. An hour later temps plummeted to the 30s, hail, sleet, snow, 30 MPH gusts at 7000' (lake level).
By 5 PM the Truckee music festival kicked off only an hour late to clear skies and 50 degree temps.
Those 9000' peaks in the pic got a dusting of snow that June day.
It can be obscenely expensive and the politics are batshit but the humas are true, the roads are unspeakably great so I remain immensely grateful to live here.
I hike at elevation, so I know how quickly things can change. Saturday was something else altogether.
Approaching 70 degrees at 2 PM on the beach, wind kicks up, northern clouds obscuring the horizon so we left the sand. An hour later temps plummeted to the 30s, hail, sleet, snow, 30 MPH gusts at 7000' (lake level).
By 5 PM the Truckee music festival kicked off only an hour late to clear skies and 50 degree temps.
Those 9000' peaks in the pic got a dusting of snow that June day.
It can be obscenely expensive and the politics are batshit but the humas are true, the roads are unspeakably great so I remain immensely grateful to live here.
PBKrarup
Active member
My day was completely unlike yours. 
I ran the bike 142 miles down to Madera on Rt 99, had lunch at Perko's Cafe - 1825 Cleveland Ave, Madera, CA 93637 - (California burger and vanilla shake made with Dreyers), then visited Quady winery where I picked up a few bottles of vino. Temps hit 95F and I regretted not having my chill vest on. Speeds didn't exceed 95 and a bozo rammed his Toyota sportscar into the northbound Altamont Pass median, necessitating a traffic break for 45 minutes.
Total miles ~ 290.
News reports say that gas in CA may hit $8/gallon because of refinery closures.
Yeah, a typical California day.
I ran the bike 142 miles down to Madera on Rt 99, had lunch at Perko's Cafe - 1825 Cleveland Ave, Madera, CA 93637 - (California burger and vanilla shake made with Dreyers), then visited Quady winery where I picked up a few bottles of vino. Temps hit 95F and I regretted not having my chill vest on. Speeds didn't exceed 95 and a bozo rammed his Toyota sportscar into the northbound Altamont Pass median, necessitating a traffic break for 45 minutes.
Total miles ~ 290.
News reports say that gas in CA may hit $8/gallon because of refinery closures.
Yeah, a typical California day.
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Tony D.
Beta Tester
tru... Typical California day.
Day 2 (if the bike doesn't move, it's not a vacation day)
Late start so 444 easy miles, Reno to Lassen to Shasta along the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway which continues into Oregon.
Saw hundreds of miles of wildfire damage from years past, and one fresh coil of smoke off I5.
Last time I was up this way I was amazed by the endless miles of pristine, pothole free, perfectly paved roads in Lassen and Plumas County. It a small thing but the tarmac is made for motorcycles here. Cross a county line and the difference is like getting slapped in the face with a salmon.
Continuing through Klamath Falls, I had made good time so spent a couple hours on the rim if Crater Lake. If you have not, add this one to the list. It's something special that my vocabulary fails to adequately describe.
Tomorrow, northish...
Tony D.
Beta Tester
I hear ya @Paul, I'm soaking up 75 degree days coming up, know it'll be mid 90s on the way home, and this is just a week :/
Day 3: Lazy.
Kept Mt. Washington, Mt. Bachelor, The Sisters & Mt. Jefferson on my left as I headed north. High plains desert on my right, the backside of the Cascades and tall trees on my left, all day.
Found a scary AF road down to a "Lake Simtustus" outside Madras. Just a few miles but I had brake fade in the rear by the time I hit bottom. IF I were a better rider this would not have happened.
Mt Hood is still a delight, as is the Overlook Hotel (Timberline Lodge if you want to be accurate). I mean it sincerely, when you visit, wander the hotel for an hour, look at all the beauty the WPA craftsmen brought to the world.
I noticed an odd thing on the way up to Timberline and for the first 20 miles coming down to the Columbia River. There were a number of 50 mph sweepers that feel like a flow track. They were so long, so smooth, I had time (felt like 30 seconds each) to pick a line, settle in, then play with peg pressure, body position, bar pressure and so on.
Again, and again, and again.
Zero traffic, it was a delightful and beautiful 30 minutes.
Oh and there was a trailer back there someplace, doing it's job, but I quite forgot about it for a tank or two.
Day 3: Lazy.
Kept Mt. Washington, Mt. Bachelor, The Sisters & Mt. Jefferson on my left as I headed north. High plains desert on my right, the backside of the Cascades and tall trees on my left, all day.
Found a scary AF road down to a "Lake Simtustus" outside Madras. Just a few miles but I had brake fade in the rear by the time I hit bottom. IF I were a better rider this would not have happened.
Mt Hood is still a delight, as is the Overlook Hotel (Timberline Lodge if you want to be accurate). I mean it sincerely, when you visit, wander the hotel for an hour, look at all the beauty the WPA craftsmen brought to the world.
I noticed an odd thing on the way up to Timberline and for the first 20 miles coming down to the Columbia River. There were a number of 50 mph sweepers that feel like a flow track. They were so long, so smooth, I had time (felt like 30 seconds each) to pick a line, settle in, then play with peg pressure, body position, bar pressure and so on.
Again, and again, and again.
Zero traffic, it was a delightful and beautiful 30 minutes.
Oh and there was a trailer back there someplace, doing it's job, but I quite forgot about it for a tank or two.
Tony D.
Beta Tester
You're missed Paul.
Peter, not so much <ROTFLMAO>
Tony D.
Beta Tester
Home.
Good rally met a bunch of good folk, including Mike & Rod Clark.
I lost my camp chair somehow (I swear I was almost sober too). Had some good rides, worked on the dirt skillset, got some odd looks dragging the trailer up some nasty rutted roads, but it was fun and my patented roll-like-a-ninja unintentional dismount proved that I remain, the luckiest SOB you'll ever meet to tested a Helite vest.
Weather was perfect and I even picked up a medkit I've wanted for some time. Riding the same 10 miles dirt loop on several diff demo bikes, then taking my big Tenere on the same route confirmed my Yamaha bias but showed some potential competition..
The only downside was a bit of a stomach bug that drove me to bail early and go hide in a hotel and sleep for 12 hours.
The heat on the way home was exactly as expected, hot but survivable since I had all mesh gear.
A few pix added to my ADV1 Album Tony D's ADV1 · Aug 9, 2024 – Jun 29, 2025
The civil engineer in me got a chuckle in Oregon: A half-million gallon water tank at the top of a hill lost it's bottom. Not enough (or no) sacrificial anodes allowed the bottom to rust out. It gave way about 10 minutes before I arrived, watching in wonder halfway down the hill. The water cut a nasty gully in the steep hillside, carrying with it soil and boulders the size of a topbox.
Several cars went through after the big scree had stopped moving, so I followed suit.
Glad to see it, glad to have it behind me. People can get a little weird when something as reliable a drinking water suddenly stops being available.
Good rally met a bunch of good folk, including Mike & Rod Clark.
I lost my camp chair somehow (I swear I was almost sober too). Had some good rides, worked on the dirt skillset, got some odd looks dragging the trailer up some nasty rutted roads, but it was fun and my patented roll-like-a-ninja unintentional dismount proved that I remain, the luckiest SOB you'll ever meet to tested a Helite vest.
Weather was perfect and I even picked up a medkit I've wanted for some time. Riding the same 10 miles dirt loop on several diff demo bikes, then taking my big Tenere on the same route confirmed my Yamaha bias but showed some potential competition..
The only downside was a bit of a stomach bug that drove me to bail early and go hide in a hotel and sleep for 12 hours.
The heat on the way home was exactly as expected, hot but survivable since I had all mesh gear.
A few pix added to my ADV1 Album Tony D's ADV1 · Aug 9, 2024 – Jun 29, 2025
The civil engineer in me got a chuckle in Oregon: A half-million gallon water tank at the top of a hill lost it's bottom. Not enough (or no) sacrificial anodes allowed the bottom to rust out. It gave way about 10 minutes before I arrived, watching in wonder halfway down the hill. The water cut a nasty gully in the steep hillside, carrying with it soil and boulders the size of a topbox.
Several cars went through after the big scree had stopped moving, so I followed suit.
Glad to see it, glad to have it behind me. People can get a little weird when something as reliable a drinking water suddenly stops being available.
