Day 19, Grand Memories

 The final miles through Oregon were colorful, a reminder that Oregon does not take a back seat when it comes to natural beauty.  The pine forests West of La Grande rival those of Southern Oregon.  The Columbia River Gorge with it’s always spectacular Multnomah Falls match the beauty of Mt. Hood and Crater Lake.  It’s a grand country.

What a wonderful journey, planned with three objectives:

·         To visit my parents grave site in Safford, Arizona.

·         To meet up and travel the Southwest with brother Dick.

·         To visit a friend in prison

Mission Accomplished!

Additional objectives were added during the planning stages:

•          Visit the Grand Canyon
•          Connect with a number of people special in my life,

ü  Classmate Mary in La Jolla, California

ü  Cousin Janet in Tucson, Arizona

ü  Cousin Beth in the Mesa Verde, Colorado area

ü  Cousins Caroline and Jonathan in Boulder, Colorado

Miccions Accomplished!

It was an adventure that experienced many wonderful sights, sounds, smells and places.

Riding in the cold, cold mornings when all I wanted was a cup of coffee.  Riding in the hot, hot afternoons when all I wanted was a cold beer.  Riding most of the time in fantastic, shirtsleeve weather.

Learning more about our Native American culture at Montezuma’s Castle, Mesa Verde and Four Corners.

Being one with some of the beautiful  natural wonders, the Siskiyou’s, Giant Redwoods, the California coast, Arizona thunderstorms, sunset over the Grand Canyon, the giant Saguaro cactus of Arizona, Antelope Canyon, Monument Valley, Natural Bridges, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, the Royal Gorge, the Rocky Mountains,  the vast prairies of Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, and the beauty of Oregon, both going and coming.

And there were impressive man made things to appreciate,  the Cross in San Diego, Golden Gate bridge, NASA, the dam at Roosevelt Lake, Route 66, Glen Canyon Dam and bridge, Chapel of the Holy Cross, the bridge at Royal Gorge, and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle that performed flawlessly.

2000 miles of companionship with a great brother.  The imagination of Little Joe.

Nineteen days, 4800 miles, 92 gallons of gas averaging 50 MPG, fantastic for a big bike.

Many times during the trip this song came to mind, “This land is your land, this land is my land, from California, to the New York island.”  Here’s an original Woody Guthrie recording,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaI5IRuS2aE

It was another Grand Adventure!