I got on the road at 7:45 a.m., under cloudy skies.  45-miles later, around Cottage Grove, five Harleys were approaching in the fast lane.  I fell in with them and rode along for about another 50 miles or so.  They pulled off for gas, so I followed them to the station.  I first met Teresa, who approached me with a video camera.  She asked if she could film me and the bike.  I said of course she could and asked her where she was from.  “San Francisco”, was her reply.  I said that a lot of people just say they are from San Francisco when they are really from San Rafael, or San Mateo or other surrounding communities. She said, “Wow your good.  Some of us are from San Mateo, and others are not far from there.”  I also met Ray and the other riders too.  They were all very friendly people.  I think Teresa said some of them were from the San Mateo HOG chapter.  She started her video camera after handing me a sign that said, “Where is the logic?” I think.  I took over from there and gave her a lot of material to edit through later!  We talked for a while and I found out that they were going to British Columbia after Port Angeles for tonight's stop.  I also found out that they stayed in Roseburg last night.  Quite a coincidence as I started from my home town of Roseburg, Oregon!  We all took off and we rode together for a while longer.  Around Salem it started to rain a bit and they pulled over for some more gear.  I waved bye to them and kept heading north.  

I took I-205 to I-84 East and headed up the beautiful Columbia River Gorge.  It was time for fuel around Hood River.  In and out and on the road again!  The very WINDY Biggs Junction was where I took 97 north into Washington.  Lots of wind and sideways rain.  Yakima was my next fuel stop.  The pump wouldn't take either one of my cards so I went inside and asked the gal behind the counter to please turn on pump #11.  She told me that I had to get in line to have it turned on, and I asked her if I had to get in line again to sign my charge?  She said that I did, so I left.  I found a friendly station a few blocks away.  I went into a Best Buy to try to find a new mount for my Garmin GPS.  The guy said that he didn’t have anything for a unit THAT OLD.  It's only 2-1/2 years old!  Still no GPS so I got on the road again.

The rain stopped for a bit as I was riding between downpours on both sides of me.  Just north of Ellensburg the rain found me again.  It was still raining as I pulled into Wenatchee for the night.  I rode past the motel where Joni and I stayed a couple of months ago and vividly recalled the memory of my broken bike that sadly sat waiting for a ride home on the last day of our DC journey.  I found the Harley shop closed for the day so I continued on to a motel.  I will stop by there tomorrow morning and thank Drew again for bringing me the parts that I needed to try to fix my bike the last time I was here.  The motel was right next door to a steak house so I went into the bar to order dinner.  I overheard a guy trying to tell three other guys about the bike parked at the motel next door.  I turned around and pulled up a chair at their table as I asked if I could join them.  They looked a little surprised at my move until they realized that I was the owner of the bike.  We all talked for quite a while as I ate my dinner.  They were very receptive to my joining them and were fascinated by some of the stories I told them about the Adventures of Ratbike Milo and the Rat Bike.  We said our goodbyes and I went back to my room.  I saw that the news is calling for more rain tomorrow.  It is what it is!  

Spokane is only 160 miles so it will be a very short riding day.  The Harley shop in Spokane is where we came to get Joni's 2008 Road Glide in April.  They were the only shop around that had one with our specifications that we could get in time for our Washington DC trip.  This will be my first stop at one of the many pre- arranged Harley event party stops.  It will give me some time to try to get my GPS fixed, I hope.  If not, they always make more!