Basin Blast

After riding solo last weekend, John B. let me know that I didn't HAVE to go solo if I'd had called him and that he wanted to get out this weekend to see a friend that was riding up from the Spokane area and meet in Grand Coulee for lunch, and I could redeem myself by riding along if I were interested.  Well, always looking for redemption in any form I can find it, and that I hadn't seen Mots (Bill) since our Glenwood adventure, I worked out what the chore list was, figured it could get done Sunday, checked-in with Mrs. RedTigre (who consistently calls me names for being willing to ride without her, and committed to a Saturday ride.

I arrive at Mickey D's to find John's NT700V and a Ducati MultiStrada are the only bikes in the lot.  Hmmm... so who own's the Duc?  I met Ted inside with John and after introductions and the hint that Kevin P's flex schedule isn't fitting our ride (I think he is afraid of that factory seat on his ST1300 from our last ride), off we go.

John in Quincy outside of Ted's Storage Business

We take off from Wenatchee on the 28 to Quincy and then cut to Martin road where the canal twisties are the best in the area. n the low bank maneuvering,  I notice two things... I haven't adjusted the suspension tight enough and am scraping way too ofter in the uneven corners, and Ted's Ducati is missing some tupperware made obvious as the profile of the Duc changes in the leaning. We stop in Ephrata for John to dump some skins and while talking to Ted find out that the loss of Tupperware is form a deer impact up Badger Mountain.  Still finding the pieces from the cheapest place... bikes are a B***H to get plastic body parts for.

Out of Ephrata on the 28 to Soap Lake and Hwy 17 past Dry Falls and to the 2 and Coulee City and Banks Lake... or what is left of it anyway.  Seems that are lowering it for Dam maintenance and have dropped the lake 30 feet already... looks like Moonscape and supposed to be a fly fisherman's dream right now. Never seen the lake look like it did before the dam went in... eerie!

Back side of Grand Coulee Dam

Shooting up around the 2 to the 155 and Steamboat rock up to Electric City and the Safeway parking lot where we meet Bill and find a place for lunch. Grab some lunch at the only restaurant in town and on the way out we are discussing the route to take out and John asks a local how far/many minutes to Wilber form there. "20 mile, or minutes, take your pick" she says, so John  says to us from Wilber we'll head to Odessa and Ritz- "NO, comes back more information from our local, "Wilber Creston, Davenport and then Spokane, sheesh"! And off she goes.  So, curiosity getting the best of me, I walk over to John and ask him that the way she was talking to him I was wondering if he hadn't been married to her in a previous life!  :D

I think he was wondering the same thing.  ;)

Odessa

Off we go onto the 174 SouthEast and some gas up in Wilber, then head down the 21 to Odessa and take a break outside the Rolling Thunder Saloon. Looks like a Harley place, and I'm the only in-line 4 in the group I am wondering what trouble I am in.  Wait, I'm on a Beemer!  In Odessa! Any trouble and I'll start singing "Deutschland Über Alles" and get free beer and schnitzels so the escape plan is in place until John tells us of his East German Polizei experience, so I decide my singing of old German National songs won't work and take him up on his ice cream offer instead.




From Odessa south on the 21 we stop at the Rosenoff Road where we say goodbye to Bill as he heads East and we shoot West on Rosenoff/3/Wheeler Road into Moses Lake.  Taking 17 toward Ephrata, to the 282 and then backtracking on the 28, Martin Road (John got pretty zippy on it coming back!), Quincy, and back to Wenatchee was a kick.  Weather is turning cool but now is the time before the weather turns mean and I strip Mistress down for some new shocks and springs for the season.

Thanks for the 300+ mile invite John, it was a great ride!