D2D Day 2 Grants Pass, OR to Olympia,WA 374 Miles

On day two of our drive/ride we awoke to clear skies over Grants Pass, OR, where we watched a hot air balloon lazily rising into the blue sky over the city. Yesterday's winds subsided and the balloon just hung over the town, as if suspended by an invisible string.

We enjoyed our "free breakfast" at the Holiday Inn  Express and departed for Olympia, WA, just under 400 miles to the north. The scenery through southern Oregon is just spectacular for a couple of guys used to Southern California's arid landscape. We rolled through miles of green forest, over mountain passes and crossed several rivers as we motored north on Interstate 5 toward Olympia.

It looks like the lumber industry might be making some kind of a come back as we saw several logging trucks traversing the interstate and a few active lumber mills with steam belching into the air. Hopefully, that's a good sign for the economy.

We managed to find our way through the freeway maze of Portland, OR, and crossed the mighty Columbia River into Washington State. As is our practice, we sought out a local dining establishment in a small town and found ourselves in Cottage Grove. We were not disappointed in Pepper's 49'er Restaurant. Real home cooking and real good food! Try the Navy Bean soup.

We rolled into Olympia, WA, about 2:00 pm and checked into our hotel early. After unloading our bags we drove over to Lane's friend Terry Jorgenson's house where we unloaded our motorcycles and parked the truck and trailer and will store them for the next twenty days. Thanks so much Terry.

Finally, we're riding our motorcycles. Our ride really begins tomorrow when we head for Seattle,WA, and Vancouver, British Columbia.

We enjoyed happy hour at a local Mexican restaurant with a $3.00 taco bar, all you can eat, and Margaritas while watching the Los Angeles Kings destroy the New Jersey Devils, 6 to 1. Go Kings!

It's all right here in the blog folks, mostly true, most of the time.