63 years old female, solo V-Strom rider....BC to California, Idaho, Wyoming

Last summer I loaded the Strom, and took a long trip down the Oregon Coast, mostly to ride that famous California Highway 36 from Fortuna to Red Bluff. I'd read about it, and decided that I wanted to ride that for myself. All winter I've been meaning to post a ride report, but ended up spending most of my winter shovelling snow instead (interspersed with reading ride reports on ADVRider of course to counteract the cabin fever that sets in up here in February). Now it's almost time to head off again, so without delay, here's my ride report from LAST summer.

So, all packed up and ready to go.

I&#8217;m 62 years young and female... I ride a V-Strom&#8230;.I travel solo &#8211; <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:State w:st="on">British Columbia</st1:State> to <st1laceName w:st="on">Oregon</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st="on">Coast</st1laceType> to <st1lace w:st="on"><st1laceName w:st="on">Yellowstone</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st="on">Park</st1laceType></st1lace>.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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Learning to ride a motorcycle was the best thing that every happened to me. I think it should be compulsory for every girl at age 15 to learn to ride a motorcycle. Not just how to shift the gears and wobble around a parking lot, but learn to REALLY ride a motorcycle. Yes, feel the icy hands of fear grip the throat, and swallow that feeling down, get on the big bike, and ride that damned thing! Conquer the machine! Conquer the road. Conquer life! <o></o>
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I&#8217;ve ridden now for 11 summers. I love my V-Strom. It is the very best purchase I think I&#8217;ve ever made as it&#8217;s opened the way for me to travel far and fast and meet wonderful new people, and see glorious sights. For the past two summers I&#8217;ve been down to <st1:country-region w:st="on">Moab</st1:country-region> in <st1:State w:st="on">Utah</st1:State>, and through <st1:State w:st="on">Colorado</st1:State>, <st1:State w:st="on">Montana</st1:State>, and <st1:State w:st="on">Wyoming</st1:State>, and all over wonderful <st1:State w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Idaho</st1lace></st1:State>. The call of the Rockies in all their beauty whispered to me again this past summer along with images of the rolling Pacific Ocean along the <st1:State w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Oregon</st1lace></st1:State> coast. Come on, I&#8217;ll take you along for the ride!<o></o>
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Saturday June 5th 2010<o></o>
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The night before I leave on any long bike trip I&#8217;m always feeling nervous and I can&#8217;t get to sleep. It&#8217;s that fear thing. Dawn came and it was a great day for a ride&#8230;I live in Quesnel, in beautiful <st1:State w:st="on">British Columbia</st1:State>, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Canada</st1lace></st1:country-region>. About 200 kilometres down the road I stopped in 100 Mile House and had a burger at the A&W. It was cold riding around there, and on the McDonald summit above Littlefort, but it warmed up as I cruised on down towards Kamloops and spent the night at my friend's house in Vernon. <o></o>
Sunday June 6th 2010<o></o>
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I finally was on the road around 12.30 pm and rode down through the beautiful Okanagan lakes area to <st1:City w:st="on">Kelowna</st1:City> and <st1:City w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Penticton</st1lace></st1:City> and on to Osoyoos. At the stylish Osoyoos Visitor&#8217;s centre, they recommended the NK&#8217;MIP resort for camping right on the lake. I pitched my tent and made bacon and eggs for dinner. While I was at the shower building some crows stole my bread so I have no bread for breakfast in the morning.<o></o>
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It&#8217;s very pleasant camping here on the edge of the lake and so far all is going well. The bike ran perfectly as she always does. The V-Strom is bullet proof but I always get nervous the night before leaving...I think of all the things that could go wrong....I miss my dogs, I worry about my garden not being watered properly, and wonder whether I'll find a place to stay on the road...or get lost! Whatever...stupid stuff really! Once I'm about half an hour out of Quesnel, I have a grin from ear to ear and all's well again. <o></o>
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OK, back to the camping now....I cross the border tomorrow, and I hope I don't get some surly arrogant customs officer like I have had in the past....I don't know why the American Customs people are so rude....they are so unwelcoming to tourists! I always try to be friendly and willing to do what they ask, but they act like I'm a suspicious person!

Camping at N'KMIP on Okanagan Lake.
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Monday June 7th, 2010<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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Next door to me in a motor home were two older Dutch gentlemen with limited English skills. I said good morning to them, and they invited me over to their picnic table for coffee. They were very amusing, and entertaining, and they thought it was just SOMETHING that this "older" woman (me) was touring around on this "great big motorcycle".... "Do you go FAST or do you go SLOW?" they asked....so funny! I told them I go FAST ...they wanted to know HOW fast... One guy was 84 years old and the other was 68...the 84 year old was so upright, active, good looking....amazing. I sure hope I can look as good at that age....he had twinkly eyes, and wanted my name to write down in his diary! They were so entertaining and so I got a late start.... <o></o>

This is GREAT! I can't wait to hear more, and hope you got some pictures of You taken.

Please keep it coming.

Well the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">US</st1lace></st1:country-region> border guard was a woman this time and she was quite polite so that was good. So I went on an amazing ride today. Last year when I was down here in July, Highway 20 was closed because of a forest fire. This time I could take the awesome Highway 20 over the Cascade Mountains, from Omak, to Twisp, Winthrop, and on over the pass to Ross Lake where I pulled over to enjoy the magnificent view of the turquoise coloured water and then rode on down to Newhalem, a company town populated by employees of Skagit River Hydroelectric Project, and stopped for a look at the old train on the main street. The road over the top had lots of twisties, perfect pavement, went REALLY high...well over 5,000 ft, and there was a surprising amount of snow up on the high pass and best of all, it was not raining. This road reminded me of riding the Going to the Sun Road in <st1lace w:st="on"><st1laceName w:st="on">Glacier</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st="on">National Park</st1laceType></st1lace>.
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Still a lot of snow over the top of Highway 20

What a beautiful ride

"63 years old female, solo V-Strom rider....BC to California, Idaho, Wyoming"

No way, how about "63 years young...."! And I'm 4 years ahead of you. :eek1

OK now, let's hear more about your adventure please.

Regards, Paul

OK, you want to see a picture of ME? This one was taken at the Vancouver Motorcycle Show in January 2011. I was dreaming, at the time, of taking a marvellous trip through India on a rented Royal Enfield....up the highway to Leh......but then I read the ADV ride report on the trials and tribulations of renting a Royal Enfield in Delhi.... oh well, someday.....

I used to be "put off" by the uncomfortable feelings before leaving home, but now I recognize I will have these thoughts, and I KNOW they will go away, so I try not to pay any attention to them. Once down the road half an hour and I'm all smiles. I miss my dogs terribly before I leave, but then on the road I feel guilty that I don't think of them at all! <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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Subscribed!

I agree with Roadscum.. Moderator, please edit the headline to 63 years young!

Highway 20 over the Cascades is definitely a MUST ride.... the scenery is amazing

The colour of the water is amazing. This is Diablo Dam from the overlook

Diablo Dam blue/green waters

Now back to my current trip. The plan is tomorrow to head out to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on">Port Angeles</st1:City> and the Olympic Peninsula, and then down the <st1:State w:st="on">Washington</st1:State> and <st1:State w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State> coasts to the redwoods in <st1lace w:st="on">Northern California</st1lace>. Then head east past Redding, CA to Mt. Lassen Volcanic park, and then north to Klamath Falls and Crater Lake for a look around there. I have cousins in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Eugene</st1lace></st1:City> OR, so will drop in on them for a couple of days to catch up. Then I'm heading across to <st1lace w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Boise</st1:City> <st1:State w:st="on">Idaho</st1:State></st1lace>, where I will link up with Jon and Candy, (HD riders). They are a couple I met on the road in <st1lace w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Dubois</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Wyoming</st1:State></st1lace> a couple of years ago. They offered to host me, and they want to ride with me to Stanley, Lowman, and to Craters of the Moon, and on to Ashton, and <st1lace w:st="on"><st1laceName w:st="on">West</st1laceName> <st1laceName w:st="on">Yellowstone</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st="on">Park</st1laceType></st1lace>. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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Tonight I have set up my tent in a KOA campground, still on Highway 20, just outside of the town of <st1:City w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Concrete</st1lace></st1:City>. It has obviously been raining a lot over this side of the mountains, and the campsite is deserted and my spot is very muddy. The Strom did quite a wobble as I slid my way onto the site, under some large trees near the pool and shower building. The guys at the front desk said I should be able to get wifi in this spot. It is not supposed to rain tonight, so hopefully I'll stay dry. Part of the site is hard packed gravel too, and my tent pegs would not go in without bending. It’s not the best place I've stayed at but it is fine and the showers were hot. It was a bit of wishful thinking about the wifi, but I got great wifi in the lounge area. I have a small netbook with me while travelling. I don't have a GPS... I know a lot of riders do, but I'm of the "less is more" mentality. Less to go wrong...less to worry about. How hard is it to read a paper map? I can check out on Google Earth where I’ve been, and where I plan to ride. I did stop at a great little espresso place just along the side of Highway 20, and had an awesome cappuccino (essential at home and on the road). The local girl behind the counter had no idea if there were any camp grounds anywhere nearby when I asked. As she said "I never go camping!" but just up the road was this KOA.
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Sounds like the makings of a great RR! Subscribed.

If you enjoy meeting fellow adventurers, you should consider the Horizons Unlimited meet in Nakusp later this summer.

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I always bring along a home made mixture of quick oats, raisins, salt, brown sugar and powdered milk with me on my bike trips. It is good for a meal any time of day, and requires only boiling water, a couple of stirs, and then it’s ready to eat. After a camping breakfast of porridge and coffee made on my trusty 23 year old Coleman back packer stove, I set off from the KOA along Highway 20 to Sedro Woolley, and on past Anacortes. Unlike the last time I was riding here, the coastal area was free of fog, and I was able to see the amazing bridge that connects <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1lace w:st="on"><st1laceName w:st="on">Whidby</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st="on">Island</st1laceType></st1lace> to the mainland. On a previous trip I didn’t even recognize that I was going over a bridge, it was so foggy! I pulled over when I saw a sign for “espresso” and this became a habit to pull off the road whenever I saw these signs on the little drive through booths which popped up in many Washington and <st1:State w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Oregon</st1lace></st1:State> towns. There’s nothing like a cappuccino while on the road, or any time for that matter. <o></o>
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Katoom, yes I am tempted to go to the HU meeting in Nakusp, BUT I teach at a College, and so that last week of August is super busy for me preparing for a new semester, so, not for me this year.

As is often the way on bike trips, I kept on meeting up with a young couple from Nelson, BC who were on the Pt. Townsend ferry and I rode most of the way to Anacortes with them. It was a long and sort of lonely ride down the coast of <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:State w:st="on">Washington</st1:State>, and then I stopped at <st1lace w:st="on"><st1laceName w:st="on">Ruby</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st="on">Beach</st1laceType></st1lace>. Pulled off, and parked and walked way down onto the sand, and dipped my toes in the frothy Pacific. I took lots of pictures of logs on the beach, and rocky outcrops, and who did I meet up with in the parking lot? The couple from Nelson!

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Dippin' my toes in the surf...