We kept having to delay our annual two-week motorcycle trip this year (2019) because of Stefan's job. We did take a long weekend earlier this year to tour Fort Rock & Deschutes National Forest by motorcycle, but work kept interfering with our main annual trip. Stefan was back from a work trip to Japan for just two days before we took off on this trip, to Northern California and Southwestern Oregon - and our trip was almost delayed because I finally got a job offer, and they really wanted me to start immediately. But our luck held out and off we went.

Our goal for this trip was to ride roads and visit sites we hadn't before - so, no Lassen National Park nor Lava Beds National Monument this trip, as we had done both already, in 2012. Northern California is just a day's drive away from where we live and there's so much of it we haven't seen. And everyone raves wanting to ride the Oregon Coast - we've been unimpressed on coast rides north of Tillamook (lots of traffic, lots of traffic lights, not that many views of the ocean and very limited access to park and visit the beach), so we have wondered if the Southern Oregon coast would be different.

So, you can skip the narrative and go view our photos on Stefan's site (coyotetrips), most of which have extensive descriptions other travelers should find helpful - and I hope all viewers will find amusing. And here is our route.

Or, you can read my list of highlights and low lights below. Sorry, no real storytelling narrative this time - I'm too busy with my new job and I'm wondering if anyone is reading anyway... other than Carol and Rita... Hi, Carol and Rita!

A reminder: I am all about Stravaig, pronounced straw vague, an Irish and Scottish word meaning to wander about aimlessly. One goes stravaiging about the roads. Stravaig is probably from an even older and obsolete word extravage, meaning to digress or ramble. I am all about stravaig, both on my motorcycle and in conversations and in writing travelogues - even just the highlights:

• We stayed in our first yurt! We reserved it the evening before we left, knowing it would be pouring down rain, at Valley of the Rogue State Park, about 260 miles away. Putting up a tent in the rain and, even worse, packing up a wet tent the next day, and then EVEN WORSE, sleeping in the soaking tent the next night, is super yucky. We wanted to delay that experience at least one night. I was pleased to learn yurts at Oregon State Parks have heat! We were disappointed in this park though: the hosts had no idea we were coming and seemed annoyed we were there, and it is RIGHT next to I 5 and a rest stop - the traffic noise was non-stop. A little hike around the park the next day showed that the only reason to stay there is if you are on your way somewhere else.
   
• We had no cell or wi-fi access for the vast majority of this trip and were in a total news blackout. It was glorious. But it meant we needed old-fashioned paper maps - we're never giving up our paper maps.
   
• Rain gear makes me look fat. But you just have to wear it if you don't want to put on sopping wet gear the next day - and I hate that. I don't mind riding in the rain. It's the wind I can't stand.
   
• Oregon State Road 66 from Ashland to Keno, through Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, is a jewel of a ride for motorcycle riders. Had we left earlier the day before and it not been so rainy, it would have been wonderful to have camped somewhere there and then to have had breakfast at the Green Springs Inn.
   
• We stopped for lunch at El Ranchito Mexican Food in Dorris, California. It was fantastic. Very tiny cafe in a former gas station, on a very busy road.
   
• We had Cattle Camp Campground in Shasta-Trinity National Forest near McCloud, California almost entirely to ourselves - just the camp host and maybe three other people, all in large RVs, including a retired California woman who had retired and her RV was her home, along with her dog. She was quite chatty, maybe a bit lonely - but it was pouring down rain so we couldn't hang out. I highly recommend this campground - the sites are isolated from each other and it's oh-so-lush and green. It was so nice sitting in the tent that night and drinking beer and listening to the rain, and we lucked out that the next morning the rain had stopped, and by the time we were back from our hike to the McCloud River swimming hole (too cold to swim!), the tent was completely dry and ready for packing. We saw what I think was very fresh bear scat on the trail, so I sang a song to keep it away. Pretty much every campground where we stayed had bear boxes and we always used them for our food and toiletries.
   
• McArthur Burney Falls State Park is worth the stop if, like me, you love historic sites and you love tall, scenic water falls. This park is very popular, even at this time of year. It is the second oldest state park in the California State Parks system. The trail and many of the structures were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) back in the 30s - do I really need to wax poetic yet again about how I feel about CCC? Would any travelogue by me be complete without a mention of the CCC? The park is near the Pacific Crest Trail, which we crossed MANY times on this trip.
   
• Pigeon Point Campground, about 15 miles West of Weaverville, is a sweet little campground that's surprisingly quiet for being right below California State Road 299. It's on the Trinity River. It's a beautiful site, and volunteers had just recently cleaned it all up. We camped at the very end of the campground, as far from the entrance as possible, and Stefan drove our motorcycles off the driveway and into the middle of our campground, per the warning on the entrance bulletin board that several people had had their cars broken into while down at the river or sleeping at their campsites where they couldn't see their vehicles. Another good campsite is the one that looks like it's right behind the bathrooms - the sign is there, but keep poking around, the actual site has the best view of the river and is the most isolated from everyone else.
   
• Weaverville is kind of two towns, one a big strip mall and several ugly modern stores, the other a lovely historic downtown.
   
• On this trip, the ONLY place to get food of any kind north of Willow Creek was Salmon River Outpost on California State Road 96 - which we were on back in 2010. That includes Orleans. There are NO restaurants or groceries of any kind otherwise. You can get basic road trip snacks (lunch meats, cheese, nuts, beef jerky, chips, etc) as well as microwaveable/stovetop foods. And they have wi-fi... which we didn't use.
   
• Stefan loves to find roads on the map and say, "let's take this one, it's got lots of curves." And he found that in Somes Bar, California, off California state road 96: we headed East on Salmon River Road, a 35 mile mostly single lane, paved, very winding high road to Cecilville, with heart-stopping sheer drops down into the Salmon River canyon below. You can break off at one point and go up to Etna - either way eventually brings you to the far less-scary and more developed California state road 3. In the words of dangerousroads.org regarding Salmon River Road, "One mistake and it's a free fall to your death." Stefan loved it. Me? Yeah... well, I did it. The only "town" along the way is Forks of Salmon, which probably doesn't have a population in the double digits. There are a few campgrounds on the road - not sure if they are Bureau of Land Management or National Forest - but it's an area that seems a bit sketchy - it's an area people move to to disappear. Cecilville has a self-serve, VERY expensive but much-needed gas station. And you end up on California state road 3, which is much more developed but still lovely.
   
• Callahan, California don't have much, but they do got beer! Please do stop at the store there and buy something so they stay in business.
   
• Eagle Creek Campground in Shasta-Trinity National Forest is one of my favorite campgrounds ever: it's between two rivers (the Trinity River is on one side and Eagle Creek on the other), the night we were there everyone was SILENT after dark and, most of all, I love it because of the beautiful and still-functioning old camp stoves. There was also a fire pit, but Stefan was much more intrigued by this stove, so he fired it up. The wood we found in other fire pits and cut by others was wet but, somehow, he got a fire going. It would have been fantastic to cook on. It's a permanent structure with a concrete foundation and a custom-made cast iron top, door and chimney. Most of the sites at Eagle Creek still had them, and most were still in working order. An internet search shows that they can also be found at Lone Pine Campground and Klamath National Forest - Martins Dairy Campground, both in California. It's a shaker box stove style and we suspect it was installed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) back in the 1930s. It's similar to an "ice can stove", but those used light sheet metal and warped with heat - these have cast iron and they do NOT warp! I WANT ONE. Note that the road to the campground is not easy.
   
• One night, I fried up the turkey spam on our camp cook stove, then cooked Costco hash browns in the grease, and we mixed it altogether and we scarfed it down. You can take the girl out of Kentucky, but you can't take Kentucky out of the girl. Actually, I wouldn't like that much at home but when camping, it's delicious.

Look at this photo to the left. It's a photo that represents a perfect camp site to me, the perfect escape: remote, tree-covered, our tent up and air mattresses blown up and sleeping bags unfolded and everything ready for whenever we are ready for bed, our motorcycle boots outside the entrance because we're wearing our Tevas, and a fire in that gorgeous, glorious vintage cast iron camp stove. No other campers visible because the campsites are spaced so well. It's quiet except for the sound of the rushing rivers nearby. None of the few campers around are playing a radio or talking loudly.

This photo, for me, represents comfort, charm, romance, nature, relaxation and contentment - the kind I seem to be able to find only when camping. It is, in a word, my happy place. I want to frame it and put it over my desk and stare at it and not get any work done.

The only thing missing from this photo is us, sitting or standing somewhere and being happy, and, of course, Lucinda the dog. When we win the lottery, we will hire someone to drive with her to our campsite, set all this up for us, and then go camp somewhere else after we get there and join Lucinda. 

By the way, that tent is a three-person tent from Aldi and it is the greatest tent in the history of humanity.

• Apparently, California State Road 36, all the way from 101 to Red Bluff, about 140 miles, is a very popular road with motorcyclists. We had no idea. There were a fair number of motorcycles on it, street bikes who had come to ride fast around the many curves. We road it for 70 miles, from the junction with state road 3 to Red Bluff. But we missed St. Herman of Alaska Monastery: "The monastery also welcomes men and women who wish to stay for one or more nights. Overnight pilgrims are expected to attend services and eat with the monks. Pilgrims are given a spiritual book to read, if they do not already have one, and are usually asked to help out with some sort of work, especially after the first few days." I'm an atheist... but I think I could dig this.
   
• Somewhere between Peanut and Red Bluff on California State Road 36 there was a wildfire and we passed the firefighter staging and support area, which was just about to fold up - the fire was over, apparently. This has been a very good low fire season for the area, something it so deserves, what with the tragedy of Paradise still on everyone's mind and still affecting so many. In fact, we saw some burned homes, especially along state road 299. Very sad.
   
• If you stay at Battle Creek Campground in Lassen National Forest, stay in the loop that turns off at the bathroom and goes back towards the main road, NOT the main loop, that you go to at the right at the bulletin board. The main loop packs everyone in right next to each other, and quiet hours are NOT enforced. Or, stay at one of the sites nearer the entrance, that are to the right as you come in, or, when you make a right at the bulletin board, take that very first campsite you see, before the loop starts. This is a heavily-used campsite - were weren't there on a weekend, and it was off-season, yet, the main loop was almost full. Also, they have FLUSH TOILETS. Still can't believe it!
   
• Oroville, California is one of the saddest cities I've been in in a long while. It's near a big reservoir as ugly as Lake Powell. Poverty is everywhere. We passed so many drug users and prostitutes and and johns as we walked from our hotel to downtown, through what should have been a beautiful historic neighborhood. The sidewalks are all intact and many of the houses could be beautiful. It was Sunday evening and downtown was dead - and looked like it is on any night. The only bright spot was the beautiful and historic Oroville Inn, which now provides housing for Oroville's Northwest Lineman College campus students. It's beautiful. Our hotel was not-so-beautiful - just one of many chains not worth mentioning. We stayed there because it was now very hot and we were in need of showers and underwear washing and we both needed a wi-fi dip, Stefan to check our route and me to check my messages to make sure everything was fine with Lucinda. We locked up the bikes, because we were both so nervous about theft.
   
• Less than 60 miles from sad little Oroville is the beautiful, opulent, nearly-the-same-size town of Grass Valley. How can two cities founded by the wealth of gold mining, about the same size, be SO different? Grass Valley is gorgeous, if snobby. We ate schwarma at MeZe Eatery right in downtown and it was super duper delicious.
   
• I love historic state parks - they are my absolute favorite places to visit - and Empire Mine State Historic Park is the site of one the best I've been to. It's on the site one of the oldest, deepest and richest gold mines in California. In operation for more than 100 years, the mine extracted 5.8 million ounces of gold before it closed in 1956. The owners became very wealthy, and built a gorgeous home, other buildings and gardens right next to the mine. It's really two parks - one commemorates the mine - the mining equipment, the workshops that supported the mine, the mine offices and the mine entrance itself - one memorializes the gorgeous grounds of the summer home of the mining owners, who lived right next door. It's fascinating. The antique furniture alone is worth the visit. Even though the volunteer was ill that day and we didn't get to tour the inside of the house, the visit was still worth it. Why do I love historic houses SO MUCH?!? The only thing I didn't like about it was the way it glosses over the lives of the miners, even implying that the mining donkeys, shoved down into the mines for decades, for the rest of their lives, had a good life. But I did very much appreciate the celebration of the essential contribution of immigrants.
   
• California State Road 49 from Grass Valley is a gorgeous ride. It takes you through the oh-so-charming and tiny Downieville, California, where I'm going to disappear to someday, to run either a bed & breakfast or the general store. We really wanted to camp, so we passed by all the many opportunities to stay in a little historic hotel and pushed on to Loganville campground, 11 miles west, in Tahoe National Forest. It's a terrific but overpriced campground with just nine or so campsites, and not easy to get to. Once again, there was a bear box - and even a sign warning about bears. We did not see any bears, thankfully... and the road just continues on as a beautiful, twisty adventure. It connects with State Road 70, and heading west on that is lovely as well.
   
• Hallelujah Junction Market, a Chevron station at the Junction of California State Road 70 and US 395, is one of the most disgusting convenience stores with public restrooms I have ever seen - and, remember, I've been to developing countries. On the day we were there, the women's restroom was closed entirely. The men's restroom had a toilet filled with several people's urine and a urinal with the same - neither would flush. I would even tell you about the floor. It was so bad that I wrote a complaint to Chevron as soon as we got back to Oregon days later. We pushed on to Janesville, which misspelled my name, and had pizza at the Pizza Factory, where the manager told me that the Hallelujah Junction Market is ALWAYS that disgusting.
   
• Thank goodness for the Honey Lake Rest Area on US 395!
   
• We spent our last night in California at the Lower Rush Creek Campground in Modoc National Forest, recommended by the Big Valley Ranger Station in Adin. It was a very good site, although it's easy to miss the campsites that are on the other side of the footbridge. We found the ruins of some of the same vintage camping stoves we had seen in Eagle Creek Campground in Shasta-Trinity National Forest they all had missing chimneys and the cement foundations were so crumbling that they were all unusable. I would love to salvage what we could so we could have one complete one of our own. The fire pits at the campground look like I built them, and that is NOT a compliment. Given how many people live nearby, in rundown trailers and what not, be sure you lock things up before you retire. But we ended up really loving our evening there: Stefan got a fire going, and the next day, after I cleaned up all the trash previous campers had left (which was outrageous since there is not only trash cans in the campground, there are freakin' RECYCLING BINS there), we took the little tree bark boats someone had made and left at our site down to the creek to see if they were sea worthy. They weren't, but we had fun!
   
• Shout out to the staff member at Big Valley Ranger Station in Adin who was thrilled that I wanted to take Smokey the Bear stickers and bookmarks available in the lobby. They are supposed to be kids but I want them too! I had way too much fun with the bookmark.
   
• Shout out to the California State Park worker who refused to charge each of us the parking fee, charging us just one, which is what the policy should be. Both California and Oregon state parks charge visitors by the vehicle, meaning two people on a motorcycle - altogether four wheels, taking up one parking place - pay double what 12 people in a van, also four wheels, taking up one parking place, would pay. It's unfair and it keeps motorcyclists away from both California and Oregon state parks.
   
• Stefan is stunned at how so many, many people live in the USA, including in Northern California: with abandoned cars, trucks, RVs, boats, tractors and trailers strewn around their property, living in run down trailers or shacks that look like they could be torn apart in an hour. It's something I grew up seeing in Kentucky, and I just assumed it was a very Kentucky thing, but living here out west, I realize it's a thing in MANY different US states. It's just not something you see in Germany at all. You don't expect it in Northern California, but it's there, all around.
   
• Oregon State Road 140 is lovely. It's not very winding and there's not much elevation change, but it's a rich, beautiful green ride. We needed a break and I saw a sign for a historic something, so we headed there. We ended up in Lake Creek, Oregon, and found one of the most beautiful pieces of public art I've ever seen: it's of a couple, a man and a woman, dancing - he's twirling her in his arms and they both have such a look of joy on their faces. I looked at it and remembered the times I've felt this way - it felt wonderful to just look at it.
   
• Grants Pass, Oregon is a sad place. We often stop there for gas when we're on I5, and we did twice on this trip. And Grants Pass always depresses me: so many drug users and homeless people at every gas station and walking along the road, many of them my age or younger.
   
• Merlin Road, which becomes Galice Road, and takes you from I 5 into Hellgate Canyon, is lovely. Our intent was to go from there to the coast somehow, but we weren't expecting the canyon to be so beautiful. We ended up at Indian Mary Campground & Park. As we were in Josephine County, Oregon, we weren't expecting much: the area is notoriously anti-tax and hates to pay for anything, including law enforcement. Welp - it is, in fact, one of the best campgrounds we've ever stayed in: beautiful grounds, a massive number of campsites, remote, a groundskeeper and camp host who were so excited to answer every question and meet our every need, bathrooms with flush toilets and showers, a covered picnic area which we totally would have used if we'd needed to cook in the rain... Heaven. I almost don't want to write about it here, because I want to keep it all to myself. I wrote to Josephine County when I got back to compliment them on the place - I had to use their complaint form, since that's the only kind of feedback form they have on their website.
   
• Tiny Galice, Oregon, up the road from Indian Mary Campground, is where I need to go on a retreat for a few days: remote, with cabins, a couple of restaurants, white water rafting, beautiful scenery... but we went there by mistake, because the road we wanted turns off earlier: Bear Camp Coastal Route. It looked so sketchy that I asked inside the restaurant in Galice to make sure it was the road we wanted - she assured me it was. She said it was "mostly" paved. And, indeed, it's mostly paved, except for a few meters of gravel and rock that took a lot of concentration to navigate. You go up up up on the infamous Bear Camp Coastal Route, or the Pea Vine Road, or BLM Road 34 - 8 - 36... if you take this route, keep your head up and FOLLOW THE SIGNS. Unless some jack hole has shot them up or pushed them down, the signs tell you where to go, and it's obvious. Also, watch out for fallen rocks - you can turn a corner and there may be so many the road isn't passable. Fortunately, we did not have that issue... And the road is VERY narrow at times, and barely two lanes at others. Very steep at times as well. There are three good stopping points on the road, one at this sign, one at Bear Camp Overlook (there's a pit toilet), and one at the Shasta Coast Overlook. We stopped at all of them. There is also a LOT of marked forest roads veering off the road, and I'm sure all have rough camping available. Note: the road is closed November through June.
   
• So, there we were on Bear Camp Coastal Route, an oh-so-remote, curvey road that made us feel like we were a million miles everywhere, and we stop at Shasta Coast Overlook, and we meet a couple, each on a BMW, and where are they from? They live on the road we didn't take from Salmon River Road, the one that went through Etna! They were as stunned at the word we'd just traveled through there as we were that that's where they lived!
   
• We stopped for lunch at Cougar Lane Lodge for lunch. I was famished. The waiter all but threw the menus at us as he rushed to fawn over a table of women who had just completed a river rafting tour, then forgot my order, and when I asked if they had wi-fi, snapped, "You come to Agness to get AWAY from wi fi!" Ah, yes, back in judgemental, snobby, hipster Oregon - oh how I'd missed it. I mean, it's not like I'd been 10 days in the Northern California wilderness, with wi-fi just one night, and might have wanted to make sure there was no urgent message from the dog sitter that I needed to get home at once, something that HAS happened to me before.
   
• So, we've now done even more of the Oregon Coast, this time from Gold Beach to Reedsport, about 100 miles. And... yeah, we still don't get why people want to ride a motorcycle along the Oregon Coast so much. There certainly aren't nearly as many stop lights as there in North Western Oregon along the coast, but there's also not that much road that goes along the coast, and when there is, the wind is HORRIFIC. Plus, there is SO much traffic. The wind and the traffic mean you have to be really focused on the road, not on any coast that might come into view. Also, it's really hard to find public places to park and get a stationary beach view.
   
• I saw a sign turning off 101 that said it was a scenic route, so I took it. It's Beach Loop Road, and somewhere on the road, I made my first water crossing! I should not have done it: there was a sign that said if there was water in the road you should NOT cross. It was less than five meters across and it really didn't look that deep. Well, it came up almost to the bottom of my boots, and when I went through it, the hydroplaning water hit me in the butt. I made it just fine, but knew I'd done a bad thing. We were in Bandon, which felt SO much like the oh-so rich coastal summer home neighborhoods of Connecticut or Rhode Island. We stopped at Face Rock State Scenic Viewpoint, and view we did. Okay: it is the most beautiful view of an Oregon Coast I've ever seen. Okay, got it. In fact, the whole area was lovely. But it's more of a place you go and take your bicycle and rent a place and ride around for a few days, not where you tour by motorcycle - at least not for me.
   
• Our last night out, we stayed at William Tugman State Park. I'm glad it's there, because we were really needing a camp site, but all of the sites are for RVs, which means we paid the same as someone in a small RV, even though we didn't need any electricity. We got a spot near the bathrooms, which was nice, except for the occasional smell of the septic tank somewhere. But what really ticked me off was that none of the 14 or so camp hosts ever told us that there would be highway road work right outside the campsite ALL NIGHT. I think I got about 5 hours sleep. It was like 20 people vacuuming all round our tent. There was also someone walking around the campground that I was pretty sure was a homeless person - there were SO many addicts walking or bicycling up and down 101, and warning signs in the campsite bathroom about thefts, so if you camp on or near US Highway 101, lock up your stuff!
   
• There were, indeed, Elk at Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area.
   
• Oregon State Road 38 / Umqua Highway from Reedsport through Elkton (cute town) to Drain is quite lovely!
   
• We had timed our trip just right once again to end up having a very late brunch at GJ's Restaurant in Eugene, Oregon. WOOT!!! As you know, I like to call GJ's JJ's instead, after the diner in one of her favorite shows, Parks & Recreation. They had been closed for a week in August for renovations, and I've no doubt that I would have cried if we'd arrived this day and they had been closed.
   
• My sleeping bag ROCKS. Bought in 1992 from REI, it remains perfect. I have a sleep sack I bought for particularly cold nights, and I'm good all the way past freezing. And now that I've lost more than 50 pounds, I love it even more...
   
• A pox on the guy in the MAGA at a certain state park with his family. You, "sir," dream of such land being privatized, and that would lead to most state and federal parks being shrunk down or eliminated altogether. How dare you delight in what you want to take away from others?

My favorite North American Ghost towns / historic mining towns / pre-1900s towns

Advice for Traveling Around the USA Camping & Hiking

Women's Safety While Tent Camping

For Women Who Travel By Motorcycle (or want to)

Advice for Women Motorcycle Travelers: Packing

advice for Women Motorcycle Travelers: footwear (shoes & socks).

Advice for Women Motorcycle Travelers: Transportation and Accommodations Choices

Suggested short motorcycle routes in Oregon and Washington state (from an hour to all-day; many can be linked together to create longer trips).

transire benefaciendo: "to travel along while doing good." Advice for those wanting to make their travel more than sight-seeing and shopping, whether in your own country or abroad.

Oregon Volcanic Rock Huggers Motorcycle Ride: 4 days, 3 nights, 580 miles, July 2019. Deschutes National Forest, Newberry National Volcanic Monument, Big Obsidion Flow, McKay Butte Fire, Fort Rock

Steens Mountain, Oregon, Great Basin National Park and Rachel, Nevada. We spent 13 days, going over 2657 miles / 4276 kilometers, mostly in Nevada in 2018. It was a terrific, but incredibly hot and smokey, trip. Also see all of our 2018 motorcycle adventures.

Olympic National Park and Forest, the Northern Cascades, Mount Rainer - our epic, smokey Washington state trip. 2382 km / 1489 miles. And all of our 2017 motorcycle travel (lots of local trips around North Western Oregon).

Two weeks in Idaho: Silver City, Hells Canyon, Silver City, Idaho, Bruneau Dunes State Park, City of Rocks National Reserve, Sawtooth Scenic Byway, Salmon River Scenic Byway, Custer, Idaho, Ft. Missoula, Montana, historic Wallace, Idaho, Lake Coeur d'Alene, White Pine Scenic Byway, Hell's Canyon Overlook, Oregon, Joseph, Painted Hills, and Little Crater Lake in Mt. Hood National Forest. 4280 km / 2675 miles. At least 120 miles of gravel. One of our FAVORITE trips. And all of our 2016 motorcycle adventures.

Two trips in Canada, one in 2015 and one 2010. Most recently, in 2015: to Stewart, British Columbia, Hydar, Alaska, the Stewart-Cassiar Highway, the Yukon, the Alaska Highway - a grand tour of British Columbia. 5954 km / 3700 miles. And, earlier, one of my first motorcycle adventures, in southern British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, to tour Jasper, Banff and much more. See all of our 2015 motorcycle adventures and all my 2010 motorcycle adventures.

Grand Utah tour: Moab, Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Goblin Valley, Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge, and camping in a cow pasture in a desert of Nevada and at Farewell Bend Oregon State Park. And my first motorcycle wreck. 2989 miles / 4810.329 kilometres. Also see all of our 2014 Motorcycle Travel.

Eastern Oregon long weekend: Antelope, Oregon amid the ghosts of the Rajneesh colony, seeing the Alvord Desert for the first time. Also: Sweet Home, Sisters, Antelope, Shaniko, Fossil, Condon, Heppner, Ukiah. 2012. 2012 was our busiest motorcycle travel year.

Weekend camping and riding trip in Eastern Oregon, Gifford Pinchot National Forest / Southern Washington State, sites around Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens. 2012.

Lava Beds National Monument, Lassen National Monument, Emmets Pass, Devil's Postpile (California), the Alvord Dessert (Oregon), and everything in between. September 2012. 2446 miles / 3914 km miles.

Yellowstone, Western Montana, Wyoming & more. Including US Highway 12 through Lolo Pass, Nevada City (Montana), Craters of the Moon, Bruneau Dunes State Park, and John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. The trip ended at the legendary Burning Moto Man 2011, in Westfir, Oregon. 2680 miles. We also spent one week in Washington state, September 2011 to celebrate my husband's 40th birthday, visiting Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Ape Cave, ice cave and lava tubes, Gifford Pinchot National Forest and a bit of Mt. Hood

Oh Canada (and more). It was nothing short of epic: British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, Jasper, Banff and Kootenay National Parks for the first time, Glacier National Park, Swan Lake National Park, Garnet ghost town in Montana, and so much more, all via motorcycle. 2,535 miles / 4,056 km. And it wasn't our only trip in 2010. We went back to Jasper and Banff in 2015.

The Lost Highway motorcycle tour (my first trip on my own motorcycle): Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, Ferndale, California, the notorious Mattole Road from there to Petrolia, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Avenue of the Giants, Bigfoot Scenic Byway and my first (and thus far only) Horizons Unlimited rally. About 1000 miles. 2010.

Eastern Europe three week trip (pillion): Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia. Amazing. 2008.

Northern France (pillion): ancient sites, Roman sites, medieval sites, World War I sites, World War II sites...  Bayeaux Tapestry. Mont St-Michel, Carnac, and so much more. Amazing food, amazing sites. Good camping. Two weeks. 2007.

Scotland (pillion): Leaving from a port in Belgium, arriving in Hull, England. Highlights: Hadrian's Wall, Braemar, the main Orkney Island, Kilmartin, Ballmoral, Loch Ness, the small stone circle near Tarland... more than I can summarize here. Two weeks. 2006.

Bruges, Belgium (pillion): Long weekend. 2005. This was more of a boring ride on a motorcycle to get some place, followed by an amazing time walking around Bruges (great beer!).

Norway & Sweden (pillion): Kristiansand, fjords, sea life, mountains, glaciers, a rock slide, a crazy ferry ride and primitive rock art. Two weeks. My first motorcycle trip! 2004.

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