Day 89, Redmond to Vida, Oregon.

The road to McKenzie Pass.

Entering the forest at the bottom of the climb.

Lisa pointed out how this mountain looks like a female breast. I agree.

Mt. Washington. Over 7,000 feet tall.

Ted, ready to roll. He looks just like one of them biker guys.

The stairway to the observatory on top of McKenzie Pass.

A view of the three sisters.

The Three Sisters.

The river basin leading up to the pass.

Another shot of The Three Sisters.

We crossed this road block on our way to the pass.

At first, I thought all these reign deer was a bunch of antlers piled up.

Pretty wild looking, aren't they?

Reflections through the trees.

Another reflection, this time with Lisa in it.

An Oregon ranch by the side of the road.

The mid evil looking observatory at the top of McKenzie Pass.

This is another shot of the observatory.

Mt. Jefferson at over 10,000 feet tall.

Mt. Jefferson again.

An ultra wide angle shot of Mt. Washington and it's neighbor.

The Hotel we stayed at in Redmond.

Going down the switch backs down the other side.

Entering the town of Sisters.

Leaving Redmond

The thick forest of the great north west.

Descending with the gang.

Chipmunks are so cute. Everybody should have one.


Day 89, Redmond to Vida, Oregon. “The Transformation”. 88,14 miles. Total= 4,290.26 miles.

Saturday, August 8, 2009. Our Suite at the American Comfort Suites was a well deserved treat indeed. Although pricey, the rooms were huge. We even had a couch big enough to sleep on, a lazy boy rocking chair, large flat screen TV, and all the comforts of home.

We left Redmond at our usual start time, and made our way through the heart of town. Redmond is a really neat town. It looks like a pedestrian mall, with shops lining the street on either side. I wish we could have spent a rest day here. After stocking up on snacks for the day, we headed down the road to the town of Sisters, 20 miles away. We stopped there for breakfast where we found out that the road would be closed due to work being done. We did not want to go the alternate route which would have added another 20 or so miles to today’s planned 80 plus miles of riding. We decided to take a chance and go for it. Leaving Sisters, we began the long 15 mile climb to the top of McKenzie Pass. It would be a 3,000 plus feet of climbing. There were numerous road bikers going up and coming down. The road has been closed for some time now, and the road bikers like to take advantage of the traffic free conditions. On the way up, we traveled through sparsely populated forest, with semi desert like under brush filling in the canopy floor. The further we climbed, the greener and thicker the forest got. Soon, the pine trees were monopolizing the terrain. We were now in the Pacific north West. The Oregon I had imagined from all the pictures I’ve seen in the past. The Redwood, Ponderosa, and Douglas Fur trees were as large as I’ve ever seen. As we gained altitude, we could see the snow capped peaks of near by mountains peeping through the trees. About half way up, we ran into a road block. There was an opening on the side where pedestrians and bikers could pass through, so we did. It took several hours of climbing, but we finally made it to the top, only to be told by a road guard that we had to turn back. Lisa told the guy we weren’t going back, and that we would wait till they were done working and then go. The guy looked at her and said, “There’s a bunch of other guys waiting to go over also”. So we went over and joined them.

I decided to walk one of the hiking trails and take some pictures, since we had some time to kill. The terrain reminded me of the Big Island’s lava fields. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought I was there instead. About an hour later, I heard Lisa calling. When I got there, the gang was getting their bikes ready to go. The working foreman wanted to make it perfectly clear that we were not allowed to go, but would not try to stop us. We then all decided to go as a group.

The ride down the other side was a real treat. 13 miles of uninterrupted descending though the most pristine forest in the world. We descended over 3,000 feet, and made up valuable lost time. A few miles down the road, we rejoined highway 126, the original route we were on. We stopped at a little store to grab something to eat., then proceeded to our destination in Vita. It was a lot further than we had expected, but the ride was almost all down hill, so it wasn’t such a big deal. We followed the McKenzie River as it wound it’s way toward the Pacific.

At 7:45 in the evening, we finally pulled into Vida, grabbed something to eat, and found the Riverside Motel where we are spending the night. Well I guess that does it for now. Thank you again for staying with us. Aloha, Ted.

Day 88, Mitchell to Redmond, oregon.

Because of the cloud cover all day. These pictures might lack the true beauty of what this country side is capable of. We stopped for a break at this look out that over looked a small valley part way up the climb.

A little further up the climb I noticed this man made canal or something. Maybe it was a water run off.

The Oregon Hotel where we spent the night. We are on the second floor, room on the right. We got wifi from the cafe right nest door. Oh, the young lovers were in the room right next to us.

The lobby of the Oregon hotel.

There were many table top mountains framing this valley we were riding in.

A cool rock formation.

This is the road out of Mitchell. It rained all night and ended about a half hour before we hit the road.


We are out of the desert and into more lush Oregon type country.

Every time I stop, I take pictures. The road we are on leads through the valley until the climb starts.

Our room at the Oregon Hotel. My bed is the messy one on the right.

An old abandoned water slough used in the old days.

One of the deserted businesses in Mitchell.

I couldn't tell if this one was still in business or not. There was nobody there.

Riding through the Ochoco National forest.

More Llamas. I still can't figure out why they have um. You can't eat um, can you?

This is a small logging factory. They make logs for log cabins.

That's Lake Ochoco in the distance. We rode along her banks for a couple of miles.

This is not a camera trick. The rocking chair is really that big. There is a website sign on the front of it. Click the picture, and you might be able to make out what it is.

I took a natural break here, and decided to take this shot.

Entering the town of Prineville.

Down town Mitchell. Those are a group of young boys riding cross country. The car is their sag wagon.

Another shot of down town Mitchell.

Meet Dan in the front seat, and Barb in the back. They also stayed at the Oregon Hotel. And no, they are not the young lovers I mentioned earlier. The are riding east to west.


Day 88, Mitchell to Redmond, Oregon. “A Day Without Sun”. 68.26 miles. Total= 4,202.12 miles.

Friday, August 7, 2009. The town of Mitchell is located in a deep narrow canyon. It was established during the gold rush days as a supply transfer post to destinations beyond. Because of it’s location. The town was destroyed by flood on more than one occasion. All but 160 people still call this town home.

The Oregon Hotel where we stayed was a real treat. The rustic old style setting made for a cozy night out of the rain. If not for the two young lovers in the next room, I would have certainly had a good night’s rest.

We left Mitchell at 9:00AM. This morning because the only place to eat breakfast didn’t open till eight. For today’s ride, a good breakfast would be essential. It had been raining all night, and it was still raining when we went to breakfast. While blessing my food, I asked The Lord for His protection on our ride today. I didn’t ask Him to stop the rain. I figured I’ve asked too much these past three months that I didn’t want to be such a pest. About mid way though our meal. I noticed the rain had stopped. And believe it or not, it did not rain for the rest of the day. You see? Sometimes The Lord does answer prayers even if you don’t ask Him. I believe others like you out there are praying for our well being, and The Lord answers prayers.

When we left Mitchell the thermometer outside the hotel read 49 degrees. Once on the road, it was down hill the first couple of miles. Easy, but cold. Once the climb started though, things began to warm up. Slowly at first, since the sun never did come out yet. In fact, I don’t think it came out the hole day for more than a minute or two. The climb today would take us over the Ochoco Pass. An elevation of about 4,300 feet. A climb of just over 2,000 feet in 16 miles. Shorter than the previous day’s climb, but steeper. Since the temperature was cooler, I kept my wind vest on, even after we were well on our way up the hill. I stopped occasionally to take some pictures. Even though the sun was not out. The scenery was just too good to pass up. I think I said the same thing about yesterday. Anyway. We met Dan and Barb on a three wheeler, also pulling a BOB trailer. They had started on the east coast in mid April, and were also on their way to Florence.

Once over the top, we stopped at a rest area to have lunch. The place filled up real quick, so we left, hopping to find something better down the road. At mile 47, we entered the town of Prineville, A good sized town with a population of about 10,000, and found a Taco Time restaurant and had our real lunch there. It was about 3:00PM by now, and we still had another 21 more miles to go. The wind had picked up, and as luck would have it, it was head wind. We plowed our way through rich river basin farm and ranch lands. Framed by rugged rocky mountains on either side. We followed the valley, enjoying fairly light traffic, and cool views. We’ve seen so much beautiful country side that we were beginning to get spoiled. And I stopped less to take pictures unless it really grabbed my attention.

We pulled into Redmond at about 6:00PM., and checked into the “Sleep Inn Suites”. A pricey hotel, but what the heck. We had a hard day and felt like we deserved it. Tomorrow our destination will be the town of Vita, 83 miles. Good night for now. Thank you all again for being such wonderful fans. Aloha, Ted.