Another beautiful morning – the first I was able to go “unplugged” as it was about 55 when I left Boise. However, this warm temperature and sunshine soon disappeared as I headed into the mountains and it wasn’t long before I had to pull into a rest stop and change into the heated gear again. But the scenery was full of rolling hills and small mountains and being a Saturday there were a lot less trucks. I did stop for a few more photos as the very light traffic made it much safer for pulling back onto the highway. As soon as I can find a cheap card reader I will upload some photos.
The weather turned great again once I was into Washington so into another rest stop and another quick clothing change. The highway rest stops along the interstate highways are very nice, clean and about every 50 miles or less. Some have info centres while others have vending machines and some are just the bare necessities! The blue signs are a welcome sight when you need a break.
On Friday, I had lost the keys to my trunk (where all my clean clothes are) so I stopped in Kennewick, Wa. at the Harley dealer to see if they could help but to no avail. They could order me a new one and they did try a bunch of old keys they had but I was resigned to the fact that I had to go to Walmart to buy a change of clothes! Pam will be sending me the spares via Fed-Ex on Monday so between a laundry and Walmart I’ll be fine until then.
Of course, after 7 days on the road you can just imagine what my bike looked like. Covered in a thin coating of road grime it was looking pretty bad. So once I arrived in Yakima and checked into my motel I headed straight for a spray wash facility and spent an hour cleaning and shining (yes – I brought a bottle of “quick shine” with me). The rest of the evening was spent relaxing. My roommate doesn’t arrive until Sunday and then I’ll have company in the evenings. I’m at the conference every day until 8 or so – then with all the learning each day (this being my third International Wall Portrait Conference I know there is a tonne) we’ll be in bed early each night.