Staying in Redmond, Oregon - Day 10

Total Miles = 0

No time to ride when you are working like a dog. Up by 6:00 a.m. to shower and ready to work the booth around 8:00. On my way to the showers, I snapped a pic of the mountain range.

The rally site is in a beautiful place. In keeping with tradition, The Chicago Region BMW MOA Owner's Association rented a tent for club members to gather during the rally.

It is nice to have a place to catch up and get out of the sun. Our last day in the booth was busy and VaVaVroom sales were the best of any of the days. In keeping with tradition, Fred cooked for all of the Bob's BMW booth staff. I swear they were the best tacos I've ever had!

Staying in Redmond, Oregon - Day 9

Total Miles = 0

So my good buddy, Fred, let me in on a little secret. In the RV park at the rally site, there are showers that are barely used because most of the RV's have their own. So, no wait for showers this morning! Yay! Even though the band played until midnight the night before and kept me up longer than I would have liked, I felt less tired today. Here's a picture to give an idea of our tent area.

My first stop of the morning was to visit the LD Comfort booth. I am a big fan of their products - long distance riding underwear. I have the shorts, tights, and long sleeve shirt. I decided on my ride out that I needed to buy the cooling sleeves - for two reasons. One, if you wet the cooling sleeves and put them on your ride they really will keep you cool! Two, because I have long arms, there is agap between my glove and jacket sleeve. The cooling sleeves covers that gaps and helps ward off dehydration and sunburn.

We had brisk sales again at the booth today. I did take a little break from selling in the afternoon to give a seminar on women's motorcycle apparel. It was well attended and I was pleased to hear that many participants found it helpful.

That evening, I had dinner with VaVaVroom's new sales rep in Arizona, Lisa Malachowsky. We chatted about strategy and plan to take Arizona by storm when we return home. I then went to visit my friend, Jonny. Jonny had torn a muscle a few days earlier at the rally and had been in the hospital. He was recovering well and won't need surgery, but in our discussions about riding home, he came to the correct conclusion that he should not ride home. It is just too risky. He will ship his bike back and fly home. Although we were very disappointed, I know it is the right thing to do. After that settled, I chatted with Sandra, Scott and the Canadians. They are a funny bunch!

Staying in Redmond, Oregon - Day 8

Total Miles = 0

While the BMW MOA rally is a ton of fun, it is also exhausting! I decided to get up at 6:00 am or earlier every day to ensure a timely shower. (The lack of showers this year at the rally is frustrating!). Today reminded me how being on your feet for ten hours straight can be wearing.

However, we had a lot of fun working the Bob's BMW vendor booth today and we sold a lot of stuff. And I do think the booth looks great!

For dinner, I was invited to the BMW ON Magazine contributors dinner. I invited a Chicago Region BMW MOA club member, Mike. It was interesting to hear a BMW Motorrad executive speak about the future of BMW (it looks bright!).

This is Vince Winkel, the editor of the magazine. Vince had tried to play a joke on me in front of everyone, but didn't have the right prop. The prop in question was a thong. Hmmm. I'm glad he couldn't find the prop.

After dinner, Mike and I hung out with the other Chicago club members in our gathering tent. It was nice to see our friend Scott from Neenah, Wisconsin. We met him last year and adopted him as an honorary Chicago member.

Staying in Redmond, Oregon - Day 7

Total Miles = 45

Now, the business part of my trip begins. Today, at the BMW MOA rally in Redmond, Oregon, I will be selling VaVaVroom through the Bob's BMW booth. We spent the better part of the day setting all of this up. The best part of the day was receiving a new, free windscreen for my motorcycle - a ZTechnik brand - much needed. Since my bike was used as the demo bike at the vendor booth, I get to keep it! That is awesome because I was going to buy one anyway! In the evening, I joined Bob Henig of Bob's BMW and Sam Henig (his son) and Fred Oppido (my fellow booth workers) for the BMW MOA Ambassador's dinner. Here is a picture of Sam and Fred.

I also ran into my old friends, Walt Fulton and Nancy Foote, of Streetmasters Motorcycle Workshops (pictured here in their Streetmasters red!).

After the dinner, Bob, Fred, Sam and I took a really quick ride to Smith Rock. We stopped to see "the rock" over looking a beautiful stream with hikers below and rock climbers above.

This trip has been full of beautiful and inspiring geography.

Riding to Redmond, Oregon - Day 6

Total Miles = 320

Days like today make days like yesterday all worth it.

The highlight of the day was riding Hwy 26 in Oregon through a mountainous, cavernous, gorgeous (gorges!) landscape. Roads just technical enough to engage us but not tiring. I highly recommend this route to any riders or travelers. On our first gas stop, we encountered some fellow BMW travelers (see our helmets all lined up together?) and the inside of the gas station had a bison head hanging as well as other local game.

It also had funny signs up all over - reminding customers not to pee on the seat in the washroom, etc. We arrived in Redmond around 5:00 pm at the BMW MOA International Rally site. We found a place next to some Canadians that quickly become friends. Mike from Trenton, Ontario and Jerry and Sharon from Niagara Falls. They are a ton of fun and we enjoyed dinner with them at Coyote Ranch. A good time was had by all, ay.

Riding to Redmond, Oregon - Day 5

Total Miles = 442

We had a lovely brunch at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. Sandra and I parted ways with Jonny at this point. Jonny was riding north to participate in an Iron Butt. Sandra and I were heading west to towards Oregon.



As we left Yellowstone Park, we saw more bison and beautiful sites. As you mayhave heard, there is a lot of construction going on in Yellowstone. We waited for 30 minutes at one point due to a lane closure. We met two very nice couples from North Dakota on Harleys. It takes a while to get out of Yellowstone. Yes, there is traffic and construction, but I found the stay there completely worth it. I only got to see a small portion of what the park has to offer but the sights I did get the chance to see were truly amazing.

Our plan was to continue on Hwy 20. This took us through Montana briefly and then into Idaho. We missed an exit for Hwy 20 and had to re-route northwest for a bit. On this road and when we returned to Hwy 20, we encountered very high winds. At least 50-60 mph. It was scary and I was so tense!

I'm pointing to the place on the map where we rode through 50-60 mph winds.

Because we were riding through desert, there was nowhere to stop. We tried stopping once, but just got blown around more. So we carried on until we reached the town of Unity. After resting and getting our nerves under control, we carried on.

There were winds but they felt like baby's breath compared to what we had just been through. The rest of the ride was quite nice. We rode through the Idaho National Forest, by the Magic Reservoir and saw lava rocks along the way. I didn't know what they were then and I was puzzled by the sight of them. Our stay for the night was in a Comfort Inn in Boise. Ron, the manager, gave us a good rate. Thanks, Ron! We met some other fellow BMW riders, who were on their way to the rally as well.

Riding to Redmond, Oregon - Day 4

Total Miles = 108

After breakfast in the Canyon Lodge cafeteria, we headed for Old Faithful in Yellowstone Park. Along the way, we encountered hordes of bison. We stopped to take pictures and came very close to some of them. Too close for my liking! I couldn't believe how many people walked really close to these bison to take pictures. Bison weigh up to 2,000 pounds and can travel at 40 mph. Every year, park visitors are injured by bison.

We also took pictures by Yellowstone Lake in many spots. We stopped at one of the many sulfur springs, which was cool, but the highlight was seeing a bear down below from a small cliff. It was fun to take a picture at the Continental Divide, but watching the famous Old Faithful erupt was even more fun. Our final destination for the evening was the Mammoth Hot Springs, which are in the northwest corner of the park. The Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel was built in the 30s and quite nice. After dinner, there was the most vivid rainbow I have ever seen.

We then enjoyed a challengingwalk to visit the many locations of hot springs in that area. Below Sandra contemplates the meaning of life watching over Cleopatra's Table.