Day 31 - Klamath Falls, OR to Sunnyvale, CA

We were anxious to get home so we got up at 5am and were riding by 6am. It was only a few miles to the border and we crossed into California at 6:30. The last few miles in Oregon were interesting. Starting at that time of the morning and with it being cool, in the fifties, the lake and pastures all had a low covering of mist. It looked like what you sometimes see in movies.

We rode highway 97 and could see Mt. Shasta very clearly. At a couple places we hit dense fog banks. It came and went quickly but it was interesting to ride through. Riding through the forested Shasta-Trinity area on I-5 is very pretty.

Once we dropped down in elevation and into Redding the temperature went up at least 20 degrees. One of the reasons we started early was to avoid some of the intense heat of the valley. We stopped in Redding at the Country Kitchen for breakfast. We were back on the road again just after 9am.

The I-5 route from Redding to Vacaville was pretty boring. We helped to pass the time and keep alert with what Walt called "interactive riding". We ride primarily in the right lane but would overtake and pass the cars and trucks in front of us. This routine of constantly overtaking and passing avoided the monotony of driving straight in a single lane and also kept us paying attention to all of the traffic around us.

We hit a big backup due to a major accident. A Greyhound bus had overturned and run off the highway. It gets really hot riding a motorcycle in the valley while moving so slowly that there is no air to cool you off.

Once we got onto I-80 the temperatures dropped some but the traffic became much heavier and we had to deal with the crazy drivers. We were quite glad that we were going into the bay area and not leaving it. There was a HUGE backup waiting to cross the Benecia bridge. Over 3 miles of 3 lanes of traffic stopped! I think it was only going to get worse as the afternoon progressed.

Once we were onto I-680 home felt really close. We had to stay alert because we also had to contend with the worst drivers of the entire trip.

We arrived home just after 2.

It is really good to be back.

Mt. Shasta 

Mt. Shasta 

Day 30 - Kennewick, WA to Klamath Falls, OR

The first part of todays ride was along the Columbia River on the Oregon side. It seemed like the river kept the temperature down a little. We didn't hit any uncomfortable temperatures in the morning. The land we went through was nearly desert. It seems strange at times to see a huge river running in the middle of parched land and only the 10 feet of land next to the river get any benefit from it.

We turned south onto Highway 97. We decided to go through the interior of Oregon instead of heading over to Portland and down I-5. We came up I-5, so this gives us some different scenery.

From the northern Oregon border on 97 to Bend, OR the land looks like open farmland with very few trees. The temperature started to climb on this road. It is a two lane highway with a speed limit of 55 miles per hour and much more traffic. We did not make as good time as we were used to the day before with a 75 mph speed limit!

After Bend trees start to show up again and most of the highway from Bend to Klamath Falls is passing through pine forested land.

We hit the WORST highway contruction delay so far about 15 miles from Klamath Falls. Cars were lined up for miles and miles. I found 3 miles of cars waiting to head north once we passed through the construction site heading south. The highway was constricted down to one lane. Good thing the radiator fan got replaced. This would have killed my bike!

We'll be going to bed early tonight. We plan on getting up early and heading home. We're both ready!

Day 29 - Missoula, MT to Kennewick, WA

Good news! Great news! The part arrived at the dealer and was installed. After hooking the bike up to the computer and a test ride it was pronounced as fixed.

We were able to leave the dealer just about noon. Because of the time change from Mountain to Pacific time we gain another hour. We've left out motorcycles and computers on Pacific time the entire time so as far as I was concerned we left about 11am.

The ride was pretty nice from Missoula through Idaho. It rained on us a little and got a little cold going over a mountain pass at the border between Montana and Idaho but nothing that lasted more than 5 or 10 minutes. We had suited up for rain because of the past week. The weather reports said that the weather was going to clear but we just didn't trust it. Around Coeur d'Alene we finally took the rain gear off.

Just south of Spokane the scenery turns pretty boring and the temperature started going up. The roads in this area look very much like central valley California I-5. We pulled into Kennewick, WA with the temperature at about 87.

My bike didn't have any overheating problems which is nice. That takes one worry away. I did check the dash lights much more frequently though!

We're glad to be heading home. The next two days will be pretty long but we're ready for the final push to get home.

Day 28 - Missoula, MT

We heard from Don last night. Walt sent his cell phone with Don so he'd have some way to keep in touch in case of a problem. He called last night to say he was safely stopped for the night near Boise, Idaho. He said he hit a lot of rain but it was OK.

We're off to the dealer soon to see what will happen today.....

UPDATE: The dealer found that I have a bad radiator fan. We decided to wait another day here to get that part sent in and it should be replaced tomorrow. This part explains part of the overheating problem I was having. I have also removed the fork gaiters and radiator guard hoping that this will improve the airflow when moving. This returns the bike to a stock condition and the dealer didn't find any other problems. So, we should be able to ride with confidence tomorrow.

ANOTHER UPDATE: I got a phone call from Don saying he was safely in Topaz for the night. He gave us an update on road conditions for the route he took.

Walt and I have made these tentative plans for getting home:
Day 29 Missoula, MT to Kennewick, WA
Day 30 Kennewick, WA to Klamath Falls, OR
Day 31 Klamath Falls, OR to Sunnyvale, CA

To Tommy from Sunriver, Walt says thanks for the suggestions on the brew pubs! We can count on you to get critical information to us!

Day 27 - Missoula, MT

At 9am today my hopes for a good resolution were killed. Although I had called the dealership and got a recorded message saying they were open on Monday's it turns out the service department doesn't work on Monday.

Walt and Don arrived at about 10:30. We talked things over and tried a couple things. We put the thermostat back in since that didn't appear to be part of the problem. The dealer also told us that BMW has a service bulletin about fork gaiters causing overheating problems. So we cut those off too.

Walt and I went out for a test ride. It appeared to be working better. We rode for about 20 miles at high RPM and the problem did not reoccur. Just to make sure again we left it idling in the parking lot. We wanted to verify that the fan turned on again. It did. BUT a couple minutes later the temperature warning light turned on again. That was a knife into our hearts.

Conference time again. To avoid stranding us yet again I decided it would be most prudent to wait one more day and have the service department check it out. Don decided to continue on his own an alternate route home.

In some respects this is the end of the trip. Now we are just trying to get home safely. We're still 3 or 4 days away from home. Walt and I will stay together until we get home or my bike dies!

Maybe this is the more true adventure part of the entire thing. We have to change plans, live day by day and be prepared for the unexpected.

Day 26 - Livingston, MT to Teton Village, WY

The day started off as expected. We rode to Yellowstone in the morning. At the entrance to the park my bike's temperature light turned on. We had to wait in a long line to get in so we hoped that once we started moving again the problem would go away. It didn't. After riding in about five miles my bike overheated again and started to spit radiator fluid.

Walt called the Salt City BMW dealer and discussed some possible problems with a guy there. We decided to head out of the park and try some emergency repairs.

To get out of the park I coasted the bike, it was almost all downhill, most of the way out. Just outside the park we removed the thermostat and let the bike run more. It overheated again. We had a conference to discuss the options of having parts FedEx'd to us there or trying to get the bike to a dealer. We opted for the dealer approach since the bike is still under warranty.

I called and got a tow truck to take me and the bike to the nearest dealer. "Nearest" meant 300 miles away in Missoula. It was too late in the day for Walt and Don to ride that far so they opted to ride to Butte and meet me at the dealer the following day.

The tow truck ride was long and I got in about 9:30pm. Don and Walt got to Butte about 7:00pm but got hit with some horrendous thunderstorm. The sky was black and dumping drops the size of buckets. For a while Walt and Don waited under an underpass with some other stranded motorcyclists (Harley riders).

We hoped that after a quick repair in Missoula we'd be back on the road. Since Missoula was backtracking for us the rest of the trip plan was cancelled and we'd be taking a different route home.