Shelberg Falls

Yesterday Rick took Ruben and I to Shelberg Falls. It was about a 30 minute drive up highway 22, and it was already hot when we left.

The hike in was on a gravel road, with some cattle grates, and a lot of it was in full sun. By the time we got to the waterfall, Ruben and Rick were ready to get wet. Rick's dog Niijii was having a hard time with the gravel on the road, and was happy to get her feet in the cold water as well. I was happily warm, and didn't feel the need to be wet and cold, although I regretted that decision by the time we got back to the car.

The traffic was horrendous but we stopped for ice cream on the way home.

The story of my new motorcycle

My facebook friend Rick had asked me back in March if I would go riding with him. I was sick and said "yes... sometime when I feel better". Eventually in April I felt better, and when he asked me for the third time, I charged up the battery on my bike and took it for a ride.

The old Kawasaki ran. It did not however run perfectly. My bike is a 1986 Kawasaki 454. Its a cool looking (imo) bike, with character, but mine has the added character of rust, zip tied turn signals, an exhaust leak, dented tank, and old cracking tires. It makes a weird grindy noise at 3000rpms. His name is PR for Purple Rain because it looks kinda like the one Prince rode. There is actually a Kawasaki 454 facebook group of people obsessed with this particular bike. 

I had bought the bike for $1000 from someone on craigslist when Ru was 4. I haven't done much with it but ride it all these years, new tires and batteries and oil changes when it was necessary. I never fixed the dent, or the zip ties. I never bought fancy gear. Except for the four years that Ru was a baby, I've had a motorcycle since I was 18. 

I had Ru drive me down to Bill's Motorcycles get new tires on PR, and a few days later when the rain stopped I went for a ride with Rick. 

4th of July in Silverton on my Kawasaki 454.

That was so much fun we went on another, and then another. Rick is good company, and a great rider who knows every good ice cream stop. I bought some armored riding pants so now my gear consists of pants with knee pads, heavy over the ankle boots, a jacket with pads on shoulders, elbows, and back, a full face helmet, and articulated leather gloves with padded knuckles. 

Purple Rain just couldn't keep up anymore. It tops out at 55mph unless you  really push it, and if you push it it backfires when you decelerate.  I joined the Salem Riders Group but couldn't go on any rides because my bike was too slow. 

Rick rides a Triumph Bonneville, and was gracious enough to let me try his. (It is not a usual thing to borrow someone else's bike, it's risky.) I really liked the power, and the riding position. My Kawi has a really laid back cruiser position and it hurt my chronically sore tail bone. The Triumph lets you sit up straight. I looked at sport bikes (aka crotch rockets) but was a little intimidated by them. 

Sitting on Rick's bike Ginger after riding it to Silverton to see how liked the Triumph. I had him take a picture to see how it looked on me. I thought it was a good fit. 

So after searching craigslist for a few weeks, and thinking about how much fun it is to ride, and the whole social distancing thing, I decided to go look at a blue and white Triumph Bonneville in Eugene. Rick graciously agreed to come along and give it the once over. 

I had brought some cash with me, but not the full asking price. I brought what I had. We each took it for a test ride. There was nothing wrong with the bike. It is a 2012 with 3000 miles on it. Tires were good, and it had been lowered so that the woman who owned it could ride it. She was even a little shorter than me so I was able to be flat footed on both sides of the bike which is very important, especially when you are sitting on it and trying to push it backwards. 

After the test ride, I offered what cash I had brought. The couple conferred and declined. They said that they weren't in a hurry and would just keep waiting. I said okay and we drove off. 

About three miles from their house I got a call. They had changed their minds and accepted my offer. So we went back and I gave them cash, and they signed over the title, and I rode my new bike home with only my summer gear on a chilly night, and partially on the freeway. Rick had offered to ride part of the way, he had his helmet, but I declined. I was bringing my new bike home. It was a fun ride for part of it, but a little nerve-wracking, and by the time I got home I was chilled through. 

The next day I took him for a spin, (I think it's a masculine bike) and the next day I took him up to Sprague High School to practice swerves and turns in the parking lot. I paused for a minute near the woods and took some new bike selfies. 

Added bonus, the gear I already had matches perfectly.

Ruben is still a great passenger!

I looked thought a list of British men's names to help me find a name for my bike, but haven't come up with anything particularly fitting yet. 

Colors from the Triumph website: Intense Orange with Phantom Black and Pacific Blue with Fusion White.

Ruben's Birthday and Camping

Loading up the car

This trip was a little different, we invited the Starr family to join us. Ruben and Rick rode in my car with me, Niijii Rick's dog stayed home for this trip.

The Starrs met us at the campground and got a site nearby.  Mom and Jeff joined us in our campsite the second night. We all shared a campfire and stories the first night we camped, and the second night I played ukelele and mom and I sang in harmony. Mostly CSN songs.

Ellie wanted to do an early morning swim, and Rick was a good sport and joined her. It was way to chilly for me to join in, and Ruben wasn't even awake. 

Grumpy much? 

Ruben does a good job of building fires, and he built this one all by himself. 

Lower trestle creek falls

Brice Creek

Sarah and Colin Starr in the boat, with Mikela Starr getting ready for some tubing.

Mikela

Rick

Colin

The next day we all hiked to Spirit Falls, AND Moon falls. Mom and Jeff, and the Starr family, Ruben with Rick and I. Some people swam in the cold cold water, but Ru and I decided to climb up on the rocks above the falls and look down. Ru and I had on our new hiking boots. He got his for his birthday a little early. 

A little bit of pretty water below Moon Falls.

My mom doing yoga and soaking up the negative ions (it's a good thing)

Colin and Sarah :)

Jeff and Mom

Sarah

Ellie

Me

For Ruben's birthday we celebrated with carrot cake and two types of ice cream. Colin went into town to get the cake and skipped a boat ride. Ruben's dad Jeff drove down and joined us from his place in Lebanon. 

Ruben got some great presents for his 17th birthday but the biggest and best of the gifts was a new bike! Mom and Jeff got him a fantastic Giant brand bike from a bike shop in Albany. It has 18 speeds and disc brakes. Since the country is going through a bike shortage it was awesome that they were able to find one at all. 

I bought Ru boots and a helmet (he thought the helmet was for me when we were shopping for one). Rick got him an awesome pocket knife, the Starr family got him a gaming computer mouse, and his dad brought him some gift cards and delicious chocolates. 

The first camping trip of 2020

To celebrate the end of the school year my language arts PLC went camping. It was supposed to rain, and we only stayed one night, but it was good to give the camping gear a test run. We stayed at Big Eddy Park Campground which was lovely, but noisy because it was near a road which had frequent log truck traffic.

We ended up setting up the tent on the RV pad , covering it with the giant tarp, and running a power cord from the RV hookup box to the electric blanket I had thought to bring. We were quite cozy.

As soon as we arrived I put in earplugs and took a nap.
Then I went to bed early. Sleeping outside is lovely, when you have an electric blanket.

Finishing School 2020

It was a weird ending to the school year for sure. Distance learning wasn't bad, but it was different. Ruben finished the year strong getting B's in most of his classes, but it didn't matter because he only needed to pass.

I finished with some Dungeons and Dragons, did my progress reports, and the year was over.

Who knows what next year will bring, I have applied for a job as a testing specialist and have an upcoming interview.

My D&D group

The remainder of the memes