I woke up Sunday to a homemade breakfast of waffles, bacon and plenty of hot coffee (black, of course). After helping Cliff load some junk in his truck for a trip to the landfill, I packed up my gear and prepared for a scenic ride home. One more time down that daggone dirt road and then off to my first scenic stop.

Smith Rock State Park is only about 8 miles from Cliff's place as the crow flies, but on the road it's about 20 miles. The beauty of this place never ceases to amaze me and I stop here every chance I get when I'm in this neck of the woods. After leaving Smith Rock I headed back to Sisters and grabbed a bite to eat.

After lunch, I decided to take the scenic route back over the Cascades and I headed up McKenzie Pass. Mother nature did some serious regurgitating up here and there are huge lava fields that stretch for miles scattered between the high Cascade peaks. The road is narrow and twisty and you really have to watch out for gravel in the turns. As I was pulling over at a scenic overlook, what to my wandering eyes should appear, but yet another black Valk! It was Keith (K-man) and Terri Odoms from Bend. Keith is involved in the Christian Motorcyclists Association and is a member of the Prison Ministry Team. He told me that he rides his Valk into the prisons and that really gets their attention. Keith has been with the VRCC for a while (member # 498)! OK, so I'm only about 10,000 behind him at 10,419.

After riding down the twisty McKenzie pass road, I hit Highway 126 and backtracked about 20 miles so I could pick up Highway 20 to Albany. I practically had the whole road to myself for miles, but finally hit a string of vehicles with trailers. The first chance I got I kicked it down a gear and blasted past them. When I was gassing up in Albany, the attendant asked me how to pronounce the name of my bike. He said he had never seen one and that they get bikes coming through there all the time. He couldn't stop staring at the Valk and my head was getting too big to fit back into my helmet at this point.

Well, it was all highway back home from there on out. What a great weekend! To Ric (Valkano) and George, thanks for riding out with me. It was a blast! To Tom (Musclehead), thanks for the ride to the Cascade Lakes area and thanks to your daughter for the extra roll of film! Keith and Terri, it was great meeting you and I hope to run into you again out there in God's country! And finally, to all you folks out there in VRCC land... come and visit us out here in the Great Northwest. We'll show you a good time!

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