We received an early morning call from our friends asking if we wanted to go for a ride. Of course we did. Their choice of destination was John Day, Oregon for lunch. They met us at our house in Heppner, Oregon at 9:00 am, they live the little town of Ione, Oregon, 19 miles away.
It was a little cool and there were some ominous looking grey clouds up towards the mountains, so we threw in our light rain jackets and took off...
We headed up Willow Creek Road, a nice curvy road that is well maintained in the summer months but, closed in the winter at Cutsforth park campground. We took a break at the forest service wayside before dropping down the other side where we turned onto Hwy 395B. You could go into Ukiah, a nice little community that has a cafe, bar, mini mart, and huge ice cream cones for a little price.
Since we haven't ridden a lot this year we took several breaks to stretch our legs and behinds! Again a nice road well maintained road with lots of curves also not a lot of traffic. You can see wildlife all along the way, mostly deer but you might spy an elk or eagle too. There are also many small towns along the way. Sometime we want to make an overnight stop at Ritter Hotsprings, www.ritterhotsprings.com, I have been there before but that was many years ago. Once arriving in John Day we decided to eat at The Outpost Pizza, Pub and Grill. The meal was great and the place is decorated beautifully lots of pine. www.gooutpost.com.
We always try to avoid going home the same way we went, always good to be able to make a loop. So this being said we only had to backtrack a short distance to Mount Vernon, Or. then continuing on towards Spray. This is also know as "Old West Scenic Bikeway" and you will see alot of bikes during the summer season. The road follows the John Day River and is both curvy and scenic. The hills are beautiful colors and cathedral rock is a great photo op! The area is also full of history, with the John Day Fossil beds and the Painted hills along the way. The Thomas Condon Paleontology center makes for a great stop. It is a free visitor center that is full of fossils and history of the area. Also a good bathroom stop.
www.nps.gov/joda/.../Thomas-Condon-Paleontology-Center.htm
At Kimberly, Oregon you can get fresh fruit if the season is right. Cherries, peaches, apples, apricots. We were to early this year but we plan on going again later in the summer!
We continued towards Spray but at the jct. we turned onto hwy 207 to head back to Heppner. This road up over Spray mountain is a motorcyclists joy, the switch backs are very sharp but there are also some sweeping corners my hubs loves.. up near the summit is the Morrow County's OHV park that also has a full service cafe, called the Landing, Bobbette and the crew will take great care of you. The county also has cabins available for rent here if you want to have a nice break in the mountains. http://morrowcountyparks.org/ohvpark.asp
The park is also staffed with medics and police most of the time so if you need help, or just want to stop and visit its the place to stop.
After an ice cream stop at the park we mounted our bikes for the final leg of our journey. The Orem's, our friends, took the short cut down Rhea creek to Ione at Ruggs, we went on towards Heppner, and home! The distance was about 250 miles. It was a great day, didn't get rained on, had great company and good food, what better way to spend a summer Saturday? Can't wait to ride again. I have a few pictures of our ride, be warned though, most of my pictures are taken while in motion, from the back of the bike. And this trip my battery died before we made it home..
We are planning a coast trip for late July but we hope to have a day ride on the 4th, if the weather is good.
This is my first time sharing our rides, hope you enjoy reading about us..
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