Bellevue to Medford (450 miles)

I discovered something today. It's really, really stupid to take the electric gloves and not take the electric jacket. Specifically, I froze my ass off. It was foggy and 40 degrees through most of Oregon, with occasional sun breaks. Riding at 75 mph, I figure the wind chill made the temps down to something like 20 degrees or so. My toes were numb, my arms were cold and I finally broke down and bought more fleece at the local Joe's in Lake Oswego. And foot warmers. I could barely move after assembling all the layers - long sleeve tee shirt, turtleneck fleece, new fleece jacket, Cordura Harley jacket with liner. I gained 20 pounds I didn't need to gain just in layers. I felt like the kid in The Christmas Story; I'm quite sure if I'd fallen, I couldn't have gotten up. But I was warmer.

I also discovered that trying to listen to in iPod while riding at 75 mph and with loud pipes is a fruitless exercise. I may have to buy one of those Bluetooth helmet rigs so that I can listen to tunes. I will say that the Garmin Zumo 550 GPS is one of the best purchases I've ever made. For you non-riders, it's a motorcycle-specific GPS with large type so that leather-clad fingers can use it. Very cool. Very useful. This is its maiden voyage.

Other observations of the day: There are a lot of sheep in Oregon. Cute little lambkins, gamboling about. Man, they're good with garlic and rosemary rub! There are a lot of twisty passes requiring intense concentration. My brain hurts. There are idiots who drive U-Hauls and think it's a good idea to pull into my lane going about 40 mph, when I'm going about 75 mph, thereby giving me the opportunity to practice my braking skillls. And exercising my middle finger.

When I pulled up to Thor and Farida's place in Medford, it took about half an hour before I stopped feeling as if I was vibrating. We had a lovely Italian dinner and talked about old times. I've known Thor for 32 years. Gack. How did we get to be this old? Tomorrow, I have another cold morning to look forward to as I head over the Siskiyous and into California. And the further south I go, the warmer it will be. And Richard is being a sweetie and UPS'ing my electric jacket and electric socks to me in Santa Barbara so that I won't be miserable on the way home. Thanks, honey!