While drying off after showering at the Oregon Trail Motel in Baker City, Oregon, I start to seriously wonder where I was. It’s almost like I had amnesia. This is the first time it’s happened to me on the trip.

“Where am I?”

A list of states went through my head.

The reason that I questioned was the in New Mexico, it’s so dry that you hardly have to use a towel. You can just stand there, wait five minutes and you’re done. This was happening now in whatever state it was.

My first guess was Utah. But that wouldn’t make sense. Idaho? Yes. Yes, Idaho. I was in Wyoming and now I’m in Idaho.

I paused for a moment and remembered that I crossed into Oregon yesterday. Problem solved. This was going to be a weird day.

I rode through town, taking a few pictures, fueled up and was on my way. The scenery coming into Baker was full of sage brush. It was the same as I left, but it gave way to rocky cliffs and tall formations. I thought to myself, “Wow, Nevada is really beautiful!”

Content in that I rode on for about 30 seconds until I thought again, “Where am I?”

Oregon.

Ok, good. Oregon. Oregon looks awesome.

The scenery quickly changed on Oregon Route 7 and I was in a pine forest. They were pretty tall and thin like the pine tree on their license plate. I began to seriously contemplate taking on an event like the Cannonball Run. I worked out the logistics in my head the best I could. I wondered how I would fair against other, seasoned scooterists.

After over seventhousand miles on the road since April 31, I still think of myself as a novice. I guess it’s a good thing. I’m cautious and don’t get cocky.

I thought about riding for charity, but maybe more on that later. I’m still not 100% convinced that I’ll do it, but it’s close. At this point, if I decided not to do it, it would be a let down.

Moving on, I came across a Narrow Gauge Railroad. Since it was 7:30 on a Monday morning, it wasn’t open, but I took a few pictures and wished that I could check it out. I think I really dig narrow gauge railroads. Maybe not more than regular gauge though. Oh, this was the Sumpter Valley Narrow Gauge Railroad.

I rode on, keeping a left eye on the tiny tracks to see how far it went, how much was left and how long the grade extends. Yes, all that with only one eye!

My mind was still mushing around the Cannonball Run idea. How differently would I ride? What would I take? Maybe I wasn’t such a novice. Maybe I could make a pretty good and wellish-informed decision about this. Who knew?

I saw a rest area up ahead and pulled over. Mostly because I was cold.

At the rest area, I found a small take-out contain of styrofoam placed on the ground with writing on it. It was a weird, rambling message about appreciating life and that you may never see snow on the mountains again. Alright. Then it told you to check inside. This could end badly. But I lifted the lid anyway.

And?

Nothing but gravel. And I think it was gravel from the parking lot.

Maybe there was something super awesome that I missed by a couple of days! Maybe.

I placed a few Scoot 66 postcards in it and was on my way.

My next stop along the road was amazing cool. The town of John Day gave me Kam Wah Chung.

Kam Wah Chung was the name of the Chinese store in the town of John Day, Oregon. It was established during a gold rush by Ing Hay (known also as “Doc Hay”) and Lung On (known as “Leon”), Chinese immigrants from Kwangtung.

This store and apothecary served the huge Chinese population (numbering around 3,000) for many years. Ing Hay wanted it to be turned into a Museum after he died. One day he broke his hip, went to a nursing home and the place was forgotten. In 1967, someone redisocovered it and they restored it to how it was.

You have to be on a tour to go into it, so I got on a tour and got to go inside. Sadly, they don’t allow photography. You can see a few pictures of it here, though. It’s a great story that I don’t really have time to relate. Not that you’ll ever be in John Day, Oregon, but if you are, go here. It’s pretty great.

But now I was running a little behind. I wanted to get to Portland around 5:30. At this rate, it wouldn’t be till 7:30. The last thing I wanted was to try to find Ashley’s place in the dark.

The pace would have to be hurried a bit. But things like the town of Mitchell stopped me. Mitchell is small, but is very picturesque in all the ways I like. I nearly buzzed by the town on the US 26 bypass. Thankfully, I could see the town through the trees and turned around.

I wouldn’t be able to do this on the Cannonball. But how could I stop myself. I would have to become a cold-blooded, ruthless riding machine of a scooterist. If I have one weakness in this event, it’s historical markers and ghost towns.

Originally I had planned on taking a few “back roads” to get to Portland. But with the stop in John Day, I had to stick with US 26 for the duration.

It was still a really pretty road. I saw Mt. Jefferson and rode right next to Mt. Hood. It got really cold and cloudy. I thought it was going to snow. Luckily for me, it was a bit too “warm” for that. Not having another Flagstaff experience was ok with me.

I pulled into Portland around five and rode around following my directions to Ashley’s house. I pulled over to give her a call because I was a bit confused. I picked up my phone and then saw her Jeep drive by. I stuffed the phone in my pocket and took off after her.

Half a block later, I was in her parking lot. Awesome!

I unloaded the scooter and we went out to eat at a vegetarian Thai place. Normally I don’t care for Thai food, but I think I like it now. But not the peanut chunks. No.

After we ate (and a bit before) we walked around the Hawthorn area of Portland. Nice place. I think I could really dig it here.

We got back around 8 and with Kevin, watched a pretty nifty movie staring Brandon Fraiser, Buffy and Kevin Bacon. Something about “Air.” It was kind of a gangster/sci-fi movie with a tiny twist at the end. Not perfect, but fun.

And now I’m in their spare-room/Ashley’s studio.
I’m secretly moving in.
They’ll never notice me.

Here are my pics.

Miles today: 336
Miles total: 7429