Beth Dixon: Day Four

The alarm went off at 7:15. I turned it off. Promptly went back to sleep. Woke up a little while later. Stumbled to the bathroom and flipped on the light. No light. Open eyes, then try the light- switch again. No light. Shit, no electricity in the hotel. I felt around the bathroom counter until I found my glasses, then pulled on my sweats and went to find the complimentary breakfast. I was all set for a nice English muffin, until I realized there was no working toaster. Cold cereal had to do. About the time I finished breakfast, the electricity came back on. Sigh.

I tossed the luggage on The Slut and got started. There was little traffic on 97 and what was around was easy to pass. Lots of nice little old couples in late model 4-door American sedans. _Very_ easy to pass. I took the left off 97 onto 62 towards Crater Lake. The scenery got better, but the pavement got worse. The road from the ranger booth to the visitor's center was more dirt and gravel than pavement. Yuck. A guy on a VFR approached in my mirrors and I waved him by. He went by standing on his footpegs and spewing gravel off the rear tire. Either a very good rider or just basically nuts. Once onto the perimeter road around the lake, the road construction was behind me.

I started up the west side of the lake, stopping often to take pictures. I made it all the way around, stopping at about every other lookout. Sometimes I'd take photos and sometimes not. If no one else was around, I'd sit down for a few minutes and be quiet. Then the critters would come out. Birds and assorted rodents are common if you bother to look for them.

After one lap of the lake, it was still too early to leave. So I did another lap. Saw two couples on Goldwings, and an entire group of assorted cruisers. They filled a parking area. I came around a corner to find them all standing along the side of the road waiting for me. I suppose they heard me coming. :-) I got a big wave from all which , of course, I returned. At the end of the second lap, I was beginning to learn the road. I had a bit of time, so I did a third lap at a slightly elevated rate of speed. Had a big grin on my face during that one.