As we left The Bay Area, the heat returned. We made it just over 200 miles and we were in dire need of some cooling off. We were passing through Shasta Lake so we drove through the hills for a swim. The lake felt like a giant bath, but the air was so hot that anything would do. The views made for a great time. After returning to the bus, we figured the best way to dry off was to bomb some hills. We grabbed our scoots and sent it down some long declines.
The rest of the trip up north left us delirious, glistening from sweat. Reading books, listening to podcasts, talking about things that didn’t matter, trying to look out the windows for a reason to stop, we did anything to try and pass the time. We ended up in Winchester, Oregon “camping” under the 5 for the night.
While on our way to Sammamish, we were going to pick up Kirk if he didn’t end up getting his bike working in time. He ended up passing us while we were at a gas station taking a break and it gave us hope that we might actually make this long trek up north.
Sammamish skatepark was already popping off when we showed. Tricks were flowing, prizes were getting tossed and autographs were being signed. After the jam, we headed back to Blake’s parents house to kick it in the backyard, this was our home base for the next night or two. Big shout out to the Bailor family for the hot showers, a quiet place to camp, and an actual stove to cook on.
The next day was the Seattle Jam which was wild!!! We had an entire train of scooter riders headed into the city. After the hill bomb and the ledge spot, the police were on to us and started following us around. The jam wrapped up at a steep handrail and we headed back to the starting point where Kirk was thirsty for a trick. He ended up getting his ender that day for his Reincarnate part.
About two hours later, Jon also got his ender for Transport, a switch finger whip. He battled for this trick and when he landed it, we were all stoked to see him pull it off…well all of us except for Issac. Issac fell asleep.
Pat had a trick he wanted to land on a rail Blake brought us to. It was our first spot for the day and there was no real way for Pat to warm up so we had to get creative with it. Chris told Pat to jump over a fold up chair but Pat thought that was too easy so Kirk agreed to sit in it. No run up, Pat jumped over Kirk like it was nothing. That surely warmed Patrick up for the rail.
With no real plans where to stay that night, James ended up offering his place for us to crash. With a high rise view, swimming, hot tub and a tv to watch movies on, we were in! Thanks for spreading the love and giving us a sweet view of the city. A highlight for sure.
The next day, we woke up to an urgency to leave before the bus got towed. We were nearly blocked in when we pulled out of the parking lot. We were headed to Portland were we would end the trip. Kirk took us to one of his favorite taco spots followed by a swimming hole where he shotgunned a beer while cliff jumping into the water.
Pat, Dylan and Tyler were all talking about shaving their heads throughout the day so they made a night out of it. We were staying at Kirk’s girlfriends place. Ironically, she wasn’t there and neither were her roommates so we had the place to ourselves. The door handle doesn’t really work so if you shut the door all the way, the door handle just comes off and you are forced to break in some how. The place had records, motorcycles, and a fire pit. It was the perfect homie hook up.
After a month of hanging in the bus with the boys, it was time to part ways. My friends that run a pet apparel company called Winks & Whiskers were hanging in the PNW so I traded in Big Blue for Long Bottom, the trusty RV. Instead of looking for 16 stair handrails, I was on the look out for trailheads and firewood. We ended up setting camp inside Mt. Hood National Forest, hiking Bald Mountain & Ramona Falls
After some strenuous hiking and river crossings, we made our way to Rogue Brewery in Ashland, Oregon where lots of beer were had and some erie fog rolled in for some pretty cool photos.
