The Longest Day

9th July 2015 – continued

I get back to the hotel, load all the gear onto the luggage trolley and wheel it out to the Adv. It’s not nearly as warm today – about 64F – but it’s very humid and I will be glad to get moving…


Which I do at about 0925 - it's going to be a short day today as I set the Adv on a homebound course and ask Doris to plot me a winding route...

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...which she does splendidly, taking me on a very pleasant tour of rural Oregon...

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The sun starts to burn off the cloud layer and everywhere crops are being gathered in...

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I spot this brazen hussy selling herself...

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The advert in her windscreen claims 40+mpg - that would be 48 per UK gallon - I think that's a tad optimistic...

Any guesses for make/model/year?
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Onward!

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I follow this chap for a mile or so - his dog with its head stuck out of the window... :D

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It's starting to get a tad warm now - it's forecast to be a smidgen warmer by the time I reach Beaverton...

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I spot this smartly polished individual at a local aerodrome - can anyone identify it?

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At the end of the road there are some roadworks - but only on the crossing road - everyone knows the importance of a clear Airway... :D

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OK - any ideas on this? I couldn't get any closer, so no better pics, I'm afraid...

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This is a very pretty part of Oregon...

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It is getting warm, though...

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Another covered bridge! Doris is pulling out all the stops on our last day...

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It's now officially damned hot - the irrigators are working overtime...

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This road needs a new surface - it's about 70% 'tar snakes'...

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I spot this rather picturesque old barn set back to the right of the road...

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It has a chain across the entrance, but for once, I think "No one will mind" and walk over it.

I literally had one foot either side when Noah turns up in his pick-up truck...

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I'm clearly not suited to a life of crime :D

Noah tells me that his family bought the farm last year and are going to be repainting the barn as part of the refurbishment. I asked if he'd found anything interesting inside, like a 1968 Mustang convertible under a tarpaulin. "No - just a bunch of old concrete blocks" :D

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The farmhouse looks like it has a few stories to tell...

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Onward!

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Now there's a strange looking beast, parked on the tarmac at Aurora airfield.

I'm pretty sure it started life as a Cessna 337 - which had a "push and pull" twin-engined arrangement (if I remember correctly, it was the only twin engined aircraft you could fly on a UK licence without a twin rating - because there was no asymmetry involved in the event of a power failure). In this case, the front engine has been removed and replaced with some type of sensor.

I can feel an evening's Googling coming on... :D

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Doris guides me onto the Interstate for just under a mile, before depositing me at...

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My lunch venue...

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It's an odd place - sort of a sports bar type thing - but they apparently get a lot of Brit & Aussie visitors... :D

I don't feel like a heavy lunch, having IHOPed breakfast, so order a plate of Nachos...

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Dear God.

Eventually it was over and I was allowed to leave...

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Straight onto the Interstate - Beaverton is only 30 mins away now...

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Now - if you are going to tart up a pick-up truck - this is the way to do it...

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How much cooler is that than the purple monster I saw last night?

Can anyone come up with a make/model/year?
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I stop a mile out and fuel up, then arrive back...

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...at 1425 - 3990 miles...

I am greeted effusively by Daisy...

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...and Brandy...

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...then move the bike into the garage and start unpacking my kit. After nearly three weeks on the road, some of this stuff is like weapons grade toxic waste - Jorge's laundry is going to be tested to the limit tonight... :D

Not a bad way to spend a few weeks...

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Well that's quite interesting. Apparently our US Navy Cessna...

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...is a Cessna O-2A Pelican, which is used to simulate a Predator UAV for the USN...
 
:thumb2 1972 according to the ad in the windscreen...

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:thumb2

Ok but the 1950's sedan delivery or two door station wagon has got me beat. It looks more like a GM product than Ford but then again it's cobby enough to be something else.... :nenau
 
Ok but the 1950's sedan delivery or two door station wagon has got me beat. It looks more like a GM product than Ford but then again it's cobby enough to be something else.... :nenau

I'm hoping somebody from ADVrider is going to come through with a guess... :D
 
What an excellent report, great pictures, has really kept me entertained every morning pre shift. Now what am I going to do??:nenau

Thanks for sharing:beerjug:
 
Nice report, Mike.:thumb

Breakfast time reading won't be the same.
 
Can you go back and do it all over again please Mike? I need something to keep me entertained until I go on holiday. :D Great reading as always mate.
 
Just received an email from my builder saying that the kitchen and bathroom are finished and ready for my return...
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Mike.

You stay over there and map out another trip.

I will go to your house and inspect the builders work, and the quality of the kitchen and bathroom.

I'll send the report in about 2 weeks.:D

As ever, a top quality read.

Thanks from all of us here for taking the time to post.
 
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