Eastern Washington produces a lot of wheat. I stopped briefly on a farm road near Davenport, a small farming community 20 miles or so west of Spokane on US Hwy 2.
Doc Morgan and I got off to a great start Wednesday morning under blue skies and warm temperatures. Traffic was light on US2, our chosen route across the northern half of Washington State from Seattle in the west to Spokane near the eastern border. After stopping for lunch in Leavenworth, a Bavarian theme town on the east edge of the Cascade Mountain range, we continued north and east through Wenatchee.
Trouble reared it's ugly head, though, about 20 miles north of Wenatchee. Doc's scooter died. Trying to get the old 1979 P200E Vespa to start was effort wasted. Doc and I noticed that there seemed to be very little compression when kicking the starting lever. Bad sign. Blown rings or burned piston was his guess. Course of least resistance at this point is a cell pone call to AAA. (What did we do before cell phones?)
Doc and I waited for over an hour in 100 degree heat for the tow truck to show up. After Doc's scooter was loaded for the trip into Wenatchee, he and I said good bye and I scooted on toward Spokane, finally arriving about 7 pm. A long and hot first day.
Tomorrow it's on to Glacier Park in Montana ... riding solo.
For more Wednesday photos see Extra Depth.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Davenport, Washington Post Card
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17 comments:
Lllllluvvvv-it! Is that a puff of dust from the vehicle in the distance?
The lone scooter...and now the lone rider! I like this photo.
And what happened to doc? I assume it eventually got his machine fixed or sold or...
Beautiful shot. Solo for the rest of the trip? Take care. MB
sorry to hear about Doc... wouldn't be surprise if he rides straight through and is there to greet You in Montana!!! btw - did you forget to bring the ducks on this trip???? (like the traveling nome)
Beautiful! Amber waves of grain!
So sorry to hear you lost your travel partner. I guess we just never know with these little machines. Love the photo! Take care!!
This is a stunning photo. In the face of adversity you still had the wherewithall to capture such an outstanding photo. Sorry about Doc's scooter. That is a bummer. Take care!
V
Wow, I really love this photo!!
Click,
Sorry Doc broke down. Great picture. Keep us posted and the rubberside down.
Hairy
what a wonderful vista.
Beautiful landscape shot, and the scooter's not bad either.
What a fine image of the wheat field. However, "Louis" noticed someone slipped a Vespa into the image. hmmm.... A little placement advertising peut être?
"Louis" is sorry to read that your traveling partner's Vespa seems to have taken a vacation of sorts...
Sorry you are solo, but I hope you still have a great time!
Lovely shot- the wheat is so pretty right now... or it will be for a few more weeks- the combiners are in town and will take care of it!
Aside from cell phones, the other great invention has to be the GPS system.
When I used to drive (a pick-up truck in Monroe, Louisiana), my biggest fear was getting lost in the wilderness and not being able to find my way home. That was probably why I never enjoyed driving.
But lately, I've been in cars (friends driving) and I noticed how different the experience is with the GPS on the dashboard.
Chuck, this photo fills me with an incredible longing for the road, not necessarily on a Vespa since I'm not the most balanced human bean in the pod, but for the road nevertheless. I love this photo!
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