Diamond Lake Resort - Ft Klamath, OR: Wayne, where are you? - The Granny Panties Tour

June 28, 2015

Diamond Lake Resort - Ft Klamath, OR: Wayne, where are you?

Aspen Inn 52250 Hwy 62, 541-381-2321 $81.75/includes tax. Nicely cared for, completely refurbished older motel. Tile floors. Very nice ladies running the place. Microwave/fridge. Good wifi. Old TV, it has one channel.

Oren and I discussed over dinner that there was a storm moving through the area, cooling the temps off. We had 3,338 feet of climbing today. That's an easier day on this tour. I thought leaving later would be okay. I set my alarm for 6 AM instead of 5 AM. Did I sleep until 6 AM? Of course not. I got up at 5:30 . . . I was out the door by ten to seven. Oren had eaten at the cafe and left I'm not sure how much ahead of me.

Remember that eight miles to the resort? It took me an hour and 800 feet of climbing to retrace my steps. I mentally whined the whole way, except for the downhill parts. Those were fine.

I had ice in my water and Gatorade. Spiz I miss you. But no burrito. Today was a sweet snack day. Darn. I was planning to stop at the top and eat real food.

This day is a repeat of 2006, when we were on tour with Wayne Estes. There was far more snow then. Snow makes for dramatic photos, as does blue sky. We had neither today.

Wayne Este's photo of Jacinto from June 22, 2006. Today is June 28th. There is plenty of snow.

Here we are today, blocking Wizard Island.

No snow today or blue sky. It's not near as dramatic of a photo.

We saw a number of fire fighting crews. A cycle tourist I chatted with briefly said he had ridden over Windigo Pass, but he didn't suggest it because the fire was close to there. I tried to ask about actual road conditions, but he was more interested in talking about the fire. He did have 2" tires.

The mosquitoes were out in force today. Any rest/photo breaks were very brief. It didn't take the skeeters long to figure out there was fresh blood for the letting. I didn't see Oren in front of me or Jacinto behind me. I told Jacinto it would be really nice to get another photo together at the top, but we agreed it wasn't likely he would be on the road in time for that to happen.

Traffic was lighter than I expected and polite. I ran into Willard and Steve at the very top of the climb. They were very familiar with the area and gave me lots of local tips. Willard was on an Atlantis and Steve had a Bachetta with ERRC underseat panniers. Those are hard to find now. We chatted for quite awhile. But I was hungry. Off I went. The road did some more up and down stuff before I saw the sign for the Crater Lake Village. Who should be coming down the drive but Oren. He hadn't eaten and was fairly easy to convince to go back.

I was told yesterday that the restaurant was good, they had a great store, and big gift shop. The restaurant must have been over with the lodge. The cafe we ate at did have an outdoor dining area, but not with a view of the lake. Neither of us were ambitious enough to find the lodge to eat there. I had a chicken bowl, $8.25, that had lots of chicken. Oren wasn't as impressed with his $5.00 hotdog, although I do think it was a real meat hotdog and not of suspicious origin.

We were just getting ready to go when here came Jacinto. He doctored up my chicken bowl leftovers with lots of condiments - jalapeños, sirracha sauce, ketchup, mustard, and mayo. It was quite a sight. It must have been tasty, he ate it right down.

Finally, we were ready for the 20 mile downhill. Willard and Steve had assured me it would be a fast run. That's good - when I'm done with the climb for the day, I'm done.

As we descended, I could feel a few drops of rain. Then a few more drops. Ah, oh. Were we going to get wet now? Maybe if I pedaled faster, I'd get out of the rain? I stopped to use the potty at the entrance station. It was locked. Must be for employees only? At this rate we'll be to town right away anyway.

Even on the downhills I"m not as fast as Jacinto. He stopped a couple of times to let me get ahead, I think. We caught up with Oren, who shouted at Jacinto, "You need to get a recumbent." We zipped right on past Oren. Down, down, down. Steve was correct, it was a nice downhill. As we got out of the forest, we were in cattle country. Barns and cows and grass. It reminds me of home.

We agreed to stop at Jo's Organic Deli and Grocery to buy dinner. Originally we were going to stay at the motel there, but no wifi or no TV. Not good for a layover day. Hmmmm, two days of living on what is at Jo's. We wandered around like we were starving. I think we were. It was a tough selection since I'm not eating wheat. Sandwiches were out. All of the frozen dinners were out. They were either noodles or pizza. Frozen burritos, I think Annie's frozen burritos are gluten free. I'm just not a big frozen burrito fan. I was wishing I had bought another chicken bowl at the top and brought it with me.

After grocery shopping we move on to the motel. It's about a half mile away, very cute. There are three cabins with motel rooms on both sides. Obviously old, but well tended. Nice grounds. The two ladies inside are solicitous and answer all of our questions. Heidi walks us over to our rooms. The first thing Oren does is walk inside and yank all of the covers off, down to the mattress. Heidi asks what he is looking for. Bed bugs. She was insulted saying they keep a nice place and have passed their inspection this spring. I went slinking into my room . . . geez Oren. You couldn't wait to check the bed until after she left?

Then as Heidi was walking away Jacinto wanted to ask about washing clothes so he whistled to get her attention . . . heck . . . am I associated to these two? When I elbowed him about whistling, he asked how else he was supposed to get her attention from that far away . . . .

Edit - I asked Oren if I could put this in the journal - he said sure. He didn't think he was out of line at all, he thought she should have invited him to check the bed. "Please, go ahead".

Jacinto and Oren have been over to the motel office and purchased Hagendaz ice cream bars. They have info on a campground 2.5 miles away that has a store. That is their activity for tomorrow. Since the TV has only one station . . . good thing I have the computer. We can watch Amazon instant videos. Jacinto didn't like that idea to start, then he decided the screen was about the same size as the TV screen here, so what the heck.

Tomorrow Jim and Genny Fitch join us for the rest of the tour. I bet they eat a hearty meal before setting out. They are taking the overnight train from Martinez, CA to Klamath Falls. It arrives (hopefully) at 8 AM. The temperatures don't look too bad. They have 40 miles to ride.

Edit yet again - Wayne just pointed out that my journal is featured this week. Woohoo! I was hoping to get enough great reads to be featured later - look at me! Silly how happy that makes me, but I have a giant smile. Jacinto, of course, doesn't get it at all. I told him to break out the beer. But he said we have to have dinner first at 6 PM (frozen dinner for him, a can of chili for me) and then we can have the beer to celebrate. To wind up the celebration we are going to watch a movie on the computer.

Speaking of the computer - I brought a 13" MacBook Air. It's been worth every ounce at 2.98 pounds. I have been wearing the same shirt every day. I'm sure you all haven't noticed that. All of my clothes for the day fit into one gallon size ziplock baggie. I have another one with heavy weight stuff that I haven't used and don't expect to use since we are moving into the big heatwave.

OK - 6:02 PM here - time for that scrumptious dinner and my celebratory beer. Thank you, Neil for the featured journal!

Jacinto doctored up my leftovers. Looks yummy, doesn't it?

Steve and Willard. On a Bachetta and Atlantis, respectively.

The Windigo Pass guy's bike. I didn't get his name. His bike was very tricked out. Note the water bottles on the front of the Ortlieb panniers. Do the panniers come like that, or is that a modification?

Today's ride: 46 miles (74 km)
Total: 941 miles (1,514 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	1
Comment on this entry	Comment	0