Day 3 fun in Portland !!!!!

Today, was a leisurely day to hang out and experience the vibe of the Pacific Northwest. And oh does Portland have a vibe uniquely it's own!! A little hippy, a little chic, a little earthy...just plain kind of cool with super nice people. Not a bad place to spend the day.

The morning did start with meeting Portland's only grumpyhead. Yup, Bif needed her coffee and since there were no Dutch Brothers in Portland she went to "the next best thing".....Starbucks.....yea, that's it...the next best thing....right.....NOT!!! The coffee drink was the wrong drink, apparently a vanilla latte is oh so confusing for these Portland Starbucks employees to produce. If only Biff had asked for a simpler drink.....And to top the experience off, the barrista clearly had not smoked enough pot or taken her happy pills. But she certainly does get a giant gold star for being the grumpiest Portlander ever!!! Now that is a title to be proud of!! Grummpyheads unite!! A truly inspiring new social movement.

Enough of that...

Biffy was saved by a real Barrisita in a local drive in coffee shack who clearly would never be up to the Starbucks standards...fortunately!! Yummy coffee was had.

After the coffee episode the BBs and their little dog went down to Portland's famous Pearl district. Of course, they was Powell's, like they'd go to the Pearl without seeing Powells...yea not. There were a few other charming little stores they toured too. Roadie even found one specifically for puppies!!! yet, little miss Roadie once again was snooty pooch..and refused to take a cookie from the nice Oregonian shop lady!!!

In Biffy's endless search for "oddities"she was lucky to find one right in the Pearl! Hanging above her head was the hugest boot ever seen!!! Biffy was gleaming with excitement, while Super Sheri just shook her head!! Biff could hardly contain her excitement when she realized the shoe was leading the way into a super cool shoe store!! Oh golly gee.... shoes......Okyun (shoe fanatic friend) would have been so proud to see Biffy droll over all the cool shoes and she even bought two pairs, one black/silver and the other pink...yup pink shoes!!! Golly could there be anything more niffty keen???? Even Roadie was allowed in the store, such a shoe store...Biffy was called to it...definitely it was a calling. Lots of interesting folks live Portland, including shoe GODS, Biffy received a special shoe blessing!!! Yea, most tourists think Powells, is suuuuuch a big deal....clearly they have not been blessed by the shoe gods!!!!

Feeling reborn and at peace with the world, the trio was off to another Portland district. And who should they meet up with.....one of Bifffy long time friends. It had been a few years since the two connect but what a fabulous re-connection!! And of course, the two couldn't just chat about life....they plotted to change the world, just like old times...Marie and Biff are forever activists!!! Bit by bit they are changing the world...Romeny better watch out CA and OR women unite.....Marie and Biffy are mounting their troops...and have recruited the shoe gods...and they are even reaching out to Portland's infamous "Grumpyheads!!!"

Marie did happen to mention that the trio may be interested in eating at a lovely little french restaurant. But Sheri, was convinced a french joint would not seat Roadie. Those French are snotty..... So, Super Sheri used her magical powers (remember some people think she is a witch) and conjured up an alternative dining experience....Oh what could it have been......Well, the trio dashed off to the hip Belmont district and found FOOOOOOOD TRUCKS!! Oh yea, food trucks YUMMMMMM and they are kind to the four legged. The girls ended the day with comfort food...delicious mac and cheese right out of a food truck. And hanging out at picnic table with a diverse and interesting and super nice cross section of Portlanders. It was darn good eats, cheap and they even had leftovers to take back to their hotel.

And the day wasn't done yet....The two leggers had laid down for the night when they heard a mysterious sound..and smelled....mac and cheese...Roadie that talented dog, had taken the food out of the fridge and was heating it up in the microwave!! She was a little hunger because she can't eat dog cookies from strangers.That Roadie full of talent!! Don't believe it....see the picture...it did too happen!!!

Day 14 & 15 Flagstaff Az to Home

Ride, ride and more riding and finally the BBs arrived back home. Once again the cruised the Mohave dessert, Barstow and overnighted in Bakersfield. 3574 miles latter Biffy decided it had been a good ride because in total she had only broken three fingers nails. It would have been a fashion faux pas had she broken more than one per thousand miles of riding. Biker babes do have to maintain biker fashion standards!!

Day 13 - Hail BAD

Oh the day started out with such promise.

The BBS went for a leisurely ride through Zion national forest. This was one of the prettiest rides they'd ever done. The weather was perfect and the ride itself was nice and curvy. Although there was the mile long tunnel that went right through the mountains. It was a wee but creepy as it appeared to have no end. Poor Biffy was haling flashbacks to riding BART (bay area rapid transit) when riding it she is so frightened and convinced she will end up in Fresno... Yet BART does not go to Fresno....and fortunately neither did the tunnel at Zion.

After riding down the tunnel the stopped for Biffys morning coffee at a cute little, yet might expensive little store. Then it was off again up the mountain where they saw rams, buffalo beautiful flowers.

At one point they pulled off to take some pictures. Super Sheri's showed our ever so timid Biffy how easy mountain climbing was as she dashed across the hi way and ran up the side of the mountain, in full gear. After a little encouragement Biffy carefully ventured onto the mountain and promptly laid down and thought that was the perfect spot to sun tan ... Being in full riding gear makes certain she was not going to get a sun burn.

Enough of this fun, it is time to burn some rubber and get to the north rim of the grand canyon!!! Vroom, vrooom ....,, wait wait what happened to the perfect riding weather oh what the helllllll is this .... HAIL .... Those little frozen balls that come flying out of the sky at a million miles an hour.... Yea that crap..... They pulled over and neither had ever changed gear so fast.. Must have been influenced from the Vegas strippers... Who get their clothes on and off in a hurry. But unfortunately super Sheri forgot her rain gear ....... Now that really sucked. They got back on the bikes and could only go 30-40mph which made the hail experience even longer..... This was rough and tough riding. And this was one of the worst hail storms either had been in. The road had at least two inches of hail and even with gear on that hail hurt ... It really hurt. Biffy decided she would not promote a new beauty treatment to freeze your face then throw balls of ice
at 100 miles an hour... Beauty is just not worth it. The Bbs do much prefer to see hail from the inside of a warm room, With a fire place and dog on their lap. But alas , the Bbs did make it through an hour and a half latter.... And arrived at the grand canyon. Upon arrival Biffy did demand to just sit for awhile a drink a cup of chamomile tea.

Hail bad... Hell yes it is bad. And it hurts.

Yet this was only half of the days story. Once the gals calmed down and unfroze themselves it was time to get a bit lunch. Sheri had some tasty lentil soup and Biffy had some, what she thought was scrumptious chili. That is of course until super Sherri pointed out it was ELK chili.... ELk... ELK .... Yuck, Biffy has kept a Sol om vow never to eat anything her hunter brother in law would shoot... It's just wrong. As much as mike has tried to get her to eat deer and elk she never has.....until today. Now that her vow has been broken it is certain she is headed for PETA Hell where there definitely be daily hail storms and rides to Fresno.

Day Twelve - Bye, Bye, Overly Glamorized Land

Of course the duo could not leave glamour land without a few bright lights of their own. They got a very special escort out of town by a nice motorcycle cop!! Yup they sure did...And no there was not a ticket or citation involved .....nor a bribe... Just a nice cop. Biffy batted her eyes and tipped her pink helmet his way and along he came to help the BBs navigate the Las Vegas morning traffic and the 85degree heat... At 7:30m!!!

Then it was off to Utah and Arizona. Time to transform the BBs as they were entering cowboy land!!!! Real cowboy land, none of this "lets throw on a bedazzled pink cowboy hat with my stilettos and yell yee ha and call myself a cowboy." There was quite a bit of that going on with the spanxs-less - yet should be wearing spanxs, lovely ladies of Las Vegas. Nope none of that out on the road....much more the attitude "I'm too cool for my helmet (weak reference to the song "I'm too sexy for my....)." Apparently, cowboys love their nifty keen cowboy hats but not helmets....but this whole real cowboy thing does impact those who experience it. Check out the picture, our Biffy became a cowboy... Yup yup .., well that is as close as she will ever come. Hmmm funny, Super Sheri was able to take such a good pix as her eyes were once again rolling into the back of her head.

What a gorgeous ride and thankfully the heat stayed low, below 100degrees....hey it's better than over 100 degrees.The BBs rode through the dessert into the mountains and up to 5000 ft altitude. As they rode into Arizona the hills changed from brown to red and below them they saw the brown rivers with very little water in them. Just think a week ago,the BBs were wearing their heated gear and seeing lots of water... Like an ocean. Now they were cruising the Zion national forest area.

Now, one of the funniest parts of the ride needs a bit of pre-explanation. Biffy is close to her daddio and calls him everyday while the BBs are on their rides/adventures. Daddio does not do anything with computers or cell phones. So to help him experience the trip in real time Biffy uploads pictures from her iPhone to the Walgreen's site and an hour latter the pictures are ready to be picked up at Daddios local Walgreens. Well, Biffy uploaded lots of pictures and as the BBs were riding along in Super Sheri's Blue tooth in came a call to tell Daddio his pictures were ready for pick up!!! Sheri explained they would be happy to pass along the message... In awhile but right now she was riding a motorcycle down a freeway!! Daddio did successfully pick up the pictures in the afternoon!!!

The BBs ended their ride in Kanab Ut. Kanab, really Kanab.... What the hell was in Kanab... and why were they there......well it is close to the Grand Canyon....and oh wait.... Kanab is filled with oddities!!!! Yup, while super Sheri determined the ending site .... Biff found her calling...the oddities, the oddities....

It all began with a buffalo wrapped in film!! Apparently, Kanab is well know for a site for making western movies. They even had a mini Hollywood stage site!!! There were stage coaches, covered wagons, totem poles, tee pees... All kinds of important movies things!!! But there was something even stronger calling the BBs ...... Check out the whole trailer of crystals!!! The energy, the energy ... Feel the pulls..., the pull right into the little gift stores throughout town. Our shopper Biff couldn't resist the energy pull and just had to by some jewelry. And a pretty little gift for magnificent Maggie who is caring for all the BBs four legged herd all seven.

Now for the real shocker of this tour of Kanab.... Biffy found a little dining place that had amazing.... Amazing food. The Asian chicken salad with mango and dicon was almost out done by the Parmesan, artichoke risotto... Oh we can't forget the perfect angle food cake with lemon curd!!! Ok this almost beat the deep fried Mac and cheese the ate in Vegas.

Now time for bed.

Day Eleven - Living Large in Las Vegas

Woowzer wooooowzer how many times in one day can Super Sheri roll her eyes at Bouncy Biffy???? Today, clearly was a record setting eye rolling day as Biffy could hardly contain herself. Between all the lights, everything being bedazzled and everywhere she swung her head there was a new "oddity,"Biffy didn't know what to do with herself. And it is yet another miracle , that Sheri didn't loose an eye in the back of head head from rolling them so much.

During the day and evenings in Las Vegas the dynamic duo did have a few important points of destination, such : all the local Harley dealerships.. All of them; the pawn shop where "Pawn Stars," is filmed; the Cocoa Cola Shop; the M&M shop; a Ross Store (Biffy needed better walking shoes , she's over 50 yrs old now and that means time for special walking shoes); shopping at the Venetian and Palazzo; Fremont street; Biffy meeting Elvis and trying to become the new Sheriff in town; Sheri finally wearing high heels... Yup really.... Well it was only one heel and Sheri had a novel way of wearing it; lake Mead and the Hoover Dam. Just a few points of interest!!!

And we can not leave this Vegas tale without an homage to the food. Now certainly there are world famous dining experiences all over Vegas. But no, that is not what this duo wanted to eat. They ate at the infamous. "Heart Attack Cafe," and they had deep fried Mac and cheese.... Yummmmy

As they saw all the traditional site seeing spots, Biffy made sure to smother the experience with "oddities." In particular, she was charmed with the toilet paper man in bronze, the giant blue angle above a really nice...yea that is it....nice motel, that charges by the hour and she couldn't forget the bulldog atop a van.... Most certainly in honor of dear Mitt Romney's nomination !!!

The rest of this Vegas adventure can be seen in the many pictures.