I have seen many windmills thus far on my journey. Wind energy, it is an interesting topic.

Somewhere in between Aberdeen and Rapid city I found this beautiful decrepit house among fields of sunflowers. This is the type of things I take pictures of.

Selfie in front of Devils Tower. I generally look happier than this, it was a cold day

After the Nebraskan rainstorm that inspired my post ‘Weathering the Storm.’ The morning was much calmer, and the flat lands provided a great sunrise.

Getting lost in Laramie, WY lead to discovering this beautiful fish mural.

Laramie fish mural, continued.

Laramie fish mural, continued.

A gas station in Osgood, WY had these beautifully painted popcans.
I just kept wondering about the dentist bill for the person who claims these cans.

One of those lovely Montana buttes. This was on Highway 15, on the way from Pocatello, Idaho to Missoula.
It looks like a colored pencil drawing, and the colorful train just makes the mountain that much more unreal.

This Phish van may have proved to have been my favorite Graffiti in Missoula, MT.

Missoula Phish van, front.

Missoula Phish van, chasing Little Wing.

At the KBXE radio studio in Bemidji, MN there is a painting of a rhinoceros and a knight on a motorcycle. I saw that painting every time I went to the station, every time I played Disc Jockey for an evening. It became one of my favorite pieces. This rhino in Missoula reminded me of that painting; the rhino racing the motorcycle. I loved it.
And what a beautiful sculpture.
it is called ‘Woolly Rhinoceros’ and the artist is Bill Ohrmann from Drummond, MT.

This mouse was a part of the ‘Woolly Rhinoceros’ sculpture by Bill Ohrmann from Drummond, MT.

So I bought the farm.
Not.
I wish. This was a gorgeous sheep farm on I-90 in Lolo National Forest. Lolo is located in between Missoula and Coeur d’Alene. It was a gorgeous day and a gorgeous ride.

Good morning sunshine. You ready to ride?
Taking off from a night spent in Coeur d’Alene. It was a lovely, free, campsite.

Coeur d’Alene artwork. These reminded me of my sister. Dandelions have always been our thing.

This was a few miles out of Reardon, WA. A beautiful old boxcar that caught my eye.
This is where I noticed my license plate was gone; stolen by the Spokane freeway less than a half hour earlier. Great site to sit down and call a friend for advice.

Sweet dreams world.
A lovely sunset that was not quite captured by my camera. This was right near a campsite I slept at in Harrington, WA.

Good hair day’s must always be acknowledged even if it is from under a hat. Showers at campsites are also something to be acknowledged. Worthy of a smile, obviously.

Organic apples from some of the many orchards in California.
This was at a sweet store along Washington State Highway 28. I purchased the a Gala apple for my dinner that evening, and it was the sweetest apple I have ever tasted.

Wenatchee National Forest was my home for an evening. The free campsite I found was beautiful. It had some of Mother Earth’s art pieces right alongside some man made pieces.
When natures call woke me up in the middle of the night I witnessed creatures walking around near these trees. They were about 100 feet away from my tent, and I didn’t have my glasses on, but it appeared that they might have been deer. There appeared to be twelve legs, so there must have been three deer.

In Seattle, WA the only camouflage you are likely to see is that of the green fire hydrants. They are hard to spot around here. They are also shaped differently, with funny mushroom tops. They are one of a kind design. Or maybe not.
I am making a point to study fire hydrants from here on out.

Seattle Fish Market wall art.

The fish market in Seattle had a lot to offer. Dead sea life being tossed around, colorful bouquets of flowers, art shops with handmade graphic tees and prints, and this here octopus.

Jimi Hendrix’s grave in Seattle, WA. It was a beautiful to witness. My friend, Julie took me to see it, but we were not the only ones taking it in.
These boys appeared to b local and just coming to hang with Jimi just because they could.

The lipstick marks are real. It made me wish I was wearing some so I could leave a kiss for Jimi. There were kisses and notes with sweet messages left behind at the site. It is amazing to think of the amount of people Jimi’s genius and loving soul inspired.

Jimi Hendrix; the man is my muse.
Little WIng is named for his song, and this saying may now be my creed.

Drinking tea out of the my new tin cup. A gift from my new found friends in Seattle. My blue cup is going to make camping a little easier.

The Portland Art Museum had these gorgeous sculptures of woman on the street. I’m not sure what this one was doing. I think she was tumbling.

This woman was my favorite of the two. She appeared to be in such intense thought.

This man was shocked by the thinking nude woman.

This painting was beautiful inside the museum. In the actual painting he is gripping a redbird and painting the clouds. in the picture he appears to be painting the tree. The tumbling naked woman is in front of him.

A stoic sculpture of the ever lovely Teddy Roosevelt. The roses are nice too.

While talking to Mys sister on the phone I tried to get a good picture of some of the great architecture in Downtown Portland. This kind looking man got in the way so I captured him as well.

I met these nice boys on my first walk through downtown Portland. A pleasent group of guys, we discussed them trying out for ‘Portlandia.’ The young lad holding the guitar informed me he had just recently “shaved off my Portland beard.” (My meaning his in that quote. Confusing, I know.)
Ahh, how disappointing. The boy to our left said he would be checking out my blog. Hey, if you are out there reading, thank you.

Portland Humor: that is a the face of Christopher Walken on that ONE WAY sign.
On a side note, check out that stained glass.

My first day meeting the busker, Tony Street in Portland, OR.

Tony convinced me to tak a selfie with him. Fine, whatever.

My host’s cat, Mowcher, had an affinity for Little Wing. Don’t they look darling together?

A sail boat sailing (it is what they do best) on the Willamette River in Portland.

Tony Street.

This busker had a gorgeous voice and could play the acoustic guitar. Man, could he play the acoustic guitar! Tony joined forces with him for a bit on our day around the city.

Pausing for a brief rest on a chilly ride I ran into this sign in a bar in Port Angeles, WA. The morning had been filled with rain. I woke up in Forks, WA in my tent and had to tear down in the precipitation. I spent an hour and a half warming up in a cafe in Forks, where I was joined by a group of four college girls. They sat at the table right beside me and talked about ‘Twilight’ and the self guided tour they were having of the town. It was a sweet discussion, but quite annoying for a girl trying to warm up from the rain before going for a motorcycle ride in the rain. The girls were very obsessed with the men of ‘Twilight’ and kept discussing destinations like parking spots and the trails that they were filmed walking on. They talked for about an hour and fifteen minutes as I sat studiously trying to ignore them.
After a chilly, rainy, coastal ride, this sign was quite humorous.

My first ride on a ferry. I was told to park in lane number three.

Port Townsend, WA while waiting for the ferry.

The ferry.

A picture captured by a gentleman who also rode motorcycles. He was in a car (I was the only rider on a motorcycle on that ferry), but he owned a bike. We chatted for a bit, he gave me some advice, and then I asked him to capture a picture of Little Wing and myself. That is his face in Little Wing’s right hand mirror.

Bellingham, WA waterfall. This is the first big waterfall I can recall seeing. Another first for me on this trip.

Who is that?
Me and my red pants posing near a fast flowing body of water.

I thought this picture was going to be too cute. Fellow visitors to the waterfall playing around. Instead, the little girl appears to be screaming. Ah well, it is the thought that counts.
Look at this and think cute thoughts.

Little Wing’s busted footpeg. The broken bar and the scratched up rubber piece, which is already on the new bar in this picture.

New foot pegs and old foot pegs. One can tell Little Wing had a few right hand falls in his day as well. Both pegs were bent so I bought new pegs for both sides. The $100.00 out of pocket for this fall hurt worse than my bruised ego. Wait excuse me, elbow. My bruised ELBOW.

This is the damage caused by a fall in the streets of Portland… Well, my damage at least. I was fortunate. That beautiful bruise actually had some purple to it on the tip of my elbow, but it was hard to capture without breaking my arm to get the right angle, so I didn’t

This is the cat of my host, Gray in Portland. The gorgeous button on the cat’s head was made by a fiber artist and given to me. Her name is Marjorie, and we are now fast friends.
The cat is Simon. We are also fast friends.

Old Highway 30 is a beautiful curving road in Oregon. It is perfect for a motorcycle. Little Wing got to test it on a sunny day, a rare thing this time of year in Portland, Oregon. This is a view of Vista Point and the Columbia River. Right across the River is Washington.

Vista Point is a historic landmark along Old Highway 30 in Oregon. Beautiful architecture is it not? And check out those windows.

Wooly bear caterpillars are everywhere. A little reminder of my home and Dad here in Oregon

Multnomah Falls in Portland, OR. Too lovely, but very busy.

Multnomah Falls bridge.

Multnomah Falls bridge, again.

I carved a pumpkin for my host, Gray. He likes cats. I like leaves.

Halloween is coming. Happiness to you on this holiday. I do not celebrate, but I dig carving pumpkins.

Little Wing's first coast shot, coming off THE 1 (Highway 1).

Check out that view. I thought about pitching a tent there.

I was looking and looking, and there it was Little Wing. Right on the beach where someone left it.

This image of this owner and his dog appears to be a moment of play between the two symbiotic creatures. In fact, the owner was tossing a stick for the dog, but after he tossed the twig he would attempt to capture a shot of the magnificent canine running into the surf on his camera. So this picture is actually a photograph of a photographer photographing on the Pacific.

The Presbyterian Church that the Italians and I sat under, playing soccer with a tennis ball, and listening to Moonshine on guitar.

The magic of circus lights is increased a thousand fold by the darkness of night. Add star light and a few Airstream trailers to any scene, and one has the making of a fairy tale... or something like that.

The grand circus tent from the inside. The tent does not appear as large when all the seats are empty, but it is all the more beautiful.

The first vineyard with a wine tasting that I have toured was in between San Francisco and Mendocino. It had beautiful vineyards and art and this lady. However I'm not sure how the wine was because Little Wing doesn't like me when I'm drinking.

This kind woman offered her lemons on her lemon tree as a gift to all those who wanted lemons. She said there were too many, but if I wanted to pick some I should wait until they were ripe. They are mainly green in this picture.

My study of fire hydrants continues. I have mm issued out on a few pictures of some different ones since Seattle, but here is a Berkley, CA hydrant, square and boxy.

This piece of graffiti is right down the street from my kind hosts in Berkley.

San Franciscan graffiti. One of of the main reasons I came here.

My hosts have chickens and they also have these beautiful chicken flowers. It seems I am not the only one who admires them, but then again spiders are known for their taste in winged critters.

My hosts in Berkkey had the sweetest dog. This is Tashi, reluctantly posing at Ohmega Salvage, one of the places I was employed during my time in the cool city.

This bag has been a project for awhile. I as in need of a going-to-town bag for when I left my motorcycle parked so I crocheted one using scraps and a beautiful yarn I recieved from my host with the Alpaca ranch in Wyoming. The brown yarn is her hand grown, sheared, carded, and spun stuff. Makes for a great bag.

A trophy head, styled after Dr. Seuss' heads, that I had the pleasure of painting in Berkley, CA.

Sunsets in Berkley, CA can be lovely.

I didnt know this man, but he was sitting overlooking the rainforest-like garden that belonged to my hosts in Berkley. I found his energy to be incredibly peaceful.

A moment of peace. My fire hydrant obsession continues. Some of them come with flowers.

I really like flowers, very much.

I didn't get a great snapshot of the Golden Gate bridge, but I had a great ride across it, for only $5 with the toll. Anyway my somewhat decent shot of the bridge captures the spirit of the bay, that I observed, with a group of teenage Asian gals getting a Selfie in front of the great feat of engineering.

Just another cool shot of boats hanging around in Salt water. These were just to the west of the Golden Gate bridge.

When I saw this buck I thought of my Minnesotan pals who deer hunt. I had the pleasure of shooting a nice buck in California during deer hunting season, the weather was great.

Point Reyes Lighthouse, CA.

The Pacific Ocean. Doesn't it look inviting?

A good clean motorcycle fixing garage needs some good motorcycle memorabilia. I got to clean Little Wing in Oakland with these pieces of art overlooking me.

The Mazda Raceway in Laguna-Seca, CA was a pretty cool visit. They were having Porsche day the day I checked it out (Nov. 26th) so I got to see a large number of the fast cars, both parked and being driven. This one had a flat tire.

This diver was in the tank at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. There was an informative speaker talking while the diver dived amongst the sea life, and a gaggle of kids all stood by and watched. As I stood there a father and his child came to stand near me. "Look, that's mom," the son, a three or four year old, pointed at the tank. "Yep, she's working. See her diving?" The little boy nodded. How neat for that little boy to know that it's his mom, the bad ass, diving at the aquarium? It was very sweet.

Check out them jellies.

More Jellyfish.

Oh, and there is one more.

My digs in Death Valley National Park. As my Russian friend, Misha, said, million dollar view.

At the campgrounds in Death Valley that I stayed at I found this tiny zen rock formation. I assume it was made by the same group of kids that was host to the fire obsessed nine year olds-- young boys who kept sticking their hands dangerously close to the flame.

Deserts are not for the faint of heart, or those easily overheated. Words that don't mean much for people like myself (who only really learn from experience) until they have been there.

California sure is a pretty place. This is called a Bougainvillea. They are common in places with climates like Southern Cali, which is shocking because they are so gorgeous. They come in a multitude of colors, but the white one in the photo contrasted so well with dark storm filled sky so I caught a picture.

My host in Oceanside has two dogs, but the way the neighborhood works around here it seems all the dogs are shared. In this peaceful hilltop agricultural portion of the community the dogs sort of wander from house to house (in and out of open doors in the warm climate) and graze on food and human love as they go. This dog is Boxey. In reality she belongs to my host, but she is a pet to many.

A mural near a farmers market in one of the small towns that border the coast near Oceanside. I really enjoy the concept, and the art.

My host picked me some lovely roses out of her garden yesterday here in Oceanside. You can't imagine, it is just too indescribable, how great they smell. Especially this apricot orange one. It is called a Just Joey.