The door to outside had given some resistance this morning, held fast with a bead of ice around until begrudgingly given up it's hold with firm tug. The fresh chill air caught my breath and the painful bright glare of light reflected by the fresh white snow had temparily blinded me…today was going to be a goddy day.

The snow had continued to fall all night and as if on cue had stopped this morning. The clouds had cleared the sky now was an impossible blue. In all my visits here I still hadn’t caught a good photo of the traditional ‘tunnel view’. Today could be the day and so packed up we all headed up the mountain side and set up tri-pods and cameras.

A sea of evergreens tipped in white with El Capitan and hald dome in full view. It was easy to forget to breath.

I snapped for as long as I could until every memory card I had was full. Check the pic’s.

The roads had been quiter thatn we’d imagined and by the time we’d reached Merced we’d made good time and so pushed onto Davis. We’d left Yosemite at 1:30pm and arrived back at the apartment by 6:00pm.

So these are the last few days left before my parents leave….the time has gone too fast.

Not sure when we will get to see them again. They left on 10th and the following days were just me sorting out the packing and Simon working on the up and coming presentations that we have in Eugen, Tygard and Seattle.

Well our plan to jump out of bed, spend an hour working out and getting an early start…didn’t happen. The alarm had gone off but neither of us had heard it. We finally dragged our sorry asses out of bed at 8:30am. We stil had to attach Lisa’s panniers, pack the gear we’d need for the next 2 weeks and get air and gas. With Lisa doing her usual apartment clean up before we left it was 11:45 when at last we pulled out of the Aggie Apartment complex and slid onto the 113.

The thick mist of the morning had cleared, replaced with a piercing icy blue sky. This was a good start.

3-hours later, the traffic had been quite, and we’d found an easy pace at 65mph on the I-5 heading North. With summer gloves any faster would see icles on our fingertips and that sounded bad.

With no breaks we were making good time and with a clear sky had passed up the CA20 which would have taken us to the PCH 101. We’d keep our fingers crossed that the snow and ice we’d find later would be kind to us. It was at the 200-mile mark that numb hands and freezing arms got the better of us, forcing us to stop; we needed top up the gas anyway. Lunch was a coffee and corneed beef sandwich. We needed to press on making the most of what remained of the daylight.

The Lassen Volcano stood impressively covered in a blanket of white off to our right. We desperately wanted to stop and take photo’s but knew we were running out of time, besides our numb hands would battle with the gear.

The scenery only got better as we slowly made our way up the Shasta Pass and up to 4,300 feet, not high by our standards but shit was it cold, both us just wanted to get off the bikes and thaw.

We were making an effort to take care on shadowed corners and icey bridges but it was getting harder to concentrate, not just because fo the temperature. The striking jagged white tipped profile of Mount Eddy to our left required some starring.

We were loosing the light and had topped out at 4,300 feet. We needed to get to Medford where we’d spend the night.

With occasionall peaks through the thick nylon curtains of our room the day looked cold and misty. We’d hold off as long as we could befoe setting off. By 10:00am the heavy fog that hung in the air wasn’t thinning. Shit! We’ve got to go.

With our kit thrown into the bikes and zips, poppers and buckles done up tight we pulled our collars in close to save our exposed necks, and slid out of the slick car park, found the on ramp and hit the I-5 slotting into the stream of warm and cozy car drivers…bastards.

Our hands were numb within seconds. Two hours later and the day wasn’t getting any better. It was colder today at 1,000 feet than it was yesterday at 4,500 feet. We’d palyed with eratic car drivers who’d zig-zagged blindly through the thick cloud base as we crested Grants Pass. The Pass isn’t high but the freezing fog made visibility tricky.

An hour later and we were going to have to pull over for a pit-stop. Our hands had gone way past the painful part and were now completely numb. Topping up on the gas seemed like a good aidea anyway. We were 2-hours from Eugene.

We lasted another 45-minutes before the cold got the better of us again. Lunch was curtsy of the big M. Amazing things happen when you least expect them. We’d found a table and whilst tucking into a chicken burger and fries had spoken with Dean and his wife on the table to our right. The bikes had sparked there interest. Their young grandson had enthusiastically questioned them about the flags on our panniers. We spoke for 20 minutes to Dean about our travels, the charities and some of the highs and lows of our trip and said our farewells as Dean and family left for their car. 5-minutes later and Dean was back at our table wearing a grin. “Would it be OK, if I contributed to your trip”? Dean asked. Lisa looked at me and I returned the favour. “Um Yeah sure” we fumbled our response, a little taken off guard. “That’s great” Dean quipped. And with that he threw a handful of notes on the table, wish us well again and headed for the door. Lisa and I were mid-mouthful. Lisa wiped her greasy hands and picked up the bills. Neither of us had expected that. Lisa was counting the notes for a second time. “Um, Simon…there’s a $100 here” Lisa blurted. We were both looking at each other in disbelief.

10-minutes past Eugene and things got worse and the fog turned to rain. 30 miles of the grey thick rain and greasy road spray and we needed to call it a day, there was little to be gained into trying to get to Tigard and be soaked through and frozen. Home for the night is Travel Lodge. I’m trying to type this but my hands are still so friggin’ cold.

We'd made a good decison last night and at least our kit this morning wasn't sopping wet. Heading off super early was silly, we had some 100 miles to go and the presentation isn't until tomorrow. And so, with a reasable start and light traffic we arrived at BMW of Western Oregan by mid afternoon and had parked right out front.

With a frim handdshake from Kirk (whom I'd met some weeks earlier when I popped by with Tim) we were introduced to Scott, the owner and quickly went about making ourselves at home by dumping all our bags and kit in Scott office...thanks Scott!

Scott and all his staff are fantastic and it's easy to see there all passionate about BMW's and bikes.

30 minutes after meeting Scott and we all realised that any attmept to keep up appearances was a sham. Scott's sense of humour is at least as warped as our own, mmm, maybe even a little more twisted...wow!

We wanted to say a big thank you to Scott and the staff who worked on both our bikes. We'd arrived in Tigard and my HID lights weren't working correctly, they'd come on after 2-3 minutes of riding and stay on, blinding every other oncomming road user. Lisa didn't have any 'indicator' function...nothing and both bikes needed and oil change.

When we left Scott had sorted the lot...thank you so much!

The large screen was already in place and it wasn't long before Tinkerbelle and Tarzan had been rolled int position and the seating erected.

The poster had announced that doors opened at 7:00pm, by 6:30pm we aleady had 20 guests outside. it was a good sign and so it continued. As people got themselves settled and we sipped onthe cold beer that Scott had shoved into our hands with a grin on his face, the head count began. It was over a hundred, to be honest we hadn't expected that many. The atmosphere was really growing.

With the lights dimmed and microphones in hand we kicked off and and some 2-hours later having answered a thousand different questions, were now thanking everyone for comming out on a cold dark night.

We'd had a blast and the show had been a success for Scott and the dealership.

We were again staying with Scott at his weekday home here in Tygard and we saw the day out finishing the beers that we'd not ploished off at the dealership, the tree of us were buzzing and excited conversation petered out at around 2:00am.

That said we weren't as cold as we'd been on the ride up. Scott had given us a great deal and seeing sense we baught some winter gloves and two rain suits. But best of all, Tim from Happy Trails and come through trumps and sent through the heated jackets he'd promised. Wow, what a difference and unlike like our old kit, which had died 2-years ago, the heated elements go down the arms as well as around the torso.

...this was cold weather heaven. Tim, if we could we'd have kissed you!

We were keen to Madalyn, any women who can keep Scott in check has to be worth meeting, she didn't dissapoint and conversation was struck up in no time flat..besides...she a lot prettier than Scott, who too be honest looks like, well...he's 12. Yeah, yeah, Scott you know we're just jeleous :-)

With the bikes once again taking pride of place either side of the screen and the chairs erected we set about enjoying another fun evening. It's funny, we have been asked and had genuinely wondered whether after half a dozen presentations, if the process would start becoming a drag, a job, even an annoyance. the simple answer is 'NO'! because we script nothing, because it's all off the cuff and adhock, we've found that each presentation is different. Each show allows us to share with a new audience experiences that we're passionate and excited by. Each show also allows us to share an element of story that perhaps we didn't include in the previous. each time is a thrill.

Back at Scott and Madalyns home in Eugene we ate drank and played Nintendo Wii untill 2:00am. We're going to pay for the late night I know it?

So again to Scott and Madalyn, thank you for your hospitality and friendship...we've not laughed that hard for a while.