The Five Corners Run 2010

This year, we will be traveling along the borders of the United States; from southern California to Brownsville, Texas- to Key West, Florida to the northern border of Maine- across the Great Lakes into Canada, to northwestern Washington, and finally back home.

12,000 miles - 30 states - 3 countries.

We call our little jaunt the Five Corners Run…

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"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely, in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy shit, what a ride!'"

~ Mavis Leyrer
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Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Lake Chelan

Day: 50
Destination: Lake Chelan, Washington
Route: Highway 90 west; Highway 2; Highway 155 to Grand Coulee Dam; Highway 174 to Brewster;  then
Highway 97; then 97 Alt route to Lake Chelan
Miles Ridden: 214     Total Miles: 11,300

Points of Interest:
  • Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area
  • Grand Coulee Dam
  • Lake Chelan

A beautiful morning...a little oil added to the motorcycles...a shopping trip at the dealership in Coeur D'Arlene, and off we went to Spokan, Washington to meet with Mike and plan today's adventure.

We met him at the Longhorn BBQ on Highway 2 and quickly we formed our plan for the day. We began traveling west on Highway 2, and for the next 35 miles we rode a two lane country road through some beautiful farmland. Miles of green fields, including fields of wheat, on both sides of the road. Then we hit what could only be described as "high plains desert" where the greens turn to brown, and where the fields of wheat turned to scrub brush. We arrived at Grand Coulee Dam, one of the eight "wonders of the world," and spent some time in the visitors' center. We also met with a nice couple who were on a motorcycle trip from the Midwest. We then continued through the desert through Bridgeport, a small town where virtually every business was abandoned. In addition, we noticed that almost every restaurant we saw (opened or closed) was a Mexican restaurant, and all the people we saw were Hispanic.

We moved on towards Brewster.  As we began moving up in elevation, we began to see vineyards and orchards. We soon realized that Brewster was a center of agriculture (orchards and vineyards mostly), with an agriculture processing center which was alive and well. As we rode through the town, we noticed that virtually everyone was Hispanic. We continued on towards our intended destination, Lake Chelan. We were very surprised, however, to find that Chelan is a resort town, with a beautiful lake surrounded by four and five star hotels. We found a hotel, found a good dinner, and called it a night. Tomorrow...the "FIFTH CORNER!"

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