Travels of a Well Dressed Man

Okay, this is going to require a bit of a backstory:  Our son Kenneth's Jr. High math team won a slot to compete at the state level, so on March 9th we drove to Corvallis, and decided to visit some friends in Salem.  While in Salem we decided Deidre should use the Nordstrom's gift card I had found a number of years before, and on the spur of the moment we decided that it would be good to check at Kohl's for wedding clothes for both boys.  I wandered over to the men's section and on a whim tried on a suit jacket and amazingly it fit.  No, it really fit, right off the rack, and that NEVER happens.  I didn't have the money at the moment, so we noted size and other information and planned to order it online.  A couple of weeks later we found the same jacket on the Kohl's website for less than a third of the in-store cost.  So we went ahead and ordered the suit jacket.  When I finally had a chance to try it on, the fit was just dreadful.  tight across the chest, odd folds running diagonally over the shoulders, a bad wrinkle that was below the collar across the back.  I was really disappointed.  We called the Kohl's and the particular suit jacket I had tried was still there.  We put it on hold, and I wanted to be able to try both jackets on, side by side, to make sure the one in the store did in fact fit like we had remembered.

So on Saturday March 20th I started gearing up having packed the ill fitting suit jacket in my tail bag.  I topped up my fuel tank and added a bit of oil and was ready to get on the road about 2 pm.  I expected it would be about a four hour ride.  My planned route was to take Hwy 97 north to Hwy 58 and take Hwy 58 to I5 and ride right up to Salem.

Riding up 97 was...as it usually is...too long, too boring, too monotonous.  A bike passed me and I decided to "tag along" and was soon up to an indicated 80 mph which I ended up holding for most of an hour.  The other rider pulled into a rest stop which I passed, I think he might have signaled with a leg "pull off", but he may have been stretching?  I stopped in the next little town to add a layer, and they rode past me, stopped about a block further, then rode off as I was putting my helmet on.

Highway 58...I had never ridden on Hwy 58 before, except in the small community of Oakridge which I had approached from a side road. I had dreamt of riding it for years...ever since the  housemates we had when we lived in Eugene took me and Dede up to Eugene one time as pillions on their bikes.  I was glad to have added a layer as there was still some snow off the sides of the road, and I actually started shivering.  But fairly quickly I was descending down the west side of the Cascades and warmed up a bit, or rather, the cold lessened.  I loved the rich loamy forest smells.  Best part of the ride!

I got to I5 just S. of Eugene, and I rather dreaded the bit that runs along Eugene and Springfield.  Lots of traffic, too many on ramps, too many off ramps.  I was tired, having slept poorly all week.  A lot of concentration focused on situational awareness which sadly just compounded my fatigue.  I was pleased that my bike did keep up with the traffic okay, but it did NOT feel as confident or as inspiring as that Ducati I rode (hahahaha)!  But, overall I5 was tiring to the point I prayed nothing would happen as I doubted my ability to react properly or quickly to anything.

But I made it to Salem and my friends' apartment safe and sound.  I arrived a bit after 6:00 pm...so not a bad trip time.

The suit jacket exchange went super well, no snags no problems and YES, the suit in the store, same style but a different cut, fit as well as we had remembered.


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And I picked up Linn and Marion Counties: