When the 4th of July rolls around in the United States, it almost always means a three-day weekend, and we were very happy to have Monday off to relax. Steve asked me a few days before if I’d like to go on a ride—even before he described the route, I was bouncing up and down in excitement! Only two weeks before, I’d learned a new technique that allowed me to safely take pictures while we rode along. I couldn’t wait to give it another try!
We packed our cameras, a lunch and snacks the night before and got out of the house by about 8:30am. The day was absolutely gorgeous—sunny and bright, the last of the morning chill beginning to fade. The scent of warming grass greeted us as we took off down the road, both of us beaming in our helmets. We chattered happily over our Cenna intercoms and I started clicking away, taking pictures of everything that caught my eye.
At one point I exclaimed to Steve, “I am so happy that you two convinced me to finally try taking pictures while riding…it’s changed everything for me! It’s the answer I’ve been looking for since we moved up here. How can I take pictures of all the cool things I see? In a car it’s not possible…there’s rarely a place to pull over, and you know I can’t stand having the windows rolled down. It’s not possible to take pictures while riding a bike, and though I can stop more easily, it would mean taking my camera out of a backpack every time I wanted to take pictures. Walking is obviously too slow. But as a passenger on a motorcycle, I can hold on totally securely with one hand–the handles are perfect–and using the 17-40 wide-angle lens, I only have to aim in the direction of the subject! IT’S PERFECT!!”
We made our way to Shady Cove, past Lost Lake and then the tiny tourist town of Union Creek. Located right next to the fantastic Rogue Gorge and the wonderful trails in the area, we made a note to come back for hiking sometime during the summer when Medford was roasting hot. Located over 1,000 feet higher in elevation, it had become noticeably cooler and I was glad I had my cold-weather gear on. We continued on towards Crater Lake, riding for many miles on long, straight stretches of highway that sliced a path through the tall conifer forests that never seemed to end.