The TT Rally has come to an end, and now I can say “been there, done that” and I can also say “I’m SO going back again next year!”

I split the ride up into two days, putting in 365 miles on day one. I cruised mostly a 2-lane road through forests, mountains, and the occasional small town. My route paralleled the Cascade mountain range, so I was accompanied by Rainier, Adams, Hood and Mt. St. Helens almost the whole way, with Mt. Shasta in my rear view.

I stopped in the little town of Goldendale, WA, for the night. The bonus was I met up with my old friend Neil from Portland. Neil and I used to ride dirt bikes together in the desert when we lived in Los Angeles. We had a great time, and it was nice to see a friend after a long day solo on the road.

The next morning I got up early because I needed to be at the Rally by 10 ish to grab my tent spot and be there in time for my skills training class with SheADV. I was only three hours away and once again, the ride was stunning. It got pretty chilly as I climbed in elevation but wow, the winding roads and scenery made this a motorcyclist’s dream ride.

I rolled in around 10:30 and saw the rally area, and then the sea of 1,000 tents. I was really glad that the SheADV crew let those of us traveling solo camp with them, which was in a quiet area and only about 10 of us. We had to walk a little further to the festivities but it was worth it.

Within the first few minutes of arriving to the training field, I met Amanda Zito from my favorite YouTube channel, As the Magpie Flies! She was so friendly and fun to chat with. We were also tent neighbors so that was pretty cool!

The class I took was fun, and we got to practice a lot of basic skills. It was a nice warm up to the weekend.

After class, I met my other tent neighbor, Anja. She rode up from the Bay Area on her GS 1250 and this was her first stop before riding to Canada. We immediately hit it off and went to go find some food. I must say, though the options of food trucks were few, the food was good! It was nice to have some healthy options.

After that, we walked around and checked out the vendors, then attended the Welcome talk, announcements, and rider orientation for the evening. It had been a long day, and it was starting to drizzle, so I headed off to my cozy little tent for the night.

It had rained lightly overnight which was nice, and I woke up to a sunny day ready for the day’s events.

I spoiled myself with a delicious breakfast from the local café across the street, and then rode a fun, scenic loop that I mapped out the night before. After that I headed to the Rally to check out some talks, vendors, and demo bikes.

I attended Amanda Zito’s talk on her tour of the “Lower 48” and it was excellent. One of the best talks I attended and full of great information.

Unfortunately, I did not get a spot on the demo list–I really wanted to test out the Zero electric bikes. Next year! I did hear from others that they had unexpected power and there were a lot of unintentional (and later intentional) wheelies being had.

That night Anja and I attended some of the events–the slow rider contest, and the obstacle course challenge.

I felt like I got my fill of Rally events, and the next morning I was ready to spend my whole day riding. The rally had various rides posted that could be loaded into your GPS. I found a mostly off-road loop that looked fairly easy and went deep into the forest near a lake.

A rocky path led me climbing up, up, and away until I had a stunning view of the surrounding mountains.

The rest of the day I was treated with green forests, and clear mountain streams all on a quiet dirt road. I stopped and ate my lunch by the river. A perfect riding day.

By late afternoon, I was rolling back into my campsite, dusty, sweaty and in dire need of a shower.

Now. I have to mention the showers. I’m not a fussy person, but this is my one beef about the rally. The showers were cold. To be fair, they told us this in advance. But they exceeded my expectations of cold. I’m positive they added ice cubes to the water.

Secondly, the shower “stalls” had vinyl curtains that were just wide enough for the stall. And…it was windy. So every gust of wind the curtain would blow wide open.

So, here I am. Water from Antarctica pouring down on me while I hyperventilate and frantically try to wash my bits and bobs while the curtain keeps blowing open. Good times.

But, I can tell you no one was faffing around taking long showers so there was no waiting in line.

That night, I attended a social at the SheADV tent and it was fun! The spread of food and drink was fantastic–wine, cheese, crackers, cookies, olives, spreads…did I mention wine? It was funny to watch the guys try to sneak into the women’s event to snag the appetizers. We also attended the raffle and watched the SheADV Iron Chef contest which was entertaining. The judges were tough!

I went to bed that night with a full heart after meeting new friends, sharing stories and doing some great rides.

Sunday was just pack up and ride out. I stopped just outside of Bend, OR, for the night and was pleased that the Best Western let me park my bike under the covered entrance. When I got up in the morning, I saw others had joined Big Blue.

As soon as I had the famous “hotel waffle” from the continental breakfast spread, I headed home for the final 3 hours of my ride.

I had such a great time at the rally, but I was happy to see Mt. Shasta in the distance–getting closer to home.

I am already planning next year’s trip. This time though, I am going to take my dirt bike on the trailer. I think I could ride more of the harder trails with the smaller dirt bike and have more ride time in the dirt.

Thanks for following along, and stay tuned for more adventures!