We arrived at the BMW dealer shortly after 9:00 for our appointment to have the fork seal on the F650GS replaced. Not too busy, seemingly only one gentleman in front of us. Looked like we would be able to get back on the road by 12:00. Hah. Wrong.Not much to do at a dealer once you looked at the bikes and accessories. Another couple (Barbara and John) from Arizona, also on a lengthy trip was waiting to get their bikes serviced. We started up a conversation and really enjoyed talking with them. Barbara is a beginning rider like Diane so they had lots to talk about. John had just bought a new Wolfman Explorer light tankbag that didn’t cover up the gas cap on his R1200GSA! Perfect. I hadn’t bought a tank bag because I didn’t want to have to deal with the unclipping/clipping at every gas stop in order to get to the filler. Too much of a PITA. He offered to lead me to the Happy Trail store in Boise. Done deal. An hour later I had a new Wolfman tank bag.
When we returned, Diane’s bike was ready. We put the panniers back on (had to remove them for the service work), had a quick bite to eat, said our goodbyes and headed out of Boise – it was 14:15. The day goal was the Unity Lake State Recreation Area in Oregon, mostly because we wanted to camp again after having spent three nights in the same hotel room. In order to make up some time, we stayed on IH 84 until Ontario when we got on the back roads.
Once off the freeway the ride was very relaxing. Rolling hills, wide sweeping turns. The scenery is marked by severe contrast – dry, light brown hills surrounding green fields (mostly for hay) that require constant watering. The boundary where the watering stops is stark: it goes from green to brown instantly.
Despite our late start, we arrived at the park by about 17:30 with plenty of daylight left to set up camp and make dinner. We walked around a little late in the evening to explore. The temperature dropped quickly once the sun was low. My guesstimate is that we had 50’sF the next morning. Chilly enough to have to wear a light jacket.
Here’s the route.
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- eastern Oregon
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- eastern Oregon
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- eastern Oregon
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- eastern Oregon
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area – early morning
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area – early morning
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Hanging out at the dealer
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- Hanging out at the dealer
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- Hanging out at the dealer
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- Hanging out at the dealer
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- Hanging out at the dealer
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- Hanging out at the dealer
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- Hanging out at the dealer
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- Hanging out at the dealer
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- Hanging out at the dealer
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- Hanging out at the dealer
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- eastern Oregon
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- eastern Oregon
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- eastern Oregon
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- eastern Oregon
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- eastern Oregon
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- eastern Oregon
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- eastern Oregon
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- eastern Oregon
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- eastern Oregon
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- eastern Oregon
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- eastern Oregon
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- eastern Oregon
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- water filtration system
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- ice at a state park campground! We like Oregon 😀
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- 🙂
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
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- Unity Lake Recreation Area
Hey guys, beautiful scenery and great pics (I still think you missed your calling O)!! 😉 Loved the campground. Any fish in the lake?
Thanks Imke. Cannot take credit for all the pictures. Diane has been shooting with the point&shoot quite a bit as well. Wouldn’t know about fish in the lake though I suspect there are since people with boots and fishing rods were staying in the park ;-).