Day 3 – Cove, OR – Horseshoe Bend, DI & Hammett, ID
Posted By TwoWheelsTebo on May 20, 2009
Me and my bike at my cosin's place in Cove, OR near La Grande.
Day 3 started with a good country breakfast at my cousin’s place in Cove, OR. It wasn’t going to be a real long day, so I was not concerned about leaving real early. I left cove around 8:30am and headed for my next RCGT Check point in Horseshoe Bend, ID. This was another place that I had never been and I could only imagine what it must look like. As usual, I was wrong. lol I was a very scenic ride and one that I would recommend.
If the last two mornings are any indication of what this tip is going to be like, I’m in for a lot of back tracking for various reasons. But hey, I’m on a bike and have no real time limit on when I have to be back in Oregon, so who cares? As long as I’m riding it’s all good, right? 
The morning air was much warmer than it was in Moscow yesterday morning. Still cool enough that I started the day off wearing my cold weather riding suit, but still a lot warmer than yesterday. The sun was shining on the snow capped mountains and the view was breath taking.
The dam at the park in the Black Canyon on the way to Horseshoe Bend, ID.
South of Ontario, OR I got off of I84 and headed North on Hwy 30, then East on Hwy 72. This was not my favorite scenery thus far by any stretch of the imagination. But as always, the ride was good no matter how brown and dead the scenery looked. 
Once I started into the Black Canyon on Hwy 52 I started enjoying the scenery again. Canyons are so cool, even if it’s brown all around you. Although it was pretty green along the river in the canyon. The hwy was in good condition and was a very nice motorcycle road. Lots of moderate curves that followed the river along the bottom of the canyon. It was and easy, enjoyable riding. Before getting into the Black Canyon, it got warm enough that I was riding in my sleeveless shirt and leather vest. Another perfect day for riding.
Here I am at Kit's Riverside Restaraunt, the RCGT check point in Horseshoe Bend, ID. A great restaurant and a great ride through the Black Cannyon.
Horseshoe Bend is a small pleasant town with mountains on all sides. My check point here was Kit’s Riverside Restaurant. And when they say riverside…they mean riverside! The back yard of the restaurant was beautiful and set up with picnic tables and went right up to the edge of the river. It seemed as though there was only 20′ or so between the back of the restaurant and the river, but I’m sure it was more like 60 or 70′. But it was very close and felt even closer than it was because of how it was set up. That back side of the restaurant was set up like an old western building. It was a very attractive place and made the some what boring ride before the Black Canyon all worth it.
This is the back side of Kit's.
I still wasn’t hungry after my country breakfast earlier that morning, but it was getting pretty hot, so I just had an iced tea and sat out in the back lawn at one of the picnic tables to drink it.
There was a Harley in the parking lot when I pulled up. So when I finished my iced tea, I looked around to see if I could spot my fellow riders. Sure enough, I found them. What a pleasant couple. We chatted a while and exchanged ride stories, where we came from and where we were headed. Unfortunately, they were heading for Washington for a funeral. I gave them my condolences and hit the road again. This time, headed for my great uncle’s place in Hammett, ID.
A shot from the hill over looking Horseshoe Bend, ID.
I didn’t know where they lived, but they were expecting me, so I decided to call them from a rest area and get their address. For some reason I was under the impression that they lived in Twin Falls, I stopped to call them from a rest area about 25 miles East of Hammett. Yup, you got it. I rode right past them and had to back track again. But once again, that turned out to be not all bad.
Since I had just been on the freeway and was tired of that nice, but incredibly boring road, I decided to take the back roads from the rest area back to Hammett. That turned out to be Old Hwy 30 and then some other back roads into Hammett. A much more interesting ride than I84, although pretty bumpy.
Me and my bike on the hill above Horseshoe Bend, ID.
I arrived at my great uncle & aunt’s place around 5:30pm, had a beer and chatted for the evening. I will be spending the evening her tonight. I don’t get to see them very often and we had a very nice and enjoyable time together. I’m looking forward to going back again next summer.
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