We went to breakfast at Jakes Diner. I had my usual power breakfast consisting of eggs hash-browns toast and flapjacks. While chowing on breakfast I noticed an American Flag being tossed about in a decent wind. I thought as I sat in the restaurant that the flag was being blown from the north. When my host and I finished breakfast we walked outside and I soon discovered that the flag was being assaulted from the Southwest. Not good. 

The wind was relentless making the cycling tough all day. I took the back roads to Sunriver. I went south on Century Drive from Bend Oregon and then turned East on FS 42. The day was made exhausting by the hail sleet wind rain and cold temperatures. 

As I was nearing La Pine I could see the sky’s darkening. I kicked up my speed hoping to beat the impending storm to my intended destination. A motel room. 

The closer I got to La Pine so to were the storm clouds. I was coming up to a BiMart when the sky’s opened up and the winds howled. A gust of wind violently shoved my bike around like a ping pong ball in a wind tunnel. 

I quickly turned into the parking lot of the BiMart racing towards the covered entrance of the building. There I stood waiting out the downpour. Five minutes later the sun came out and the rains stopped. Back on the side road and into La Pine I arrived at the intersection of Huntington Road and highway 97. Looking southward towards the sky I saw the storm. It had arrived in La Pine just as I had. 

Quickly I rushed to the Motel. The sign said “No Vacancy” but I was going to inquire anyhow. I parked my bike checked the door to the Motel office. Locked! I rang the night bell. No answer. Fuck!  The sky was still holding to the moisture but the winds were angry. I checked the next motel on my map geared up and headed to the South end of La Pine. Reaching the Motel the sign indicated vacancy. I parked my bike and headed inside as the sign on the door suggested. 

The office was empty and a sign on the desk said “Sorry No Vacancy.”  My heart sank instantaneously. Why did the sign out front say vacancy. There was just one Motel left in town. A Best Western expensive business class. I decided to ring the night bell as the note taped on the desk instructed. No response. Again I pushed the button. Still no response. I checked my map and located the best western and then it happened. The torrential rains came rushing out of the sky and the winds raced back towards Bend Oregon. 

I decided I needed to make contact with someone at the West View Motel so I looked up the number on my iPhone. I called the telephone number and score. “Hi my name is Tim. Your sign out front says you have vacancy and I’m inquiring as to staying the night.”  “Okay well I will have to check.”  “Okay good cause I’m in your lobby now.”  “You are!?”

A heavy set lady walks in from a sliding glass door that was curtained off from the opposite side of the lobby. After a few minutes of paper work and money exchange she hands me the room key and says, “Wow! It sure got nasty real quick, didn’t it.”  “Nope, things just got a lot better.”