Voyage
of the Silverado
Chasing
Liquid Granite – Days 1-3
 |
| On the road again with Jim |
I set off on Monday, July 6, 2026, at
0-dark-30 so that I could arrive at Jim McClelland’s Walnut Creek location by 11:00 a.m. and accompany him on various errands, preparing for our trip ahead. The
end goal of our adventure was to deliver a new-to-Jim motorcycle from Spokane,
Washington to his place in Walnut Creek, California. He started his odyssey
back into motorcycling after a 44-year absence, thou thoughts of doing so
periodically crossed his mind over the intervening years.
True to Jim’s favored approach, he did
a copious amount of research into the various bikes that fit within his overall
desire to have a sport touring bike. His search narrowed to a 2015 Yamaha
FJR1300, silver in color if we could find one. Jim located the bike that met
nearly all his qualifications for accessories, price, miles, make and model,
but not the color and instead zeroed in on a bike in Spokane, Washington that
is dark grey, a color named Liquid Granite.
Jim enlisted me onto the road trip to
fetch this bike, and I was only too happy to tag along. One of my duties was to
test-ride the bike and assure him that it was a fit bike for him. I admit to
some trepidation at the prospect of doing the initial ride of what we hoped to
be a new joy for him. Nevertheless, I agree to come on to the project team. I
haven’t had a road trip with him for several years and as you’ll see, we
planned to cover a lot of ground both literally and figuratively. My road miles
mapped out to be 2,478 miles as the crow flies, not including test rides and in-town
driving.
Leaving before dawn on my Victory Cross
Country was a bit nervy for me as it has been a long time since doing a long
night ride. My comfort level returned as the miles wore on after navigating the
Briggs Terrace twisties and hitting the 210 Freeway. Once I was heading up the
Grapevine after passing Castaic Junction, I was near my normal relaxed comfort
as dawn slowly brought the ability to drive further ahead back into play,
allowing me spot road obstacles earlier rather than too late.
I gassed up in Buttonwillow and ate breakfast
at McDonald’s where I was greeted by three Hispanic construction workers
heading back to their truck with one the highest complements a biker can hear,
“nice bike” accompanied by three thumbs up. A man about my age held the door
for me as I entered while he exclaimed, “What a beautiful day for ride. Be
safe.” A Filipino family came in and sat nearby. The dad blessed me when I
sneezed, joked at me not to forget my helmet as I left it in the seat to bus my
table, and then wished me safe travels when I headed out. A cross-section of
people with a common asset, kindness in their hearts.
Jim met me in the underground parking
lot of The Atrium, the office building where RS+M Design/Engineering have their
main offices. Jim is Principal Architect for his firm which designs and builds
pools on a large scale for HOAs, municipalities, schools, historic, and
heritage sites for hospitality, sports therapy, competitions, and recreation.
He pays a bit extra to use parking spaces for his vehicles in the lot. I
parked, unloaded, and secured my bike, then tossed my gear into Jim’s truck and
off we went to an HOA project site so he could show me the ongoing work and attend
a construction meeting. After the meeting we picked up the rental motorcycle
trailer from a U-Haul and we were set for the long road to find Liquid Granite.
Our chase was on. Jim was the master
planner and a master plan he created with a breakfast at the Buttercup Diner to
send us off to Bend, Oregon. We had ample windshield time as we alternated
shifts behind the wheel of Jim’s diesel-powered Silverado with its eight-foot
bed covered with a nifty shell. The overall length of the transport for our
voyage would play a big part during stops throughout the road trip, luck was
with us throughout, luck being the residue of design (thank you Branch Rickey).
We had plenty of time for talk, and
talk we did; about the last time we went to Spokane when we grabbed my parents
in Merlin, Oregon and delivered them to the Walter Estelle memorial service,
about our epic Summer of ’72 motorcycle trip and how we could do it in style
with my Victory and Jim’s Yamaha, both nicely equipped for such a ride, and
things of importance with family, business, and friends and the hopes and
dreams we have for all of them. We punctuated our talk with fruitful quiet.
There isn’t really such a thing as awkward silence between the best of friends
unless there is something weighty that needs to be said that neither friend
wants to broach, and even then, the subject won’t be contained for long. During
my shift behind the wheel, Jim kept moving things along at RS+M and I gave
thought and prayer to things that required it, mostly the invitation to serve
LCPC on Session for the coming three years. While Jim drove, I kept up
communications with family, the broker searching for a new car for me, and
Andrew, our Director of Student Ministries.
That first leg was highlighted with
spectacular scenery throughout the drive. We lunched at the Black Bear Diner in
Mount Shasta, the original restaurant in the chain and a place we’ve stopped on
several of our excursions together. Black Bear is a great go-to place with
consistently good menus, service, and facilities. We could have eaten nearly
every meal of our trip at Black Bears. But we didn’t.
The second leg, from Bend, Oregon to
Spokane, Washinton overlaid much of the Voyage of the Suburban Valdez when we
took my parents up to attend the memorial service for a fine and long-time
family friend. We relived quite a few moments from that trip during our drive
this time around including lunch at C&D Drive-in, home of the Bozo Burger,
at Boardman, Oregon, the scene of a riotously funny dinner during our trip back
in 2015 which received its own write-up in this blog space.
One of the overall highlights of our
trip was the dinner we were able to have with John and Lisa Estelle and John’s
wife, Michelle. John found us a table at Anthony’s at Spokane Falls with a
spectacular view of the falls. The dinner was full of love, camaraderie, and
fun. We caught up, underlined how great it was to have my parents at Walt’s
service for Whites, Estelles, and McClellands. I’ll hold on to that evening we
had together for a long time.
Our chase for Liquid Granite would
conclude the next day and the Voyage of the Silverado would take on a new
series of highlights and importance.
Keep the iron side up.
Respectfully submitted,
Jerry ‘Shakespeare’ White
Post one of three parts of the Voyage of the Silverado
