Chasing Liquid Granite

 

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