August 18: Bread Run For Fun

My to do list was a mile long after being gone for two months. But I figured some wind therapy was just what the doctor ordered after I traveled over 34 hours by plane, car, and bus to get home to West Linn. What better place to head to than my favorite bakery for brunch and essential supplies?

Half an hour before leaving for the airport for my flight to Melbourne back in June, I opened my freezer door to find all my food warm to the touch, including the extra loaves of multigrain sourdough bread I had hoped to have waiting for me when I returned. With just minutes before a friend arrived to give me a ride, all the food had to go.

After weeks away, I was itching to get on my Harley and delighted to have an excuse to ride rather than sort mail. With a new refrigerator installed and ready, I called the Creswell Bakery to reserve several loaves and headed south.

I grinned as I roared up the driveway and pulled back on the throttle to head up my steep hill, relishing the power of My Baby’s Milwaukie-Eight 107 V-Twin engine. Riding past fields and farmlands, I leaned back in my seat, breathed in the warm summer air, and luxuriated in the smooth ride.

I savored every bite of my bacon ciabatta breakfast sandwich with a farm fresh egg, Tillamook cheese, locally cured bacon, and freshly baked bread. The runny egg, melted cheese, and slightly crispy bacon created a perfect party of textures in my mouth.

Taking backroads home after loading up my bike with bread, I passed tractors plowing fields, sending plumes of dust up in their wake. Cattle grazed in their fields, horses trotted in their pastures, and birds flew overhead. Snaking my way along the shores of the Willamette River, the blue green waters sparkled in the sun, and the falls created a white frothy mist on top of the jagged brown rocks. It’s great to be home!