The wheat region of eastern Washington is a patchwork quilt stitched together with outstanding motorcycle roads and interesting farming towns. Photos by the author.

?The wheat field has…poetry,? Vincent Van Gogh once said. The muse the master painter found in wheat inspired dozens of his works. By the end of my recent tour through thousands of acres of the waving grain, I could see the wisdom of the one-eared post-impressionist.

I was the outsider, so I happily left the route planning to the native Washingtonians. My wife?s brother-in-law, Scott, and his brother-in-law, Dennis, discussed the riding merits of different roads leading to, and within, the Palouse region of eastern Washington. You?d think that any activity that begins with two mentions of ?in-laws? could be destined for disaster. Not so in this case.
Cow Creek Mercantile in Ritzville is as diverse and interesting as its roof sign indicates, and the food is delicious.

We enjoyed a great meal at Cow Creek Mercantile in the historic farming center of Ritzville. For what it?s worth, I enthusiastically recommend the delectable Kraut Runza. It?s a dish certainly inspired by the area?s heavy Volga German influence. We mounted up and headed northeast on our mixed bag of bikes. Dennis was piloting his red Victory, Scott was on his vintage Honda Gold Wing and I was riding a Shadow that was way out of my adventure bike comfort zone.

I settled into the low, feet-forward riding position as we rolled past...