Will be heading out on NW motorcycle trip

By Nina Mehlhaf, KTVZ.COM

Big, big news of a very big VIP in our midst: the King of Jordan and his family are embarking from Bend on a motorcycle trip around the Northwest.

Abdullah Hussein is the King of Jordan, a stable Middle Eastern country next to Israel and Syria.

He has a love of scuba diving, race cars and Harley-Davidsons, and it has local businesses abuzz.

"Come buy a T-shirt - heck, with the bike! Buy a T-shirt, then go for a ride," Jeff Raszler of Bend's Cascade Harley-Davidson said Monday. He'd been pacing the aisles all day, waiting for a very important shipment.

"I got a call that the King of Jordan's motorcycle was coming today and we're doing set-up and some preps so he can take the bike for a ride around the Northwest," Raszler said.

King Abdullah Hussein, an ally of the U.S. with a goal of democracy in his country, has come to Bend with his entourage. An avid outdoorsman, the king and his family are here to begin their motorcycle journey across the Pacific Northwest.

The bike, a 1990 soft-tail Harley, was a gift from the previous king, his father, before he passed away. Last year, he toured Big Sur and Carmel, Calif., the same way.

"This morning I've gotten 10 phone calls from his entourage preparing for it," Raszler said. "So it should be kind of neat, and we can see what's happening."

Also in heavy preparation, the Seventh Mountain Resort on Century Drive west of Bend, where his highness will be staying and dining for just one night.

"There's been a lot of preparation in the last couple weeks to have a dignitary of this level at our resort," General Manager Jim Kinney said.

Sources tell NewsChannel 21 employees with any sort of criminal background have been temporarily kept away, and the king's secret service team will be on hand in the kitchen, making sure meals aren't tampered with.

"It's our time to highlight Central Oregon and all the wonderful things to do here," Kinney said. "It is very exciting to showcase our resort and the entire area of Central Oregon."

Most all of the rest of his recreational activities are being kept very hush hush. Nobody can exactly say where he'll take off for after leaving Central Oregon, but in the past he has stopped and taken photographs with onlookers.