Day 5 - July 5th Oregon City lazing about

Today I decided to do absolutely nada. Well maybe for awhile at least. As it turned out I decided to do a small load of laundry after a manly breakfast of fried eggs - 3, totally FRIED, and the rest of my first can of Spam. Fresh brewed coffee too, and today I got it right, it was actually palatable. Mmm... Not quite enough holding power though so I finished off last night's leftover pizza topped off with a handful of salt licorice from Bandon. Now I have heartburn.

I decided to let Turbo and Camilla, the resident yellow and black labs out for some play time, then took a few pics of Mac & Randi's digs. What a piece of paradise this is, they're two people who've worked hard and are now enjoying the fruits of their labor. Or maybe they won the lotto and just never mentioned it to me?

Mac has an ongoing love affair raising Koi and his Koi pond would make most swimming pool owners green with jealousy. Some of his stock are very old fish, at least as fish years go. Don't ask, Marilyn told me but I filed it away in the remotest region of my brain cells where it is preserved for eternity. Or I'll wake up at 2:00am wondering what sort of dream made me think of Koi's ages?

Randi's interests take in llamas and Alpacas plus sheep. I have to admit they make interesting pets but I tend to favor Turbo and Camilla. Maybe it's because they don't snort at me. Better breath too.

Sometime today I may ride into town to replace the hair gel and deodorant I seem to have lost. How is that possible? Anyway it's not as expensive as the Bolle's and I don't have to visit the local factory outlet mall.

Day 4 - July 4th - Independance Day! Oregon City, OR

I said sad goodbyes to Tom & Robin this morning and headed north on 101 to the turnoff onto 26 east. Weather was a bit on the damp side, occasional showers but no big deal. The run from the coast inland to Portland takes you through some of the prettiest forests you can imagine, the stuff that tourists remember most.

Along the way I came upon the burned out remains of Oney's, once one of the more popular tourist stops between Portland and the coast. Sadly it appears someone decided to torch the place and so ended fond memories for thousands of travelers. There's a reward poster on the fence so maybe someone will end up paying for their misdeeds.

Arriving in Portland I stopped for lunch at my favorite place, Burger King and topped off my cholesterol tank for the morning. Figuring it would be prudent to find a place to pitch the tent early I called my former racquetball partner and long-time friend Marilyn for help. Our mutual friends Randi & Mac were up in the San Juans sailing over the holiday and I usually stay at their place when in the Portland area. Marilyn, keeper of the keys arranged to meet me there and let me in.

On the way I stopped by the falls at Oregon City and naturally nothings changed, still as interesting as ever only nowadays there are white-water boats full of tourists bobbing around taking pictures. When I was little I regarded the Willamette river as my grandpa's river; he had a small boat dock and ran a couple of hundred crawfish traps. We lived close to the river in Wilsonville and each year it would come to visit us....never quite reaching our house but that was just luck, it had flooded that same area many times.

Once unpacked and out of my riding gear we went to dinner at Bugatti's in Oregon City where great food and friendly service are their benchmarks. Afterwards we headed back to Randi & Mac's where Marilyn put a call through to them on the sailboat. Mac was kind enough (and a risk-taker as well) to provide me with the pass code to his wireless network so I could work on this blog. Just one more reason why I like these guys so much, they're absolutely the best. If you ever read this, thanks Mac & Randi!

Day 3 - July 3rd Backtracking to Cannon Beach

One of the things I wanted to do on this trip was hook up with friends along the way. Tom Huntington and I had worked together in the mid-sixties but after he moved to the coast we'd lost track of one another. We'd recently made contact and since he's living in Cannon Beach, south of Astoria I decided to head back down for a visit. And maybe camp out in his yard if I was lucky? The 4th of July isn't the best time to travel without reservations...

Once there I met his very lovely S/O Robin and their two sweet Corgi's. Robin was more than gracious when I called to see if my room was ready, said yes, get yourself down here now. Think about it, there she was trying to get ready for a trip to Portland on the 4th, had to make a salad for 26 people to take, her daughter and son-in-law were on their way for an over-night stay (with their two dogs!) and I just casually ring up and ask if my room is ready. What a great gal. They put me up in their guest cottage which truly beats the heck out of yard camping. Unless you're 10-years old maybe.

Tom and I spent hours catching up on ancient memories while consuming proportional amounts of alcoholic memory stimulants. Then we woofed down a truly great pizza procured in a Seaside pizzeria. There was a fringe benefit to the pizza run, I'd told Tom the ha-ha-ha story of my Bolle's so he took me to the local factory outlet mall where I procured two more pairs of sunglasses.

One of Tom & Robin's interests lie in funky art and they've collected tons of it over the years; it makes a visit with them a truly memorable experience. Oh yeah, I mentioned Robin's daughter and son-in-law brought their two dogs? One of them is a super sweet pug and the other is a 2-year old English bulldog named Emma. When they arrived Emma came at me like a freight train, nearly knocking me over followed up with lots of snorts and kisses. What is it about me and those silly bullies?

Day 2 - July 2 Fort Stevens State Park (Astoria)

Nice ride today, mild weather w/mist but no rain. Stopped along the Siletz river to look for the house used in the film Sometimes A Great Notion. It's still there, looks like a million bucks (I doubt you could touch it for several times that)

After that I took pics in Depot Bay of a building I once thought of buying. Decided against it as the Highway Dept was screwing around with things and it looked like they might be at it for years. It's still an art gallery and the highway issues were evidently resolved. Depot Bay has the shortest channel leading into their harbor and it was calm as could be. The last time I saw it there was a nasty storm cooking and the boats were struggling to make it in.

Next stop was to eyeball the sea lions and birds north of the world famous Sea Lion Caves. Mist was enveloping the lighthouse off in the distance, very nostalgic scene.

Moving on I paused to shoot a long distance pic of the big G on the mountain side above Garibaldi. When finished I rode on but realized in 1/4 mile I'd left my new Bolle sunglasses on top of the hack, a very bad habit. Sure enough they were gone and I rode back to the turn off, scanning the road side. Nada. So I did it again. Still nothing. Parked the rig and walked along 101 in full costume looking for them. Not fun, RevIt makes neat riding outfits but they're not worth a damn for hiking. Anyway I found them, or what was left of them. $130 gone. Plus the photo of the big G turned out fuzzy. Dang. Double Dang.

Feeling especially brilliant I saddled up and headed for Fort Stevens State Park just outside of Warrenton (Astoria). Nice young park ranger type lady set me up with a great RV campsite as the last tent space went to the guys ahead of me. At $22 it turned out to be a better deal as it had an electrical hook up and I was able to recharge all the battery thingies. After a gourmet dinner of Nally's Chili and a couple of G&T's I assumed the horizontal position for the rest of the evening. What a social dullard I am when traveling....

Day 1 - July 1 Bandon to Beverly Beach

This morning was cool & a bit on the drizzly side when I left, not at all like our usual first of July weather. Hoping it wasn't shades of things to come I set out, loaded to the gizzard with more stuff than I'd probably need for an African safari. Mac wouldn't be leaving Iowa for a few more days so I have plenty of time to meander and take photos. I figured if I made 150 miles per day that would be more than enough to make our rendevous in Bellingham, WA on the 14th.

Leaving Bandon I shot some pics of the marsh lands and Bullards bridge on the north end of town, then left highway 101 at the Charleston cuttoff to ride the twisty backroad. This isn't a heck of a lot of fun on a hack, at least not like riding the Ducati but it's away from the traffic and very scenic. I reached Charleston mid-morning and stopped at Chuck's Seafood where I often go to buy fresh fish. There I picked up a couple of small cans of smoked salmon for Mac, then toured around the dock area taking pics of the local fleet.

Back on 101 I headed to Reedsport, Florence and the Oregon Dunes National Park where thousands of quads and dune buggies gather every year. Passing through Newport I decided to stop for the day at Beverly Beach State Park. The last time I camped there was years ago but nothing has changed, it's still one of the best campgrounds around. I scored a nice clean tent site for $17 and settled in for my first manly meal of Top Ramen sloshed down with a nice warm G&T. Yummy. There were around 1000 little kids in the area, most of them in the tent site next to mine. Yippee...

It's here! - Email from Mac Friday 6/27/08

LL

Here is the story of yesterday.

My buddy(Joe O'Connor) gave me a ride up to pick up my bike. Being a friend he stayed with me during the day and then followed me on the ride back home to make sure there was no trouble.

We arrived at the dealers at 3PM, which is the time the male partner of the dealership is there. He was quite surprised to see us as he thought we were coming up today. Needless to say the bike was not ready to pick up. I told him I was there to ride it home so if he would get it ready to go I would ride it home and we could finish up with the little goodie installations on Sat when I come back for the 500Km check. 

In the spirit of good dealership he told me to go have some coffee and come back later. Joe and I did as he asked and when we returned he was still working on it. He apparently made up his mind that he was going to to get it completely done.

To make a long story short he got everything done that I wanted except for the deep oil sump and extended oil pump. We will fix that Sat when I am up there for the 500Km check.

Now as the saying goes, here is the rest of the story. We finally got away from the dealership at 6:30 PM and arrived home at 11:30 PM. The back way I came home was 233Km and we made 4 stops so I not only learned a little bit about riding a hack I also checked out the lighting. All I got to say is I am very glad I read as much as I did on how to ride one, the first time I decelerated rapidly got my attention. Glad there was no one coming in the oncoming lane.

I finally got it thru my thick head that you need to slow down for a right corner and then slowly speed up thru the curve. On the left corner you need to slow down while taking the curve.

YES, all is well, but the banked curves to the left still get my attention, it feels like I am going to tip over to the left. Also the first couple of times I stopped I put my left foot down. I finally got used to that, now I can just see me riding my FJR and stop and fall over.

Now I got to get busy today, license, insurance, etc. Then tomorrow get up about 5 am and head north.

Man, I am having a lot of fun, who said retirement is boring.

Mac

P.S. I love my Ural

 

Dana's Bucket List

A couple of days ago - Saturday morning, June 22nd to be exact - I'd gone for a ride to Charleston with riding buddy Chuck Bruce. Nothing special, just one of those get-out-of-the-house things, the sun was shining and the chores could wait. We arrived back in Bandon a few hours later and while I stopped for gas Chuck headed over to the local grocery store. Chuck rides a really nice Yamaha Star and since he's pretty cool looking a lady approached him and asked if he knew anyone with a sidecar.

Chuck has one but it's at his other place in Medford, OR so he told her he knew someone local who has one. Turns out she has a sister who has always wanted a ride in one and its on her bucket list. I'm going to presume you readers know what a bucket list is...? No? Me neither, I guess I'll have to watch the movie. Anyway Chuck told her he'd give me a call and see if I'd give her sis a ride in the Sputnik. He did, I said sure, called her and set up a time & place for 10:00 am today. Should be a piece of cake I thought. Right, a piece of cake. That was last night and I entered their address into my Garmin GPS so it would be a no-brainer finding their place. 

Today dawned bright & early, no rain albeit on the cloudy side and I hit the road around 9:30 am. Everything was running smooth as can be until just south of Bandon when the fire went out. Kaput. Nada. The end.  Figuring I'd forgotten to turn the gas on I coasted over to the side of the road and checked. It was on and the odometer showed a measly 41 miles on the tank. Still not trusting things I turned the tank onto the reserve position, hit the go-button and after a sputter or two the thumper came back to life. A short stop at the local Chevron to top off the tank required a mere 1.4 gallons. Now what? What the heck, time was running short and I had to get going or I'd be late. Whatever caused the shut down  mysteriously went away for the rest of the day, and hopefully forever. Very weird.

With the morning catastrophic failure drill out of the way I was on the road again with 10 minutes to spare. I must subconsciously require a bit of drama in my life as I discovered I'd left the note containing the ladies address and telephone number at home. That wouldn't be a big deal as long as the GPS made good on it's promise and not let me get lost, eh? Right LL. Hoo boy. Hustling north on US 101 the Garmin suddenly informed me I should be heading south. Huh? OK, no argument from me, a sharp U-turn and around I went. Those of you familiar with Garmin's products know how pissy the GPS lady gets when you're "OFF ROUTE, RECALCULATING!" Seems there was more than one approach to the address I wanted and somehow mid-way the spy-in-the-sky had an attitude adjustment. Heading south I followed her new instructions exactly and soon arrived at the chosen destination. Only it wasn't the right place, much to my chagrin and the general amusement of the little old lady whose house I was at. Ha ha Garmin, what a joker you are. Ha ha. 

Back on 101 heading north again, this time flying by the seat of my pants I located the right road and cruised up it a mile or so, thinking anyone expecting an old guy on a hack would probably be outside waving their arms frantically. No one. Nada. Nyet. Back down I went. Back up I went. On the third pass Dana caught sight of me and did the arm waving thing and I arrived, only 15 minutes late. With introductions over and a nice bag of fresh-baked home made cookies stowed carefully in my tank bag we were ready to set off. 

Heading north we swung off 101 through Bullard's Beach State Park following the road west alongside the Coquille River out to the Bandon Lighthouse. There we stopped for photos and a look around, then rode south on 101 into Bandon's Old Town district and a stop at the Bandon Coffee Cafe. Dana's sister Dawn followed us in her car, taking photos of the sights and the two people in the sidecar, much to the curiosity of the tourists. After coffee it was time for a bit more riding, this time south on 101 for a few miles and then it was time to say goodbye to new found friends. Not a bad way to spend the morning.