Epilogue- The Windy Continental Divide

Mt Massive

It may be true that as long as we are alive the story never ends. And as the Artist of my life story I know that I could keep on writing because the story keeps on unfolding.
      I was able to get the Mothership home and have spent the last few days in anticipation of the moment when I would get to write some more in this Epilogue of the Mothership Meander of the West Coast of the United States.
      I took back my brother in law's borrowed car on Sunday the 24th of April. Mary came over in one of our cars to visit her mother, so I would have a way home if the mercurial spring weather closed down the way back over Battlement Mesa and Tennessee Pass into Leadville and down the Arkansas River to our house. The distance of 160 miles was enough that the weather was developing different ways in different areas of the drive. But Monday morning after I cleaned a layer of bugs off the windshield and front of the motorcycle, I left under slowly building weather and overcast skies. Once I cleared Glenwood Canyon on I-70 I got some sunshine and temperatures in the low 60's. In the climb over Battlement Mesa out of Minturn the wind starting gusting and by the time I reached the summit of Tennessee Pass it would push on the Mothership pretty good, warning of the changing weather. Stopping on a back way around Leadville I took this picture of Mount Massive, one of Colorado's fourteen thousand foot peaks. You can see the remains of the snow that had made me pause in El Jebel and the scudding and torn clouds in the wind here at ten thousand feet. The roads remained clear though, and as I drove to lower elevations the temperatures came up. The drive over the Continental Divide took just over three hours and within a few hours of getting the bike home it  started to rain with the weather remaining unsettled all week with snow forecast here for tomorrow the 29th of April.
         As I rolled the big beemer into it's home in my shop, I felt more elation for having completed this big endeavor. The final mileage for the trip was 4,129 miles. And in gratitude to my equipment, when I put the bike up on it's center stand to check the rear tire, I was amazed to find it did just that, it just got me home. I must of driven over something in Glenwood Canyon, the back tire had two open scars on the center of the tread all the way down to the cords! I won't even push the Mothership out of the shop until I have removed the rear tire and installed a new one, it was that close! This is not the first time I have felt thankful that what ever I was driving just got me home. I have been left "out" and been towed a few times, heck, I have had small airplanes I was flying leave me standing in a field. So I am grateful, if for nothing else, my luck.( Luck enhanced by attention!)
       I continue to be grateful for how much the motorcycles I have owned have improved through the years. While it is an adventure to ride a motorcycle this far instead of a car, it is eminently easier that thirty years ago. But the most gratitude goes to living in a country where this is so easy to do. Just go and see it from the seat of a motorcycle. To be healthy and of an age where I can appreciate what I saw, what I did. For me, another incredible life experience to add my life story.
     I am the Artist of My Life Story looking to whats next, One Day at a Time!

Will by the River.

I am done, the weather won.

 I awoke this morning in Ogden Utah and started planning this day. The weather forecasts  had worsened on Monarch Pass and North Pass to the San Luis Valley. The web cams on both passes showed snow packed conditions still, and the forecast was for rain. (on ice, I am not that brave or foolish!) Nothing was very promising for the next two days that would hope to melt back to pavement so I could cross one of the passes home on Wednesday.  I have been away on the Mothership for three weeks today and life responsibilities are starting to intrude. So I decided I could get as far as Glenwood Springs and run up the Roaring Fork Valley to El Jebel and my brother in laws house.
     In this picture above you can see the low clouds that were around all day. Those are the La Sals over by Moab Utah from I-70. There was virga all around most of the day and from  Salt Lake the temps went down to 49 degrees on Soldier Summit to a high of 61 degrees here at the Crescent Junction rest stop. I was using the hand grip heaters and seat heater on and off all day.
      Traffic was pretty light through Salt Lake and just a steady flow on US 6 over Soldier. I have found on these longer ride days, that to stop more often at rest stops seems to be refreshing. I found myself more alert on these long stretches of super slab. As I approached Colorado and saw the turns for Westwater, a fun river run to Cisco takeout everything became familiar again. And as I drop into the Grand Valley alongside the Colorado River, spring was starting with greening fields and blossoms on the trees.
    After a gas stop in Clifton I ran upriver to DeBeque Canyon and the sweeping turns on I-70, from there all the way to my in laws in El Jebel it was spitting rain, and up on the ridges it looked like it could be snowing. All this was enforcing my decision that I couldn't get over the Continental Divide tomorrow without driving on snow or ice. F---ing winter, at least the areas I came from knew it was spring! Oh, yeah, that is spring here isn't it.!
      So to El Jebel and a warm bed and the lend of a car, plus a garage for the Mothership to sit in until I can come back and get her when the roads are clear.
     So here I am, calling it a completed trip and this my final trip blog. I promise a epilogue  on the final two hundred miles when I get this big BMW home.
      It was all I wanted it to be. I had no trouble, used no oil, the tires held up. No close calls, no scary moments. I met many wonderful people and saw the incredible Pacific Ocean coast from LA to Astoria Oregon. I saw hidden gems of beach towns along the way and ate a lot of fish. I don't think the mothership or I look any worse for wear!
     So I checked my mileage and I will have driven over 4000 miles when I get the bike back to Salida. Now thats my idea of a great trip.
     Thanks to you all for listening, sharing your comments and even the offer of a bed, But really Christopher Arthur, do people even come to Casper Wyoming in the winter? But thanks I do appreciate the thought. I am impressed by this 17 year old bike and the way it shrugs off the miles, and comes up shining. It was a fun ride.

Will, almost back by his river.

That was Idaho!

 I awoke this morning in a lovely Victorian Hotel, high ceilings, crystal chandelier, the quiet of town outside. I realized that I had entered Oregon on the Pacific coast at Brookings. Traveled the entire Oregon Coast to Astoria. Traversed three fourths of the north border and today would exit into Idaho almost halfway down the east side of the state. The Mothership has over three thousand miles on it since I left and rest stops involve watching the rear tire and hoping it will make it home. It is down to the wear bars. Yet I find myself dawdling, not wanting it to be over. Plus my path over the Continental Divide continues to have snow on it today. A no go snow with a motorcycle.
     I had a leisurely breakfast at the SunRiver Inn in Baker City and left with the outside temperatures in the high 60's and rode over the last hills of Oregon and into Idaho. I seemed to stop more often at rest stops but the landscape had become barren, grassy volcanic hills with farming around the Snake River. There are pretty areas and towns along the Snake but the scenery was dry buttes and long view of Mountains capped with snow from the recent storm.
The difference of the lushness of Multnomah Falls to the arid west, especially with two weeks along the Pacific Ocean is very striking. The fecund green, with flowers blooming on everything. Moss on trees and rocks, and water wherever you look. I am feeling positively shriveled tonight in Ogden Utah.
      Keeping the Mothership moving was easy today, the speed limit for Idaho was 80 MPH. I entered Idaho and lost an hour of time moving to Mountain Time. It was noon when I came into Idaho and a little after four when I left. Idaho was just there and gone. And riding into Utah there were some afternoon buildups and the temperature dropped into the high 50's. I started thinking about getting the cloths from the bottom of the bag that I had to wear to get out of  Colorado almost three weeks ago. Oh well, at least I found warm spring somewhere!
       I leave you with this picture of the Blue Mountains of Baker County Oregon. I have seen a lot of Oregon, I have enjoyed a lot of Oregon. I hope to come back to Oregon soon.

Will by the River.

The rest of Washington Hwy 14 and on to Baker City

In the soft morning light among the cherrie blossoms I idled the big Mothership out to Washington Hwy 14 and headed east. Highway 14 ends east from Vancouver Washington for 180 miles to end out by Plymouth Washington at Interstate I-82. There you cross over the Columbia on I-82 to get on I-84 either east or west. The traffic was pretty light and there are nice sections of curves. Out toward Hood River and then The Dalles a lot of  people were parking on the Washington side to go hiking or at boat ramps to go fishing. It was a sunny day and a Sunday.
      Hwy 14 is a nice two lane that takes you gradually out of the forests into treeless grasslands with the occasional vineyard. The temperature for most of the ride today stayed in the high 50's to the 60's.
     As I started up the road I passed the Bridge of the Gods at Cascade Locks. When the Bonneville Dam was finished the resulting pool upstream was deep enough that they don't need those locks anymore and it is a park now. The Bridge is a toll bridge over to the I-84 side of the river or back and has a metal deck that I didn't try on the Mothership.

      Once on I-84 at the rest stops were I paused there were displays giving information about the Oregon Trail.  Hwy 14 was the Lewis & Clark Hwy and now I-84 is the Oregon Trail, though sone older highways were before I-84.
    When you pass Pendleton the interstate climbs a 6% grade with many hairpins called Cabbage Hill up to the Blue Mtn summit at 4100 ft, almost a 3000 ft climb from the columbian basin. Then it is down the other side into La Grande Oregon home of Eastern Oregon University. This is a farming area and the road is fairly level except at Powder where the road curves through some foothills.
     At Baker City Oregon there are two exits into town and the first heads east up toward Hell's Canyon and is a favorite motorcycle ride in the summer. I didn't ask it the snow was off that road but I did go up a ways to the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. In this picture from the parking area you can see the fresh snow on the Blue Mountains. Mt Hood was very white this morning with fresh snow.
     The Interpretive Center is a large facility up on the top of a hill, where you can see history presentation and maps of the Oregon trail. Still visible are wagon tracks of the Oregon Trail.
      Tonight I am staying at the Geiser Grand Hotel in downtown Baker City a restored Victorian Hotel that is featured in just about any information on Baker City. It nice and the wifi works  which it hasn't always been that way for me on this trip. It is reported as haunted, I'll let you know if I talk to any ghosts tonight.
    Tomorrow I hope to be in the Salt Lake Area and ride this bubble of good weather back to Salida Colorado by Wednesday.

Will away from the river

Leaving the Landing

It has been a nice pause here at Skamania Landing. The misty Northwest weather has moved out leaving sunshine and warming weather. The flotsam in the big eddy here at the house has increased because the river is so high. So as the sun is shinning up the river from the west you look out on the river and see large pieces of wood drifting down the river and then back up the eddy with flocks of birds floating along on top make large twenty minute turns around the eddy.
       I cleaned the Mothership and aired the tires today, did my laundry, so as my mother taught me, if I have an accident I will hopefully have clean underwear! But jokes aside this has been a marvelous. I loved the river traffic. The tugs pushing what ever up and down the river. Getting up high for the long views.
It was fun helping the friends of the library set up the book sale on Friday and go back today and take it down and find out how they did. Then afterwards go to the Walking  Man Brewery and have a beer with the Saturday afternoon crowd. There were wind surfers and a small sail boat regatta out on the broad river above the Bonneville Dam there in Stevenson.
One of the ideas about this trip was to spend time rather than passing through, at some places along the way. And though I have been here before, I learned even more about this area of the Columbia River Gorge.
     Also spring is here, with Azaleas, lilacs and fruit trees all in bloom. Something that is not happening today at home in Colorado. I got messaged this evening on my phone with pictures of quite a few inches of snow that fell today. I am glad I got a taste of spring here, I like it better than snow in April or even May!
     But tomorrow I will drive Washington Hwy 14 till it ends at I-82 and cross the Columbia River there. At Pendleton on I-84 you climb up the long hill where you can stop and read about how the got wagons on the Oregon Trail down this "hill that went on forever". It looks to be a nice day.

Will by the River

Multnomah Falls and the Passing Tugs

Passing tugs at the eddy

The working tugs on the Columbia are a special design for this river. They are deeper draft than the Mississippi boats and like most tug boats one sees today, they have a bow structure for pushing. So one wonders if they might be called pushers instead but I guess we still call them tugs. A minute amount of online research yields that they operate 24 hours a day with crews switching on and off the Tug somewhere along the river. It takes 48 hours to get from Lewiston Idaho, through the locks and dams, to Portland. Forty percent of our wheat production slide down this river to Portland at eight miles an hour while their diesel engines are burning about 110 gallons an hour. This tidewater tug is pushing upstream toward the narrows and its pushing two empty grain barges and a fuel barge loaded and low in the water.

I checked the USGS water data site last evening and the River is running around 320,000 cubic feet per second of water flowing by in this picture. For those of us who know the Arkansas River through Salida, it is running 348 cubic feet per second of water today.
        I have been here visiting at Skamania Landing a number of times in recent years but I haven't had two tugs going opposite ways pass by here before. It was fun to watch. I have a series of photos of each barge approach and passing. The water was so still and we had been watching birds sitting on flotsam caught in the middle of the eddy and slowly riding it around in a circle!
     On Friday we had to make a supply run into Vancouver. ( more cigars and scotch!) So we decided to go upriver to Bridge of the Gods and cross over to Cascade Locks on the Oregon side and go to Multnomah Falls. Springs and snowmelt up on Larch Mountain feed a whole series of waterfalls along this stretch of I-84 out of Portland and along a lovely winding road, US 30, up to Vista House and on to Troutdale. The Multnomah Falls are considered the tallest in Oregon. This is a popular stop on the interstate and finding a minute to get a picture in the crowd was hard. It is an easy trail up to the bridge and apparently with some dedication you can climb to the top of the falls on a trail that goes around to the left off the bridge.
     The winding and climbing road through the trees to Vista House is US route 30 and is the old highway to Idaho before the interstate. This section leaves the interstate and would be a nice ride when it is dry, but we had the car and it was nice in that also, the road was damp and in the trees and looked as if one wouldn't want to test lean angles this day.

The longview were great at the top and I could see back up river to the Landing and Beacon rock out by the river. Beacon Rock is a 848 ft high basalt volcanic plug that stands beside the Columbia River about a mile upstream of the Landing where I am staying. A trail was made up it to the top that is closed right now for repairs but it is an easy climb.
       We finished our site seeing and wandered into Troutdale and on to Vancouver for our supply run and returned up river to have the sunshine on us while we sat by the river. It will be hard to leave this for the snow that is happening today in Colorado! But that is days ahead and I will take it One Day at a Time.
Will by the Columbia River

A Misty Day at the Landing

Early this morning I heard the rain on the roof. It had started late yesterday afternoon then let up. It is not like our cloudbursts in Colorado. Here it is more misty with brief periods of rain drops. Everything is green with most flowering trees in full bloom. The cherry trees are losing their blossoms and streets have pink petals all over them and collected in the gutters. It is like someone is spreading petals for you to stroll on.
     The tops of the high ridges across the river had a dusting of snow this morning and the forecast called for ice pellets, reinforcing my decision to pause here in Skamania Landing and let this weather move out ahead of me for some days. Meanwhile, my phone is giving me winter weather advisories for back home in Colorado starting Friday, yet another worthwhile reason to stay here.
      This morning I went with my host and joined the Friends of the Library to set up the annual book sale in the downstairs event room. The Fort Vancouver Regional Library, a district, is a lovely modern building that had a children's event going upstairs, great wifi and lots of books. I was able to resist all the books for sale by ignoring the possibility of shipping and the lack of carrying space on my motorcycle. It was a wonderful group of people that were fun to be around. While we were in the Skamania County Seat of Stevenson Washington, we stopped at a little soup and sandwich place run by a delightful couple and had a cup of soup for lunch while we watched the mist swirl up on the ridges. It seems as if the trains, sounding their horns at each crossing, are more mournful on a wet day such as this.

      Yesterday we actually had sun early in the day. When I got up I saw the cruise ship come by on a shakedown cruise for the upcoming season. The water was smooth in the early morning air as the ship cruised downriver through the edge of the eddy here. This ship does seasonal cruises from Astoria Oregon to Lewiston Idaho. Generally people do the trip for about a week, one way and then are returned to their beginning port by bus. It is lavish, with suites and fine dinning. It was lovely to see it slide down the river as the sun rose.
     Spring is definitely here in the pacific northwest, the blueberry bushes outside the house are in bloom, flowers, fruit trees and early gardens planted. The green of the woods after a really wet winter. A lot of clean up going on after a hard wind about a month ago knocked some trees and and broke some off half way down. There was a slide on a steep hillside next to Hwy 14 into Stevenson where a huge pine tree, root ball and all, slid down the hillside to remain upright on the edge of the road pushing the power lines out of line along the road. That must have been interesting to see. It is all cleaned up now and just another story of winter.
       Today though, it is sit cozy inside, with lovely jazz playing and listen to the rain on the roof as the mighty Columbia River slides by on it's way to the Pacific Ocean.

Will by he River

Back to the River

 When you leave Seaside Oregon on Hwy 101 you leave the Pacific Ocean as the road is further inland. In about 18 miles you come into Warrington Oregon which is separated from Astoria by Youngs bay. When I crossed that low bridge there was a bald eagle just standing out on the flats eating a fish. It was a gray day so his white head really stood out.
     I was in the rain suit because it was raining in Seaside as I left and for the rest of the day I rode in and out of "heavy mist" that at times had water running off the windshield. The way this motorcycle is faired directs the water away from you, even your feet, so I stayed relatively dry for the whole ride to Skamania Landing on the Washington State side of the Columbia River Gorge.

      Leaving behind the Pacific Ocean beaches I headed into the woods after I crossed the Columbia River in Astoria Oregon on Hwy 101.
I was along the river for a while on State Hwy 401 but then  into the hills and mist for a while. After I turned on State Hwy 4 it was back down to the Columbia River all the way into Longview Washington, where the river turns south toward Portland, and I jumped on I-5 for some higher speeds for a while.
     The Columbia River Gorge is quite the avenue of commerce. With dams and locks you can push a barge all the way to Lewiston Idaho. There are trains traveling both sides of the river, with Burlington Northern on the Washington side and Union Pacific on the Oregon side. and then Interstate 84 runs east out of Portland through Hood River and The Dalles, while on the Washington side a delightful curvy State Hwy 14 runs from Vancouver and Camas along the river to McNary Dam. It was along this Hwy 14 I got on after a fun run on Hwy 500 into Camas and some gas. Hwy 14 climbs up to a Cape that looks out over the gorge that is beginning of some fun twisting roads up and back down along this big river.

Up River toward the Narrows.

      Skamania landing is a huge eddy by our Arkansas River standards, with a big spit of land above the landing pushing out into the river creating a narrows and the resultant increase in current that slows the barges down as they pass going upriver.  The Columbia River Gorge is the only break in the Cascades all the way down to California. This makes for some interesting weather when big Pacific storms push in, including winds that blow hard from east to west, a relief flow from the oncoming pressure changes. But it is lovely most of the year and this will be a nice pause till Sunday when I move on east probably five hours to the last stop in Oregon, Baker City. There is a heritage center for the Oregon Trail I have heard about and I thought I would stop there for awhile. I was looking at going into Joseph Oregon in the Wallowa Mtns but it is a little early in the season. In the meantime I will hang here in this lovely spot with cousin Angus, clean the road grime off the Mothership and check the tires and watch the boats go by on the River. This weather promises to move on east by Friday so I can even pack my rain suit up again for the sunny days ahead.
Will by a bigger River

Cannon Beach Haystack

Monday was for wandering around Seaside and Cannon Beach just back down the road. Cannon Beach is a little town, terrain limited between Headlands. Streets filled with shops and Inns.  This rock is larger than some along the coast at the ends of Headlands and has an imposing presence over the area. I sat in the Wayfarer Inn restaurant and had breakfast and looked at this view. At the end of one of the streets there were stairs and a path out to the beach through trees, it was really inviting. People were riding four wheel recumbent bikes and fat tire bikes out on the beach. I was not tempted to try and herd the Mothership out through the sand to ride on the beach. It would have taken everyone on the beach to get me out of there.


Cannon Beach has a little public library also and I spent some time in there on their wifi. The only problem with not having wifi in my motel room the last two nights was I couldn't do email and this blog. The upside of no wifi in my motel room was all the neat places I have been in to use wifi.
     There is building going on in Seaside and Cannon beach and lot of exterior work that looks like everyone is getting ready for the summer season. A lot of the buildings here are covered in shake shingle siding, gray and weathered that looks nice against all the green foliage. Cannon Beach had a warm an inviting vibe to it.
    Seaside is bigger than Cannon Beach with grocery stores lots of Inns up by the beach, with some high-rise resorts. You can tell up at this end of the Oregon Coast you are much closer to Portland and the other population centers along I-5. The beach is really large and some of the town houses wrap around the south end of the beach along that headland. I got some time on the beach in the afternoon to sit on a log and smoke a cigar. The waves were breaking five or six times in a row before finishing up on the beach. There was a lot of spray in the air. Children were trying to get water in little buckets to wet down their sand castles. So they would run out chasing the retreating water, stopping to try and scoop and then chase some more, but only to suddenly turn around and race back to outrun the next wave coming in. I found myself wanting to shop out, "look out, look out"! It was fun to watch.
              In the evening I went downtown to the Twisted Fish restaurant and treated myself to a wonderful dinner of Sea Scallops  and rice plus steamed spinach with bacon. A lovely Malbec from Argentina. I even had coffee and a slice of exquisite cheesecake. It was a celebration of having made my westernmost destination. Tomorrow I drive the 18 miles up to Astoria and the Columbia River where I will cross over to the Washington side of the River and turn east to begin the journey of leaving sea level and climbing back to Colorado and my 7,000 ft high home in Salida.
     This has been a journey of revelations. The differences between fantasy and reality. I cannot image, not having done this trip. It has called me for a long time. To do it on this wonderful motorcycle has been a true pleasure. But it is bittersweet to turn east.
    Tomorrow promises to be a rain suit day, which is only right as I leave the Oregon Coast and head into the Columbia River Gorge.

Will by the river leaving the Pacific Ocean.

A Sunday Jaunt

Sunday evening found me at the Coastal River Inn in Seaside Oregon. Without internet access. It wouldn't accept the password on either my phone or macbook. The office seemed clueless and so I put off the blog until this morning.
    The clouds seemed pretty determined yesterday  but it stayed dry on my ride from Newport Oregon to Seaside. A two and a half hour drive straight up Hwy 101 through Lincoln City andTillamook. But I did a side trip through Pacific City, Netarts and Oceanside.
     This picture is in Depoe Bay that bills itself as the Whale Watching  capital of the world. It also says it has the smallest harbor on the coast. I watched but I didn't see any whales! It looked like there were some boats out a little ways looking also.
      I have been struck by the dress along the Oregon coast.  Either rubber boots or sandals with socks. And perhaps in response to dreary winter, the number of women with their hair dyed some color of pink or purple has been startling. But everyone is friendly and I am often given recommendations of things to see or do. A lot goes on out here on the coast, it is great being near it for so long.

      I took the turnout to Pacific City and found my way out to Kiwanda Pt where the Dory fleet launches off the beach into the waves. There at the Point was the Pelican Brewing Company and lots of people there and on the beach. There were surfers as well as Dorys. I had a Salmon  BLT wrap and watched the sea and the people. Pacific City was a bit of a backwater, with lots of vacation rentals and places for sale. But the whole Oregon coast seems to  just starting to shine things up for the summer season.

     From there I drove along Netarts Bay and through the little town of Netarts. Back out by the Pacific I came to a little town of Oceanside. The hills are steep here and the town is built on the hillside. There was public parking for beach access and the beach was cobble with a lot of beach combing going on that afternoon. There were also buckets and shovels with some that might have been digging for clams or something, but I couldn't tell for sure and didn't ask. I took this picture of a structure going up among the houses on the hillside. Oceanside is about 8 miles from Tillamook and really a nice little town by a pretty little bay.

     After Oceanside I went up to the Cape Mears State Park and out by the lighthouse parking for this view of the ocean. Then it was back into Tillamook and resisting the urge to go into the Tillamook Cheese facility. I think I might have gained a pound just driving by!
     The sun showed itself for the rest of the day and for the next hour of wander into Seaside.
     It was such a treat to have a short drive today and get to wander off the track now and then to sit by the beach. A good day.
    I will pause a day here at the Coastal River Inn on the Necanicum River as it flow through Seaside to the Pacific Ocean.
Will by the Necanicum River in Oregon
   

The Yaquina Headlands

To quote from the handout from the federal fee site, the Yaquina Head outstanding natural area. Managed by the BLM. "Yaquina Head is a narrow, coastal headland extending one mile into the Pacific Ocean. Formed by ancient lava flows, Yaquina Head's hard basalt cliffs and coves have endured the pounding ocean surf for 14 million years."  So it was decided to put a light on it! Maybe ships would quit hitting it. So in 1866 President Andrew Johnson signed an executive order and by August of 1873 they finally got it lit. Today it is automated, but there were Lighthouse Keepers until 1966 when it was automated. The Oregon Trail and the California Trail had the west coast booming, but no real roads, so most everything was brought in by boat. The light was made in France.
       This beach is lava rock, beat up by the ocean for some million years and thrown at the basalt cliffs a high tide in violent winter storms. Smoothest, roundest lava rock I have ever seen.  This headland lies a few miles north of Newport. Agate Beach is just to the south and the waves were pretty big today. There were surfers just south of this headland, giving it a go.
     Down the stairway to the cobble beach there were  people  watching the waves and now and then in the water there were seals watching the people, and the birds on the rocks watching everyone.

In the afternoon I drove down to the old Harbor Part of Newport, down on the wharf. There are fish stores and restaurants and shops and because it was Saturday lots of people.  I went into a restaurant called Moe's and had a blackened salmon sandwich with a cabbage and lettuce salad covered with shrimp. It was wonderful. I watched shop workers carrying fresh fish from the dock to the restaurants, pretty fresh!

      After lunch I crossed over the Hwy 101 bridge to South Beach and spent some time in the Oregon Coastal Aquarium. They had some display's where you were under the water and the fish swam over and under you. Seals, shore birds. It was a lot of great information about the ocean there.
      The day had warmed up and the clouds broke to give this sunny afternoon to spend here in Newport. Driving around town I could see a lot a nice landscaping in many neighborhoods. Plenty of rental houses. There was a beach community feel down along Nye Beach. And houses on the hills over the harbor looking out to sea. It is 48 miles inland to Corvallis. I found Newport to be a nice setting here on the Oregon Central Coast.

     Tomorrow I will load up the Mothership again and move a couple of hours up the coast. Past Lincoln City, Tillamook and Cannon beach to Seaside for a couple of days touring around there.

This is Will by the Yaquina Headlands signing off.

A Glowering Sky day in Oregon

Well it finally happened. I had to get out the rain suit! The sky in this picture is what it looked like all day. It was raining in Brookings when I got up, but I didn't actually drive in any rain or wet roads all day. But it stayed in the mid 50's and so the extra layer was nice and I just left the rain suit on all day.
     When I pulled into the scenic pullout to take this picture of Heceta Head Lighthouse, north of Florence Oregon, a gentleman with Oregon plates pulled in to talk to me about his BMW just like mine. Turned out he got a mechanical engineering degree at CU Boulder. I think by the end of today I had talked about the "mothership" with at least 5 or 6 people. It has been quite the conversation starter.
      Hwy 101 up the Oregon coast is two lane with three lane on the hills, logging trucks now and then but tourist traffic pretty light this time of year. It does seem to slow down into some tight turns fairly often, but a lot of big sweeping turns that you can set bike over on a line and hold that angle for a long sweeper of a turn, lots of fun today.

     The water looked rougher today under the gray sky and it seemed like more wave crashing on the shore, more foam. It and the grayness, plus the fog shrouded hills gave the area a wildness next to a dark foreboding feeling ocean. I kept waiting for Bigfoot to step out of the trees.
        I found Florence to be nicer than I remember and much bigger. I loved the little communities of Yachats and Waldport. And the Bridges over the big rivers  were amazing. I crossed the Chetco River, Rogue River(and had breakfast in Gold Beach) and the Umpqua River. I traveled through the big sand dune country before Florence where you could get a tour out on the sand in a big tired buggy or rent your own four wheeler and go play. Or back in Gold Beach you could get a jet boat tour up the Rogue River.

     When I got to Newport Oregon I checked into my motel and then went down to the beach. I was surprised by how many people were down at the beach in this weather.  It was pretty windy but people kept driving up and heading out for a walk on the beach. This is Nye Beach here in the center of Newport, there are lots of Inns and restaurants in this area and along the streets coming down the hill from Hwy 101. Just up from this beach on the street out from the public parking was a little restaurant called the Sandbar. I got a cup of clam chowder, salad and fresh bread for dinner. It was perfect, and after a short tour of some more of the nearby streets, I am back here in my cozy room, out of the fog and communing with my community here in the internet. I love all the likes and comments you all are sharing with me, it really makes me feel my tribe we have around us in life. Thank you all.
Will by the Pacific Ocean

Brookings Oregon and I found Spring

 Today dawned sunny and warm. I was starting slow and taking a break from pushing down the road and hitting my next mark on the map. It was nice. I rode around Brookings up the hills of town, found the schools, the cemetery the Azalea Park. Then into a funky coffee shop for lunch.
     I needed to some travel supplies so I dropped into a Walmart looking Fred Meyer store that had pretty much everything. Every where I stopped someone would come up to talk about the motorcycle, but not the plates from Colorado, pretty interesting.  I guess I am just proud I didn't trailer it out here.

When I was wandering around town I got this picture of how far along spring is here, something we don't see like this at 7,000 ft elevation at home. It was a pretty warm day at this point. I went down to the Boat Basin on the Chetco River and took this picture looking up the Chetco river. While I was there by the river a Trawler went out the channel and swung his booms out to the side to start fishing.

     A little later in the Afternoon I drove the mothership up the 101 north along the Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor to a trail out into the trees. I sat on a bench in the sun at the Arch Rock. Sitting out on that point it was interesting to watch the constant restless movement of the Pacific Ocean. The foam from the waves drifting off to the north and the various types of waves hitting the rocks with the occasional boom of an especially hard hit on the rocks. At home when we sit by the river, I think about how much water has passed by headed to the Mississippi River and how the channel has been formed over centuries. But it is always one direction, down hill, and only varies in flow based on snowmelt or the errant cloudburst. Here the ocean is constantly trying to grind down these rocks or pound holes in them. The fierce winter storm doing the most work. The power of the ocean that you feel in the waves is even more impressive when you see a rock like this.
     This evening as I rode back into town I could feel the air getting chilly. Back at the Chetco River I rode up the south bank road for a while but in the curves in the trees you feel and change. When I turned to ride back down to the harbor the Fog was starting to roll in. So I paused at Fat Irish, a pub down by the harbor and had a local Porter and some fish and chips and watched the fog get thicker. Back at the Inn I have settled in for the night and  tomorrow will see if it is a ride in the fog in the morning.
      So it is off up the coast all the way to Newport Oregon, about a four hour ride without stops. I plan on spending a couple of days around there and the communities below and above Newport along Hwy 101.
Will by the Chetco River.

Same Ocean, Different State

I arrived in Brookings Oregon this evening around 6:30 pm after yet another wonderful day of curves. I am staying at a nice little place called the Ocean Suites Motel. I have what is really a small apartment with a separate bedroom and little kitchen area. This is down by the Chetco Harbor. I can walk over to the beach or restaurants though it has a blue collar feel here by the docks. I can here the horn and bell out on the outer channel marker from here in my room.
     But about the rest of the day. This first picture is from a view point below Ft Bragg about 10:30 this morning. I really think that between Morro Bay (Cayucos) and here in Brookings Oregon could easily have been three days instead of two. I am totally blown away by the Hwy 1 between San Francisco and here. I have always had people refer to the road up through Big Sur as the stretch  of Hwy 1 they know about. But It is much tighter and your speeds have to come down to 15 to 20 mph more often on this upper stretch. It is simply rugged, beautiful curvaceous curves, a plethora of pulsating pavement, delicious attention grabbing piece of road that is better than anything I have ever ridden, and I have chased curvy roads all my life, on motorcycle and sports cars. Because tourist traffic was light, and people pull over in pull outs if you seem to be faster, I got to ride it just as I wanted, and one of the tricks is if you are behind a local, they will fly down the road and when there is tight drop down into a river bottom, they know how fast and when to brake. I followed a large truck that was the Mendocino Bookmobile and I am here to tell you I was glad to be behind that truck rather than in front, that librarian was a driving fool, wow. Above Ft Bragg you finally leave the Ocean for good and climb  up into the dark forest for a half an hour of tight curves up and down a couple of ridges until you get out to Leggett and there is the sign I didn't want to see. End of Highway 1! So turn out onto 101 for a few hours to here. Through lovely Eureka and Crescent city. Temperatures inland got up to 91 degrees but cooler down in the 70's when close to the ocean.
      This may be considered the "shoulder season" but this weather has been wonderful  and I have yet to take out my rain suit, or see a cloudy day. It looks like I may see some later this week, but I plan a couple of days around Brookings, a couple around Newport and a couple up in the Astoria Area. Then it will be staying with a friend in the Columbia River Gorge for 5 days before I face going back to Colorado and if I can get over the passes home. I saw a Facebook posting of a blizzard up at the Eisenhower Tunnels like yesterday or the day before. Can't ride in that.
      But tonight, here by the Chetco River and the Pacific Ocean that all seems so far away. I have made it to Oregon, which was my goal and I am very content. It couldn't have gone any better.
Will by the Chetco River.

Chetco River boat basin

Hwy 1 and curves that never end.

It was quiet and cool when I left Cayucos, a funky little beach town, this morning. The surfer on the left is on a stand up paddle board. The rest of town was as peaceful as this picture. A few people sitting at coffee shops that were open. A far cry from what I got into the middle of easing through San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.
     As I left it wasn't very far up to San Simeon and as I was curving up some more folded real estate I passed a one building town called Harmony. I wondered if that meant when you sang there someone would jump in with a different Part! After Cambria but before San Simeon there are some view points to see Elephant Seals. And there were some on the beach today but I also got a close up of the yellow flowers growing everywhere and so I think it is a mustard plant.  I also took the chance to get a picture looking north up the coast and of the Mothership my great partner in this adventure.            


While all this was nice it just got better from here. A I approached The Big Sur area the began a series of climbs and drops up above the ocean then back down. From Ragged Point to Big Sur proper it was constant shifting then down, bend it over for a tight corner that pick up the bike with the throttle as you accelerate out of the corner. Often shifting clear down to first. Some times you would be back in the forest in shaded areas with eucalyptus trees giving you aroma therapy, meanwhile the flicking from side to side on the motorcycle gave you grin therapy.
       Coming off Big Sur I came down into the the Castroville area, known as the artichoke capital of the world through Monterey by the harbor to get gas. In Santa Cruz I stopped for a quick lunch and then it was back out by the ocean all the way around to Pacifica outside of San Francisco.  Hwy 1       comes into San Francisco and ends up on 19th street straight across to you get on the Golden Gate Bridge, and it was crowded, I came through around 3:30 and it took a while, but once across the bridge you get off a Sausalito  and head off toward the Muir Woods and Pt Reyes and from there for the rest of my day it was curves, curves and more curves. There where two elderly ladies in a small Lexus that would almost come to a stop approaching a marked 15 mph corner then proceed with caution, but after five miles they turned off and once again the fun began. Sometimes along estuaries, sometimes into the folds of the hills and back out. The eucalyptus trees gave way to redwood trees and when you were in the shaded road it was almost dark. The Tail of the Dragon in Tennessee is at the south edge of the Great Smokey Mountains national park. I rode the dragon a couple of years ago and it is famous for having 318 turns in eleven miles. From Pt Reyes to here at Ocean Cove ,where I have paused for the night, it felt just like the Dragon only it went on for forty miles.
      The Inn I found for tonight is an hour or so below Ft Bragg and out here on it's own near a campground. It sits on the uphill side of the road and when you look out your window, you look down past the entrance and across the road to where the land falls into the ocean. A couple of us were sitting out on the deck shortly after I got here and saw whales spouting in the ocean.
           This Inn just appeared as I was thinking I needed to stop. So I turned in and here I am. As they say, "wherever you go, there you are" and so here I am. I think I will make it to Oregon tomorrow but I don't think I will need to rush out of here so I am looking forward to a good nights sleep and an ease into tomorrow.
Will by the Ocean (watching whales!)