Day 15 - Washington state's Olympic Mountains

I am now officially in the far reaches of the Pacific northwest of the continental United States. Tomorrow I head to the Port Angeles area where I will catch the ferry into Canada the next day. I am now closing in on 4,000 miles on my bike and let me tell you - my bike is one filthy beast!! Sally, as I have affectionately named her, needs a bath and a manicure in the worst way. And we are both perpetually pretty tired. That said, I don't know that we could have picked a more beautiful place in which to be tired. The Olympic Peninsula must be close to 80% national park and for good reason - it is beautiful! The spuce pines are HUGE and the water is so crystal clear you can see a quarter on the lake floor in waste deep water. The sunlight filters onto the hiking trails through tree canopies that are way high in the sky making you feel minuscule and like a visitor to someone else's world. The Quinault Lake feels a bit like something the Kennedy's or the Roosevelt's might have played in back in the day - it is elegant yet relaxed and casual at the same time. If I lived in these parts I would make this national park a regular place for me / us to escape. I am also glad to report I have no stories to report today - a man can only take so much! I am still scratching my head about yesterday. It started off so simple and peaceful yet ended up so crazy, fun, different and full of wine! I was talking to a goat at one point last night with a glass of wine in one hand and a horse's mane in the other. :-) I guess it just goes to show how little control we actually have over things. "Lest me not suffer the delusion that I can wrest satisfaction from this life if only I manage well. Nay, surrender me boy, and let the sails take this ship where she belongs."

Day 14 - A great day in Willamette, damn it!

I am smiling as I write today's blog page - life is so crazy!!! I rode up from Yachats this morning expecting to meet my friend Brian Marcy for lunch and then head west to the Columbia River Gorge. Brian and his wife Clare own "Big Table Farm" winery - excellent wines, check them out! Their winery is in the heart of the Willamette Valley (Willamette rhymes with "damn it" - a local joke), one of the best wine making regions in the USA. Anyway, I thought I would just meet Brian and then be my way. But noooooooo, that was not what God had planned for me today. Instead I walked into the restaurant and was met by Brian, Mikey, Myles and 6 of the nicest bottles of wine you have ever met; vintages that go back to 1977! It was a great lunch, great wine and very interesting conversation. Then Brian invited me to an AVA meeting (American Viticultural Area) tonight to hear about whats going on locally within the wine industry and then to have dinner with 40 or 50 of the local winemakers. What a fun, different and great way to meet interesting people from this area! So I am smiling as I write this because life is so unpredictable. What a crazy day. So that was my day - I rode up to Amity, OR and had a great lunch sampling some great wines at the Blue Goat Restaurant (FYI - I drank less than a glass total and ate a full lunch), rode to Brian's farm (over gravel roads - my nightmare!!), toured his farm, went to the wine association meeting and had great dinner hanging out with some of the best wine makers in the USA. We then went back to Brian's farm and visited all of his animals including chickens, pigs, cows, horses, ducks and a goat. Tonight I am staying at his farm and then heading to the State of Washington tomorrow. I may never have made it to the Gorge today but that is just fine with me - I had an amazing day with a good friend and met a lot of very interesting people. Thank you Brian - I had a blast today!

Day 13 - A strong energy from the Pacific Ocean

As I write this, I am sitting in the window of my hotel room of a very tired hotel that sits right on the Pacific Ocean. As I listen to the sounds of waves crashing into the rocks that make up the Oregon coast and the screeches from seagulls arguing about something no one will ever know, I marvel at yet another beautiful part of this country of ours. It is just like I imagined it would be - cold, damp and windy and yet so beautiful!! There is also something strong here, a kind of cold energy that just seems to permeate everything that lives here. It is interesting to me and I want to tap into it too! Since I will be up here and on up into Alaska for the next two weeks I am sure I will find it. As for today's ride, it was a bit magical to me. I slept in for a bit this morning, had breakfast then hit the road around 9:00 am. I will miss Crater Lake - it was a wonderful 2 days. Yet the secondary roads through Oregon were just as great. I don't think the locals know how beautiful their state is because they haven't built many vista points at all, places where you can turn off the road and take some pictures. The few pictures I have are from spots on the road where I found enough room to pull over. That is not to say it was a perfect ride - I've discovered 2 signs every motorcyclist hates to see while riding: "Pavement Ends Ahead" and "Loose Gravel Road Ahead". I made it through unscathed but flashbacks of my deep gravel experience on Hwy 50 in Nevada scared the stew out of me again! On a more positive note, I don't know how many times I've seen signs that warn of exotic animal crossings (at least exotic to me) that never happen. Well it happened for me today - I was warned of elk and by golly I saw elk! Lots of them! Thank God they stayed out of my path as those boys are huge! And I also noticed a clear way to tell I am not in the South anymore - look at the size of those grand stands for the local High School football team! Maybe it holds 30 people? Ha - in the south a good HS football game could easily have 2,000 spectators! Finally a confession: As I near the Canadian border I am getting nervous about what lies ahead - I get on a ferry in Port Hardy on Vancouver Island Canada and get off in Skagway Alaska. Then the ride back from Skagway includes dirt roads, dodging ice heaves, getting through crazy weather and then just plain treacherous roads (especially for a motorcycle) from Alaska through the Yukon, the NW Territories, and British Columbia. When I get back into the USA through Montana I will be one tired puppy!! Am I insane? Don't answer, it is a rhetorical question. But really, a big part of this trip is to push myself out of my comfort zone and do things that are different for me. That part of this trip will definitely be doing that! Maybe that's the strength I am feeling in the air here - an energy to be tapped into - an energy that keeps those who live up here enamored with the place and an energy that kept those who visited here in the old days hell bent on finding gold. Whatever it is, I am already enamored and I appear to be hell bent. Nervous? Schmervous! Ready or not here I come!

Day 12 - A day of rest in Oregon

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night and stuck my head out of my tent to admire the stars again. It was still wow! While laying there admiring the sky a shooting star flew across right in front of me!! It was so bright and so vivid that I am sure my wish will come true! Sweet! Today I rested. So far I have covered about 2,350 miles in 11 days. What I like about that is that I am not tired of riding at all - I am still ready to go! ! I am, however, taking today off in order not to burn myself out and to relax and have more than one beer at a sitting. And I have enjoyed today tremendously. I rode up to the lodge early to get on the waitlist for a room, had a great breakfast and then spent the morning talking to friends, doing a little work, and catching up on sleep and rest. Did you know I love a good nap? I do! I then went for a ride around the rim of this amazing crater but it was partially closed due to snow! As I rode around it did look a bit like ski season - snow was everywhere! Afterwards I drove back to the lodge, got a room (yeah!), checked in and took a long and soaking bath as there was no shower in my room (it felt great!!). I then went down stairs, sat on the porch looking over the lake, read and had a few beers. What a wonderful day... Dinner will be late but so what - I am in no hurry at all. I am excited about sleeping in a bed again!

Day 11 - Crater Lake, Oregon

So I woke up, packed up and then headed for the showers but the showers were 5 quarters for 3 minutes of water! Ha! 2 other people there gave me a hint - "Go all hot water - forget the cold!" So I got some quarters, prepared myself with soap, shampoo, quarters, towel, and everything I needed so I could take full advantage of my 3 minutes. Go! By the time the 5th quarter hit the bottom of the machine I was already scrubbing away! I did as instructed and used all hot water and 3 minutes was actually fine. And so started my day. I got a cup of hot coffee (oh man was it good!), wrote some postcards and was getting ready to leave when this beautiful blue bird flew right up within a foot of me and just looked at me. Good morning! I grabbed another cup of coffee and then hit the road. A missed right turn meant I had to spend an hour on an interstate (boo) but I did make it to Crater Lake by 5 pm. When you come around the corner and see the lake for the first time .... Wow! I went up to the lodge, sat on a rocking chair on their huge porch overlooking the lake and had a beer! Heaven! Best beer i have had in a long, long time. Unfortunately the lodge was sold out so it is back in the tent which is fine. Tomorrow I plan to explore the lake and some nearby caves. Not sure if I will stay or head to the coast but i loved the warning sign on the way up here (see picture).

Day 10 - A quiet day in California

This morning I ran onto Mickey and Jerry at the hotel (you can see "JER" on Jerry's vest in the pic). I first met them at a gas station in Nevada yesterday and they are heading to Vancouver Island, as am I. Hopefully I will run into them again; they are good people. After an uneventful ride into the California mountains (thank goodness), it is good to be back in the cool weather again. I am camping in Lassen Volcano National Park at about 7,000 ft elevation. It is cool and quiet again and I am looking forward to some good sleep. I met my neighbors, a family of four staying for 2 weeks. I went on a 5.5 mile hike with Justin and Trent and it felt good that I could hold my own - Justin set a tough pace! As we were hiking we came across a deer and some fawns. Trent's dog Titan took after that deer like no ones business and no one saw that dog again. After we got back to camp the boys went back to look for the dog while Rachael and Tabitha came over and visited with me for awhile. It was very nice of them and they were fine, polite people, all 4 of them. Unfortunately they are a bit down on their luck right now; I wish there was some way I could help. Instead, later that night as i was preparing for bed they brought me over 2 camp made smores. Good people. I should count my blessings more often. Tonight it was a dinner of an apple, peanut butter, jalapeño cheese and wheat thins! It actually was really good - especially the apple. Slow day... Nice. Good day to read and journal and enjoy the solitude in nature. Tomorrow it is off to Oregon.
ODO - 2596 to 2824

Day 9 - Fool me once....

The stars last night were AMAZING! I have never seen anything like it except maybe one night in the boonies of New Hampshire. But here the campsite was 10,000+ ft high in altitude and there weren't city lights within hundreds of miles. WOW! In the morning I packed up from this beautiful spot on the earth (easily my favorite so far) and headed west on Hwy 50, "The loneliest road in America". A few hours later I found myself in Eureka NV where I stopped and had lunch at Michele Wu, her Father and her brother's Cafe. Since the sign on the window said "Chinese and American" Cafe I naturally ordered pot stickers and a cheese burger. Yum! Thank you Michelle! After lunch I gassed up, got some cold water and got back on the Hwy 50. And let me tell you - this highway is indeed lonely. You can drive for half an hour or more and not see another soul for miles. After awhile I found myself thirsty for some of that water but I couldn't find a good place to pull over. Finally I saw an intersection with a gravel parking lot next to it so I pulled in. But the gravel area was deep and quickly getting deeper. I tried to stop but the ABS brakes wouldn't let me. Sure as shit my bike got stuck in 6" deep gravel. Accelerating just spun the wheels and made it worse. I pushed and pulled but it was pointless. Then it happened - as I pushed and pulled in frustration I lost my balance and my bike went down on its side again. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!! Not again!!! I may or may not have let out a few expletives! Pumping with adrenaline again I tried to lift the bike momentarily but the pain in my right arm quickly reminded me that this was a bad move. Fool me once, I lose a tendon. Fool me twice,.... no. I have played and replayed the scene when my bike went down the first time in my head so many times and I always ask myself "Why didn't I just flag someone down to help me? My arm would still be fine!" So this time instead of losing another tendon I ran to the road prepared to flag my arms like a mad man. BUT I AM ON THE FRIGGIN' LONELIEST ROAD IN AMERICA!! - the vultures will have me before a car comes by and actually stops and can help me. There are no cars anywhere in sight for miles on end. I go back to the carcass of my bike and wonder "what if I use my legs to lift it - yeah right!" Then I look around to see what's around here that I could use as leverage. Then I think about my satellite phone - will AAA come help me in the middle of the Nevada desert? And if they do, will I still be alive when they get here? As I am debating all these things in my head I see two cars in the distance heading my way. I run to the street and begin flagging like a fool. The first car is full of what appears to be High School girls and the sight of me in my biker gear waving like a banshee makes them actually speed up! Good for you girls. But in the next car 2 angels from heaven appear. It turns out Richard and Dewetta were driving behind me and saw me pulling into the gravel and appeared to be getting stuck. After debating for a bit they decided to turn around just to see if I needed help. Sure as hell they drove right up to me in their truck, helped me get my bike upright, helped pull me out of the deep gravel, got me back on solid ground and then, when it was all over, they handed me an ice cold bottle of water from their cooler. Ladies and Gentlemen, I kid you not - the 2 folks standing in front of the white truck in the picture below are truly Angels. The shining light in their windshield may be a sign of some sort. In the heat of the moment I did not get their last names or their addresses but I am so grateful I got their first names and this picture. Right now I am in my air conditioned hotel room in Fallon NV thinking about how lucky I am that Richard and Dewetta were near me. No telling where I'd be otherwise - probably fighting off vultures.
ODO: 2109 - 2596