Big Guy rides the Left Coast - Day Three - Crescent City, CA to Mendocino, CA

Day 3 - 375 kms - 7 hours

I woke up after an incredibly good sleep- and I actually slept in until 8! I packed my stuff (which doesn't take a long time) and headed down to the lobby of the motel for a fine brekky of a bagel and banana before starting off - into the fog!

Feeling perplexed by the lack of sunshine in California.

When I left it was 12° Celsius (54°F)! The road was twisty and a bit rough so it was hard to see at times! Not to worry, though, as the temperature started to climb.

My BMW with a tall tree.

A little perspective.

I joined the Redwood Highway pretty much right away and saw many of the mighty trees. I took a side road named after somebody called Drury (but probably not Ian Drury of the Blockhead - 'hit me with your redwood stick...'). It was densely populated with Redwoods.

The big tree.

Big guy, big tree!

At one point I stopped to see the 'Big Tree' which was, in fact, a big tree. Nice photos.

Ladybird tree.

Such a tall hollow tree!

Another tree selfie in Ladybird Johnson grove.

You can see the forest for the trees!

Stuck in the middle with two trees.

I continued on until the detour for Ladybird Johnson grove which was a 3.5 Mike detour and a 1.5 mile walk and definitely worth it! It was a self guided trail and very informative. Lots of photo ops with giant cedars.

Lunch time was at a Subway in some small town. I did my best to have a light breakfast and light lunch while I was riding. This is to avoid that feeling where you all full and sleepy and start to nod off while going 120 km down a twisty road. And through the forest there were lots of twisty roads! It was a blast to ride them!

Inside the One Log House.

A little later, feeling very hot, I stopped at the One Log House. Somebody hollowed out a giant cedar many years ago and made the world's first tiny house. It was interesting, and inexpensive ($1)  but the best part was the air conditioning in the shop where I bought the ticket! Back on the bike, the temperature topped out at 42°C.  (107° F)!...Hot!

The view from Westport.

Rocky view from Fort Bragg.

I continued down highway 101 until I reached the split off to highway 1. Then it was prepare the Go Pro and ride! Super twisters and narrow roads! Fun, fun, fun! Got some nice photos at Westport and at Fort Bragg.

I finally rolled into Mendocino around 4:30 - a mere 7 hours on the road! Including a couple of hikes!

I followed the CoPilot app's instructions to find my hotel for the night but thought there was an error because I was outside this classic stately manor on the Main Street facing the ocean. Nope, no error. My $68 went far tonight!

Now, the room was tiny - bed,chair, sink, and little table - and a tiny closet. The bathroom / shower was in the hallway but was clean and looked nice. The lobby was fantastic - the best part!  It looked like your classic idea of an old time fancy hotel.  I had a few beers and some dinner sitting in a little couch. Very nice food! I spent a fair bit of time taking to a retired couple from New York who retired to Arizona named Larry and.... Mrs Larry?

We spoke of many things - our respective trips,kids, retirement, beer, and, of course, motorcycles. They were very nice company for my meal. Very nice couple.

I then took a walk - across Main Street and over to the beach. There was a nice walk that took me around some rocky outcroppings and gave me some excellent views. It was a lovely place.

After dinner, beer, and a walk, I went upstairs to the little balcony over the front of the hotel and painted. It was a post-beer painting so it's not one that will fetch a fortune in 100 years....

Looking forward to seeing my friends Mike and Shirley in El Granada tomorrow! Should be fun!

Big Guy rides the Left Coast - Day Two - Seaside OR to Crescent City, CA

Day 2 - 570 kms - 10 hours travel time


Today was a fantastic day for touring! There is so much to see on the Oregon coast. I could have easily spent a week going down what took me about 10 hours of total travel time. Lots of photos in this post!

I had a fairly good night's sleep but was rudely awoken with a 5:35 wake up call - one that I hadn't requested! After a quick bath (shower didn't work) I left Motel Gulag 6, hopefully forever.

View from Oswald State Park

Standing in Oswald State Park - photo taken by a friendly passerby.

Now class, an estuary is where the freshwater river meets the salt water....

The estuary but Rockaway Beach.

I made a couple of stops along the way for some nice seaside photos. Great curves and bends in the road making it much more enjoyable for riding. I was away from the Great Slab and doing what I wanted to be doing!

Once I got to Tilamook, the famous cheese factory, I had a really nice visit. There was a self guided tour, a cheese shop where I bought some cheese cubes (which ended up lasting several days), a nice, clean bathroom, and a restaurant where I ordered a brekky sandwich and a late 

Beach view near Cloverdale, OR

Some people climbing the rocks near Lincoln City, OR

One of my favourite shots in Depoe Bay.

Waves at Beverly Beach State Park.

 Unlike yesterday, where I had tunes cranked on my Schuberth helmet SRC, today I enjoyed the sounds of the wind and the waves. Riding on a smaller highway is much more relaxing and is not nearly as loud as riding on the Interstate. 

Interesting rocks at Seal Rock

Beach explorers at Seal Rock

BMW Scooterist at Seal Rock!

Near Florence

Lunch break at a park in Port Orford

The BMW having a well deserved break at a Port Orford park.

I bought a broccoli salad af Rays Food Palace in Bandonn and the found a quiet windy park to eat it in Port Orford.  I chatted with a friendly old guy in the park on a bicycle. He rode off, leaving me with the crows who wanted my lunch.

Found this photo on the web of the painted street sign.

This was the ocean view that the sign painted in the street pointed to. 

An even better ocean view from Port Orford.

One last exhilarating ocean view from Port Orford.

Next stop was just a few streets away - on a street leaving the highway there were giant letters on the road saying "Ocean View" so I had to take a look and some photos. 

Bridge on the way to Gold Beach

Ocean views by Cape Sebastian Park, near Gold Beach. 

Ocean views by Cape Sebastian Park, near Gold Beach. 

Ahh, the helmet is off for a break, near Gold Beach. 

There were other scenic stops on the way - lots of scenery and the highway runs right by the road! It was sometimes a bit difficult to goggle at the scenery and ride safely but I did manage. I did not ride really fast by any means and stopped whenever I needed to. 

I finally rode into Crescent City.  I pulled over to the side of the road and checked my reservations and then checked the Co-Pilot app. Although the map showed exactly where I was and where the motel was, the distance was apparently 73kms! Crescent city just ain't that big! It was my first indication that the CoPilot app wasn't perfect - and there would be others that would test my patience with the app as the trip continued along. 

The motel was America's Best Value Inn - another untried chain. After last night's Spartan accommodations I was a bit worried - however the room turned out to be much nicer! The bathroom was rather grotty but at least it was 1 for 2..... And the girl at the front desk was very nice, even if she didn't get my sense of humour....

After recommendations of the girl at the front desk ,I walked close to an hour to the pier (yes, yet another motel that is located far from any conveniences) where she recommended two different seafood restaurants and encouraged me to enjoy the mob of barking sea lions! Well, as it turned out, one of the restaurants was closed, the other had an hour wait, and the seals were not on the pier, barking, as promised!

I ended up at another seafood restaurant where I ordered the pan fried shrimp because it was healthier. Of course, it was served in a bowl of melted butter. Sigh.

While finishing my dinner, there was some excitement demonstrated by the staff. Apparently there had just occurred an earthquake! It measured 3 on the Richter scale so it was fairly minor - I think you had to have been standing to feel it - or not have sat on a scooter seat for the past ten hours...

After dinner and two glasses of wine I made it back to the motel, watched a little TV, and then had an enormously satisfying sleep.

Big Guy rides the Left Coast - Day One - Maple Ridge, BC to Seaside OR

Day 1 - 530km - 8 hours travel time

After having a fairly decent sleep - I was pretty excited, after all, I I got up around 6:30am and made my last preparations for my ride. 

Today was Great Slab Day. I've done this part of Washington a bunch of times so I decided to take big concrete I-5 most of the way.  It's not that exciting a ride but it is fast. 

First, however, I had to make a stop at Bruce's Market to pick up some smoked salmon for my friend in California. I know he really likes their salmon jerky but it just doesn't travel that well - I have no cooler on my scoot!

I got to the border in fairly good time with no wait. The guard at the border was actually pretty friendly and didn't ask too many impertinent questions. Now the challenge is keeping my passport safe for the next 9 days.

First stop was supposed to be Colophon Cafe in the Fairhaven district of Bellingham but it was closed as I was too early! I wandered around until I found an open coffee shop and stopped at Tony's Coffeehouse. 

The shop had great character as with most of Fairhaven. I had a cheddar dill scone for my late breakfast (9:30) and a latté. Interestingly, everyone seemed to be by themselves and were all either on their mobile device or reading the paper. Not an unfriendly place, people were just into reading.

After a stop at a rest stop north of Seattle, I had lunch at the Subway in Puyallup. I quite like their $6 deal - 6 inch sub, drink and chips. I think it's $6 just for the drink in Canada!

I'm using an app called CoPilot GPS for its combo of downloaded maps (free) and live traffic updates ($1.39 for a month). It did a good job of getting me where I wanted to go, avoiding most traffic issues, and showing me some interesting parts of cities like Olympia.

A brief stop on the Olympic Highway

I made sure that I stopped when I was feeling a bit tired or crampy. I have some issues with my hips but the range of places to put my feet on the floorboard of the scooter went a long way to mitigating any problems. Like anything, you have to listen to your body and take a break when called for. 

I was also able to take some nice photos as I did of the Chehalis River, not far from my rest break. Despite the grey skies, it was reasonably warm enough for riding and the rain held, for the most part. 

Two stops I didn't make - one was Artic - after all these years of correcting kids there is a place where they spell it without the letter 'c' after the 'r'!  Also, there was Dixon Road but I was following s pilot truck through construction at the time. Following pilot trucks through construction, I would soon find out, would be a regular occurrence in this trip!

Stopped for a desperately needed espresso in South Bend and then visited this memorial to a World War II medical corpsman named Robert E. Bush. He was  very brave man when facing Japanese attackers, holding a medical bottle (IV?) in one hand while shooting at the enemy soldiers with his other hand. 

The gentlemen in the hat in the photo and I had a nice chat as we were both impressed by the hero's story. The gentlemen did voice his concerns that younger people had no respect or understanding of the sacrifices made by these people that fought for freedom. 

The crossing from Washington State to Oregon over the Columbia River is via the Astoria Bridge. It was called "The Bridge to Nowhere" by some when it was built in 1962 but is a popular bridge that is an important link on the west coast. The day I went over, it was quite windy and very exciting to cross! What a fun ride!

As this is a scooter blog, I should probably talk a little bit about the scoot! My BMW performed flawlessly today. The I-5 is not a technically difficult ride but it does require some zip when passing people. I tried to stay mostly in the middle lanes so that I wasn't worrying about people merging all of the time but I also could focus on what was ahead, and not worry so much about speedsters behind me wanting me to get out of the way. 

I tried both with and without earplugs today and settled on using earplugs for most of the ride. Just being on I-5 is so noisy and, with music cranked to avoid boredom, it was important to save my ears. 

I arrived in Seaside and checked into the Motel 6.. I do like to be frugal with my motels on my scooter trips but I also want a decent place. I'm not sure if all Motel 6s are like this - but it felt more like Motel Gulag 6.  - It was very spartan - there was not a single photo or picture on the wall, nor was there a clock radio. To their credit, the staff had cleaned the room but the bathroom was a bit grotty and, as I found out the next day, the show didn't work! I don't think I'll be staying at Motel 6 again!

Another downside to Motel Gulag 6 was that it was on the outskirts of town - Seaside isn't that big but the motel was pretty far from everything. That was OK, because my legs needed a stretch, and I made the 30 minute walk to downtown stopping at the beach for a few snaps. The beach looked very nice and there were lots of groups of people hanging out as the sun went down. 

The downtown itself was busy but seemed very touristy. That made it difficult to choose a place to eat dinner because every restaurant seemed to offer 50 things on their menu, the mark of trying to please too many tastes without having really good food.

I finally settled on Finn's Fish House.  It's always kind of weird for me to dine by myself because I rarely do so. I also find that the quality of service makes a much bigger impact on your dining experience because that's usually the only person you are speaking with. 

My waiter was polite but not terribly friendly The fish and chips came in 2 or 4 piece sizes and when I asked him about the size of the fish, he said each piece was about the size of a small potato. Forgetting I was in the US, I ordered 4 pieces and ended up with 4 giant slabs of fish - far too much for me to eat, let alone the vast bed of fries. I ate what I could - probably too much - and guiltily left the rest. 

After dinner, I wandered back to my cell - I mean, room, and slept surprisingly well, as the combination of greasy fish, salty fries, and a pint of porter sloshed around in my stomach.

One more day.....!

There she waits, my BMW, for me to take her on an epic adventure.

At least, that's how I feel!

With one day left until I leave for my trip to California, I am very excited! Of course, there are a couple of things to attend to....

First, on Saturday, I decided to relax with a bowl of popcorn while I watched Netflix. When I reached for the very last handful, and put it in my mouth, an unsatisfying 'crunch' sounded in my mouth - and a part of a tooth cracked off of my molar.

You would think that I know better as I have cracked teeth a number of times thanks to popcorn. My popcorn consumption has definitely reduced over time ( I first cracked a tooth on popcorn at age 24 when I was in a youth hostel in Stockholm)  but I still take a risk every now and then.

As a result, one of my jobs today is to wait for the dentist to call so I can get an emergency filling this evening before I leave for my trip.

Second, I am still working on breaking in my fancy motorcycle shoes. About a month ago, I ordered these shoes from Revzilla - TCX - X Street Waterproof Shoes - that are waterproof and have some of the safety features that you would want in a motorcycle shoe - certainly more than my running shoes. There is reinforcement for the ankle, heel and toes so that's a good thing.

The problem is - well, it's my problem. I have bunions (I think it's familial - thanks, Dad) and have to be really careful about shoes rubbing them because it irritates my foot. When I first picked them up in Blaine (saved myself $50 by having them delivered to the US), I put them on and rode home. They were a bit tight around my bunion, so I took them to my local shoe store and they stretched them. Then they stretched them again. (Girl at counter: "I stretched the crap out of them this time.")

Then I realized that, although there was room in the shoe, the hard leather of the shoe still irritated my foot. So I bought these bunion protectors - silicon pads that you stick over you big toe and line up on your bunion. It is supposed to protect your bunion from rubbing,

Still with me? Really? I'm impressed!

This morning, I went to go for a nice long walk with my boots and it went pretty well - I think they are almost broken in. I do have a pair of running shoes that I am taking with me so I will have an alternative. Still need a shoehorn, though....

Finally, I need to do that last minute packing check - including my gadgets, rudimentary tools, safety stuff, passport, medicine, reservations, and clothes. Surprisingly, it looks like everything will fit in my top case or under my seat with room to spare so I will be bringing along my watercolour set.

About the only thing I didn't do was silkscreen a T-Shirt with "West Coast Scooter Tour 2016" or something like that. Didn't think it was a great idea for just one person!

Everything else ready - electronics are charged up (iPad, iPhone, GoPro, SRC), my trail mix for the road is ready, and I will just have to pack one or two things before I leave in the morning tomorrow.

Happy trails!

Riding List - HELP NEEDED!

Back from my fishing trip, I am now counting down the last few days until my trip.

I have done a TON of research online for ideas of what to bring along for an eleven day trip that spans a few thousand kilometres. Other than the regular clothing, etc., here are the items that I think are important to bring. Please tell me if you can think of anymore!

MEC Packing bags

Little Bag to fit on top of top case - my GIVI top case is like a clam shell - so the stuff in the top half tends to fall out when I open the case - unless it is perfectly balanced. I found some good, cheap packing bags at Mountain Equipment Coop and the larger one should do the trick.

iPhone Tripod and remote looks something like this.

Little iPhone tripod - this is something my brother gave me last year for my birthday. The tripod easily holds the phone. There is also a remote and dongle so you can take photos remotely but I think I'll just take the tripod and use the timer.

Sunscreen - Can't burn my face....

Toilet paper - You never know...

Foam earplugs - for both riding (so I don't go deaf and so the tunes in my helmet aren[t too tinny) and for at night if it a motel room a really loud

Handy wipes - For my hands - could be used to clean windscreen or lights, in a pinch.

1.5 litre Camelback bladder

Hydration (Camelback) bladder - I'll put this in a small backpack and sip on it on really hot days. It holds 1.5L which might be a bit small - we'll see.

Chargers (iPhone, iPad, SRC, GoPro) - Ah, electronics! So many things to charge and keep track of! I'm also able to charge either the SRC (for the helmet) or the phone with the charger port om my BMW.

Rain jacket - I already have a waterproof lining for my jacket but I want to have an extra layer just in case.

Windex in a little spray bottle - For cleaning the windscreen - and lights.

Spare tire repair kit - Just purchased!

I might bring my watercolour travel set but I'm thinking that I probably won't because of the lack of room.

There's also obvious things like polar fleece, flip flops, spare gloves, swim suit, GoPro camera, iPhone, iPad, etc Anything else? Anything I should leave behind?

Leaving Tuesday - can't wait!

Another item - emergency tire repair kit

In anticipation of my impending trip down to California, I have been going over some of my supplies that I will be taking along. Some are fine (cell phone charger), some are not needed (three bungee cords) and some have to be replaced. One such item was my emergency tire repair.

Wayyyy back, when I had my Vespa LX50, I bought a spray can that supposedly will both fill your tire with goo and inflate it all at the same time. I recall that I couldn't find one for a motorcycle so I just bought one for a car. Luckily, I never had the chance to try it out.

On my upcoming trip, I may be in some pretty isolated places so I thought, even though I am not that mechanically minded, I could always figure out how to repair and re-inflate my tire. And I didn't think the 'spare-in-a-can' idea was a very good one - so I put that item in the trunk of the family car!

After much research, I found a kit where you basically plug of the hole after reaming it out and then inflate the tire using compressed gas (I have one of the compressed gas things for my bicycle0.  I found some in Canada (way too expensive) and looked at different ones in the US until I found one from J and P motorcycles for a mere $17.99 plus shipping!

If you are interested in how they work, check this video.

Today I went down to my package store in Blaine and picked up the item.

I have often commented on the differences between Americans and Canadians on my blog, especially, like most Canadians, I live fairly close to the border. Today is no exception.

I found the woman at the package place to be quite friendly - about what I'd expect in Canada. But then I went to the Subway and the girl there was REALLY friendly! She engaged me in a conversation about weather and summer - not too personal but quite intelligent. The Subway servers in Canada often seem on their way to becoming zombies....  Maybe Canadians are more polite but Americans are friendlier?

Another difference is, when we were talking about the weather, she referred to the area as the Pacific Northwest. We tend to call it the West Coast so I found this an interesting difference, especially as I was less than an hour north of Blaine (well, maybe longer, as there was a big lineup!).

Any way, that's another tick off of my 'to get' list - and I am closer - in fact a week way - to going on a fantastic road trip!