Episode IV

The road out is never as easy as the road in? But beautiful








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After two days camped it was time to move on, our progress out was slowed by potholes, roads and just a lack of enthusiasm for more twists and turns. My workout schedule has been taking its toll on me and the dirt the day before was no rest. Anyhoo, we made it back from the Lost Coast and headed north (yet again). The general plan was to visit two breweries and camp at Gold bluff's beach, One of these worked out as expected.


Damn it, didn't open till 3pm

On arrival (after asking directions) at Redwood Curtain Brewery we discovered that it did not open for three more hours, ahh crap... Onto the next location. Six Rivers Brewery, we could not find it for the life of us. 3 times we tried, we circled like vultures; blind vultures that could not even smell. Even after asking directions we still missed the damn place, ahh crap. Well, in the end we did find it (helps if you look on the other side of the road ;-)


Yea, it's open and they have food!!!

Lunch was great and the beer excellent... questionably the best Chicken Quesadillas Amie has ever had.....




I really did like the food, not to sure why the odd expression ;-)

The plan was to head to Gold Bluff's Beach to camp for the evening, but as we found campsites in this area can be hard to come by. The "full" sign was up on all the camps we wanted to stay in... Disheartened we backtracked, not our favorite thing to do. As they say, the fourth times a charm? We found space at Big Lagoon City camp. Very nice and off the beaten track (if there is a dirt road there with less people!



With a camp just the other side of the lagoon (no misquotes) we rested. Then a familiar sound came our way, a fellow motorcycle traveler looking for a place for the evening. We offered our site to share, broke bread and talked. Its nice to meet others on the road, and only in our first(ish) week.


Say good bye John, good bye John.

Amie announces that the backbag lock has come unhinged, so in the dwindling light I attempt to fix the poor old thing, only to put it off until the morning.

The sun has set and lantern light rules supreme, nite all



Till next time

A word or two from Amie, sorry folks, Matt will return shortly. I promise. So, after Miso soup, Coffee "tea" bags and sending Jon on his merry way, (pic below) Matt puts his lock fixing skills to work, with an axe, of course. Tough love, don't you know. By the time I had almost finished packing up camp, it was decided that the lock had had its day. RIP. So, out come the bungees, etc, to hold down the still valiant back bag, and on our way we go. That is, after re inflating the tires from our time up in the hills, on dirt, gravel and HUGE rocks that had it in for us. GoPro wimped out as said before.

Up 101 we went, and while stopping to put a liner in our jackets, up pulls a trailer with an older couple and more than a couple of dogs to have a run about. 7, in total, I think. Large and small, with and without asthma and heart conditions.

Finally we made it into Oregon (this time for more than 24 hours, please!!!) and up the coast.





Windy as hell. After being battered by the wind for a bit we found an AMAZING campground that was quickly filling up. Humbug Mountain Campground. (with a really cute female park ranger to boot!!!no bah humbug there !!!!)
$17 later, we set up tent and head back out for lunch.





6 miles up the coast to Redfish restaurant..........



wow. Nice cocktails, good chowder (lots of fennel).



I had an amazing club with ham, turkey, swiss, bacon, horseradish mayo, sprouts and tomato.........omg....... Matt had the special of the day, tilapia tacos, also, really yum!!!!




And, along with the view, to top it all off, they had espresso and frangelico, Matt's go to dessert.

My writing process isn't as swarthy as Matt's, as I don't have a cigarette hanging out of my mouth like Hemingway. And I guarantee I'm not as handsome as either of them. Ah well.

So, after an amazing lunch and a bottle of one of our favorite white wines, its back to the campsite.
A bit of work on the bike, then we both did a good chop of our hair. Matt looks younger and I look like I have a bowl cut............ this too, in time, shall pass. hehehhee The showers are amazing and amazingly clean. Both attributes were greatly appreciated.



On the menu this evening is a lovely bowl of warmish semi-cooked Ramen noodles (note to self- next time boil them first). This is my maiden voyage with packaged flavored noodle soup, and I have to say that it could've been much worse. And at $.39 each, how can you go wrong? Luckily we don't have sodium intake issues.
A poor lad came calling afterwards in search of ketchup after having his stolen by "raccoons" (long story) on his way to San Francisco, so I dug deep into our bear container and pulled out a few packets procured from Mickie D's. Later, he came back for wine and a chat

A wonderful day all around, and thank you for reading my ramblings. ttfn all

I'm back, by popular demand. Or perhaps not, anyhoo......

So we left our beautiful campsite nice and early in hopes of finding a laundromat. Clothes are getting a bit fragrant so I've been told. I don't smell it myself. that must say alot......



An hour later and less than $5 down the drain, pun intended, we head up 101, not sure where we are to stop for the day. It is as windy as yesterday, but we make it from Humbug Mountain through Coos Bay, stopping finally at a restaurant that I had wanted to visit on our last time up this way, 3 years ago. The Blue Heron did not disappoint. Good German Fare, beer and Vodka.

Brats for me, (no, I was not bratty today hehehehe)


and schnitzel for Matt.

This beauty was outside





The wind kept it's pace with us, so it was time to call it a day, finding a lovely spot in Umpqua Lighthouse State Park. With full hookups, so our own water and power, woohoo!!!


Camp


Lighthouse and bike.

After a standard salami, veggie and wine dinner (it might be getting a bit old) we headed down to see the lighthouse. In sunlight it was very pretty, and apparently it is one of the very few in the USA with RED and white lights, so there you go. Knowledge is power, people......


A quick note from Matt. The lighthouse is meant to put on a wonderful light show at nite, i had asked for Amie to write the report and i would get the video of the lighthouse and nite. Well i fell asleep, had to change out of riding gear at some hour in the cold morning... Such is life.

I am writing this buried away in the tent, the wind and chilliness followed us from 101. We are girding ourselves until tomorrow when we head inland, to Eugene Breweries and beyond!!!!!! What Sunday afternoon is not complete without a beer or 3?

Random pics of the area.







And yes, in case you haven't noticed, I am long winded. Yet another not so puny pun. Or is it? wink wink.

ttfn

please stay tuned

What could be better than a tour of a town's breweries and brew pubs ;-)....

Riding the coast i started playing with the GPS, entering breweries into the POI search, hmm that's interesting; at least 5 entries for Eugene. That sounds like a plan. The coast was cold, damp and windy, it was not hard to convince Amie we should head inland.

The road from Umpqua to Eugene was uneventful, easy roads all at a leisurely 55 mph and all with a beautiful covered bridge to boot.

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But with many days I have noticed someone was out to get us. Going thru a small town in a 50 zone, a tractor, yep that's right a tractor, decides not to look and pulls right out in front of us! The look on the drivers face when he finally saw us was priceless (guess mine must have looked somewhat similar), with hard braking and another emergency turn we avoid what would have been a very unfortunate event indeed. The rest of the road to Eugene was very uneventful.

We enter Eugene too early to start our tour, so we head out in search of camping, and the city park offers full hookup site only, but they do have great free wifi... So we set up camp


the pic is from later in the day, but you get the idea

We head into town for food and our first sampling

I decided to keep trying the IPA's as you do need a basis for all tasting, cannot just go from one style to another and still remain impartial.

Rogue Public House - great fish and chips and the Kobe tacos weren't bad either!!







And the food!!!


Fish and Chips for me.



Tacos for Amie

Steelhead Brewery


Ninkasi





We made a friend





And found the treasure map




Falling Sky





Hop valley good hummus platter complete with pickled peppers, and didn't get a chance to take a pic of the Bacon and Basil Pesto pizza, it was gone too fast hehe



hmm Amie's may be bigger than mine...




Conclusion, beer is good!!!

Done for the day, we head back to camp, being so close to town we decide to try the TV tuner I have for the computer (it was cartoon nite, didn't you know?) well it worked. We sat and watched and enjoyed a little bit of home luxury. Ahh you say what about the internet? it was great; good speeds for streaming and download all the updates needed etc. After a full day we settled into the tent watching south park ;-) Not too shabby i will say.

Tomorrow heads us towards Sister and Bend....

We pack up leaving our county park and good internet, heading to finally get some credit on our pre-paid phone plan. After trying three times and failing to get this done on the internet we decided that a brick and mortar visit was in order, yea we are back in contact ;-)

A quick gas stop and we are off on our way to Sisters.



Much easier riding than we had been having and the warmer temps are a welcome change; 55 mph roads, that gently wind along the rivers....



Waterfalls and all





Sisters is an interesting little tourist trap town, as soon as we pull up a group of people start asking questions about the hack and i cannot hear a damn word. A few seconds later i get the helmet off and ear plugs out and finally understand what is being asked....

Lunch was had at the Gallery.



Amie had the cheeseburger, apparently it came with thousand island dressing mmmmmmmm



I had the fried chicken ranch sandwich (without the ranch)



Afterwards, it was off to Bend, to hit up REI and hopefully exchange our compression bags, that due to wear and tear, no longer compressed.... poor things. After wandering around for a while only finding variety packs of them (we only needed 2 medium sized) Jorge came to the rescue, not only finding the bags we needed, but telling us about growing up in and riding around Brazil and Argentina on a motorcycle. After also finding much needed/wanted (they ARE 2 very separate things) fleece jackets, its off to find accommodation for this evening.

The Road from Sisters to Bend is boring but the mountains really are amazing



After finding a beautiful area right on a creek, but it was all full. After asking for directions to other sites close by, we stopped at the next one on the map, Sisters City State Park. With a stream running under a quaint bridge





We called it done and sat back to watch the BMWs roll in.

It had warmed up nicely, so the tent got to dry out and we got to sun ourselves for a bit while meeting bikers from quite a few places, all, obviously, heading to the Rally.

Almost forgot, dinner. Salami pasta, much like the other pasta dishes we have done in the past. Good, filling, tasty...


one more camp till we get to the MOA...

Seeing that Sisters is only 100 miles from the rally site we decided to have a very short day, leave late, arrive early to camp. This time i can say the ride was uneventful. And no not my normal uneventful.

We trundled, river next to the road and just had a wonderful ride.




As i said we left Sisters late and with only a 50 mile ride we reached our new site very early. We meet a very nice park ranger, who not only gave us a site, she bumped us up to a lake frontage site; Although we did have to wait for the previous owners to vacate. That's another story.

While checking in another BMW pulls in behind us, not really that much of a surprise but being that early... We went our separate ways and Amie and I went to wait in our temp site and stalk the upgrade. Now check out time is 1pm, around midday i went to find Ron (the other BMW rider) he was busy setting up a tent, i had to interrupt but had very good intentions by offering cold beer ;-) it's always better when shared....

Ron threw the tent stake to the ground and joined us in a beer. So the 3 of us waited and drank beer, every so often we would again stalk the new site. It was becoming very apparent that the PO was in no rush to leave; the woman who seemed to be doing most of the packing would make a trip to the car (almost out of breath) head back to her seat (very out of breath) have a smoke and contemplate her next move. To say the least; a little annoying. 1:15 rocks around and they are still there still dicking around, I decide to get the park people involved; I did not need that type of confrontation. Well i will cut this short; we got into the site at 2pm and setup camp. It was time to get a fishing license ;-) With water like this there must be some fish.



I fished



and i fished



and i fished



and i fished, from 3pm till 11pm. Still found time to light a fire as i had to get warm.... And for all that time we got this little guy



Delicious even thou the stove really does not do delicate things well

While i was fishing Amie was making friends with the local bird life, first the ducks



Then the geese came.



I don't think Amie was as prepared as she could have been.





I did get the bread back, sorry no photos of that ;-)

Some how this guy followed us home


Ron would pop in every now and then as the night progressed, the whiskey stop was the best. Amie and he made arrangement for the 3 of us to ride together to the Rally

Tomorrow is the MOA...

The MOA rally 07-17-13

Morning on the lake the pictures do not do it justice. Just gorgeous.





And off we go!

Well we arrived, and camping is already getting full. We found the most shade we could and made camp. Amie scouted for furniture while I set up the keltie tarp, then she sent Ron and I off to drag back a heavy wood table and 2 benches, as long as the table. Seats 4 on each side. hehe



We ate lunch, nothing good, we love Mexican, but it was odd. Chips and salsa were served with watered down re-fried beans, and the entree was not any better.....



went shopping, yea Walmart, and got a red and white tablecloth for the table. then off to safeway, for everything that we couldn't' find at Walmart. Tuong ot, for one. (chili garlic sauce)

Drank some beer, visited the beer tent, visited the Airhead tent; Life is good.



Amie made chili, actually alot of chili. It was good, we forgot to get pictures of it, and then had to employ a couple of guys to finish it off. Used the chili garlic sauce in it, of course. And no, it is NOT Amies secret ingredient. Also, ended up with a brand spanking new Butler map of Alaska (for Motorcycles) in exchange for 2 cold Fat Tires. Yes, life is VERY good.

The MOA Rally 07-18-13

Today was great. We left the rally grounds early and went to see the www.evergreenmuseum.org There just one thing to say; AMAZING.....

Way too many pics, but here are some of my favorites






or click below to see the full album...
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Below is the video of leaving for he museum, i forgot to turn it on on the way in ;-)

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The MOA Rally 07-19-13

Today we went to check the 3 wheel off road seminar, good info to be had and we found out about a hands on demo happening in an hour. Off we went and meet up with the other sidecar rigs on the GS track (i though better of trying this, i do want the rig to last)











And i ran out off batteries for the camera, o well....

We meet up with some friends and headed to the airhead tent



By now the special beer that had been brought up was cold, so we headed back to enjoy the brew and some snacks.




Made a friend



We took some extra to the beer garden to share and consume ;-)



Food for the evening.



The MOA Rally 07-20-13

Laundry day; it has to happen sometimes

With the work on the bikes completed early in the morning, chores have a chance to get done, yea laundry!





There is a silver lining; there is a bar next door!!!!!!



We hangout till the laundry is done, such hard work (thanks Amie) and then we head to lunch.



Vietnamese!!!!




YEA that good we forgot to take before photos



Random photos







We hangout and meetup with many old friends and acquaintances, finding places to stay along our trip. These rallies really are a great place to see everyone. We drank way too much beer, maybe a little drunk; we do have to leave tomorrow. Right now it does not matter.


The MOA Rally 07-21-13 all good things must end; but that's the next one.

07-21-13

Around 4am people start packing up, not my idea of a good time; we stay in bed. Around 7am i get out of the tent, felling a little worse for wear. Around 9:30am we get on the road.

We slab it towards Portland, wanting to check the city out. Very pretty. It was really just a quick riding tour as we really wanted to get near to or over the Canadian boarder. The decision was made to slab it towards Seattle, well, that lasted for all of an hour; i was so bored. Taking the first exit i could find that would take us to Hwy 30, so much better.







Around midday we arrive in Astoria, Yea lunch. We find the Fort George Brewery



Crap, the rig screeches to a stop. I manage to get it up onto the sidewalk, neutral does not help (not transmission, thank crap). I start looking and start to notice some very odd pieces of metal that seem to have magically appeared in the final drive. hmmm what to do. We try again to see if we can move the rig into one of the car spaces, no dice.

The decision to jack-up the rig was really made for me, i decide not to pull the full final drive just yet; lets just see what we can see. Then all of this fell out



But now the rig can roll and we secure on of the car parks. I go into the bar trying to find an owner, i figured asking permission to stay in their parking spot would be best. Such nice people, leaving the bike there for a two days or so is just fine. More on the people of Astoria later.

Amie goes to secure us a hotel room, and we get one just a block away.



Things are looking up already. We meet Tom from Kermit chair and chat up the group for a bit, then carry our stuff to the hotel.

A quick change of clothes and off we go the get some food and drinks, both are really needed right now.

Fort George Brewery



Chicken and Bleu sandwich for me



House made Italian Sausage with peppers and onions for Amie-yummy!!


We stay for a while ;-) Enjoying our beer and cider Sunday.

Back to the room, we make a game plan. It more or less went like this. Pull the final drive and wheel tomorrow and see what really happened. Relax as much as possible and enjoy as much as possible.

Because it is close we went back to Fort George Brewery to grab a light dinner.

Salmon spread and hummus.


the salmon was amazing, the hummus bland. Some garlic from the kitchen solved that problem.

Bed time, tomorrow will tell us what happened :-(

07-22-13; Well there's your problem

Out at 9am to see what had happened. Well here is the final drive











Parts that broke off



The reason it all broke



So it seems that along the away a spoke broke. The part on the inside dropped into the final drive and at some point jammed on the final drive and started eating it away till the point we just stopped. I cleaned out the rest of the drive and wheel, changing the wheel for the spare. All in all it should work, just no rear brakes (don't really need them anyway) but i would prefer not to take it too far if at all possible.

Lunch time. For the first time while writing this I will say this up front. DON'T GO HERE THE FOOD WAS TERRIBLE...

Wet Dog Cafe



Food



The low cloud cleared later in the day, it was just beautiful.







So, for dinner we go to the Indian restaurant that has been around for 2 years. AMAZING, but not as spicy as we both expect. Naan, samosa, chicken tikka and lamb vindaloo. This place we DO recommend. YUMMY







The night sky was beautiful









Tomorrow is Tuesday, i will make some calls and see what i can find. Really don't like the idea of rebuilding the final drive yet again, really hoping i can find a fully rebuilt one ready to go. O and i have to get some spokes!!!

More news shortly

Great scenery, IPA's, good food and most importantly - being able to ride without a tight schedule.

Excellent (said like Mr. Burns)

I look forward to following along.

Time is the one thing we have on our side.

Today is all about trying to get the parts we need to move on. I secured a new to me final drive ("rebuilt") we shall see ;-) and looks like the spokes are in the works, have to make another call about that later.

It has been a very nice and slow day, we have started to recover from the MOA and with the bike seeming to be sorted (except for the parts arriving and putting them on). Breakfast consisted of a latte and a very fresh chocolate croissant (my teeth hurt)



a quick walk around finding some stuff we need for the work ahead and some other things that would be nice. Another laundry day, easier this time as the hotel has the laundry in-house.

Spokes are on the way, final drive is on the way... We will be moving this weekend ;-) Sunday sounds good to me. After laundry lunch was needed. Laundry is hard work (thanks Amie)

On the way to lunch we saw these




We found the Mexican restaurant we were looking for ;-)


Food was wonderful

Prawns for me (shrimp for the Americans)


Enchiladas for Amie


The restaurant and bar are separated, the decor of the restaurant is different



the bar has it's own flavor







Owned (as far as we can tell) by a couple, she (used to be the waitress before they bought the place)serves in the restaurant, he works the bar.

Once again the sun came out in the afternoon, we have been told that we have hit the good weather, a bit unusual. Usually very SF weather here, with fog rolling in at 3pm and rolling out around 12noon? For us it has just been amazing.







While at the Cantina we met a couple, they asked if we were staying at the Norblab; we looked familiar. Apparently he had come here (Astoria) for a week and stayed for the past year. Amie and I had been joking, asking the question "How did you guys end up living in Astoria?" Hmmm....

Na we shall leave...

I got back from removing items from our cooler, i found Amie like this. No i did not place the sign...



Tomorrow is a new day and with any luck a new final drive. It's going to be like Xmas...

Headed back out after Amies nap, (needed) to Fort George, intending just to have a cider or 2. Amie roped me into having their pepperoni pizza, and it was just amazing. Perfect crust, not tons of cheese and zesty pepperoni. Well worth it.



At the rally purchased Re-Animator, great zombie movie from the 70's (if you haven't seen....???) and even though we had cable in our room, dragged out the laptop and watched it in bed, while chomping on a chocolate Charleston chew. Another yum........

Tomorrow is a new day....

This just keeps on getting better and better! Can't believe all the break-downs you've had so far, and the mellow way you have handled them all. My fuse must be shorter than yours.

Ride safe and have lots more fun!

Astoria.....

Parts arriving, and have found a shop to help and supply carpark space to do the work. Things are looking up.

What have we been up to you may ask? Well lets see.

Breakfast (Columbia Cafe)



Enjoying the sun and clouds







Dinner (Blue Ocean) Wonderful Thai food...



Extra spice?



Late Lunch / Dinner (Drina Daisy, Bosnian food. Just incredible) Tomato compote with warm bread



Then the smoked meat and pickled veggies plate



Then came the lamb. To die for lamb that melted in our mouths. And as the owner stated, did NOT need mint sauce.




Then came the Bosnian coffee (better than Turkish)



And lastly, Baklava. Start to finish an amazing experience.



We waddled out, with a bar of nutty chocolate to boot. Just in case we got the nibbles before we got back to the hotel.

Fix bike... Forgot the camera!!!! The Guys here are really good guys http://www.icchoppers.com/

Late Lunch (Fort George Brew Pub)





Local wildlife



All in all it has been a relaxing time here in Astoria, now the want to push on is getting to us both. Sunday we head north. Saturday we ride a bit, make sure all the work done will hold up ;-)

After fixing the bike we decided to do some riding and see the sites before departing, figured it was a good idea to ride the bike before getting back on the road.

Our first stop was the Astoria Column, 164 steps up and of course down ;-)



The best thing apart for the $2 parking that is good for a year is the balsam wood gliders that you can buy at the gift shop. They let you fly them from the column!!!! It was like a flashback to childhood, it had to be done.... With glider in hand we walk around and around the spiral staircase up the 164 steps, the view was amazing and a good strong breeze should work for the glider. It had been recommended that you write your name on the glider so if found it could be identified, apparently for me this would not be an issue.

We watch a few gliders, they do go a fair distance when launched from such heights, some just go straight down. Prior to climbing the column I had made a few straight test flights, trying to get everything positioned correctly. I think the preparation paid off.

With many onlookers I launched my glider into the wind, very tricky I know. A few turns and it caught a thermal, and another, and another. The damn thing flew and flew, we kept catching glances of it as the sun reflected off it. For 10 min or so Amie, I and a group of amazed onlookers tried to keep track of the small plane. Alas we lost it somewhere in the trees, there would be no way of finding it.

Views




Happy with my dollar investment we went back down the 164 steps to ride to our next destination.

The Goonies House!!!!



Well, just the outside anyway, it had to be done. In the same area are most if not all the houses used in the film, we figured that one was enough!



In addition to the Goonies we road past the school from Kindergarten Cop and the house from Short Circuit (it had a 6 foot cyclone fence around it, not very inviting)

A quick ride to see the bridge and the Maritime memorial and we were spent.



Back to the hotel to do washing (again) and I DID IT THIS TIME! Early dinner and an early night, well that was the plan.

We ran into some people who we had met in Astoria and had to go for a drink and a game of shuffle board. Hmmm, in a little later than expected and a little more lubricated than expected. All in all a good final day.

Good to see you're back onthe road again. Where are you guys going now?

Subscribed.....good to see another Hacker/ette doing the Tour. Used to do that and really miss it since I sold my rig. Will be following you... Yep, head to Alaska before it gets cold....

Wherefore art thou now??

cheers....

and of course new stories to tell!!!!