F*ck it... I'm outta here. Or: CJ's Pretirement Trip

[ronazon]

Good RR...subscribed!

Living the dream brutha!

[whotmonster]

They were horrified. As you would be if your went to the sites of Hiroshima or Nagasaki.

War sucks for everyone but the mentally unstable

Thank you to our service men and women who put themselves in harms way

Originally Posted by vintagespeed

i believe that's an A6 Intruder, and yes i found the Japanese thing a little disturbing while I was at the Arizona memorial a few months back. couldn't tell if they were gloating or moved, as i was.

great report man!

[mikegc]

Originally Posted by whotmonster

They were horrified. As you would be if your went to the sites of Hiroshima or Nagasaki.

War sucks for everyone but the mentally unstable

Thank you to our service men and women who put themselves in harms way

Good post whotmonster, good post!

Mike

[Scooterchick]

Originally Posted by whotmonster

They were horrified. As you would be if your went to the sites of Hiroshima or Nagasaki. War sucks for everyone but the mentally unstable. Thank you to our service men and women who put themselves in harms way

Ain't that the truth.... I went to Dachau Concentration camp and war memorial when I was stationed in Europe as part of a Battery trip. I was never the same.....

great report...

[FatTirePlease]

This pic always struck me as funny too!
Never even noticed the boys ( much less that they were Japanese) , until later.

[Bartimus]

looks like hes in Portland, Oregon tonight...

[Scooterchick]

Originally Posted by Bartimus

looks like hes in Portland, Oregon tonight...

Really? I was wondering what happened...ha. We just left there about a month ago on a ride from BC.

Well, I guess we will have to wait for him to fill us in!

[GhostRiderFC]

Today, I got off to my usual late start. I was up late doing ride reports while I had internet and was just generally being lazy in the morning. This was rough, because I wanted to get all the way to Redwood National Park, over 300 miles away, and I was burning daylight.

After cleaning up and packing, I got loaded. I'd decided that I wanted to run through San Francisco and check in at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area to get my book stamped. I'd been to San Francisco before, and generally knew where the major stuff was located, but didn't know street names or what streets went through, etc. And I can just figure that out, right?!?

First, I needed to get a new fuel can for my stove. I wasn't completely out yet, but I could tell I was close. And REI was nearby, so I went there to buy a new can. I have an MSR Firefly or whatever the name is. Burns IsoPro. An 8oz can is like six bucks. I also fueled up while in Berkeley. That town is totally hippied out. Everyone with their earthy clothes and their bikes and Priuses (Prii?). And SF seemed to be the same.

So, I have to get across the bay into the city. I'm nearest the Bay Bridge, the one that famously collapsed in the 1989 earthquake. So, that's how I go. They have something like 20 lanes of toll boths. $5 to cross!



And I didn't get a shot of it, but on the far side of the toll booth are a series of red and green lights. You wait for the green in your lane, then you go. All 20 of these lanes are backed up to kingdom come and we're waiting on these damn green lights. I guess it sort of works because once you're past it, things flow sorta smoothly.









Now I see where my five bucks is going! A new suspension bridge!

Anyway, now through a tunnel on Treasure Island!



And on to the city!







Once in town, I immediately get off the highway and onto Embarcadero, figuring I can ride this all around the edge and end up over past Fisherman's Wharf and nearby the park. Bad idea, I think.



Now, I'm on an air cooled bike and sitting in traffic. I could maybe lane split if I wasn't three feet wide with these boxes on, so I'm a bit stuck.



So, then while I'm idling along, a guy rolls up to me in a white SUV (below) and asks what my handle is on ADV. I was a bit startled at first, but told him and he says, "I'm CafeRacer!" Oh... I heard of that guy. He's posted in some threads I've posted in. He takes a cell phone pic and says he'll post it, but I don't see it yet.



A bit after that, I'm really cooking and decide that this strategy isn't working. I take the next left off Embarcadero, and after a series of turns, end up on Broadway, going up and over some hills. Now, I know these are not the worst hills in SF, but this bike is already tail heavy and I'm really leaning on the front to keep the wheel down!



At the traffic light, you could tell I was near Chinatown. You know... except for the dirty hippie.



And they had a tunnel right in the middle of town.



And out the other side, things started to feel more normal.





Now, I turn toward the north, just west of Fisherman's Wharf, and this is where the park is supposed to be. Of course, my GPS was useless. But here, in this photo, you can see an NPS sign. I'm in the right area, but where the hell is the visitor center/headquarters?



I find a spot where I can pull over in the shade and consult my iphone. This eventually leads me to the real spot... sort of.

I have to go up on Bay Street, which is not on the bay, and find the old Fort Mason, and it's in there. So, I do that. And there's even a directional sign indicating that the park visitor center is to the left. I go left, park, and I can't find it. I walk all over and eventually, between two overgrown hedges and behind some parked cars, find this:



And it's closed. And now I'm pissed. So, I take a couple photos as sort of a been there done that.





And this is the non-descript building holding the headquarters.



There's a really well labeled hostel next door if you're interested.

At this time, I'm feeling like I've wasted a lot of time and I'm behind schedule to get up north. It's already after 1pm. So, I hit 101 and get rolling. This route takes me over the Golden Gate Bridge and all the way up north.







I have no idea how far it is from one side to the other, but there are a lot of people walking across this bridge. And it's a bit foggy and cool.



And then, boom. Just like that it clears up.



Now, it's at this point, getting off the bridge, that I'm in the middle lane and realize there are signs for a hard right exit to get you to... Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Dammit! I bet there was a visitor center there, too. Well, too bad. I'm late and pissed and I'm going to keep rolling. And it's WINDY!

I stopped somewhere up in Marin County and got lunch at El Pollo Loco. It was pretty good and only six bucks. And I kept motoring on. At this point, I'm back in Iron Butt mode... just ride, ride, ride.

Now, In the north of Marin County and into Sonoma County, as you'd expect, there were a lot of vineyards. I got a photo or two but many didn't come out. It was windy, so cutting down on the blur was tough.



And every once in a while, even though you're on the freeway, the scenery is just really nice.



And then US101 turns into a "normal" type of road instead of the freeway that it is all through Southern California. And it even got cool. There was a nice series of sweepers going back and forth, mostly uphill, for a while. And all 65mph speed limit!





At one point, it was getting really chilly and I literally had to stop and zip up the vents and put on long sleeves under my jacket.

Then I came up on these guys. The guy in front is in a wheelchair and has a sort of homemade trike with a rear engine like a VW or something.



And by the time I'm seeing sunset, I'm in Eureka... 50 miles or so from Redwood NP. Eh... that'll do. It's cold, overcast, and I'm tired and hungry. I'll stop now while I'm ahead.



I grab a room at Motel 6. $53. The guy at the desk says that the sun that was out today was the first in like three weeks. And later, while I'm trying to get my internet to work (it didn't), I meet Joel who rode up to Eureka from Marin City that morning. He took CA-1 all the way up the coast on his Beemer. Didn't get a good look at it in the dark but it seemed to be a R100GS or something similar. He'd ridden from San Diego and the next day would end up at Coos Bay, OR where he's from. Seemed like a good ride.


*** More ride reports tomorrow morning as it's late here and the internets are slow. ***

[GhostRiderFC]

On Monday morning, I awoke to a light overcast and a chill in the air. The weather app said 53F. So, I kept the vents zipped up and set out. I got a warm breakfast of Egg McMuffin & juice at my favorite Irish restaurant.

Heading up 101 toward Redwood, it was cool. At one point, I was noticing how close the water level was to the freeway, and checked the elevation on GPS and it said 12ft elevation! Wow!





With the foggy conditions, the camera had a hard time focusing.









As I entered the southern edge of the park, it started to clear a bit and I could see the ocean.





I found a cool looking bay or cove that had some fog. On the other side, there were some campers and stuff. I just liked the view.





Soon, I found a large pull out at the ocean and thought I'd get a few shots of the bike next to the water.









Then I notice this area that was full of elk grazing along the shore.



I noticed a parking area closer to the elk and went over there to get some better pics. That's when I had a close call with the bike. I pull in the parking spot and put down the kickstand, and it doesn't go all the way down! It's spring loaded and springs back up! Meanwhile, I'm already leaning toward putting it on the kickstand! And it's heavy! And I think it's going down! I had my foot planted and literally held that dude up and lifted it back to vertical. And I'm cussing and sweating and...

I did get some better photos of the elk.







The visitor center was right there, too, so I got my book stamped and looked at the park map. There was a nice scenic byway that was full of the Redwood trees, so I took that and stopped to view some of the trees.















Kinda bummed me out that this photo didn't really turn out. At the time, it looked ok on the little screen. Either way, you can tell how big these trees are and how hard it is to cut them down.



This is the "big tree." Kinda reminded me of the movie Avatar.



I guess there used to be a sign. Now there's a photo of a sign.









There were a bunch of other kinds of trees, too. Also sort of like in Avatar, I thought.











And then... back to the bike!

Riding out of the park, I went north to Crescent City to fuel up and then turned on 199 north to Oregon. I looked at Crescent City and it reminded me of every shore town I'd been to back east. In March. When it's cold.



And into Oregon! This is my seventh state on this trip.



Early in this trip, I was contacted by inmate Hansi who lives in Southern Oregon. I would be camping in Crater Lake tonight, so didn't need a place to camp or crash, but did meet up for a late lunch. There's a great place there in Cave Junction called Taylor Sausages. They make all their stuff fresh on site and had a lot to choose from. The meal was great and I regret now not having a photo.

Hansi is a manager of a vineyard and winery and gave me the grand tour!







They had nice ponds with fish and ducks.





And the man himself:



Thanks for the tour, Hans!

On the way to Crater Lake, I got to see Oregon.



Yup. Just what I expected it to look like!

I got into Crater Lake National Park around 6pm or so. I was able to get a spot to camp, but they were out of tent spaces and I had to settle for a small RV space. Looked the same to me.



Once it was dark, I went right to bed. Next day would be the lake.

[ScootTour]

I think a pre-retirement 'test' is a good idea. I took a few years off in my late 30's. Everyone who told me I would get bored was wrong. it was the best years of my life and I honestly didnt do much. I guess it depends on the personality which is why its good for someone to take a few years off before making any major long term retirement plans. Some cant stand not working.

[HeyWhatever]

Yeah... there is nothing like that fan blowing hot air up your ass in traffic...

I did some lane splitting in SF with my CityX... and the HB hard bags are a good six inches from the back of the seat... made me nervous...

Nice save on the overloaded kickstand dance.

[GhostRiderFC]

I awoke a few times this day. I first woke around 6am, but it was REALLY cold! So, that drove me deeper into my sleeping bag. I finally got up around 0730 or 0800. By that time, my back teeth were floating and I could hear other campers moving around. So, I got up, made some breakfast and started packing up. By 0930 or so, I was rolling.

First stop was the visitor center, which is right on the rim of the canyon.







From there, you can see a good bit of the lake.









You can see how having the light behind you would help the images.





And you can see parts of the bottom of the lake.











This lake has no streams or rivers feeding it. Over 7,000 years ago, it was a mountain volcano. After the volcano blew and expelled all the lava, it left a cavity underneath and the mountain collapsed under it's own weight, leaving this crater. Over the years, it filled up with rain and snow and there is no where for it to run off to. Pretty neat stuff.

















After that, I rode around the rim a bit. There was still a lot of areas that still held snow! We're only at like 7000ft elevation, and not all northern exposures, so I'm surprised there was still this much snow.













And this is the view from the northern part of the rim.









And a view to the north.



After viewing the lake, I took off out the north entrance and headed east on OR-38 to Chemult to fuel up.



Coming over OR-58, there was some nice scenery. And construction. As I was between two construction sites, near the ski area, some bikes coming the other way alerted me to some cops ahead. That was quite handy as I'd really been cooking along that highway.





Apparently, James Bond was driving this RV.



Too bad about the graffiti.





And this wire between the road and the tracks? Looks like the border between East Germany & Oregon.



From here, I went through Eugene and into Portland (Lake Oswego). My buddy David lives here and is hosting me for a couple of nights. I'm going to day trip into Seattle Wednesday and head to Idaho on Thursday.

Thanks for following!!

[Scooterchick]

Love, Love, Love it! Especially the pictures of SF.....:-). Had planned to go there last year and went to Europe instead. But I still want to go and cross that famous bridge!

Nice report....Thanks for letting us tag along!

[GhostRiderFC]

Originally Posted by Scooterchick

Love, Love, Love it! Especially the pictures of SF.....:-). Had planned to go there last year and went to Europe instead. But I still want to go and cross that famous bridge!

Nice report....Thanks for letting us tag along!

Well, if you love that, you'll like the next bit. I cover some of the ground that you covered in your June ride, although, probably at a much more brisk pace. Stay tuned!

[GhostRiderFC]

Today got off to a somewhat slow start. My original plan was to wake early, like 0730, and get ready to roll. I'd head out toward Seattle and swing through Rainier National Park on my return. Or maybe the other way around. Either way, I figured two birds with one ride. But then I was up very late on Tuesday night uploading pics and updating ride reports. The pics were so many and so large that it took a while for them to upload. And by the time I finished one day of report, it was very late and I had two days left to update. So, this morning when I awoke at 0800 or so, I got going on the update. Took me until about ten or so. Then I showered, ate, and bugged out. By eleven.


On the up side, since I was based in Portland for a couple of nights at my friend David's house, I didn't have to haul around my big bulky bags of junk. This freed up space and made the bike much lighter and more maneuverable. Still, the boxes are big and at speed they are like wind breaks, slowing me down. And also when I swung my leg off, I scraped the shit out of it on the left box. I'd never done that before because as long as I'd had them, they've had a big blue bag on top of them and there was no swinging of leg!! And also, since today was a quick out and back, I just wore jeans instead of my riding pants. Still had the jacket, vest, and other gear, though.. ATGATT!! Sorta.


I left out of Portland on I-5 and headed for Washington.



I decided that since I had a late late start, I'd just head to Rainier to get my book stamped and see the big mountain.

So, up I-5 to US-12 and east into the mountains. The scenery was pretty nice. I was impressed with the quantity and quality of the vegetation. The endless evergreens sure to make a nice bit of country to ride through! When you've lived in New Mexico for as long as I have, you start to miss it.





And then I smelled what I normally associate with Christmas. Fresh fir trees. Obviously, this is a Christmas Tree Farm. And I do recall seeing somewhere that many Christmas Trees come from Oregon/Washington, so this must be the place.





And this is also lumber country. I passed many trucks hauling freshly cut timber as well as a few lumber mills that were turning this timber into 2x4s and similar items. Below you can see an area on the top of the hill that is being cut.



Same thing... you can smell it. Smells like fresh pine. Really cool, if you ask me.

Now, keep in mind that this entire time, I'm approaching Mount Rainier, one of the tallest mountains in the US, the fifth tallest in the lower 48. And I can't see it. I don't know if it's just because the roads are always in the valleys of the surrounding hills, or because the trees are so tall, blocking my view. But I cannot see this dude, and I expect to. In Colorado, you can see them forever before you get to them. Not here.

Eventually, I get to the park entrance without ever seeing the mountain.



And as I drive in the park, I have the same experience I've had in the last three or for such parks: Luke Skywalker riding the speeder bike in Return of the Jedi.



After six miles or so, I reach the Longmire visitor center. I took this picture of the Museum for my friend Diane. She recently got a recurring role in the new Longmire television series on A&E.



No... it has nothing to do with the show. So what?!? This is Diane every time she's on TV or stage:

Meanwhile, this is a photo of the visitor center:



It was built in 1928 from local materials, pre-CCC. And it used to be the headquarters for the whole park. Now it's just a satellite visitor center. Pretty nice, though. Well built.

Inside, they have a really nice model of the park/mountain:



And unfortunately, this memorial for one of their fallen climbing rangers. Apparently he fell to his death on a recent climb. Last year, my friend Julie ascended Rainier with a small group. I wonder if she knew this guy?



They also had some vintage gravity gas pumps, but not functioning like the ones in Kings Canyon.



Then, I find this cut out of a large tree that has dates all over it indicating what happened that year. This thing is like 800 years old! And they cut it down in the 1960's! The rings are REALLY small. Tightly packed. This is "old growth" lumber.



Eventually, I continue on "up the mountain" to find the darn thing. I come to some small overlook and see some stuff. This is a river that is fed by spring run off and glacial melting. That's why it has the milky color.



Of course, the water level is low right now. But, from here I can see the mountain... sort of.





And of course, the obligatory bike shot.



I kept on going. Next find was pretty scenic. A series of waterfalls feed into that river and they are pretty neat looking.









And another bike shot.



And this is where Kong lives.



Just kidding. I have no idea who lives there.

If you go around the corner just a few feet and down the hill, you get an even better view of the waterfall.









And some of the surrounding area:



And the smaller neighboring waterfall.




And then, at long last, the grand daddy of all views that you've come here to see...







You can see the glacial ice on this one.







I actually like this one quite a bit.



And here are some other shots from higher vantage points, but not of the mountain.





I did not drive all the way around this dude. For one thing, you can't. For another thing, it's slow going at 30mph behind tourists going 20mph. And it was starting to get later in the afternoon, so I turned back for Portland.

And I'll just throw this in there because those who know me well can appreciate it...

I had a rage moment while trying to get gas in Washington before crossing back into Oregon. I pull into a Shell station and there are eight pumps. Four of the pumps are for "auto diesel" and the other four are for gas. All the "auto diesel" pumps are vacant. All four of the gas pumps are occupied, but only one is pumping gas, and that's a toothless guy with no car into a gas can. Pumps one and two have vehicles there, but nobody is pumping and both appear to be inside. Pump three is a vacant Honda Element and it's not pumping and there's nobody in it and it's pulled WAY up where I can probably squeeze in there and get some gas. So, that's what I do. And after I swipe my card and am literally seconds away from putting gas in my bike, the girl comes back and says, "Oh... I prepaid for this gas." I'm like, "What? I swiped my card." So, she has to go back inside to the guy, who comes out and tells me he authorized HER for the gas. And I don't know why, but I lost it. I start telling this dude that it's a waste of fucking time to have 50% of the pumps useless and the rest blocked by people who aren't fucking pumping any gas and WTF am I supposed to do to get gas?!?

So, now I'm rolling my bike into another pump, but that means that I have to go the long way around the fucking island because there's no way to get this three foot wide thing in between these fucking hybrids at the pumps. And meanwhile, NOBODY is using FUCKING AUTO DIESEL!





And so, then... I went back down the freeway into Portland, which reminds me a lot of Philly because it's old and dirty and green-ish looking and has lots of old rusty bridges over the rivers, and yeah... it just does.

So, I pull into David's house literally at the same time as him! That's good timing!

He made an amazing salmon dinner.



I wish I had taken a photo of last night's dinner: ribeye, grilled asparagus, jasmine rice. Topped off with lemon tart!

Anyway, tonight we were going to get a real treat for dessert! Voodoo Donuts! Apparently, they're a big deal here. I mean, look at the line:



So, we got a few interesting varieties:



Me, with the haul:



And then... this sign! "Oh, we are... we are!"



And finally, enjoying the treats!



You see!?! This is the reason I wanted to pack my running shoes. But they didn't make the final cut! Now by the end of this trip, I'm going to be not only out of shape but into a new shape!

Tomorrow is definitely Seattle.
Cheers!