California to Portland

Luckily for everyone I checked our tickets Monday morning and discovered that we weren’t flying out till 9.30pm not 6.30pm as I thought. We had a good flight over, both of us managing to get some sleep. Marty got a dose of air con sneezers, watery eyes and running nose about 2 hrs before we arrived in LA which wasn’t much fun but he survived. Breezed through customs and once again we felt like we had missed a check point. Chris was waiting for us and apart from a detour to Bill Easters to pick up a couple of jackets he had been storing for us we headed straight to Westminster for a coffee and a few zz’s.

Marty spent the next morning getting the bike ready for the trip. New tyres, oil and battery and she was all go. A couple of days lazing around and we were ready to hit the road.

Despite packing light when we left home I still found I needed to repack my pannier several times before I was happy, by which time Marty wasn’t and was mumbling that I should have had it sorted a week ago. We planned to go up the 101 to Marty D’s but missed the off ramp and ended up on the 5. It was stinking hot and we had to a few stops to rehydrate ourselves. We arrived at Marty’s just after 3.30 to an empty but open house so we made ourselves comfy and waited for him to return. His daughter rang at 10pm and was surprised to find us there and Marty still out. He had gone to a BBQ and she said if he wasn’t home now he wouldn’t be till the morning so that meant we got to have his bed instead of the chairs so we didn’t complain. Early next morning she arrived with coffee and McMuffins for our breaky. She was worried we would be dying from lack of food and no real coffee. Marty arrived home surprised to see a party going on. We had to be on the road by 9.30 so we didn’t have long to yak.

We made Salinas just after 11.30 and met up with my sister Rachelle and boys for lunch. Brady (13) was most embarrassed to be seen with his old motorcycling Aunt and did not want a hug and reluctantly accepted a handshake. I guess if I’d been a size 8 in tight black leathers I might have been more acceptable. That’s teenagers for you. Her friend Sue and daughter Tori, whom we'd met on a previous trip also came and we had a lively lunch.

A couple of hours later we were back on the freeway and heading for Winters west of Sacramento. We missed a vital turn and ended up going through San Francisco and over the Bay Bridge. A very slow trip. It was smooth sailing once we got onto the 80 and we soon found ourselves in the little town of Winters but couldn’t find the road we wanted to Ted and Sue’s so we stopped at the Irish Pub to get directions. I tried a local beer (Blue Moon) which was lovely. We arrived at our destination a short time later. The next day was spent lazing around the pool and generally chilling out.

We studied the maps and decide to head towards Eureka taking lesser roads rather than straight up the 101. The first of these was a lovely winding road through beautiful countryside and through a canyon. Then we were riding along the shores of Lake Clearwater. We stopped at Lucerne for a much needed drink. Got talking fishing with a local and their idea of a big trout and ours are very different. Back on the 101 and we are riding roads we drove in the camper. This is a very scenic road, especially through the Redwoods. We reached Redway about 3.30 and I thought the plan was to stop here for the night but Marty kept on going and we turned off the 101 onto the loop road that would take us to the Mendosina Lighthouse. It turned out to be a very windy road, badly sealed with lots of bumps and hollows which made riding very difficult for Marty. A loaded bike with the Teletubies onboard does nothing for the suspension or handling. When we hit a section of gravel with tight chicanes there were loud mumblings heard from the front seat but after about ¼ mile we were back on the erratic seal. A few miles later and we lost the back brake. A lady stopped to see if we were ok and then if we were Australian. She apologized when we said ”No, Kiwi’s and left laughing when Marty said, “It’s ok we know you are Canadian”. We missed the accommodation she told us about so continued on our way. Near Petrolia we stopped to check the map as we’d seen a road to a lighthouse. Not the one we were looking for, but a couple of local lads thought we were lost and came to offer us assistance. They told us that Mendosena Lighthouse was on private land and not accessible to the public and the one we were near to was a three mile walk along the beach so that was a no go as well. But on the up side there was accommodation in town. We found the Lost Coast Lodge, a pretty run down place but we couldn’t find the owners so after chatting to a couple that was there for a while we decided to press onto Ferndale where they told us we would have no problem getting somewhere to stay. It was only 30 miles up the road and still plenty of daylight left. A few miles up the road we hit the coast. 10 minutes later we had gone from a hot and sunny 90° to a very cool temperatures and heavy fog. It had taken that time for the sea mist to roll in. It was like being in the the Scottish Highlands with the heavy fog and wandering livestock. We rode into Ferndale about 7pm only to find there was no room at any Inn. The local county fair was on and everyone was in town. So we spent the night in a cheap motel in Eureka, watched a bit of the American Olympics then hit the hay. 320 odd miles today most of them slow going but the scenery made it all worthwhile.

The sea fog was still hanging around in the morning so it was a cool ride up the 101. We saw a couple of dolphins at one rest stop but no whales. We rode in and out of fog until we crossed into around 2pm Oregon. We stopped at Port Orford, an old fishing village that has no natural harbour. Boats are craned in and out of the water. We went to a little restaurant on the wharf for a coffee. They seemed very disappointed when we said we didn’t want to see the menu, we just wanted coffee. They were soon all smiles when we ordered clam chowder. The positive comments coming from the other diners persuaded us that we really should try it. It was nice but we both agreed that it wasn’t as good as the seafood chowder we had sampled in Christchurch.

Next stop was Cape Blanco. The most westerly point on continental USA. It was blowing a gale and as foggy as hell, but we can now say we have been to both the most easterly (Lubec Maine) and westerly points. We spent the night in the coastal town of Bandon but didn’t bother going down to the beach. Sea fog had taken over here as well.

We travelled up the 101 towards Toledo. A nice leisurely ride so Marty was able to enjoy the scenery as well. We had a leg stretch at a little boat ramp on the edge of a small lake and Marty had 5 mins of entertainment watching two old guys getting their bass boat onto its trailer. They didn’t believe in using the winch so were attempting to drive the boat up. It took them a few tries and lots of vocals but they eventually made it.
We had a few problems finding our friends place just out of Toledo. Hidden Valley Road was indeed hidden. We were on it and didn’t even realize it. Mark had seen us go past his gate and knowing it was a dead end road just waited for us to come back. Spent a couple of hours with him then headed off towards Portland. The couple of beers I’d had, had made me very sleepy and I had a forty winks once on the bike. Then rode with my visor up to enjoy some fresh air and keep me awake.

We hit Interstate 5 right on 5 O'clock and the traffic wasn’t moving at all on our side. Not good. Unlike others on bikes who were happy to sit in the queue in 90° temperatures we just rode up the side of the freeway and 10 miles later we were sitting at the front of the queue. Marty got chatting to a truck driver who told him he had been sitting there for 2½hrs. The problem was a fire on the grassy slopes of the freeway. We rolled into Portland around 7pm to find a cool beer and homemade beef burger waiting for us.

We plan to spend a day or so here with Jon and Lucie before starting on the 1400 mile ride to Idaho Springs and the Vincent Rally. Tomorrow they are expecting the temperature to reach over 100°. We’re not missing the wind and rain at all.