Day 14

Two weeks down, one to go. We are currently in San Francisco. Today we rode more twisty on the US1. Around lunchtime I convinced Mark to ride out to Point Reyes, which is a National Seashore. Every other National Seashore we have visited in the past took us right out to the shore, but not this one. We rode for 21 miles through twisting, turning, busted up pavement and through cow pastures only to end up at the top of a mountain where the temperature was about 30 degrees and the wind was blowing like crazy. We took a quick peek and jumped back on the bike to return to civilization. We intended to end the day early and catch up on our rest, but we drove and drove till we almost ran out of gas before finding a gas station. We pumped 4.8 gallons and the tank only holds 5 gallons, so we were riding on a wing and a prayer. We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and got us a room and some grub and we will continue south tomorrow to catch Monterey Bay and Big Sur, unless we get sidetracked. No luck uploading pics, so I'll try tomorrow night to post some. Guess we will start to head back east either tomorrow or Wednesday.

Big Hugs from the Big City!!

Day 13

Didn't have internet access Saturday night, so I'm trying to catch up. Saturday we dropped into California and rode through the Redwood Forest. The size of the trees are amazing. Mark and the motorcycle look like toys compared to the trees. We then rode to Leggett, CA where you can actually drive through a redwood tree. I jumped off and took pics of Mark in the tree and then he circled back around, put the kickstand down, I jumped in the drivers seat and he took pics of me. LOL!!!! Mark had talked to a couple from Canada when we were in Washington that told us about a confused whale that was swimming under a bridge along US1, but couldn't remember the town, but told us to look for a bridge that had cars parked all around it and people on the bridge. We found it in Klamath and stopped to snap some pics from the bridge. This was the closest we have been to one. Having trouble uploading pics tonight so I'll try again on Monday.

Update - finally got a few pics uploaded, but it has been slow going.

Day 12

Started off this morning in a hunt for seals and whales, we found the seals pretty easily at Cobble Beach, the whales proved to be more elusive. After several stops along the way, we finally gave up and moved on down US101. We stopped for a snack of fresh crab and smoked salmon. YUM!! We visited the "Devils Punchbowl", which is a hollow rock formation shaped like a punch bowl that gets filled by the ocean at high tide. Since we caught it early we were able to walk into it. Later in the afternoon we came upon the Oregon Dunes where there was a Off Highway Vehicle (known as 4-wheelers in NC) recreation area . We really wanted to participate, we had helmets, but no 4-wheelers, so we snapped some pics and continued on. The dunes were as high as 100 feet in some places and went on for miles and miles. Later we stopped in Port Orford for a cold beer and iced tea at Pitch's Tavern. After a short break we saw a sign for the city port and came upon a crab shack and had a sampling of local shellfish and fish. While we were there, chatting with some locals, they pointed out some whales in the harbor. We sat for a while watching in awe. You'll have to look closely at the pics to see the whales blowing and rolling in the harbor. The wind was blowing at least 30 mph so we put on everything we had and continued on. Mark made fun of me packing winter gear when it was 100 degrees, but we have used it all!! We are currently in Gold Beach, about 30 miles north on the California line. Tomorrow we continue south to the Redwoods and whatever else we happen to stumble upon.

Hope everyone is enjoying tagging along.

Don't forget that you can click on the pictures to enlarge!

Day 11

We didn't make it very far today, only about 120 miles, but US 101 is slow going. We stopped along the coast to visit a tide pool, that had lots of star fish clinging to the rocks. We took the " scenic loop route" to see three lighthouses, only to find out that the loop was closed and had to backtrack. We ended up in Lincoln City, Oregon to stay the night and we are off tomorrow to continue down US 101 toward California.

We met a crazy homeless dude that was hauling his dog on a wagon, he didn't beg for money and allowed us to take pictures as long as we didn't use the flash.....cos Buz (the dog) didn't like flashes because he "was buzzed up on canned chicken and Burger King soda". He also receives signals from alien satellites.....go figure.... it's a wonderful, strange world out there....told him to have a "great day" and he said " no, he's not a great dane, he's a Labrador".

We're having a blast. 11 days down, 10 to go!!

Dipped my toes in the Pacific, and it was COLD!!

The dude up top must have been fulfilling his "bucket list"

Check out the post below from Day 10........we didn't have internet access yesterday, so I have posted two days worth of pics and updates.

Until tomorrow..........................

Day 10

Mount St. Helen was awesome. A contrast between total devastation and new life. A bit uncomfortable because she was still smokin'. It was a mere 117 miles between Mount St.Helena and the coast. We drove straight to the Pacific and at first glance, Mark thought it looked like our beach, until we saw horseback riders to the north and mountains meeting the coast to the south. Stopped in Long Beach, Washington for a cold beer and iced tea and my beer cap had a puzzle on it, "can you top this". We'll see.........

We stayed the night in Seaside, Oregon and had some awesome sushi and the room had a fireplace, no we didn't need it, but yes we used anyway. US 101 here we come!!

Day 9

Today was another great day. We chose to go to Mt. Rainier and it was like riding to a ski resort on a motorcycle. There was plenty of snow still on the ground and was perfect riding weather - 61 degrees. We thought we would zip through, check out the views and drop down into Oregon, but we ended up spending most of the day there. We are currently in Castle Rock, Washington and tomorrow we plan to ride to Mount St. Helen,which is about 50 miles away. I was surprised when looking at a travel guide that it has been 30 years since it erupted.....dang how time flies.

After we visit Mount St. Helen we plan to head to the Oregon Coast and pick up US101 and continue South.

This has been an amazing trip. We currently have traveled around 3,500 miles in 9 days.

Day 8

We are currently in Ellensburg, Washington, which is about 125 miles southeast of Seattle. It was another big day and I haven't had time to post any pics as we needed to get some laundry done this evening. Tomorrow we are going to either Seattle, Washington, Olympic National Park or Mount Rainier National Park.....I guess we'll decide in the morning.

The blog is still set for NC time, so it is 2:00 a.m. there and only 11:00 here......off to bed......night, night!!