The Redwood Forest takes my breath away every time I ride through it. I have to stop and touch the trees and lean up against the massive trunks to remember how small I am in the scheme of things.
Bsides...I needed a rest. :-) At the end of each day the winding roads took a toll on my right shoulder which I injured last year. But it was worth every minute of it.
We camped beside the road with some other travellers. We had forgotten to get water and there was no store. A friendly fellow gave us a gallon of water. We had to buy some fire wood, Campfires always add nuance to a campsite, especially beside the ocean where it can get cool at night. I was thankful for my MEC woolies. We had firewood left over so we gave it to the kind man who had given us some water. That's the way it works. All along the road we traded the comforts of life with neighbouring campers. Although we had our own little primus stove and coffee, we were often offered morning coffee and had many nice visits with folks from all over the continent.
The #1 highway is well posted with danger signs. Warnings of tight corners, falling rocks and risk of being swallowed by a Tsunami. After all, it is along the San Andres Fault. There are so many terrifying documentaries of impending doom. Not only the dread of a big wave but perhaps a quarter of the earth will blow outward sending volcanic ash as far as the east coast.
Screw the fear mongers, we must enjoy what there is while we still have it.
Let NOTHING stop you from exulting in the moment no matter where you are or what you are doing.....and then.....
Eat some chocolate to make that moment perfect. (Right Bro?)
First there was the sandwich.....
Not just an ordinary sandwich....
And then there were the birds.
....there was the intense hypnotic glare.
Then there was the big black monster bird...
And suddenly......there was.....
No more monster sandwich.
This is the third winter in a row that I have travelled the coastal highway from Victoria to Yuma on a motorcycle. It is Mike's second time on this road but the first on his Heritage Classic, a much more comfortable ride than the BMW he used last year. We were both at home on our motorcycles and the weather was perfect for camping.
My friend Polly, who lives in White Horse, had given me some packaged salmon from the Yukon which was delicious! Along with some Tillimook squeaky cheese and home dried apples we had the perfect roadside lunch.
How could a day become any sweeter?
Need I say anymore?
A stranger walked into our camp last night and took the liberty to check out my bike. Mike's bike has a cover on it so he was lucky. There was mud all over my tank, seat, saddle bags and even hand prints on the windshield. We heard a noise and spotted him in our headlamps but he was too quick and escaped before I could grab my camera. He did try to steal something however and challenged Mike when he tried to take it back.
It is a good thing that he decided that racoons can't ride motorcycles. I can just see him standing on my tank with one hand on my windshield, the other on the throttle dreaming...
We found a nice little spot south of Florence. Our camping neighbours were rock climbers, mountain bikers, skiers and X Harley riders. We had a great visit around the fire.
The sky was sunny with a few fog banks we rode through. This is a highway one could never tire of. Around every bend there is something to get excited about and it just makes us both feel like we are dancing on the edge of life........
With Cheese.....
It's time to ride south! The weather is cooling, but we have a window of sunny weather so this morning we packed up our bikes and left beautiful Vancouver Island. This will be the third time I have ridden my motorcycle down the west coast to Yuma Arizona and beyond.
We caught the Coho with the Black Ball Ferries and began our journey south.
We munched our lunch while watching some kids fish off the dock at Lake Leland. Then we hit the road and by the time the sun was painting the sky a brilliant pink, we were settled for night in Astoria, Oregon. We couldn't have had a better day.
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