GB here to fill you in on our latest adventure.
Tuesday morning brought us sunshine to central Oregon and a cool breeze from the Pacific. We were sleeping late and left even later, trying to get the GPS to update and give us the new maps. ( Left at 9:30AM).
We headed South on Hwy 101 with a little less traffic than yesterday and a bright day to accompany us along the rugged Oregon coast and into California and the BATs. The day was filled with stops and photos of the spendid coast.( I can't get enough of the waves and wind). The twisty Hwy 101 put a smile on both faces as we tried to look over the edge and enjoy the ride at the same time.
Saying goodbye to Oregon for the time being, we entered into California in search of the BATs. We found plenty despite the fact that GB missed the turn and we had to settle for BATs on the perimeter of the Nationsl Redwood Forest. We recalculated our direction and thought we might head straight across California on Hwy 299. The road is a bikers dream !! Twisty, curvey and high speed, yes even Big Bear got in on the excitement as be blasted 65 miles toward the center of California. The ride was great, except...the further we went the hotter it got. We were at 57 when we left the Redwood Forest and 97 just 65 miles later in Willow Creek, CA when we stopped for the night. The nice waiter at the restaurant, Cinnabar Sam's, told us that we were headed into 110 degree heat for Wednesday and recommended and northern alternative, Hwy 96. OMG, this one was more twisty and raw than the day before. Wait i"m getting ahead of myself. Willow Creek is in the heart of Bigfoot country and Bigfoot images are everywhere. So we stayed at...Bigfoot Motel. Not the best but okay for the price. Tomorrow we tackle the Bigfoot Highway ( no joke, that's the name), Hwy 96 through miles and miles of twisty narrow roads with no shoulder and 500 foot dropoffs. This ride is getting good !!!!!!!!!!
As you can tell I am assigned the task of catching up the blog so I will burst into Wednesday, July 7. OMG have I told you how much I love these twisty narrow roads !!!! We did 150 miles plus of this stuff today, crossed into Oregon and did 50 miles on Hwy 66. This road was crazier than the two days before. Sheer dropoffs that got bigger and bigger. 500 feet dropoffs gave way to 1000 feet and then 1500 feet, no shoulder, narrow twisty curves. Don't look Ethyl, it's along way down and no stopping till you get to the bottom. As you can tell we made it over the mountains and through the woods and to
West edge of Idaho. We have stopped in Ontario, Oregon at a Best Western after 620 miles today.
We saw beautiful Mt. Shasta from a desert viewpoint over 100 miles away, it was spectacular. We also saw deer on the road in front of us ( yes I was in front again) several times today. We headed East on Hwy 140 and eventually North and East on Hwys 395 and 20.
We had a blast despite the numerous road construction stops ( 5 in all).
The bad thing about twisty-curvey is that it is slower so it took us longer.
Hwy 140, 395 and 20 are mostly across a desert basin with alkali lakes and scrub brush and pretty much nothing else. We hardly passed more than 3 dozen cars/trucks the whole way but we made excellent time.
Tomorrow we tackle Idaho and into Yellowstone for one more try. Tonight we are in the onion capitol of the Northwest. Yes folks they grown onions as well as potatoes in this part of the country, miles and miles of onions, carrots, wheat and oats. It is starting to look like Kansas.
I am ready to be out of Oregon. My pet peave with this Blue State is this: You cannot pump your own gas. A little goober runs out and puts in a code to engage the pump and hands you the nozzle and then instructs you on how not to get a drop on the ground with a tissue after you have filled your tank. Wipe your nozzle ??? In essence the State of Oregon thinks you are too stupid to fill your tank and not spill the $3.30/gal gasoline on the ground. Get me away fron these democrats !!!!!
I'm tired and Big B is fading on me so I must get to sleep. Tomorrow another 500 mile day.
We are headed home, but not before we terrorize Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma.
GB for da Bears
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So, did Ray get his picture made with the Big Awesome Trees!? Gee, it is hard to imagine that we are only one time zone apart now. I am asking God to give you a sunny day in Yellowstone. You may want to slow down an spend a little more time there if it is nice. Sorry I missed the "no shoulder . . . narrow, twisty curves"" with the "sheer dropoffs." Actually, I am sorry Rube missed them, I've seen them before!
ReplyDeleteupdate 7/8/2010 1:19:43 AM ET
ReplyDeleteMissed it by 'that' much!
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska Earthquake Information Center says a magnitude 5.0 earthquake has shaken Anchorage and other communities in south central Alaska but there were no reports of damage.
The quake was recorded at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday.
Geophysicist Randy Baldwin at the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo., says the center's website has received more than 600 reports from people who felt the quake. Most reports came from the Anchorage area.
GB exaggerates a bit. There wasn't a single cliff that dropped off more that 1495 feet. Actually, I wouldn't know. I stayed on the inside against the sheer rock walls and made everyone go around me.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yep...I hate that we missed an earthquake in Anchorage.