Aug 11th - Day 29:
Aimed to leave Trav's place at sunrise but after packing, bike maintenance checklist and fuelling up, we did not make it to the bay bridge until 7:40 where we sat in weekday morning traffic.
One of my goals was to get a photo of little Willow with the Golden Gate in the background but it was so foggy we could not see it at all. Crossing it was an uplifting feeling, finally out of town and on the number one.
It was foggy, damp and cold. The turns were tight and changed elevation a lot. On my left side the centerstand lever drags on the pavement and on tight right turns my actual pelican case drags. With all of our layers of clothing on we drove shivering most of the day. When a glimpse of the coast did appear, it was breathtaking! In Nova Scotia, one of the nicest rides we have is the cabot trail which traces the coast of Cape Breton. The number one is like that on steroids. Eventually as Hwy 1 turned inland toward Leggit the sun came out and it got warm. For the last 22 miles before Hwy 1 meets Hwy 101 it is nothing but beautiful tight turns among big perfectly spaced trees.
Like touristy suckers we took a detour to drive thru a big redwood tree. After a short break at this tree, Willow decided she did not wanna start. So we gave her about two hours to cool down and by that time she changed her mind and we were off to search for a camping spot. Trav had informed me that we were in a part of California called the "Emerald Triangle" which is a space in North Cal where a huge amount of marijuana is grown. This made total sense when every single side road we tried to take was blocked off with heavy duty gates. After 6 or 7 failed attempts it was getting dark. I saw a truck pulling out of one of the gates so I approached the diver and explained our situation.
The drive was Renee. A gypsy woman in her 60's who claimed to have raised five kids on the road by dumpster diving. She has been living in her truck since 2006. She told us that if we never revealed the location to anyone, she would take us to the non-gated side road where she parked her truck to sleep. I agreed to the conditions and what followed was some fairly intense off roading in the dark. Poor Willow and Fred. Once we got to the spot we set up our hammocks and Renee, slept in her truck beside us. She said if she saw bears, she would start the truck to try to scare them off.
Aug 12th - Day 30:
I woke up in the morning to find my hammock swaying above a patch of poison oak. We talked to Renee and learned a lot about how to survive as a gypsy and a little more about the marijuana industry and then we were off. The drive out in the morning seemed way less intense then it had seemed in the dark.
When we made it back to the pavement, Trav and I parted ways. He was such a good friend to go the first day with me! I picked up some supplies in Garberville and found an internet connection so I could call my friend Shaun (I'm not traveling with a phone). It was about 9:00am and Shaun and his friend Tim were already past Seattle after leaving Vancouver early that morning. I called them again at lunch they had made it to Portland!!!! They were really cruising.
We decided to meet for the night in Coos Bay Oregon. I got there first, got a motel room, picked up some beer and did my laundry in the sink. It was getting dark and I was starting to worry. I was just sitting down to update the blog when I heard the bikes pull in. Vancouver to Coos Bay in one day! Look at a map! That's crazy! Oh, and I forgot to mention that both Shaun and Tim were riding two up with their girlfriends. Oh, and I also forgot to mention that Shaun was riding a 1979 CB 400!!!! These guys put my mileage to shame. We went to the nearest restaurant which was a steakhouse. I tried to eat cow for the first time since Kansas but, I could only get a couple bites down. After dinner and beer we all fell asleep pretty quick.
Aug 13th - Day 31:
Went out for a greasy mom & pop breakfast with the couples. Then parted ways, They are continuing to San Francisco and I was eager to cross into my last American state before making it back to Canada. Heading north on the coast it was cold again and the wind pressure high. It was very tiring. The last few days were the first days of the trip that I really wished Willow had a windshield. On one of my gas stops I met a guy named Paul who has made a bunch of big motorcycle trips south. He said some of his stories were on a blog called Adventure Rider. I can't wait to have some more time to read them. In person he was very fascinating, kind and knowledgeable.
I stopped at Rockaway Beach. It's pretty cool, I get it. Then crossed into Washington. I ended up getting slightly lost while looking for a camping spot. I found myself on a skinny highly populated peninsula on the south west coast. There was for sure no camping here just one large sea side home after the next. So I started looking into motels. But no-vacancy anywhere. I guess this is a vacation spot. So in a last ditch effort I pulled into "Sunset Resort". A place on the ocean with a beach volleyball court, a tennis court and a parking lot filled with BMW SUV's towing speedboats. Clearly I could not afford to stay here. Like all the other places the sign said NO VACANCY. I got talking to the super nice and helpful lady at the front desk who no doubt took pity on me and said they had a room they were using for storage. I told her I would happily sleep amongst the boxes if I could afford it. This is the room they gave me. 50 bucks cash. I was even able to cook the food I had gotten for camping on the stove. Score.
Aug 14th - Day 32:
Thats today. I'm going to try to make it to Canada. Wish me luck.
bahaha
ReplyDeleteYOU SLEPT IN A STORAGE ROOM!!