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Spruce Goose |
04 - USA
Oregon to Bodega Bay - 14/09/03 - 19/09/03
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Spruce Goose |
Next stop was the Oregon coast after a quick stop at another air museum we happened upon when R discovered that the Spruce Goose was there.
The coast road wasn't that near the coast much of the time but when it was it was beautiful but bloody cold and rather wet. I had a strange encounter with a Blood Hound in a car park. R had nipped into a shop so I stayed with the bike, a pick up pulled up next to me. I looked round at the same time as this huge dog in the passenger seat. Our eyes met, and he went mental. Pick up went into speedy reverse to the parking space behind. Instantly the dog shut up. The driver got out and as he walked past just said "he's got a thing about bikes". The dog could still see me and the bike, I guess he just didn't want to be too close. If only he knew how much I would like to have been friends. Seems lots of dogs hate bikes here. I think it's Harley's, they're so bloody noisy!
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Oregon Coast |
I was getting a cold so was freezing by the time we stopped. We found a place to stay and R went out for supplies. I turned on every bit of heat I could find, including a fake roaring fire. Richard came back half an hour later and nearly passed out.
As soon as we crossed into California the sun came out, it was spooky. We stayed inland for a while to see the giant Redwoods and then struck out for the coast once more. The lost coast in fact. Called this because no major roads go there. All the roads are very narrow, very twisty and very, very steep! I'm not at all keen on steep hills. I have an irrational fear that what ever transport I'm in is not going to make it and will start rolling backwards. I always hate the first bit of roller coasters. So it was all pretty nail biting stuff for me. We were just doing a set of very steep uphill switchbacks when the road turned to gravel! And not even nice gravel, it was all lumpy and bumpy with big holes. Luckily it didn't last long and Richard and the bike took it all in their stride.
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Seal Colony - Shelter Cove |
We finally got to the coast, to a little town called Shelter Cove. The sun was setting and it was gorgeous. We stayed the next day as it had been such an effort to get there and R went off and played on the dirt roads. I sat and watched the seal colony on the rocks and nursed my cold, much more relaxing.
That evening we had dinner with an American couple form Idaho, Glen & Linda. R had met Glen biking. He had a 250 trail bike and was blatting around the hills. When we came out of the restaurant the fire which had been lurking up in the hills for a few days, looked like it was virtually in town. The orange glow was incredible and the wind was really fierce. We all jumped in Glen & Linda's pickup and raced off to the beach at the other end of town to see exactly how close it was. From there we could see that it was still quite a long way away. I decided to pack anyway, just in case!!
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Coming Through! |
We had heard that just as the 101 splits with highway 1 there is a Redwood tree that you can drive through. We decided we had to see this and went to find it. I thought this would have been a necessity, like there was no way round; why else would you cut a hole in a tree big enough to drive a car through? As a tourist trap of course and we were caught. Took pics anyway.
We stopped overnight in Bodega Bay. Lovely little place, nice sweeping calm bay, seals playing around. Then I discovered it's where they filmed The Birds. This is one horror film I have never been able to watch, due to a very similar recurring childhood nightmare. I suddenly went off the place. There were certainly a lot of seagulls around and they looked bloody big to me.
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The Birds! |
The 101 down the coast of California has been amazing. Beautiful beaches, high mountains and lots of lovely sweeping roads. Some have been a little close to the cliff for my comfort. R thinks it's funny I don't like hanging my head over the edge as we go round the corners!
We have been listening to Spanish language CDs whilst traveling down the coast in preparation for Mexico. Can now say more than " a litre of red wine please" which has always seemed to get us by in Spain.
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