I expect you have missed us!  A lack of phone or wiffy signal and general busyness have prevented reports for a while but today we are wired for sound.  This is the entry for
Wednesday 26th and a big welcome to our overseas readears…..yes, GOMOB has gone global – here are the stats for the last month:

Redwoods – that pretty sums up our day.  Lots and LOTS of Redwoods.  Oh yes, and mist.  Nearly as much mist as Redwoods.  Here is Alan sitting down….inevitably there is a Redwood in the picture.

The riding has been very pretty in a misty redwoody kind of way and we finished the day in Trinidad (the one in California NOT the one next to And Tobago).You know the kind of RV parks that are dingly and geared up for passing tourists?  Well we are in the other kind – mostly people living in crappy trailers smoking pot.  Our next door neighbours are a couple with a young baby and a cat…..living in a small 2-person tent……and smoking lots and LOTS of pot.

Tuesday and we have passed into California.  This means we have done 2/3 of the states but only 1/3 of the miles.  The riding today has been exceptionally pretty with the ocean a few feet to our right for much of the time.  We are now in  Cresent City, or rather in a KOA 5 miles north and camped in the middle of the redwood forest.  The realy BIG redwoods are still 2 days south but we are, none the less, sleeping at the base of chuffing big trees.  Tonight we went into town for tastly foodstuffs and had a meal around the camp fire and I am writing this by the power of KOA wiffy. 

The whole group is now pretty independant; I drop the bags at their hotel around 2:30 and meet them here next morning but the late afternoons and evenings are pretty much my own.  Not that I do anything very productive with the down time – I should really take up knitting. 

Steve

Our rest day was very welcome and we ended it in the nearby bar were Alan had watched Merican football all afternoon. 

Monday dawned with clear blue skies and it was a lovely day’s riding, amongst the most scenic so far.  We are now always very close to the Specific and at times there are cooling sea mists but the sun frequently burns through and we enjoy temperatures in thge 70’s. 

As you might expect there are always dinosaurs about (bet you weren’t expecting THAT!).  On our rest day we discovered a baby dinosaur called Dino who has become our official mascot:

I took this picture to make him look really big but with a sophistacted readership like you there is no point pretending – he is really only about 6 feet long.  His daddy on the other hand is really REALLY big:

Very basic but clean and rather good fun.  For dinner we went 12 miles back up the road to Port Orford and the Redfish restaurant.   Quite up market by Oregon standards (linen nappkins!) but with the worst service I have ever experienced in Merica.  When our food arrived after a 75 minute wait it was mediocre and, after complaining to the chef, we were awarded a 20% discount………to which they then added a 15% tip!!!  Us kids staged a revolution and there was a bit of a scene but you have to stand for what you stand for.  The waitress then deliverted a moving monologue on the coast of healthcare, her husbands burst appendix and how badly she needed the tips.   We may not go back for breakfast!

Steve

The Moody Blues one, not all that Enya or Robbie Williams crap.

It is our rest day and very little has been done. After a leisurely get up we had a brief trip to the beach and yours truely had a dip in the Specific (as we now call it). Anything that could shrivel or retreat into a body cavity did so – the rest just went blue.   We have a virtually private beach

 and our very own secret passage to it from our pitch:

very dingly.

Laundry has also been done and is now draped around the camp drying.  Unfortunately our pitch is very shady and we have to utilise bushes, the bonnet of LM2 and anything else that happens to briefly face the sun.  I got a bit carried away with laundry and washed my only shoes so we then had a barefoot drive into town to buy some flip-flips.  The rest of the day has been frittered away with cleaning out LM2, catching up on paperwork and a bit of reading.

The weather has been perfect with clear skies and highs of about 70 but the moment you get out of direct sunlight it is suprisingly chilly, so we chase the sun and sit at tables in other vacent pitches.

We have a group known as the Oregon RVing Women staying here – average age about 130 and more blue rinses than the Molly Sugden fan club.  The thought of these old dears driving chuffing great RVs is too scary to contemplate, though on reflection I am not aware that any of them have parked their vehicle in a ditch so I shouldn’t really judge.

Alan is looking bored…..I had better call the fire brigade.  Actually, he is off to a bar to watch Merican football on the TV. Personally I woulk rather pull my toenails out with a pair of pliers.  Hmmm, that’s an idea…..must go.

Steve

Today is something of a ‘no news’ day – no transvestites, no disasters with the car, no shoe-related conflagrations. But the riding was STUNNING.

The mist/cloud has finally gone and the view from my tent flap as the sun rose looked something like this.

We are now in Coos Bay – a nice counter-balance to the splendours of the day as it is a typically grotty Merican industrial town.  This is the location for our first rest day and chosen because it is an ‘all services’ location in contract to the small holiday resorts we mostly pass through.   Today I am stealing Interweb from the Super 8 Motel, though as I have kjust given them the best part of $1000 for the guest’s rooms it won’t trouble my sleep too much.

Steve

PS In case anyone is too stupid to get the song connection:

Puppet On a String – Sandie Shaw – Sandy Shore. 

Oh why do I bother.

If you didn’t work out yesterday’s then tough!

I have been promising people whales on this trip and, thank goodness, today I was able to deliver. A little south of Lincoln City there is a bay which claims to be the Whale watching capital of the galaxy (don't you love Mericans?) And we stopped for a look see. They were some way off shore but we definitely saw backs, tails and the odd water spout so we can put that down as a definite whale sighting. Alan says they might be Minkies but I'm pretty sure they were whales.

We also saw Pelicants (like Pelicans but less helpful) and Seals.

It was another misty day but very scenic riding and, with only 51 miles to do, everyone finished nice and early.

You may notice that I have added photies for the last couple of days – this was achieved by driving down Highway 101 and stopping every few miles to check for unsecured wiffy signals. After about 5 goes I found one and sat at the roadside uploading piccies.

The only other excitement for the day was when I left LM2 in drive while I chatted to a rider and it parked itself in a ditch. Bugger. Fortunately this is Merica so within 5 minutes I had several pick-up trucks with various bits of rope and chain to my assistance and in no time I was back on the road with only my pride a bit damaged.

We are staying in Yachats – quite a nice little seaside town – and have another ocean side pitch for our tents. The photo is taken from our pitch. Unfortunately the campground has no showers but a bit of gymnastics and a soapy sock soon restored me to my normal fragrant self.

Alan and I have a hankering for really good chowder and there is recommended emporium in town so we are off for clams.

Steve

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We had a jolly evening by the fire with enormous pizzas and good beer and it made a nice change from dashing around in LM2 ferrying people to restaurants. Unfortunately, an evening of running the cooler, powering electrical devices and forgetting to turn off all unnecessary car electrics resulted in a flat battery this morning. Bugger.

Fortunately we were rescued by the least feminine transvestite I have ever seen. He…She was camping two pitches down from us and wearing a very fetching outfit with pumps, tights a little black dress and blonde wig. The effect was rather spoiled by him being about my height and built like a brick s**thouse with shovels for hands. Oh yes, and a very deep voice and stubble.

Still she had jump cables and a van so we weren’t going to complain.

I have now purchased jump cables as I don’t feel that relying on there being a handy tranny nearby is a viable long-term strategy.

The route today has been very pretty though many of the riders chose to take a couple of shortcut that missed out the best views as they are starting to flag after 5 days on the road. We are passing through small ‘seaside’ towns (yesterday we went through one called Seaside which I felt rather lacked imagination) though it is the end of the season and they are all very empty.

Tonight we are in Lincoln City – the biggest town since Astoria and nothing to write home about – the punters have a nice hotel and we are in an equally nice KOA campground. I am having trouble getting the fire lit so might try pouring petrol on it 🙂

Will blog again when I am back from having my burns dressed.

Steve

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Ilwaco continued to underwhelm us this morning when the only diner in town was closed for breakfast because the owner had decided to go fishing. We found a place doing coffee and pastries etc. but hot dead pig and long stacks of pancakes were nowhere to be seen.

It has been another dull day, less misty but with lots of cloud and in these conditions the temperatures languish in the high 50’s and low 60’s which is useless for my tan.

Around mid-morning we crossed the 4 mile bridge from Washington State into Astoria, Oregon – a rather hairy ride but everybody made it alive. We are now properly following the Pacific Coast Highway and we had stunning views of the Pacific from the hill along which Highway 101 runs. Hills mean…well…errr…hills, so there was plenty of work to be done in the afternoon.

We are staying in Garibaldi but so far I haven’t found a single shop that stocks the biscuits which is rather disappointing. Our campsite, on the other hand, is not disappointing. We are pitched about 50 yards from the Ocean and tonight we are having take-away pizza and beer round a camp fire. Ging gang gooley! One of our guests has tried to have a swim – she is Dutch so made of sterner stuff than us limeys but only managed about half of one leg before retreating while turning a funny blue colour.

Steve

PS. Fortunately Alan finished late today so the camp fire has been lit with very little burning of footwear.

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Hi, me again. This is the report for Tuesday 18th, but filed late because there was far too much searching for lost people and general buggering about yesterday.

So Puff The Magic Dragon? We spent much of the day frolicking in the Autumn mist. After several days of glorious sunshine we were shrouded for much of the day in sea fog – a common occurrence in these parts but a bloody nuisance nevertheless.

Our route followed the coast around Willapa Bay through Raymond (a one horse town where the horse has long since been made into glue) and then along the mud flats to Ilwaco. It seems the Bates family are expanding and now have quite a chain of motels, all equally charming.

We had a rider with sore knees and another with a shredded tyre, both at the back, who then vanished off the face of the earth. I spent happy hours driving up and down looking for them only to find that they had taken their own route and were back at the motel. Bugger.

Ilwaco proved to be gastranomically challenged so we bussed people to Long Beach (Washington NOT California….that comes later) for diner.
LM2 (aka The Hearse) is behaving, though appears to have marginally worse fuel consumption than the Space Shuttle. This is excellent and earns us much respect from the locals. It has electric side doors and boot lid and there are hours of fun to be had in pressing the buttons while humming the Thunderbirds music.

The camp site has wiffy but wants $4 for it so you will have to wait for photies.

Steve

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This is a clever one! Or at least I think so.

This morning I spoke sternly to the people who provided my US sim card and after much hanging on the telephone I finally got it sorted so I am connected to the outside world.

AND……drum roll……we had breakfast at Blondie's. See? Brilliant!!!

The love machine went back this morning and was replaced with a Chrysler Town and Country. On closer inspection this turns out to be a Grand Caravan with Chrysler badges so the love machine is back! Although this one is black and looks more like a hearse – it may take a bit more effort to get girls into the back of this one.

Another day of glorious sunshine and the group have been riding west to finally reach the actual Pacific coast and we are in Westport – a fishing town. The hotelers are in the Bates motel (it has a different name but I'm pretty sure it is the same place) and we are in Twin Harbors state park – very nice.

We have no whiffy so I am posting this via my phone so no pictures as The Man wants seven pounds fifty per megabyte. When we get to an interweb I will post some piccies.

It is good to be properly on the way and hopefully things will now settle down into a routine and I can get out on the bike a bit more.

Off for din dins now.

Steve

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