I spend time each night making sure there are no fires where I am going the next day. I also have a guardian angel that does the same. Those that are really in the 'know' can see my position every 10 minutes with my satellite tracker from my website.
Started out early and it was pretty nippy along the coast as I continued into Oregon from Northern California. I remember passing through this town on the way to Vancouver and Alaska with a lot of great Redwood tree stuff and this time I stopped and took photos.
Bigfoot territory you know.
Loved this owl.
Also remember this weird ship way up near the road, pretty far from the water's edge. Probably an interesting story.
Pretty coastline.
This bike could use a little TLC. It might also be on purpose. Hipsters are everywhere.
Despite my fear of getting into an area with an active fire, the overwhelming urge to go back to Manley's Tavern in Crescent for their amazing 'Broasted' chicken kept my fears at bay. Trouble is, I had 7 hours of riding to get there and on a coffee (without cream, *sigh*) that was not going to work. Kenny suggested a fish and chips place in Bandon, along the coast.
When I stepped in to order, I told the lady at the register I had ridden from Eureka to eat there because a friend recommended it. The wait time was 35-40 mins. Mine came out in 15.
Alaskan Halibut. I've been to the actual Halibut capital in Alaska and had fish n chips there and this was every bit as delicious. In fact, it was a huge portion but I gobbled it down happily just the same.
At Bandon I had to turn East and cut over to Crater Lake. I was dreading the heat but it never came. The day stayed a pleasant 90's and with sweeping turns (we call those sweepers in motorcycle jargon) I had a wonderful time. I saw many ranges and farms and something familiar caught my eye in the distance. I turned back around for another look.
Zoomed in!
Minions.
Even the purple ones!
I ended up on a scenic road and after a good distance noticed the utter lack of anything. No homes. No bathrooms/rest stops. No gas stations. Thankfully I finally found one and then my heart sunk when I saw this lock on it. I have terrible fuel range on this motorcycle, only 150 miles, so I really have to be careful. It feels as though I am filling up every couple of hours.
Not to worry, someone noticed I was there and came out to pump my gas.
Well actually, remove the lock, hand me the pump then watch me pump my gas.
It's Oregon. People are apparently too dumb to take the fuel pump nozzle off the gas pump by themselves.
I was watching the time though and knew I needed to make camp before 6 pm. Bad things happen after that...deer start to come out, visibility is not as good. Reluctantly I decided to postpone my planned dinner stop for a crappy $16 salad from a deli.
While I was setting up camp, a grizzly looking man came over and started to talk to me about his motorcycle, his friend's motorcycle and a bunch of other topics I had no interest in and tell me what I didn't know about motorcycles. I kept quiet and focused on setting up camp. He got the hint.
Later, another rider came over and first asked if he could approach my camp and chat.
Why yes, Mr. super polite rider.
He started with asking about my bike and then shared that he rides bicycles and was from Bend (where there was an active fire) and complimented me on my Ortlieb bags which are rather non-traditional for motorycles. Then he proceeded to tell me of a lovely back road that I would have missed had he not come said hello. There is always a right way to do things. I told him about Manley's. Equal exchange in my mind.
The setting sun sky was epic.
Oregon had some funny signs.
"Debris in road". Mmmm OK. Something fell in the road and instead of clearing it off, let's just put up a sign. Next one, "Fallen rock". OK, same deal I guess. Rocks fall here a lot and well, we might not clear them off the road that often so let's put up a sign that tells people so we can't get in trouble.
The next morning, swung by Crater Lake. It never fails to amaze me.
And epic views from all around the rim road.
Now on to important matters. Broasted chicken for lunch.
What is Broasted chicken? They told me it was first cooked by rotisserie, then deep fried to finish it off. They serve a half chicken portion and of course, I finished it all. I even ordered another half to go which the cook wrapped in paper towels and put in a ziploc bag for me. So sweet!
What kind of place is Manley's?
It was as amazing as I remembered it.
The route that the rider told me about was quite beautiful. Very few cars (well trucks, everyone has a truck in Oregon, I mean everyone, then I thought, the gas costs half the price here).
Anyhoo, that pool of water was bubbling with some pretty serious, no swimming signs and a lot of algae. That black rock in the background is lava flow. It was impressive when I turned the first corner and saw it as high as a 10 story building.
Remember that short fuel range? I ended up in Mitchell looking for fuel.
When the station was closed, I asked around, not another woman in sight. 100+ degrees. Single female low on fuel asking for gas. It was uncomfortable to say the least. Fortunately the clerk at the grocery store unlocked the pump for me and gave me a couple gallons so I could make it to Dayville where I had a completely different experience. I'm not making this up but when I checked in, I told my host about my Mitchell experience and he said "yeah that place is pretty different, we call it Deliverance".
My room. Grindle is pleased with the AC blowing full force. It's hot here.
It was like paradise. Cute little cottage.
See the little girl in the doorway? She was very curious about the motorcycle.
Adorable main street. It's the only street. Dayville is pretty much a dot on the map and in the old days would probably have been called a 'one horse town'. I loved it.
One house on the main road was gorgeous.
This is the neighbor. Abandoned.
And the only store in town. Mercantile. She sold me two corn on the cob's for a dollar each and proudly announced they were from her garden out back. After I bit into the first one, I wanted to go back and tell her that for a dollar each, she should water them.
I was lured by these amazing large veggies. I bet they taste like sawdust too.
Still you could see the old shop style of the mid 1800 inside.
The next day I rode into Idaho and there was some fun to be had there too!
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