Pacific Coast Highway Ride - Day 9

Bandera to Lincoln City

We woke up pretty early and I walked over to take a shower.  There was a real chill in the air but it was clear and quiet in the woods.  Bandon's KOA is one of my favorite stops.  The trees and the sense of being outdoors is very calming and relaxing.

We packed up camp, then walked over to the office for pancakes.  2 ladies were in a shed behind the office with a griddle.  They poured out some massive pancakes that were very good.  I thought it might be too much, but it was just right.

Because the Lincoln City KOA wouldn't refund the deposit, we thought we might stay there tonight.  But it was only 160 miles away and we thought we could make it allot farther.  So we were fuming a bit at having to stop there and thought we'd just blow off the deposit.

But since we might have the time, we decided to backtrack a bit and go see the Cape Blanco lighthouse.  When we got there the lighthouse was closed, but we were treated to the first of many beautiful views up the coast.  The wind was blowing very hard and it was cold, but we hiked around and took allot of pictures.

When we finished that, we rode back past last night's KOA and on up to the town of Bandon.  We followed signs out to a an overlook and got another fantastic view of beaches, seastacks (the big rocks just off the coast), and rocky bluffs.

We rode on North, and stopped at the Coos Bay Harley Davidson.  The owner has a huge Rock and Roll memorabilia collection and had a few items on display including a guitar signed by the Eagles and one signed by AC/DC.  We rode over to the Coos Bay docks and watched a Sea Plane taxi in.  We thought about taking a ride, but it was just too much money.

The next stop was the Coos bay lighthouse not far up the road but we couldn't  drive to it but we got pictures.

North of Coos bay we followed the signs off the highway and found the Umpqua lighthouse up on a high bluff with a museum nearby.  For $3.00 we took a great tour of the area, and even got to climb up inside, and poke our heads up INTO the spinning lense.  This lighthouse is still active and in constant use.  It has a perfect Fresnel lens.  Many of the lighthouses have been retired and most have been vandalized over the years, but this one is in pristine condition.

The guide told us that the Coast Guard maintains the lighthouse.  We learned about all of the work it took for 3 men and their families to keep the lighthouse running.

We stopped at the Seal caves, but we'd already seen elephant seals mating, seals on the docks in San Francisco, and seals on the rocks all along the coast, so we kept our $10.00 and rode on.  We saw another lighthouse just beyond, but also decided to skip the mile walk and the fee.

By the time we got to Newport, we'd ridden into and out of allot of fog banks.  Every time we'd hit fog, the temperature would drop 15 degrees and we'd freeze, then we'd come out and slowly warm back up.  Newport was in the fog, so we were very glad to get into a restaurant and warm back up again.

The final 20 miles to the KOA was mostly through fog, so we skipped the last 2 lighthouses, and by the time we got to the Lincoln City KOA we were tired and not at all sorry to have to stop there.

We only covered 200 miles of highway 101 today, but we probably rode 300 with all the side trips.


Me sitting at the picnic table writing my emails.


The Cape Blanco lighthouse


The coast south of Cape Blanco


John riding near the edge of the cliff at Cape Blanco


The beach and some of the seastacks off of Bandon


The coast South of Bandon


A lighthouse.  I don't even remember where


Highway 101 during a sunny patch


Guitar signed by the Eagles


A statue to World War II in Coos bay.  Carved from a single piece of wood.


John by yet another lighthouse


The Umpqua lighthouse


The entry hall into the center of the lighthouse


Looking up through the Fresnel lens of the lighthouse.


The main lenses of the lighthouse.  The lenses are all clear, the red is glass in front of the lens.


Looking down the coast from the seal caves


Another light house that we didn't feel like walking a mile to see.


A cool bridge near the seal caves


Another nice section of coast

Pacific Coast Highway Ride - Day 8

Eureka to Bandon Oregon

This morning we were splitting up. The girls were going to drive over to Reno and catch a flight home.  John and I were going to ride up into Oregon and keep riding for another week.

But first, Nannette wanted to visit yet another missionary that we knew serving up in this area.  Elder Thurber is serving in McKinleyville which is just 10 miles North of Eureka.  She and I drove up at 8:00 and called him on the way.  We chatted for a bit and took a picture.  Nan kept talking about him going home and what he would do when he got home.  When we got in the car I said "Usually dear you don't talk to missionaries about home" to which she replied "He goes home in 10 days so its OK".

On the way back, we passed highway 299 which the girls were going to take to Reno, but the electronic signs said the road was closed due to wildfires.

We met the others back at our hotel and went for one last breakfast together.  We talked about what other roads they could take to Reno and decided on highway 36.  We were right by the Harley dealer, so we walked in there to look around, then gassed the car and bikes up and posed for one last picture.

Then the girls headed South, and John and I headed North.

As John and I got up near Crescent City, we saw that the highway we wanted to ride (199) was also closed due to wildfires.  We tried a couple of alternates but finally we just went to a restaurant for an early lunch to figure things out.  There was no way to get to our first night's lodging before midnight, so we called and tried to cancel all of our reservations.  All were fine except one KOA in Lincoln City.  They'd let us move a night, but not cancel.  So we decided to ride to Bend for the first night, then Lincoln City for the second.

On the way to Bend we crossed into Oregon, so we stopped to get pictures of the state signs.  There was also a group of teen agers on bikes taking their pictures too.  We offered to take group pictures of them.  The oldest might have been 20, but there were allot in their early teens.  They were riding from  Seattle to San Francisco as a group, 850 miles.

We started seeing the beautiful Oregon coastline and stopped several times for pictures.  But even with stops and lollygagging, we got to the KOA by 5:30, so we had a very leisure night.  The KOA was right off of the highway, but was completely wooded.  All of the campsites and cabins had trees in and around it.  You could barely see from one site to the next.

There was a hamburger stand setup next to the office and we got burgers and fries there for dinner.

Nannette, Elder Thurber, and his companion


All of us for one last picture


John walking up to a Redwood by the road


John at the base of the tree (someone drove by and yelled "TREE HUGGER")


Entering Oregon


The bike group writing their names on the California sign


The California sign


Very typical Oregon stretch of the 101.  A swath through the forest with a wall of trees on each side


Some of the Oregon Coast road


The Oregon coast with "Haystacks" out in the water


Our cabin at the KOA


The bunk bed in the cabin.  There was also a queen bed

Pacific Coast Highway Ride - Day 7

San Francisco to Eureka

STAY TUNED!! Nannette gets on a motorcycle today!!!

After breakfast, we headed North up the 101 toward the Golden Gate Bridge.  Traffic wasn't nearly as bad as I had thought it would be.  We made it to downtown San Francisco within 30 minutes.  The freeway ends and dumps you into normal street traffic until you get over near the Golden Gate.  We had a couple of wrong turns as we struggled to get across town.

We turned right on Lombard street and headed towards the twisty steep road.  Nannette and Shauna drove ahead of us and got out to take pictures of John and I as we rode the motorcycles down the street.  It was fun, but there were so many cars trying to do the same drive that we went down at a walking pace.  They did get some great pictures though.

After Lombard we headed toward the Golden Gate Bridge.  We stopped for pictures at the scenic turnout right before the bridge.  The clouds and fog were allot thinner than yesterday and not nearly as much wind.  The sun broke through and we got some really nice pictures.  It was fun to just sit and watch all the different people looking at the bridge and trying to take pictures.  We probably heard every language there was in the world, but someone holding out a camera towards you and pointing at themselves is universal language for "will you take a picture of us?"

We got back onto the highway and headed toward the bridge.  We got a bit jumbled coming out of the parking lot so we weren't lined up how we'd wanted for taking pictures.  We probably violated a few ordinances as we jockeyed to get next to each other for pictures, but we got some really good ones.

After we crossed the bridge, we turned off onto Highway 1 again.  It went out the back of the town and quickly led us up into the hills.  The road wound around every little hill and stream, steadily climbing up, then dropping down towards the ocean.  There was allot more fog on this side of the bay, but the sun breaking through now and then made for some beautiful contrast.

We stopped by a particularly beautiful spot to get pictures.  There was not a turnout, but lots of people were stopping because of the beauty.  After taking a few pictures, I jokingly said to Nannette "So are you ready to ride on the back of John's bike?"  and she shocked us all by saying "OK".

It was a bit chilly so I got out my heavy coat and gloves for her.  She put on Angela's helmet, and with a bit of coaching from Angela, she climbed on behind John.  Now my bike is a good one, but John's bike is geared for 2 up riding with the wide soft seat, and the high wrap around backrest.  Plus John has about 100 times the riding experience that I do, and on those winding roads, I almost wanted to ride behind John rather than ride it myself.

We pushed on down the road and after a few minutes John said over the radio "She wants to know if she HAS to open her eyes".  I was following behind and could see her pointing here and there at various vistas, so I know she was looking and at least noticing the views.  I kept expecting John to pull over to let her off, but he kept going.

The road continued to wind right out on the edge of bluffs over the ocean for about 25 miles, then it cut inland a bit.  By this time is was 1:00 and the girls in the car announced that finding a restaurant would be a nice thing.  They pulled up the GPS and found the Route 1 Cafe about 5 miles ahead.  We pulled in there and Nan got off the bike.  She said it was fun, but that No, I didn't need to buy a new bike to carry her.  We all chuckled and went in for lunch.

We looked at the map and realized that we had barely begun to move up the coast from San Francisco.  We were going very slowly and it was going to take a very long time to get to Eureka.

The cafe had great hamburgers and shakes, and afterward, Shauna volunteered to drive and let Nan and Angela get naps.  We continued on Highway 1 and the road continued to wind and twist on the coast and up and down bluffs.  After another 30 miles of winding the road seemed to climb up on top and straighten out.  Our average speed went up from 30mph to about 50mph and we started really moving up the coast.

We stopped for gas, and Shauna said she really wanted her turn to ride on the back of John's bike.  So Angela drove, and Shauna geared up and got on the back.  The miles seemed to fly by with the scenery constantly changing around us.  Sometimes we were out on a wind swept coast and sometimes we were in a forest dropping into a gully.

We got up to a town named Fort Brag and gassed up again, and Shauna still wanted to ride on the bike, so Angela said ok.  When we got near the point where we the highway turned away from the coast, we stopped for a few last pictures on a high cliff.

Highway 1 turned back to the West up through a beautiful forest.  We'd follow a stream for a bit, then climb up over a ridge and back down by another stream, then along a bluff face.  It was another very fun section of road to ride.

When we came out at Highway 101 we turned off on a little drive towards one of the drive through redwood trees.  We took turns driving in and taking pictures, then got a picture of all of us standing by both bikes in the tree.  So now we are REAL Northern California tourists.

The last 80 miles from Leggett to Eureka was kind of a blur.  We were all very tired and ready to go to sleep.


Riding down Lombard Street


Nannette by Lombard Street


Nannette and Clay by the Golden Gate Bridge


A great photo of the Golden Gate


John and Angela over my shoulder on the Golden Gate


Almost over the Golden Gate


Just starting off the freeway up Highway 1 into the hills


Nearing the ocean on Highway 1


More highway 1


Nannette and me


This is what much of the first 60 miles were like


Nannette decked out and ready to ride


Nan on John's bike


Nan and John weaving along the coast


More coast


Yet more coast  (I have allot of coast photos)


Some of the inland portions of the road


Out on a cliff edge overlooking the "Forgotton Coast"


All of us on the cliff


Nannette driving through a redwood


Me in the tree


Nannette and I in the tree


All of us in the tree