September 27, 2004

The Coastal Highway - Part 3

Continued from the last post

Correction: NOT IN LAS VEGAS

In my last post I incorectly posted that I was headed to Las Vegas. That was an error due to me being tired. I was in fact headed to Los Angels along the coast.

Now back to the narrative, where I still hadn't made it to San Francisco.

Three days since I've seen a bed

So last we left off, I had spent the night on the beach, lulled to sleep by the sound of the ocean.

I rode hard, as I was determined to make it to San Francisco that night. Unfortunately, I missed a couple pictures that I wish I had stoped to take: at one point, the trees surrounded the narrow road with such a low cover it looked like I was riding through a winding tunnel lit by the verdant light that filtered through the foliage.

I did get some pictures of the coast that I just had to stop for. Sometimes (space permitting) I just have to pull up to the side of the road and go "wow!". I usually pull out my camera when I do that.

In this last one, you can actually see the road that I've been following, as it rides atop of the clif off in the distance. Most of the road was like this.

Even a film wouldn't do justice to the real thing. Anyways... here are some more.

Again, you can see the road in this last one.

Come about 6pm, I plunge back inland to meet up with 101 right before the golden gate bridge.

I had called Lenny (a friend of my mom since I was born) the day before I left Portland, and had called her every night since then, telling her I wouldn't make it till the next day, but this time I was going to show. I got directions and headed to the steep San Francisco streets.

Frisco

So many things happened to me here, I'll have to sum up a little.

The first night I spend in San Francisco, I slept in a nice, real, bed and got to shower. Hmmm...

I called up Swan's brother, Boston Eddy, who lives in Frisco (what some locals call San Fransico for those of you who might not have caught on... you know who you are).
Boston Eddy is the head of a local Harley group called the Barbary Coast Riders. They are recognized (I think that is the term they use) by the Hell's Angels, meaning that they can ride their colors into Hell's Angels territory. Friends, in other words. I'm very much not versed in the politics of biker clubs though so don't quote me. I just know that as long as I don't ride with any colors, I'm pretty much not stepping on anyone's toes.

Anyways, he tells me that he's going to be hanging out at a biker bar not far from where Lenny lives (center east of SF), and from there they're going to some event where they're on the guest list or something. At this point, I'm not sure if I understood him right, as I could have sworn I thought he said it was for Animal Planet, but hell, I'm in.

So we rides by Lenny's house on the way to pick me up, and I follow him to the bar. I love biker bars.... A perfect whole in the wall with cheap boose and an attitude. This one had a pretty big courtyard with a BBQ going, but there was going to be food at this event, the exact nature of which still escaped me. Though I had heard right, Animal Planet was sponsoring it, and that there was food and booze to be had for free.

Now five bikes strong, all leather clad and, baring myself, flying colors, we ride to the ritzy hotel it was being held in.

Picture this, five bikers (including one chick) walk into this fancy hotel, full of chains and leather. Everyone else is, at the very least, elegantly dressed. We waltz up to the second floor (the events room) and see a bunch of affluent people, and dogs, buzzing around. A couple odd looks preceed us to the registration table where, sure enough, there is an entry for us on the guest list.

Inside, there is a buffet of gourmet foods, that gets refilled every time they threaten to be empty, from seafood to poultry to meats to cakes to veggies, asian and amerian in flavor. There is a bar that serves two kinds of Flying Dog beer (a decent brew), and any coctail you can think of as long as it's made from some form of Grey Goose Vodka. All free, and delivered by cute waitresses.

We're actually a hit with this new-agie crowd. I finally find out what the hell I'm in: This is a "dog party", sponsored by Animal Planet, for the publication of this book written by this lady (names irrelevent). The proceeds go to help dog foundations.

It was all very casual, people chatting, dogs up for adoptions, but only if you talk to the person holding them on a leash (they weren't pushy about it at all).

They had camera crews going around. "Tell me about puppy love, have you ever experienced puppy love?" A question that Boston Eddy is only to happy to handle. "Yeah, when I was younger I experienced puppy love, but then the feds got involved, and bestiality lawsuits... it wasn't pretty."

They loved it.

Anyways, after that, we head to another bar, I got to see an ally with really pretty spanish/aztec work right near it, then we headed to a late night pizza place where we met a couple of girls. Boston Eddy got into this head butting argument (or a series of them) with one of the girls, while the second one and I laughed at the show. We ended up hanging out a bit after the bar closed, before we all had to retire to our respective parts of town.

The next day I got in touch with a distant cousin of mine on my dad's side. Maurice, who grew up with my dad and his brothers in Morroco, used to have what was probably the top rated Hair Salon in San Franciso. He's sold it and now works near his home in Alamo, about 25 min (without traffic) from SF. Property value in Alamo is much cheaper so he's got a large house with a pool, in a beautiful valley, right at the foot of Mount Diablo.

I spend some nice relaxing time there.

Mount Diablo is absolutely beautiful. The rock structures (not well captured in these pictures) are very interesting: they look like they were carved by water, but we are at the top of a mountain. Perhaps, since the rock is very porous, over the centuries, wind cause this? Or maybe this is a relic of a glacier. Anyways, here are some shots of the place.

This last pic is taken from the inside of a small cave, about 6 feet above the path I was walking along. There where a series of these wholes in the rock face, this was the biggest one.

The vegetation here included these really cool trees. They look as if the bark was peeled off of them, with their red, smooth trunks and branches.

I also went to this parade in Berkeley, called "How Berkeley Can You Be". This is the "Let's dress up like freaks, turn our vehicles into cool occationally fire breathing sculptures, and show how liberal our politics are". It was quite cool. Some of the floats were amasing. The parade ended in park area, with 2 stages for music and vendors and food etc... I had a lot of fun.

Finally, before leaving, I decided I had to tour the Napa Valley, and taste some free californian wines.

The wineries that pepper the valley are often somptuous estates, the ones on higher elevations have beautifull views, such as the above one.

I spend a nice day baking in the sun and sampling tiny glasses of wine from the wineries that didn't charge for the few ounces of wine they offered (anywhere from $5 for 4 or 5 tastes of wine to over $10 per taste; thank you, I'll stick to the free vintages.)

I left the next day for Los Angeles (not, as I incorrectly reported on my last post, Las Vegas.)

From North to South California

This trip could be done in one day, but I took my time, left late, and did it in two.

The coastal highway follows the coast a little less here. The road is more of a highway, often divided, rather than a winding road with two small lanes. But there are definately enough times that it hugs the coast, and enough beautifull sights to make it worth the ride.

I camped that night not too far from the ocean. I met a retired hellicopter mecanic who had made his living repairing the Police and hospital choppers from just about all of California, before the introduction of turbine technology, that, according to him, caused the engines to fail more often than not.
We exchanged road stories, he told me about the various bikes he'd had, and how he loved to just ride out into the desert, but now his wife only gave him one 5 day trip per year (though he could still do day trips).

I wanted to watch the sun dissapear into horizon, but there were a few too many clouds in the distance. Here's my best attempts at getting it. I'm obviously not skilled enough to use the light properly, but hey, I'm a novice amature, and you're not paying for these, so this is all you get.

The next morning, I woke up fairly early, and went on my way. I had an overpriced, yet tasty breakfast at the cheapest dive I could find (coastal prices are outrageous here). There was one strech of the road where, for probably 50 or 60 miles, there are cliffs on the left, and the ocean on the right, and no side roads or exits. I was nervous about running out of gas. Luckily there was a whale watching stop with a restaurant, a few rooms for rent and some gas.

$3.60 per gallon.

I kid you not.

I briefly considered grabbing some food there, but when the appetizers start at $17, I know I'm out of my league. Talk about highway robbery, but it was my only option, so I grabbed a gallon, which I hoped was enough to get me to a gas station with reasonable southern california prices of $2.40 per gallon.

Finnaly, when I reached Santa Barbara, I called my cousin Rick (mom's side) and got directions to his house.

Let me reiterate how beautiful the weather is here. It is almost too hot to wear pants, though the low humidity makes it possible. The clouds are hard to spot. The flowers provide a nice backdrop to the palm trees. Unfortunately, the road suffers from SUV overload, as everything that isn't a convertable is and SUV of some sort. I hear some of those can get 8 miles per gallon. Can you imagine? With gas costing over $2 a gallon?

Anyway, I found the spot and have been enjoying my stay thus far.

Now that my narrative has at least reached the city I'm in, I'll leave the rest for the next post, which, hopefully, will be the day before I leave here. Probably another 2 or 3 days.

Itinerary

I haven't posted an Itinerary in a few posts, so I'll get back in the swing of things starting from Seattle...
WA: Seattle-> I-5 (south) -> SR 8 -> SR 12 -> 107 -> US 101 (south) -> OR
OR: 101 -> 26 (east) -> Portland -> 26 (west) -> 101 (south) -> CA
CA: 101 -> 1 -> San Fransisco -> 101/1 (the two roads merge and split so many times I don't want to count) -> I-405

Posted by Cyclops at 12:41 AM | Comments (3)

September 20, 2004

The Coastal Highway - Part 2

Continuing the last post...

A Detour in Portland

Judy and Dylan had given me Kyle's number in Portland. He is going to college at Lewis and Clark and was able to put me up in the dorms for a couple nights. I slept on a climbing mat on the floor, taking up about 1/3 of the available floor space. (Kyle, thanks for putting me up considering the space you were giving up!)

That first night, Kyle and I went out to explore the town (he's new to Portland too.) We went to Dante's Inferno. They have a stage, 2 bars and very decent pizza. I'm glad Kyle drove because I had a few drinks beyond reasonable... Dante's Inferno had a "firery cabaret" that night, with firespinners, dancers and various beautifull perfomances. The music was also quite to my liking.

The next day I decided to explore northern Oregon, east of Portland. I took 84 along the Columbia river which is the border between Oregon and Washington state. This is a beautiful ride. There are cliffs and waterfalls; rocks that jut straight up, a sight that I am becomming more and more familiar with the further down the coast I go.
Unfortunately, I didn't stop and take any good pictures of this area. This is the best I have but these to little justice to what the eyes take in.

I followed the columbia river until I reached the Dalles, then went south. And it's a whole different country.

The verdant landscape that has been prevalent so far burns out to leave place to dry grass, with only the occational green from a dry tree or bush. Hills like whipped cream line the road, dunes of hay. The mountains roll into each other as if someone pressed a mound of dough.

I finally worked my way back through Mount Hood. While beautifull, it didn't strike me as exceptional. Mountains, lined with tall pine trees. Though it had been hot (very hot in fact) up until this point, as I was going through the shadow of the trees, I started wishing I had taken my gloves with me. The sky, still blue above, had let the sun drop down below the tree line, and I could really feel the elevation by the distinct drop in temperature.

I spent almost a week in portland. I met up with a dear friend of mine, Adria, that I met nine years ago at summer camp and had fallen out of touch with. She had just gotten married to a great guy, Brent. I got to stay for the rest of my stay there, in a nice comfy bed.

Behind Adria's house is a hill that holds a few of the reservoirs for Portland's water. Beyond being a nice quick hike, it has a commanding view of downtown Portland.

Despite a few efforts, I was, unfortunatly, not able to spend much time with some friends Brian had made in Portland. Perhaps at some later time we'll all meet up.

It is in Portland that I had what must be my most exceptional movie going experience. Not because the movie was particularly good (Collateral -- decent action, but predictable, I'd pass). Not because the theater was exceptional. No, it is because a fight broke out during the movie. Some guy, probably drunk or on some kind of drugs was sitting in the back and making very loud, very anoying comments about the movie (talking to actors, telling them what to do etc...) After repeated requests from the audiance to stop (or to "shut the fuck up" to be more accurate), another guy from the front warned him that if he didn't keep quite he'd beat the hell out of him. Well... the guy in the back made another comment, and the guy in the front walked up the isle, called him out and beat him up, hospital style.

Definately a first.

My overall experience of Portland is great. I like the layout of the city, it is vibrant with activity, very liberal. And the weather, while I was there, was perfect.

Of course, the day I decide to leave, it's not so good...

Leaving Portland - Oregon Coast

I woke up to a partially overcast sky. I had rained that night. I briefly considered taking the main highway through Oregon to California (a mere 5 hour drive) instead of the coastline, but, seeing as it wasn't actually raining, I opted to risk the much longer coastal ride.

I was under the idea that I would be able to make it to San Francisco that night if I pushed it. A long day, maybe 14 hours, but I've done it before. Let's just say that the states are a lot bigger on this side of the country, and I had vastly underestimated how much longer it would take me to follow the coast.

Anyway, I once more rode out to the coast and met up with 101. While I miraculously avoided the rain the whole way, the sky was gray and the see not much more than a bed of mist that often poured out onto the road. I have no pictures of that day, it was just too foggy.
So you'll have to live with discriptions.

Whereas the Washington Coast was very green, marshy even, the Oregon coast is a much harsher, weather beaten landscape. The waves crash against low cliffs under a more or less murky fog. The line between the rocks and the tenacious shrubs that smother them has long since dissapeared. The ocean wind has caused all the plants living at the top of the cliff to be blown eastward out over the road, making their outflung branches seem a continuation of the waves that crash at the base of the clifs they live on.

A harsh, landscape, that I find beautiful.

I stopped for dinner at a small place, and happened to pull in at the same time as another biker. We chatted over dinner about our rides, our plans. When I got back from the bathroom he had payed the bill. The waitress couldn't believe we had just met. He pointed out a good place for me to camp about an hour south and I headed there, and actually used my tent for the first time.

I set it up just before the sunset. I walked out to the ocean to watch the sunset and I must say... we don't have sunsets anywhere this impressive on the east coast. The fog made the sun's glow diffused. The oranges bled into the pinks and purples. There was a lighthouse just off the shore, whose outline, in the rising evening fog, became fainter until only the regular blip of light remained. When I realized I couldn't see the water anymore, I turned and saw the fog crawling up the clif and onto the road. I had to hurry back to my tent before I got completely caught in it.

The next morning I woke up fairly early, packed up and left. The sky looked more promising than it had the day before (english is lacking here, the word I want is in French "la Veille", meaning the evening before).

Still the fog is present in the morning along the cost. Here is a look at what I was looking up leaving my camping area, heading back to the road.

I don't think words are needed for these...

I made it to Californa before breakfast.

Northern Californian Coast

The farther I went into California, the less fog there was, until I was riding through nothing but blue sky, bright sun, and blue water. The coast in californa also softens up. The cliffs are still there, but they don't have that gray harshness that the Oregon coast had.

I could have stopped every 2 minutes to take a picture. This, combined with the winding road made for a very slow ride. Every other turn, I slowed down and just gaped at the unreal sights I saw.

Let me just toss what few shots I did take. I can't express how it feels to look at this all day long. Just notice how they start off foggy in the north, and clear up at the end.

What you don't see on these pictures are the wooded areas. While route 101 does a good job of following the coast, it does go inland a bit every now and then. I unfortunately didn't stop to take pictures along the "Avenue of the Giants", wich is a scenic detour that takes you through some pretty cool Secoya's. They where never quite as impressive enough, and as a result I now have no pictures of them.

I finally made it to route 1, wich really fallows the coast (the last three pictures were from there). The beginning of route 1 is one hairpin turn after another, going straight up a mountain and down the otherside towards the coast. I kinda wish I had somewhat of a sportier bike for this. While I love my bike, she doesn't corner as nicely as a sports bike and, well, I think it would have been even more fun than I had.
I ran into 2 other bike (each held a couple from Arkansas. All of them were programmers for Wallmart. One of the bikes was a sports cruiser (a Honda), and he was gliding through the curves like nothing. He said the bike had a lot to do with it, and urged me to at least try a crotch rocket once. I think I will, but I think I'll stick with cruiser bikes for my daily use.

That night, after another unbelieveable sunset, sans fog this time, I camped on the beach, not 30 feet from the water, about 10 miles north of Fort Bragg. I woke up thirsty in the middle of the night and walked around the beach half naked, under more stars than I can ever remember seeing, even up in Vermont. There were so many stars I had trouble finding basic constellations like the big dipper, cassiopeia or cepheus. It was oddly not freezing cold.

Next morning, now my 3rd day riding from Portland to San Francisco (where I first thought I could do it in one shot), I hit the most clasic beauty shots of northern california.

Unfortunately, it is past midnight, and I have to get some sleep as I am leaving for ~~Las Vegas~~

oops, I meant Los Angeles... tomorrow morning. I anticipate a 2 day ride, though it may take 3.

You'll have to wait a bit longer for those pics... and the rest of the narrative.

Posted by Cyclops at 04:56 PM | Comments (4)

September 15, 2004

Day 36 - The Coastal Highway - Part 1

Odometer: 23,439.7

Distance Traveled: 6,549.5 miles

Quick note: I've added beautiful pictures of my bike here.

Has it been 36 days allready? Unbelievable how time goes by. Well, let me tell you a little about what I've done since my last real entry. I've seen some things I still can't believe.

Spending time in Seattle

When I last left off, I was in Seattle. I stayed in seattle for quite some time actually... probably 2 weeks I think. I hadn't been in a town for a while, hadn't had a room of my own etc, so I was taking in the local flavor, and Seattle is I have to say, a very fun city.

Some highlights of my time there:
I went to a couple goth clubs. The scene seems to be slightly smaller than Massachusetts, but it might have just been the nights I was there.

I saw a number of bands play, mostly small local ones, but on one particular occasion, as I was wondering what to do, I found out that The Cure was playing that same evening, about an hour north. I called and sure enough, they still had tickets left.
I got to see a 2h40 minute set of The Cure. I gotta say, they put on a good show. Since no one opened for them, they had plenty of time to play a lot of their older stuff, which was great.

I got to visit the Science Fiction Museum. I have to say, it was great. They went into the roots of Sci Fi, the various influences and social/political reasons why different themes became popular. They had numerous relics (armors from starwars, control panels from the original star trek, etc etc...). The only complaint I had was that it was too small. I still recommend it to anyone who enjoys either reading Sci Fi, or watching shows/movies about it (aka fans).

I had mentionned in my last post that I had met up with Incus and that we had gone camping, but I never posted any of the pictures I took there.
I think there are fairly representative of the rain forest look that a lot of the mountains in north western washington have. It is a very wet environment, lots of streams and rivers. I love the way the moss covers everything here, from trees (live or fallen), to rocks.
The fog here was also intense in the evening. I remember riding in watching small clouds floating below me in the valley. You'll have to go see it yourself though. I didn't stop to take a picture.

Finally, it was time to move on and keep my trip going. I repacked my bags and did away with the sissy bar bag (the large bag that sat on my passenger seat). I am now travelling light.

The Washington Coast

I left Seattle and headed to the coast. After a fairly long ride (states are quite a bit larger on this side of the US) I got onto highway 101, which pretty much follows the west coast all the way down into northern California (it keeps going after that, but then route 1 is the coastal highway, and 101 is a "near" the coast, but not on it).
The coast line winds in and out a lot, creating lake-like sections. There are no sand beaches, it seems like the grass and trees just grow right into the water, creating something that looks like a marsh, only with salt water. Everything is very alive here, no big rock formations. I wonder how the plants deal with all the salt water, but somehow they seem to thrive.
It was a nice ride anyway.

I made it into Oregon around 5pm and headed inland towards Portland.

I have more to post, but I wanted to put up something. I'm off for a ride up Mount Diablo (pics soonish) I'll finish the update later.

Posted by Cyclops at 06:12 PM | Comments (2)

September 14, 2004

News Flash!!! I'm alive

Alive and well in San Francisco

Sorry for being out of touch for so long, I've got a lot of catchting up to do. I'll be spending the day in front of the computer tomorrow, getting this blog up to date.

I'm in San Francisco and I've had a great ride down here along the coast line. I'll tell you all about it when I get some sleep in me.

Posted by Cyclops at 01:59 AM | Comments (7)

Odyssey for the Soul

A Motorcycle Journey Around the USA