Day 4 Friday June 1, 2012

After a belly full of food, motorcycle talk with Doug comparing Japanese engineering to German (he rides a BMW) and a good nights sleep we left Fortuna at 9:20am. We took a brief detour to cruise thru Ferndale (Myrna and I would love to live in the Mayberry of today). We headed north on the 101 covered in a marine layer (fog) temperature 55 degrees, we stopped in Crescent City for lunch and the sun came out for awhile. Because of the coastal fog the coastline was not visible so no pictures but loved the look of the fog in the trees and the enhanced smells that emit from the sea and forest There were several areas along the highway where road work was being done so we had delays but that was alright because we are not on a timeline to be anywhere, why you might ask...it's because we are RETIRED!
Well we made it to the Oregon border and stopped at the Visitor Center (really nice). The lady that assisted us said the Oregon Lottery money funds schools and the parks system and the funds can not be used for anything else! I can't speak for the schools but the park facilities are first rate! When we got back to our bikes Dave noticed his rear tire looked low on air. So he checked the pressure and discovered he had a defective valve stem. We rode up the highway to a gas station to get air and fix the issue. I gotta tell you Dave was extremely composed and didn't even say anything outloud that no doubt he was thinking, even when I was taking pictures of him. I'm proud of the boy!! Anyway he replaced the stem and all is good not a major issue! Back on the road we arrive in the town of Gold Beach and true to Oregon (and the reason it is so green here) it started to rain. We pulled off and put on our rain gear and back up the 101. We stopped in Bandon at a grocery store to get a bottle of California wine and take off the rain gear. We were told that Coos Bay was 26 miles up the road and there would be hotels to choose from. After checking into our room we left for Charleston Bay for some seafood that the hotel manager recommended, after a few miles riding we once again got into a light rain-determined to have the world famous clam chowder (or chowdaa) for my friends from the Boston area. Well the chowder was very good (world famous-that can be argued) and Dave thought the cioppino was pretty good but had better. Total miles rode today 275, total for the 4 days 1158 miles on our Goldwings!! Pray for dry weather tomorrow as we head up the Oregon coast.