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2014 Adventure down Pacific Coast Highway
<font size="3"><span style="font-family: comic sans ms">Marilyn and I enjoyed an adventure this summer. I have always wanted to ride the Pacific Coast Highway. Mentioned it on this Forum. Trent contacted me about joining them for ride. They had done trip many times heading North but wanted to do it heading South. We said "lets go for it"! This could have been a mistake but after a few minutes meeting them in Idaho, we were glad of decision.<br />
Not big on picture taking, shot a lot of videos with a go-pro with a few still shots added in.<br />
<font size="5">The Players:<br />
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</font><a href="http://s1361.photobucket.com/user/tglidestuff/media/GG1_zps4fa0df56.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1361.photobucket.com/albums/r679/tglidestuff/GG1_zps4fa0df56.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />
Dennis and Marilyn Swan<br />
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<a href="http://s1361.photobucket.com/user/tglidestuff/media/DSC05158_zps4e7f9c81.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1361.photobucket.com/albums/r679/tglidestuff/DSC05158_zps4e7f9c81.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />
Trent and Marione <span style="font-family: Segoe UI">Maughan</span><br />
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DISCLAMER: I am not one to add music so all you get is the sounds of the TG. <br />
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Here is a recap of trip put together by Marione. I will post videos of each day as I put them together.<br />
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July 17, 2014<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Segoe UI"><span style="font-family: comic sans ms">Left Meridian Idaho, drove thru Emmett then up to Cambridge and Hell's Canyon, stopped at Oregon trail visitor's center and was very careful not to take any photos for future reference! Onto Baker City OR.
For lunch stop. LaGrande OR up over Cabbage </span>Hill into Pendleton and hellishly hot winds to The Dalles, OR.<br />
July 18, 2014</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Segoe UI">Left The Dalles thru the Gorge following Columbia River to Bonneville dam, stopped to see fish ladders, closed so instead looked at big trout and sturgeon ponds. Moved on to Multnomah Falls. Kept following Columbia river to Portland OR, crossed bridge over Columbia River to Vancouver WA on I-205 up to hook onto I-5 which took us up thru Kalama WA and to Longview WA. There we exited and crossed the river back into Oregon all the way to Astoria, OR on Hwy 30. ( where GOONIES was filmed). Found a great little English pub and had delicious chowder and fish and chips. After lunch crossed the 3 or 4 mile long Astoria bridge to Washington State, just to say we did...made a U turn and headed back to Astoria to follow Hwy 101 down to Seaside OR for the night.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Segoe UI">July 19, 2014<br />
Left Seaside OR and made a quick side trip into see Ecola State park. NOT Ebola! Elk just lying there in the morning mist and then ccckkkkrrrrrrrrrrrr, bad soundsfrom Swan's machine.
Lost back brakes. <br />
Headed South with arrangements made to be fixed at Eureka Ca Harley shop. SPOILERALERT...EPIC FAIL. Apparently you have to babysit people in Eureka 24/7 in order to get things done..that story is for another day. Limped down the coast with the impressive riding skills of Mr. Swan. Stopped in Pacific City to visit Marione's cousin. Ate lunch at Sea Hag in Depoe Bay OR. Mr. Swan seemed to enjoy his GINORMOUS clam strips! Chowder there was just MEH.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Segoe UI">Watched some boats maneuver into the tiny channel to docks and then moved on South thru Yachats with a quick stop at Newport OR and then Cape Perpetua where the Maughans tied the knot that fateful February day way back when! Passed the Sea Lion Caves and decided to stay the night in Florence and hit the caves the next AM.
Found the Comfort Inn Florence to be quite nice. Trent's camera had given up the ghost so we ran to Fred Meyer to purchasea new one. Ordered Pizza into the room and had a major party with the Swans that evening! Lights out at 8 pm!! ; ).<br />
July 20, 2014</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Segoe UI">Backtracked 10 miles North on 101 back to discover the Sea Lion Caves! Yay...first people there. Went down to lookout and descended into cave to observe the mating habits of the sea Lions of Florence...or we just went down the elevator to check out the awesome cave which the creatures had made themselves quite a home! Weather so far, perfect except for Day one. Moved down 101 thru Winchester and Coos Bay...quick stop at Harley store in Coos Bay for pottybreak and coffee. Moved South to Bandon for quick stroll thru Old Town and a bite to eat at a fish market type cafe.
Yummy fish tacos. Onto West Coast Game Safari park to pet the Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my! And we did! Marilyn and Marione had a great time meeting and petting Tigger the Bengal Tiger, Cary Bear and Dandy Lion. Met up with Vickie and Tim from Muncie IN out front. What a small world it is, after all. Followed them down to Gold Beach where we stayed at the Gold Beach Inn and Ireland Cottages ( for future reference) what a great spot. Could have easily stayed 2 nights. Set on the beach strewn with awesome driftwood and agates, we walked and then came back to go to dinner with the 6 of us. SPINNERS was the spot and everybody seemed to enjoy the dinner and company, although by this time Swan may have been rethinking his choice of traveling partners.
Seems he doesn't eat regular meals and the fact that we had been eating 3 squares per day for the last few days was weighing HEAVYon his mind and belly! <br />
July 21, 2014<br />
Left Gold Beach OR and crossed over into California, traveled thru Crescent City and then stopped near Klamath CA at THE TREES OF MYSTERY, where Swan made friends with Paul Bunyon and got VERY friendly with his Blue Ox Babe. We have pics toprove it! Bought some incredibly delicious cappuccino fudge for a ridiculous price and moved South toward Eureka CA..YES! Where the trike without back brakes will SURELY be fixed. SPOILER ALERT...ppppfffftttt riiiight! Meandered thru the Giant Redwoods of Jedediah State park with visions of a fixed trike dancing in our heads. We were giddy with anticipation. After spying the HD sign from the freeway and making a couple wrong turns. WHY would we use the GPS we have when we can see perfectly how to get to the shop?
We arrived and sauntered in, secure in the fact that tomorrow we would roll out of Eureka with fixed and perfectly functioning brakes. Ummmm, not so fast. As stated earlier, EPIC FAIL! The girl, to whom Swan had spoken several days earlier and assured him the parts would be ordered, failed to order said parts. 2 more days..yes, two more days. Swan, bless his heart and mad ninja riding skills, did the right thing and told them to pretty much shove those non existent parts where the Sun doesn't shine. We had a room booked at the Best Western Bay view Inn on South side of Eureka, so we moved down there after restocking the"cooler" with essentials and proceeded to celebrate Trent's 60th birthday! He did not feel quite so old after riding thru the 2000 year old Redwoods! Cleaned up, rested a bit while Swan made a call to South SanFrancisco Harley to see if they could do their job. SPOILER ALERT...SOUTH SAN FRAN ROCKS!!! We headed over to Shamus T Bones for a nice birthday celebration for Trent.
Walked back to the room and settled in to get ready for the Giant Redwoods in the AM.<br />
July 22, 2014</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Segoe UI">Got up and had a great breakfast at the hotel. Hit the road and searched for Giant trees. Found one right off the highway we could drive thru. So we did. Continued on thru the AVE of THE GIANTS. Stopped a few times going thru the Redwoods to take photos and just marvel at the size. Pretty incredible and hard to describe to someone that hasn't seen them. At Leggett CA, we got off HWY 101 and jumped on to HWY 1, the Pacific Coast Highway. Stopped at Fort Bragg for lunch and to make a quick stop at Glass Beach where Mr. Swan became Hero of the day when he found a lady's purse she forgot and guarded until she discovered her error and came screaming around the corner a few minutes later to the sight of an intact purse with all it's belongings stowed safe inside! YAY Swan!
Southward we went enjoying the beautiful coast highway and the little towns scattered along the water...Mendocino, Gualala, and the Sea Ranch. We stopped for the evening in a tiny little settlement named Jenner. Where the Russian River meets the Pacific. We had reserved a couple of little cottages off the Hwy and parked for the night. Herein lies the dilemma for the evening meal. After riding 3 days with no rear brakes thru some hellish curves and steep grades we had a choice. A FIVE STAR restaurant a little over a mile away or gas station food. What to do, what to do??!! Yep. GAS STATION FOOD!!
We hiked down the hill and ordered some sandwiches and various other snacks from the nice lady and hauled it back to our deck overlooking the Russian River. Cracked open a beer or two, stirred up some gourmet onion dip for the chips and enjoyed the evening. It was good! Overnight Marilyn was awakened by a noise. She looked outsidethe cottage window to the face of a nice buck standing there making an early 3am meal of the bush outside the window! Did I mention this town was small? Jenner CA was a nice little stop after a few days of windy curves and steep grades. Good job Swan. Tomorrow we will head inland toward San Francisco. <br />
July 23, 2014</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Segoe UI">Hit the road early to head over the Golden Gate Bridge.
Couldn't find the way to the main lookout but found another one at a higher level and different perspective with way less people. Mr. Swan ticked one more thing off the bucket list. Riding across the Golden Gate Bridge. It is a sight to see and the bridge was actually not covered in fog! Lucky for July! We trekked across San Fran traffic and finally found our way to the Harley shop. Found a Holiday Inn around the corner with a good restaurant. We got our rooms and Dennis headed back to the shop to drop off the broken machine. He hiked back and Trent and I decided to celebrate the fact we had some spare time by doing our laundry. See, it always works out in the end. We had a late lunch and just hung out and relaxed...went down for dinner later that evening and then tucked in for the night.
Slept really well. Next morning made the hard decision of splitting up and hopefully rejoining our new friends after their trike was repaired. Trent and I moved on South stopping in Santa Cruz and then onto Monterey. We booked a great hotel on HOTELS TONIGHT called Portola Inn and Spa and finally got the call from Swan saying YES, fixed and moving. We secured a room for them as well and were very happy that they were able to rejoin us! While we waited, Trent and I took the shuttle to Cannery Row and just snooped in the shops. When the Swans got there, they rinsed off and we headed across the street to Monterey's Fisherman's Wharf. Had a great dinner at the Old Fisherman's Grotto where children are not allowed! and then walked back to hotel and crashed for the night. <br />
July 24, 2014<br />
Woke up and headed back to the wharf for a Crepe breakfast. Watched some otters and enjoyed the fresh salty air.
Packed up and headed toward Carmel-by-the-Sea. Home of Clint Eastwood and the Carmel Mission. The Mission we saw, Clint, we did not. : (. Foggy morning kept us from getting a good photo of the Historic Bixby Bridge near Big Sur. However the weather was mild and by midday the fog was gone and we got some great views of Hearst Castle at San Simeon, CA. Due to the drought California is suffering, there was no water at the visitor's center, therefore porta potties lined up both sides of the entrance as a huge welcome. Fortunately they were clean and virtually odor free. I checked! After leaving Hearst castle, we saw a couple herds of the zebras that still roam these hills.
Pretty weird seeing them on the coast of California. Then a stop at a beach where the Elephant seals hang out was a sight. We used that opportunity to grab a couple rooms in Morro Bay as it was Friday and rooms sell out fast on Summer weekends. We stopped on Moonstone Beach in Cambria to have lunch. Then moved on to Morro Bay for the afternoon. Found our BestWestern which was just a couple blocks up from the shopping area of Morro Bay. Checked in, unloaded and hiked down to snoop a little...didn't find much so just slowly made it back to the room and decided to have pizza delivered again and just hang out and relax. This would be the last evening with the Swans and I know Trent and I were a little sad it was coming to an end. As Marilyn and I had discussed earlier in the trip, it could have gone a whole different way, like a really BAD blind date. As it turned out we really enjoyed getting to know the Swans and teaching them how to eat 3 squaresa day while on vacation.
We feel honored to have met them and consider them friends for life! Hope to see you Swans again some day! Trent and Marione.<br />
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