Day 9

Sorry about not posting yesterday! Kerry and I didn't get in until late, and then the hotel (if you want to call it that) didn't have wireless internet. Heck, they didn't even have cable TV.

They did, however, have lots of shag carpet if that tells you anything. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

My adventure down the Pacific Coast Highway with my brother. Boy, was I finally glad to get going. I figured with Kerry along there was at least a 50% chance that I would be able to finally make fun of someone besides myself. Well, let me tell you... We decided to top off our gas tanks before we got on the road. We stopped not 5 minutes from his house and both filled up.

Then we took off for his bank so he could make a cash withdrawal before we left. On the way to his bank, I notice something seemed different. Then, I suddenly realize my tank bag is missing. I left my tank bag back at the gas station! It had my computer, my (new) cell phone, maps and all kinds of good stuff in it.

Kerry's 1/4 mile ahead of me but there's no time to catch up and tell him what's going on so I just turn around and speed back to the gas station. Kerry will figure out eventually that I got 'lost' and come looking. He's the smart one of this team.

Well, lucky for me the bag was still sitting on the ground right where I had left it. Whew! Dodged another bullet. I swear, if I told you how much trouble I've had keeping up with everything I brought along, Linda would never let me leave home by myself! I'm just not used to having to manage all this stuff! I've got all the motorcycle luggage (that is full) and now I can't keep track of it all. Agh!

I'm gonna speed up the story a little cause I'm tired and I want to show you some pictures...

We made it down through most of Oregon yesterday. We got down as far as Coos Bay. Like I said earlier we got in late and had all kinds of trouble finding a room. Lesson learned, last night we made reservations for our room tonight!

Today we made it down as far as Fort Bragg, California. I think it's about 125 miles north of San Francisco. Oh, I also had a few mishaps today. Let's see, first I started out the wrong way on a one way street. Then, later I left my sweatshirt at a coffee shop we stopped at. Kerry has to drive behind me so he can clean up my messes.

Now for my editorial comment. For my money, Northern California is a whole lot better looking than the entire state of Oregon. Oh, Oregon had its moments, but also had a whole slew of tourist trap beach towns. Think Lake of the Ozarks on steroids.

Northern California is absolutely beautiful. We drove through Redwood Forests and saw breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean. I had to wear my rain suit and sweatshirt just to keep warm most of the time but I was never uncomfortable. The thing you see a lot of here are people riding bicycles on the highway. I mean, they're everywhere. All different styles and a lot of them look like they're towing camping gear.

Also, the campers are everywhere. Early this morning, we passed through one town and saw a girl, a guy and a dog...ready? ... sleeping on the side of the road. I'm not talking on the grass beside the road, they were right on the road surface. They were either sleeping, or dead. The dog looked up when we rode by so my guess is sleeping.

Anyway - pictures. No explanations...just pictures.