Alaska 2004
 
 

Day 08

July 16

 
 

Well the time has come to see how this garage leaving is going to sort out. I ask SeattlePhil –

“Just how to you usually do it?”

“Well, I back down the ramp until the back tire rests in the curb, then just push myself backwards with my feet on the ramp” he says with a grin. “I do it all the time” as if it was a natural thing to do.

Sounds easy enough to me, but I figure there will be a bit more to it – and I'm not wrong. Backing the Redbird down the ramp is a bit tedious but not too bad. Once I get the back tire resting in the drainage curb, I realize this is gonna get interesting. The road is crowned upward and there will be a period of time where I will be rolling backwards without the ability to touch the ground or to stop. If I hit the brakes too soon I'll tip over at worse or roll back down in the hole at best. Sometimes life do get interesting and there ain't nothing you can do except just go for it. With SeattlePhil and Tom watching, I take a deep breath, plant my feet against the ramp I just backed down, and shove me and the Redbird backwards with all my might. There is no feeling quite like riding a ST backwards for a bit of a distance knowing you can't reach your feet to the ground for safety. But the Redbird does her part and we come to a picture perfect stop – just like I've been doing it all my life. Sometimes just plain good living beats all the skill a feller can muster! We say our good-byes and we're off to Tenino, Washington to the Wolf Haven International. There is a Chatty Moron participant that works there by the name of Erin that Tom needs to get a picture of as part of the rally. We decide that we'll catch breakfast somewhere on the way so we motor on for a while and find a nondescript place with some local cars parked. It's pretty fair restaurant, but nothing to write home to momma about. After traversing a few back roads, we finally arrive at the Wolf Haven International. It is really quite a neat place with some wonderful items in the gift shop. I pick up some wolf patterned footsies for my wife since she loves footsies to wear around the house.

Tom asks the lady at the counter “Is Erin here today?”

“Yes, I'll call up to the center and get her to come down” she responds.

As we head toward the center, a very pretty young lady in work clothes walks toward us. Tom has met her before and recognizes her immediately. We all exchange hugs and Tom introduces her to me as “Uncle Phil”. She gives us a great tour of the wolves and you can tell she has great rapport with the animals.

 
   
  She is also quite a long distance rider and hopes to get drawn for the next Iron Butt Rally. I get a couple of shots of her for Tom and we're off again. We slab it on I5 down to Highway 30 then over to the PCH via Astoria. Surprisingly to me, a good portion of the road does not run along the coastline but inland a bit. But the part on the coastline is beautiful and a delight to behold.  
   
 

Not quite in such a rush, we do occasionally stop and take some shots.

 
   
 

We spend a lot of time riding behind RV parades who are also enjoying the scenery. That's not all bad, because it forces us to slow down a bit and do some flower sniffing. This will be the shortest ride so far of only 412 miles, so we do have a little more time to burn. As I ride, I look for a PCH highway sign overlooking the ocean but there is not one to be seen. It is hard to believe that of all the signs Oregon put up, not one is overlooking the ocean. I think it is deliberate to keep people from taking picture. So I snap one on the midst of a town with traffic buzzing both ways -

 
   
 

When we finally get into the edge of Coos Bay, I ring the Mapinator to see if he's landed yet -

“Hey buddy, this is Uncle Phil. Whereabouts are you located?”

“At the EdgeWater Inn. Just go through town and look for it on the left as you just about get ready to leave” John tells me.

“All right, we're on the way!” and we're off.

The road splits into a one-way with stores and such in between. We get out of town and realize that we missed it so we do an about-face. On the way back in, we see it far off to our right and make a dash for it. He's waiting for us outside when we arrive – cleaning up his ST.

“Well, I need to get you and Ron Wayden in a cleanest ST contest” I tell him.

It's great to see John and to be able to ride with him again. We had a blast at the memorial ride for Dennis in Coalinga and I really enjoy his company.

We exchange hugs, unload our bikes, go up the stairs to our room. After the SeaDump Inn in Alaska, this place is tall cotton and way uptown. It's more like two suites connected than a room. It overlooks a little bay and very nicely appointed.

“You done good on this one, Mapinator!” I tell him.

After we pitch our gear and pick our beds, our stomachs tell us it's time to eat. We head downstairs and I ask the clerk at the desk –

“Any good suggestions where to eat?”

“Yes, just head back north a little bit and you will see the Timber Inn Restaurant. It's pretty good” she replies.

It's just a short ride and we're there. We take off our riding gear and make ourselves at home. There's enough food brought out to hurt a feller, but most of it disappears. As the time gets late, we realize it will be along day for all of us so we head back to the motel. It's been a good day and tomorrow holds the promise to be even better in some ways but sad in another way.