Bandon Trip

My birthday present this year from Dad and Jackie was a bike trip with my dad from Medford, Oregon to Bandon, Oregon.  We left Medford at 9:00 am on July 13 and headed to Crescent City, California through Jacksonville-Wilderville-O'Brien and through the redwoods in California.  It was a beautiful ride.  The weather was perfect!  We stopped in Crescent City for lunch then headed up Hwy 101 up the coast. 

Northern California and Southern Oregon on Hwy 101 is quite spectacular.  The road winds tightly between the ocean and the mountains.  The coastline is rocky with sometimes high mountains next to it.  As you go north on 101, the road winds into the trees and that is pretty much all you see - trees.  Occasionally you can view a glimpse of a small lake or the ocean through the trees.  We arrived in Bandon in the afternoon and checked into the Bandon Inn.

 

We opened the doors to get the ocean breeze and wrapped up in blankets and took a little nap.

 

A view from our room.

 

 

We walked into town, and walked around.  We had dinner at a restaurant overlooking the harbor.  There was a very old shipwreck across the bay.

 

After dinner and a couple drinks, we walked back to the hotel and watched a movie and turned in.  We had some great riding planned for the next day.

 

In the morning we had a quick breakfast in the hotel lobby and headed north on Hwy 101 - more trees to see.  We stopped in Coos Bay, Oregon so I could pick up poker chips at the Harley Dealership (for trade), and continued up the coast into Reedsport. 

 

We turned onto Hwy 38 going east and followed it along the Umpqua River then turned south and took the back roads through Looking Glass, and Winston.  We had lunch in Winston at a little burger drive in then headed back to Bandon via Hwy 42.  We stopped at the Sandy Creek Bridge in Remote, Oregon. 

 

The last part of the ride was rather windy.  We stopped at a local store to pick up snacks and we noted the tree was bent from growing in the wind.

 

We got back to the hotel in the afternoon and relaxed before heading to town.

 

 

Bandon Inn has a cute little gift shop.

A corvette club was staying there from Northern California. 

 

Our favorite.

 

We walked to town for dinner and Dad noticed there were numerous pilings in the bay.  Evidence of old piers. 

 

I had to stop and get a picture of a real phone booth.

 

It still had a working phone inside of it!

 

The afternoon sun was beautiful.

 

We had dinner at Foley's Irish Pub.  It was the first notable food on the trip.  I had the Irish Meatloaf and Dad had the Shepherds Pie.  It was very good food and a very cute place. 

 

The morning of another perfect day.  The tide was out.

 

Dad doing a little reading.

 

 

We had a light breakfast in the hotel lobby again and talked to some of the Corvette folks.  One guy was polishing his lovely car and the reflection of the mirror made a heart on his car. 

 

Dad found a good looking road that cut off from Ophir heading east to Grants Pass.  I'm always up to trying a new road.  We stopped and got some pictures on the coast. 

 

We headed south on 101 finally found the right street heading inland.  We got about 26 miles from the coast and the road we planned to take got very narrow and went straight up hill.  There was a sign that said "Wilderness Road".  We had made an error.  We decided to go to Agnes, Oregon - only three miles away and see about lunch.  Here is the Post Office.

 

There was a cute little restaurant and gift shop with fresh vegetables growing in the back.

 

We asked to use the restroom and the lady directed us to "the little white building around the corner"

 

If you are ever lost and find yourself in Agnes, Oregon, you must have lunch.  The food is great and it is actually quite a busy place.  LOTS of people get lost there.  The little restaurant and gift shop (besides having great food) has made quite a business giving out directions. 

 

We decided the Wilderness Road was not a good choice as it was a single lane 55 mile long twisty road with lengths of unpaved portions, log trucks and caravans of raft boat trailers.  Maximum speed about 20mph.

 

Nope, nope and nope!

 

We headed back to the coast and back into California.  We had to stop and get some more lovely pictures.  The coast is so pretty.

 

Thanks for the great birthday present Dad!

Lets ride again soon!

Too Hot!

My dad and I rode to the coast last week.  It was over 100 degrees in Medford and in the 70's on the coast.  It felt so good to be in the cool weather.  However - we eventually had to head home and it was horrible.  The wind was hot!  Luckily there were no major traffic stops, so we did not have to sit in the heat at any traffic lights. 

Today when I got in my car after work, my thermostat said it was 113 degrees!  WTF?? 

This weekend is supposed to be even worse.  It was 104 today!  How can I be in Oregon?  It's more like spring in Arizona.

Between the heat and my hot flashes I feel like my brain is frying on the sidewalk.  BTW - when I was a kid, I DID fry eggs on the sidewalk in Arizona.

 

It's supposed to be a very hot weekend.  I have the day off tomorrow and I think if I wake up early, I'll take a ride before I do anything else.

 

Chip Exchange

 

Chip Exchange

 

Not too long ago I noticed poker chips at the check-out counters at Harley Davidson dealerships.

I asked and they said some people collect them.  I started picking one up at dealerships I visited - after all they were only $1.00.

Awhile back I joined a Facebook website called "Ladies of Harley" and started trading chips with other members online. 

I used to check my mailbox once or twice a week but now in anticipation of chips, I check my mailbox every day.  When a chip comes I have been known to do a little happy dance in front of the mailbox.  The neighbors probably think I've gone a little nuts!

Over this past weekend I actually had a four chip day!

I received three chips in the mail and my Dad brought me a chip from his trip to Colorado. 

Big happy dance!

Too tired to ride?

 

A few days ago the weather was nice and I wanted to ride but I decided I was just too tired.

 

OMG, How can I be too tired to ride?   Is that even possible?  I do have a ton of stuff going on and things do add up. 

My Dad just moved up here a couple of months ago.  My husband got a new job (with new crazy hours).  My husband's parents moved as well this week after a lengthy sale of his prior house. 

 

I'm also getting new floors, and my own house is a disaster.  The hardwood floors are done in a couple rooms but the carpet isn't in yet.  I'm officially now one of those stupid people who live in a house that is going through renovations. 

 

I took a short ride with the girls last weekend and the weather hasn't been completely cooperative so it's not entirely my fault.

 

I have a few days off in a couple weeks and there are three of us girls who are taking a couple days ride.  I'll make up a bit of time then.

 

 

 

 

Vegas Baby!

We went to Las Vegas last weekend and had a great time.  We flew in late via Allegiant and picked up a car and headed to the Tropicana Hotel.  I planned on midnight crème Brule but they didn't have it so I settled for a margarita.  I can't believe I'm going to complain that there was too much tequila in the drink.  Way to strong, too much salt. 

The next morning we awoke to beautiful weather and went for a walk to find breakfast.  The view from our hotel was pretty awesome.

 

We had breakfast at the Rainforest Café and sat next to the statue of Atlas.  The fountains were very loud but pretty. 

 

 

There were beautiful fish tanks.

 

And elephants.

 

There were small T.V.'s in the bathrooms. (VEGAS!)

 

Charlie found me a "Walking Dead" slot machine.  He put in $5.00 in for me and that is all the gambling I did with money that weekend.

Just couldn't resist taking pictures of that lady!

 

                                 I saw a window washer at the top of the Luxor - wow!

 

We walked over to the MGM Grand and did the CSI experience.  It was pretty fun.  Then we went over to the Luxor to see the Body exhibit.  That was pretty fabulous and we spent a couple hours there examining the bodies.

 

We had a lovely dinner at the Tropicana and drove over to Planet Hollywood to see "Evil Dead: The Musical".  Charlie got us VIP tickets in the "splatter zone".  They gave us white t-shirts to wear over our clothing but it didn't do much good.  Every time a character died - we got sprayed with a warm red colored liquid.  By the end of the show we were soaked down to our knees.  It was so much fun.

 

Saturday morning we drove out to the Hoover dam and momentarily stepped into Arizona.

 

What an amazing sight it was.

 

There was algae on the water but it looked kind of like artwork.

 

 

We spotted a Bugatti near the bridge. 

Lots of motorcycles - and it was a great day for it!

Weird to see a beware of Rams in road sign.

 

In the middle of the next picture is a tiny white dot.  That's what a skydiver looks like when they jump from a plane at 15,000 feet - and that's exactly what we did!

 

We went to Skydive Las Vegas just about 20 miles out of Vegas in Boulder City.  They were very professional and do a great business.  I was a little surprised at how many people were there to jump and at least half of them were young girls.

 

 

 

After a thrilling morning we went back to Vegas and stopped at the Harley Davidson dealership to get a t-shirt.  It was an amazing store.

 

We headed back to the hotel to do some reading and relaxing.

Found a Batman and Robin slot machine.

 

We spent the afternoon reading and relaxing then ordered room service for dinner.

 

Sunday morning we got breakfast and I went for a walk.  I got all the way down to the Harley Davidson Café, got some pictures and walked back to pack up to go home.

 

What a great trip.