It’s my birthday!! Fifty seven years of age, I really can not believe that I am that age, then I look in the mirror and it is confirmed! Started the bike up a little later as I thought
I would hunt up a few birthday congratulations from Kath via Skype. Today's ride took me through 370 km of Redwood forests in California and then Oregon. I detoured off what was now Highway 101 on to what is called the Avenue of Giants. As I rode through these beautiful trees I spied a sign to the “Famous Drive Thru Tree”. A quick detour and $3 and though I went for the anti climax of the day. The girl at the entrance ensured me that it was a fantastic experience and well worth seeing and doing, it wasn’t, I should have known. What a great birthday present, at least it was cheap. The forests are stunning and if I wasn’t so cold and tired I would have camped out in them as the quiet and majesty of the trees would have been sensational. In the end I stayed in Pelican Bay for $76 which is the cheapest accommodation that America has had to offer so far and it was in a really good hotel. Time to celebrate the start of another year in the life of Nic van Buuren and salute my parents for giving me life. Checked out a few restaurants until I came across a pub and grill. I treated myself to an awesome meal of sirloin , veggies, red, stout and blueberry desert that was to die for. The Blueberry desert I got for free as I had let slip it was my birthday. Still $50 with tip!! Man this tip thing is really killing me as there is also 10% tax on top, I keep forgetting that displayed prices don’t include tax!
18th July
Pelican Bay to Lincoln City 373km Nice riding but uneventful.
19th July
Lincon City to Ilwaco Bay 200km. The riding was once again enjoyable as it took me along incredibly scenic roads. I had to cross quite a few bridges one being the Astoria-Megler Bridge at 6.4 km long. For the nights accommodation I lodged at the Heidi Hotel where I chatted extensively with a very interesting older lady called Cat about life, the universe and everything! Afterwards I headed to a reportedly good place for dinner, the Salt Pub, recommended to me by the tourist information office, it was ordinary so I decided no tip was in order. Back at the Heidi I researched bike shops for service and tyres, my rear tyre needs to be changed before the bike goes to Australia as I hope to ride it home from it’s arrival port in Sydney. I am not even sure the tyre will make Seattle as it has quite a bald spot in a section of it. A quick email to Mark in Seattle whom I contacted regarding the storage of my bike (contact from Horizons Unlimited) and Kimberly from AirB&B about arrival at her home. A good day overall.
20th July
Was slow to start as got up late then didn’t get packed till 11.00 as continued researching and ringing motorcycle shops for a service and tyres, no success. Then went to café and low and behold there sat Cat from the reception of the Heidi Hotel. I had breakfast and chatted to her and the owner of the café for quite awhile before actually starting up and heading off.
The ride today was from Ilwaco to Nisqually River to finally camp at River Bend Campground near lost lake, an easy 194 km. It could have been shorter by about fifty six kilometres but I missed a turn off and ended up riding the length of the Long Beach Peninsula! The turn off was before the tourist office where I had gone to try and get a USA bumper sticker for my panniers. The IPhone had cooked whilst in the office as it was in my tank bag so I didn’t get to check the route with Maps.Me and just assumed I should go straight ahead. Wrong! During the ride I stopped and had a chat with couple of old guys (not much older than myself) in MacDonalds where I had stopped for a coffee. It was a typical conversation of where was I from, going, etc., etc. The responses from them were also familiar to my explanation of my journey. Most people in America that I had met were amazed I had survived such “dangerous” places and they demonstrated their paranoia regarding the safety of countries down south and they would never travel in such places. I merely repeated my standard answer of “probably safer than the State with their 30,000 gun deaths a year”!
I had asked a guy parked in a pickup if he knew of any campgrounds in the area of Nisqually River, as I wanted to camp on the last night of my journey. I thought this fitting and I wanted to save a few dollars. He had pointed me in the direction of lost lake. I came across an RV park and pulled in. Speaking to the woman running the front desk I discovered this was an exclusive park as people bought their sites or land and cabins here, no off the street RVs and especially campers in tents. She became more amenable after she realised I wasn’t from the States and discovered what I had been doing and that I had travelled in my youth with Anderson Cooper the son of Gloria Vanderbilt (one of the richest families in the USA(. He was now quite famous in America being the Anchor man on CNN. Another lady arrived and she suggested River Bend Camp a few kilometres away. Just as I was leaving I was informed to be very careful at this particular camp ground as it was reported to be safe and contained unsavoury types.
When I arrived at the campground the office was unmanned so I just headed in and set up camp. It was a lovely campground with families camped in RVs and tents. Quite sparsely occupied as it was midweek. I wondered if the rich here are just paranoid and prejudiced against others not of the same ilk. Once again I discovered ordinary people who were helpful and pleasant, directly opposed view to others perceptions.
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