Two Days of Two-Up

The past couple of days Carolyn and I rode with my good friends Orv and Ross on a two-day ride to the Oregon Coast.  We have finally got some real summer weather where the coolness of riding on the coast is welcome.  Carolyn has been wanting to go for a ride and this was the perfect opportunity......not too far, or too vigorous, and with excellent weather.  However, it is my job to handle the bike, and her job to handle the camera.  Consequently, she is not in too many of the pictures. 

Our lunch stop on the first day was at this little cafe that we just happened upon in a burg called Burnt Woods.  The special for the day was any burger on the menu for $6, so Orv got the big one:

Good burgers too, or so I'm told (I got the excellent clam chowder). 

One of the most impressive works of art I have seen in a long time was on the wall off the men's room at this little place.  For those of you who don't know, PBR is my favorite brew and sometimes I feel like this guy at the end of the day when I get my ration of PBR and pretzels. 

Orv and I discuss the route.  Ross is willing to go anywhere and Carolyn doesn't have much choice being on the back.......ha, that's not true. 

Then it was on to the coast proper, and some really curvy roads that paralleled the busy main highway 101.  By the time we got to Rockaway Beach it was actually getting cold and we had had enough riding for the day, so we let Carolyn select the motel.  My reputation for making that choice is not too good, as you may have already read.  This time, it met Orv's high standards and was right on the beach.

It's always nice to take off the riding gear and boots at the end of the day and relax over dinner.  This means eating at a place that is within walking distance of the motel, which in this case meant only one choice; a Mexican restaurant that turned out to have good food.  Then Carolyn and I tried to talk the guys into following that great California beach tradition of marking the end of the day by watching the sun go down over the ocean. 

Ross, myself, and Orv talk over old times and the day's ride.

However, when I tried to talk them into joining hands in a circle and doing some yoga chanting with Carolyn, they had enough and retreated to the standard tv watching and early bed time.  That left Carolyn and I to do some artsy photo shoots while waiting for the sun to set.



That night, as I was working on the blog prior to this one, I saw on the weather forecast that a heat advisory was posted for the greater Portland area for the next day.  Temps were predicted to be in the high 90's by mid afternoon.  This is a pretty miserable temperature to be riding with full protective gear, so we decided to start early and take the shortest, most interesting route rather than go for the fantastic fish and chips for lunch at the Bow Picker takeout in Astoria. 

This was taken at one of our standard rest stops near Jewell, OR.  It is a wildlife viewing area and at some times during the year there is a herd of elk grazing in a nearby field.  Notice that extra helmet hanging on my bike?  That's Carolyn's helmet, and here is further proof that she was along for the ride: