Past few days catch up

Warning, this is kind of a long post as it covers the past few days!

Finishing up the Oregon coast, I started to wonder and ask myself "just how long can this awesome scenery last?". I'm still asking myself that, because the beauty has yet to stop!

Soon after crossing into california, I started seeing my first redwood trees. This was a point on my giant map in my garage that had a little sticky note on it saying "drive through a tree!". I remember growing up and seeing pictures of cars driving through these huge trees and daydreaming about doing it myself...

I was on my way to a friends place in Bodega Bay so that I could camp out on the beach. After calling him on the phone, he recommended a route called "Avenue of the Giants". I am so glad he mentioned this, because I'm not sure if I would have taken this road.

Avenue of the Giants is a scenic bypass for the 101. I've never seen anything like it. These trees are truly massive and the driving while surrounded by them was mind blowing. Every few miles there was a little town of a couple hundred people, and I can understand the reason somebody would want to live here. Just amazing scenery, all around, all the time.

After a few miles on the Avenue (I wasnt paying attention to distance, as I was constantly in awe) I finally saw what I wanted, a giant sign that said "Drive through tree!". What choice did I have!? I had to check it out!

I pulled up to a little gateway, and saw a guy who looked somewhat like The Dude from the movie The Big Lebowski. I asked him if this is where i pay to drive through a tree, and he said he'd let me go through for free but I'd have to let him take some pictures of my bike. SOLD! We talked back and forth for about half an hour, and then another cross country tourist arrived, which led to more talking back and forth. HAHA we were there for about an hour!

Imagine being the by in charge of letting people drive through a tree. The other tourist who showed up asked if he takes credit card or debit, The Dude said "no, but if ya got a dime or nickel thats ok, I cant not let ya drive through this tree!". Imagine caring more about the site youre in charge of instead of being so concerned with money. What a great dude. After taking some more pictures, we went to The Tree.

So awesome. This is definately one of those times where the saying "pictures dont do it justice" truly applies.

There was also a tree house!

Leaving that site, I stayed on the Avenue. Another phone call with my friend Dennis informed me that he's heading north while I'm heading south and we're gonna meet in the middle, somewhere. We were still a ways away from each other, so no worries. Further down the Avenue, following alongside a beautiful creek, I stopped for some fantastic mexican food and washed it down with my favorite mexican beverage, pineapple jarritos. Sorry, theres no picture of that. While eating, I learned that me and Dennis werent far away from each other at all anymore, and we were soon to see each other.

The Avenue ended and I was back on the 101, constantly watching the oncoming traffic and wanting to see a white Ural Solo (a Ural with no sidecar). Miles go by and I dont see him, more miles... Finally I decide to stop for gas and give him a call.

While pulled over, gassing up, a group of 3 or 4 Harleys roll up beside me, with one guy taking his helmet off and yelling "I KNOW YOU!". This kind of freaked me out, I responded with "I doubt that, I dont believe we've met". HAH, the guy then shouted "No man! Dennis is lookin for ya! He was with us up the road, we knew he shoulda stayed with us!!"

Right at that time, a white Ural solo rolls up and we've finally met. There was a brief stretch of the 101 where the lanes were separated, that has to be where we missed each other. Finally, I got somebody to ride with.

The road to Bodega Bay, or Casa de los Dennis. The road from this point was mostly downhill, and going to wine country. At this time, the sun was starting to go down so the whole area, all the vineyards, had this great golden glow. Just beautiful. We made a brief stop for treats (and I my eyes were yellow cause I had to pee so bad!), then took a little off shoot from the 101.

This little road went through vineyard and ranches, some of them owned by such people as Raymond Burr (Perry Mason), Fred McMurry (my three sons, lots of old westerns), its easy to see why somebody would want to live here. The road was full of twists and turns, and I felt lucky to have somebody to ride with that knew the road.

Finally that road ended, and we arrived at Bodega Bay. Dennis was not kidding when he said he lived on the beach! Its RIGHT THERE and you can constantly hear it. Since I have yet to have broken out my camping gear, I decided this was the time. Dennis let me set up camp on his "Bruce Willis Deck", and he'll have to be the one to tell ya the story! Though it wasnt the most comfortable thing ever, it was definately the best sleep I've gotten since I've started this trip. The constant ocean sound is fantastic, and I think hearing the ocean all the time is why I've been yawning a lot all day!

I cant say enough about Dennis and his lovely wife, Becky. I consider myself lucky to able to meet such great people, as getting to know people that are so good natured and caring is truly a treat. I spent most of the morning asking questions about Urals and listening to all the stories, history, and technical information that Dennis would provide. And he provided a LOT! So much infomation to absorb!

We pulled my gas tank and FINALLY found the electrical gremlin that was messing with me and stuck in Astoria! It was a little, tiny tiny spot on a red wire that was chaffed and had some black markings from arcing. A little bit of electrical tape solved that problem, and then extra tape on all sharp corners to prevent any future gremlins. Back in Astoria, I was about to pull the tank, but I didnt have any containers to hold all the gas for draining it, nor did I have anything to plug or pinch the fuel lines.

With the high winds coming in, I decided to stay indoors for the night. Tomorow the plan is to visit Ski and have some service done to my bike. I could do all the service myself, but I really want at many expert eyes on my bike to back me up and help ensure safety.

I know this was a big update, and if youve read through this, you deserve a pat on the back. If you didnt read this, then imagine me giving you the finger! LOL