Day 02

Day 02, wow, I experienced pretty much every emotion today, happy, sad, scared, excited, angry, frustrated, drained etc. Woke up feeling pretty good, got a good sleep, had some breakfast & was off. The weather looked promising, overcast but the sun punching thru.When I got on the road it was dry but COLD, headed for the 22(?) west to the coast from Salem. The sun broke thru & it was nice… until it started snowing, NASTY! It didn’t stick but it was cold & treacherous, the sun broke thru as I got to Lincoln city, that didn’t last, it was snowing again in a few minutes!! I did get some shots today, FINALLY, haven’t checked them out yet gotta eat! Anyway, between Lincoln City & Newport I stopped a bunch of time for pics, the weather changed & extreme changes, every 5 minutes, rain, snow, hail, fog, torrential downpour, glimpse of sun, oh ya & the wind HOLY #$@% the WIND, it was… well actually it was terrifying, even when I slowed to a crawl it almost turned me sideways, now that sounds a bit unpleasant right, now think I’m in windy 2 lane wet roads in some cases 300+ feet of sheer cliff over the teeny guardrail beside me….. Anyway, my gps ( the waterproof Magellan I just got) crapped out, seems water seeped behind the screen somehow (possibly a result of all of the above weather?) should be warranty but I actually need it now (it’s pinned to the wall by a hairdryer right now actually & my fingers are crossed) next my portable recorder croaked, hummmm should I be getting the message? So I gotta go by memory now, sorry my specific photo locations will end up being pretty vague like, ya that one was on the Oregon coast between Nanaimo & Mexico….When the fog hit I was just about at the sea lion cave so pushed on. It was pretty cool, but darker than the T-mens rink, it’s HUGE & there were a couple hundred sea lions staying out of the shitty weather I was to stupid to stay out of….. wow dumber than a sea lion has new meaning?The rain & wind were pounding, the guy at the caves suggested my sanity could be in question if I even attempted Eureka today, It’s about 6 hours from the caves in good weather & after all the rime I lost in the weather it was 4pm by then. I settled on Coos Bay, population 16,000, kinda reminds me of Port Alberni? Anyway I crawled along, cold, soaked & getting beat to crap by the wind, oh ya & the fog was fun too! All of a sudden about 60kms from Coos Bay the weather cleared & the road was dryish, so I cranked it & made a run for Coos. So here I am already a day behind, sore back, waterlogged, cranky & feeling a bit defeated, it wasn’t supposed to be quite this much of an adventure! Yes I am looking in the mirror saying WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING, & why for the first time in their lives are the weather people correct (ASSHOLES!!!) Looks like at least one more day of shit weather on the coast, hoping to make Eureka tomorrow, but it’s pretty slow going in the weather!The Wet weather gear really takes it out of you, it’s a chore to take the huge gloves on & off at all the stops, putting all of it on in the morning is a chore, taking it off is a bigger chore especially when it’s wet & wearing it is like being a kid in a snowmobile suit. It drains you, hard to get on and off the bike gotta dry it out every night, dry weather would be so much better & easier to get things accomplished, I’m drained!At least the hotel has a hot tub again, getting lucky with these hotel drop ins! It really is beautiful here, there’s a bunch of pictures I wasn’t able to take due to weather or no where to stop safely on the windy roads, got a few though, let me know what you think, I’ll post them soon.Overall today I’m tired and a bit disappointed, I’d hoped to have more pics by now, but it sure is a forking adventure…..