Leaving Home: Sunday, July 13
Here I am getting ready to leave about 7:30 am. My gear is stacked up and bungeed down.
And away I go!
This trip was a big one for me. I got my new bike, "Max" at the end of last summer, and riding season came late this year. On top of that I had a shoulder injury about a week before the trip. There are those around here that say I don't ride much. Its true I haven't taken any long road trips before. But I got a custom seat made about a month ago, had put some things on my bike to make it more comfortable, and was allowing plenty of time to get to Charleston. The weather was perfect as I left Sunday morning. No one else to keep up with, no one else to decide when we stop. I was packed and on my way.
Rest Stop south of Chehalis
Beautiful riding weather, light Sunday morning traffic. I'm doing fine. That new custom seat is really comfortable.
Newport, Oregon
I had planned to take 2-3 days to reach Charleston. My plan was to avoid Portland, cross the Columbia at Longview, and cut out to Tillamook. Then spend a couple leisurely days riding down the coast. However, I sort of put out of my mind that the Seattle to Portland bicycle ride was on its last stretch to Portland and was also crossing at Longview. I followed bicyclists through town, and then just as I started up the Lewis and Clark Bridge for the ride into Oregon, the traffic came to a stop for the convenience of the bicyclists. This bridge is pretty steep, and once traffic started moving again, we were inching up the bridge. At one point, a huge RV ahead of me slammed on its brakes, causing me to do the same. Finally I rode down the other side and proceeded on. Down the road I went with hundreds of bicycles all along the shoulder. And lots of them not on the shoulder. I kept applying that cute little Kawasaki horn to tell them to stay where they were.
At Deer Island I stopped for gas, and to change from my leather jacket to my textile one. Looking at the map, I discovered that I had taken the wrong turn getting off the bridge and I was now headed back to Portland! Along with about a million bicycles! I decided not to turn back and proceeded down highway 30. Back onto I-5 south of Portland. I was finally free of the bicycles, but the temperatures were starting to rise and it was well into the 90's by this time. Finally I pulled off south of Tualatin, parked in a McDonald's, and spent about 2 hours inside eating lunch and cooling down. I napped for about a half hour on the grass there, drank an iced coffee, and felt ready to go on.
I thought I might stop in Salem, because it was still so hot in the valley, but I felt okay so I went on. The next consideration was Albany, but my brother lives there and I didn't want to run into him, so I moved along. I figured I would cut to the west south of Albany and spend the night in Corvallis, but when I got to Corvallis I just kept going. I was on my way to the coast! It was still pretty warm out, but as I started over the coast range, it started to cool down. The last few miles down to Newport, it was definitely getting cooler. As soon as I entered town, I felt the wind hit me. I got gas and decided not to go over the bridge that day. Newport was a good place to spend the night. It was so windy that it was hard to walk down the street for dinner! I found a room at the Econolodge. The lady at the desk told me there was a good place right outside my room where I could park my bike semi under cover. Poor Max..it was his first night out in the open!
The next morning, the wind was gone and we moved along down the road.
Capt. John's: Monday through Wednesday
I left Newport about 10 am for the ride south to Charleston. No wind this morning but about 10 miles down the road I had to stop, take everything off the bike, unpack my Gerbing's heated jacket liner, and pack my gear back on the bike again. That jacket liner made all the difference. This was a taste of things to come. Mornings on the Oregon Coast can be misty, breezy, damp, etc. Hooray for Gerbing's. (thanks for the wonderful Christmas present, Laura).
That stretch of road is beautiful. 8 more bridges to cross on the way to Coos Bay, and one more into Charleston.
I arrived at the Capt. John's about noon, checked in with Jen, and unloaded my bike. Lots to do in the next few days: check out restaurants in town, let people know we were coming, get some menus, that kind of thing. Walk around town and get the "lay of the land". People in town were really friendly and looking forward to having us there. I hadn't been there in some months, so I needed to look around again. I also had time to take a few rides around the area. I had a good feeling about everything.
Moving from the Capt. John's to the Beach House
Wednesday morning I moved over to the Beach House. Here's a nice pic of the Beach House after people had started to show up on Wednesday afternoon.
Wednesday
People started to arrive on Wednesday. I must not have unpacked my camera yet because I have no pictures. First to arrive was Hal (Redeemed). It was his first rally and he was really excited! A bit later Paul (Slots) arrived by car. Slots has had major knee surgery this summer and isn't riding yet.
Part of Scorpion~'s group arrived in the afternoon without him, it was Ron (Mongrel) and his wife Donna. Somehow they had gotten separated from Steve on the way down from Olympia. It seems Mark (White Eagle, aka Mr Peabody) had a little problem with his gas reserve tank. He didn't know how to switch to it. In all the confusion, the party got separated. Steve (Scorpion~) pulled in awhile later, with Vicki (Epibunny), Dutch, Mike (Maccs) and Mark.
Scorpion~ had been promising to make chili on Wednesday evening, and he got right to work on it. Mark made some cornbread. While this was going on, Mark pulled out some home made liquor that he had brought with him. He makes this at home (don't tell the "Revenuers") I tasted some of his "white lightening", it was pretty good. Maybe we should change his nickname to White Lightening. I heard later that Slots drank quite a bit of this hooch, but that Scorpion~ was right there with him. I guess Mark should have brought more, it didn't last the evening.
Some of us went out to dinner at the Fisherman's Grotto. While we were there, Tony D, Russ and Ken (Nickels) came in. Russ had left home early in the morning with Nickels to make a noon appointment at SCP.
The group moved to the Beach House and the party was started!
Part of Scorpion~'s group arrived in the afternoon without him, it was Ron (Mongrel) and his wife Donna. Somehow they had gotten separated from Steve on the way down from Olympia. It seems Mark (White Eagle, aka Mr Peabody) had a little problem with his gas reserve tank. He didn't know how to switch to it. In all the confusion, the party got separated. Steve (Scorpion~) pulled in awhile later, with Vicki (Epibunny), Dutch, Mike (Maccs) and Mark.
Scorpion~ had been promising to make chili on Wednesday evening, and he got right to work on it. Mark made some cornbread. While this was going on, Mark pulled out some home made liquor that he had brought with him. He makes this at home (don't tell the "Revenuers") I tasted some of his "white lightening", it was pretty good. Maybe we should change his nickname to White Lightening. I heard later that Slots drank quite a bit of this hooch, but that Scorpion~ was right there with him. I guess Mark should have brought more, it didn't last the evening.
Some of us went out to dinner at the Fisherman's Grotto. While we were there, Tony D, Russ and Ken (Nickels) came in. Russ had left home early in the morning with Nickels to make a noon appointment at SCP.
The group moved to the Beach House and the party was started!
Views Around Charleston
Fishing stuff.
More fishing stuff.
Davy Jones Locker
Crab Cleaning station. Not in use when we were there.
Oyster Cove Deli.
The Deli served Umpqua ice cream as well as sandwiches and chowder. They also had free wi-fi and a free computer to use.
Davy Jones Locker. They also called themselves a deli but it was a more "rustic" sort of deli.
The General Store had pretty much everything we needed. Liquor, snacks, ATM, clothes..
The fads even get out here in the middle of nowhere.
The Capt. John 's Motel
The Capt. John's Motel. It's pretty easy to find in Charleston.
Jen had a nice flower garden despite the wind in Charleston.
Remember these "No" "Yes" signs in the days before "vacancy" and "no vacancy" lit up in neon in the window?
A few people hanging around the parking lot.
The Beach House
The next set of pictures is of the Beach House. I didn't think to take any pictures before we all moved in, these are pictures that Laura took on Sunday morning. If you stayed here, you can look at the pictures and enjoy the memories. If you didn't stay here, you can see what you missed!
The Beach House is a vacation rental owned by the Portside Restaurant owners. It has a nice big living room area, kitchen and big deck with a fire pit outside by the bay. We used the Beach House as a socializing center, since its too cold at night in Charleston to hang around the parking lot.
Those of us who stayed at the Beach House had a lot of fun there. Lots of new stories to tell and memories to laugh about.
The upstairs hallway
We called this the "submariner bed"...a note here about this. There were 7 bedrooms in the Beach House and there was one room left. I had an email from Ken (Nickels) about it but he decided not to go that route. When he got to the rally, he said he had envisioned a big dormitory with a row of beds in it and decided to stay at Capt. John's instead. I did tell him there were 7 bedrooms, but somehow that message got mixed. We might have had fun in a big dormitory...but we'll never know. Anyway, this would have been Nickels' room if he had taken it. It got the name "submariner bed" because Bill the Brit said it reminded him of the kind of sleeping accommodations he had in the navy! I think he meant the low headroom, not the queen sized bed. Nickels spent a lot of time hanging around the Beach House even though he didn't stay there!
With the "submariner bedroom" you get this combo dresser-chair unit...
Josh's room
GyspyCat's room. She had a high up bed with a view of the bay. This room was the other side of the "submariner bedroom" Somehow they made one room into 2 rooms. Nifty.
Sort of a semi-bunkbed arrangement occupied by Dutch and Howie.
The upstairs toilet and sink. Get a look at that green marbelized plastic sink.
I'm not positive who slept here..I think Cat and Jim S. Whoever it was, they made their bed nicely on the last day!
Nice shot of the living room.
We sure made use of this for the socializing.
The bedroom occupied by Laura and I. This was the last day, we didn't make the bed.
Mini Laundry Room off one of the bedrooms.
Typical furniture
Hallway on the main floor
Dining area on the main floor. Nice view of the bay out the windows.
This sunroom had been added within a couple weeks of our occupancy at the Beach House. It was a nice additional space for us. Beyond is the deck and below that the area where we had the fire in the evenings.
Oregon Trail International VROC Rally-Wolfman's Wandering Rally officially starts Thursday July 17...Hooray! Finally!!
Sherm's Wing parked in front of the Capt. John's waiting for folks to arrive. The weather was still pretty overcast. But no rain.
Signing in, picking up patches....
This was in the motel lobby. We had a nice registration table set up with maps, brochures, raffle tickets, donation jar. This is me, of course, finding patches that were pre-ordered.
A huge thank you to Piper for donating the patches! Proceeds from the sale will go to cover rally costs and the leftover will be sent to the VROC Server Fund.
Lobby of the Capt. John's. Lori (Mrs DaFrog) in blue, Chuck (MacGuy) is the tall dude in back. I'm talking to Diana (GypsyCat)....I think she had just arrived. Other folk are signing in for the rally and registering with the motel.
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