Today is a memorable day for at least two reasons and I've opened today's post with words from the Beatles song 'When I'm 64'. 'Why?' you may ask. Well today is Jim Knight's birthday and the words from the song are there because it is his 64th birthday. What better way to spend it if he couldn't be with his family than to be on the road with friends?
The guys getting ready to roll once again.
Secondly, on May 23rd 1973, Jim's 23rd birthday, he, Kerry, and I met at his parent's house in Toronto before pointing our motorcycles north and west on one of the great adventures of our lives. So today is Jim's birthday and the beginning of a journey that led us to Grant's Pass, Oregon exactly forty-one years later. It's unfortunate that we don't have photos from that day because I'm certain they would be in contrast to the ones that we took this morning.
Me. Jim, and Kerry, ready to roll.
We looked a lot different forty-one years ago.
Jim and Kerry
After the heat of yesterday the day started off somewhat cooler but it looked encouraging. We stopped at the local coffee shop and I had a spectacular cinnamon bun as did Kerry and Garry. That place made extraordinary cinnamon buns.
We left Grant's Pass in partially cloudy skies but it didn't take long until the clouds rolled in and it began to shower. However, the rain was light and didn't slow us down. We stopped at Canyonville for gas then continued on. At one point Jim turned off to a rest area and I followed while Kerry and Garry continued on. We weren't concerned because we had reservations for the night at a motel in Wilsonville, just south of Portland so that was our meeting point.
Over the past few days we have been slowed down by road work but we haven't experienced many delays. However, today we were funneled from two lanes doing 105 kph into one lane doing between fifty kph and 75 kph for about twenty-five kilometres. The signs read 'Road Work'. We saw the 'Road', but we didn't see the 'Work'. For that whole stretch of highway there was not one worker on our side of the divider and only three workers standing around a truck looking at what appeared to be two metre lengths of eight-inch culverts. We never saw anyone actually doing work in the whole twenty-five kilometres.
Jim and I stopped at several rest areas just to get off our bikes and stretch our legs. At one we saw a truck that seemed worth a picture. Jim was a good sport and let me take the picture below.
His name but not his truck.
This stop beside the Santiam River was one of the best yet. Most rest stops are beside a highway with trees around it. This one was right beside the Santiam River which was flowing strongly. It was a nice change from the usual rest areas we have stopped at on this trip.
Yesterday when we were separated Kerry and Garry arrive about twenty minutes ahead of us and because they were ahead of us when we made our first stop we expected the same. However, when we weren't taking short breaks we were rolling along at 65 mph making good time and when we arrived at the motel they were nowhere to be found. They did arrive about half an hour later, having stopped for lunch, which Jim and I didn't do.
Because it was his birthday, Jim chose the place to eat so we walked over to the Red Robin, one of my favourite places for more than thirty-five years. On the way there we passed Wanker's Corner, arguably one of the strangest names for a café/saloon that I have ever seen. I just had to take pictures because otherwise it might not be believable.
The sign on Wanker's Corner Café/Saloon
The side of the Wanker's Corner van.
After dinner we strolled back toward our motel with a stop at The Beer Station. Whoever came up with the idea for this place is brilliant. Oregon is famed for it's fine microbreweries and there are a lot of really excellent ones in the state and in particular, the Portland area. The idea was to get a selection of these craft beers on tap and sell them in the bar. Patrons are allowed to bring their own food or to order in so they can eat what they want while drinking beer. They also sell an assortment of growlers from the standard 67 ounce glass bottle to insulated stainless steel ones with tops that can take up to forty psi pressure. The beers are great so we stopped and Jim and I sampled one each. In the window there are the logos for the companies whose beer they sell. Some are great and others are average so I've included the better ones here.
The sign for The Beer Station
One of the beers being sold.
And here's my favourite logo from the Stone Brewing Company.
We found a Starbucks this afternoon and beside it was a market. Kerry bought a local favourite, marionberry cheese cake and brought it back to the motel. When we returned fro the Beer Station he brought it out, the three of us sang 'Happy Birthday' and then we had some cheesecake. It was a rather low key birthday celebration but the best that could be arranged at the time. It was a thoughtful thing to do and Jim did appreciate it.
Jim's marionberry birthday cheesecake.
Tomorrow is the last day the four of us will be together for the day. We'll ride to Burlington, WA, tomorrow then on Sunday, we'll be back in Canada going our separate ways. Still, it was been a great ride and we have done almost 3 000 kilometres since we left home last Friday afternoon.
No comments:
Post a Comment