June 19, 2011 Portland, OR<\/p>\n
After a beautiful start to my day on Thursday, I headed north on US 101.\u00a0 The stretch from Arcata, CA on US 101 to the OR border is one of the most beautiful in the country.\u00a0 I stopped in Crescent City for gas and wished I could stay longer \u2013 it\u2019s an empty, quiet little place blown about by ocean winds, with seafood markets and\/or restaurants on each corner.\u00a0 I \u201cplanned\u201d to go to the Jedebiah Smith Redwood SP and the sign said \u201cStout Grove.\u201d\u00a0 I got suspicious after riding several miles without further signs, through areas that didn\u2019t look very state-park like.\u00a0 Then I found Stout Grove, which is in fact a part of the state park; I rounded a corner, amongst those Gentle Giants, and the pavement ended. So after a short stint of dirt bike riding on the Wing, I turned around and headed back to the highway.\u00a0 And I have a picture to prove it.<\/p>\n
Soon I crossed the border into Oregon.\u00a0 Along much of the coast the winds were a handful \u2013 gusting so that the trees were doing full-body waves.\u00a0 I slowed waay down and continued to be awed by the coastline \u2013 huge boulders, waves crashing, and changing altitudes.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have to be in Portland until Monday morning so I dawdled.\u00a0 I stopped for the night in a motel in Bandon, OR \u2013 it had misted rain off and on, it was cold, and I wasn\u2019t sure how well the tent would hold up to the wind gusts.\u00a0 Unlike other quick-pick choices, this motel was a delight (clean, light-filled) with a short walk down to the ocean.\u00a0 As I was checking in, the woman clerk asked about my bike and I explained my 4 Corners 4 Kids ride and gave her a post card.\u00a0 I told her about the Child Advocacy Center first, and her face lit up. She repeated several times that she had no idea there was such a thing.\u00a0 And in the quiet of that small motel lobby by the ocean, she matter-of-factly told me of the sexual abuse she had suffered as a child, adding, \u201cThere was no place like that for me.\u00a0 I knew I couldn\u2019t tell.\u00a0 But how wonderful that they are there now.\u00a0 May I keep this card? \u00a0I want to send it to my cousin.\u00a0 She still hasn\u2019t told her mom what happened to her.\u00a0 You know, it just happens too much, more than most people want to think about.\u201d\u00a0 As we talked on and I explained I was heading to the Shriners\u2019 Hospital in Portland, she said she had a boy cousin born with defects that affected his legs and with complex diabetes \u2013 the Shriners\u2019 had given him the surgical care he needed for his legs and helped manage his diabetes.\u00a0 She added, \u201cI talked with him the other day.\u00a0 Sunday will be his first Father\u2019s Day and he\u2019ll spend it chasing after his foster kids.\u00a0 If the Shriners hadn\u2019t helped him, he\u2019d have died.\u00a0 Now he\u2019s a Foster Parent.\u00a0 Cool, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n
I left Bandon, OR on Saturday under heavy skies.\u00a0 I rode north along US 101 and the mist turned to rain, so I decided I might as well get over to Interstate 5.\u00a0 I turned east at Reedsport on US 38, in time for their annual Chainsaw Sculpting Championships.\u00a0 Chainsaw artists began a new piece, worked on a time clock with designated rest times, and will then be judged at the end of two days.\u00a0 The work was incredible!\u00a0 When I arrived, they were on a break and I strolled among the pieces, but in deference to my audiologist and pulmonologist, I didn\u2019t stay long once the dust began to fly again.<\/p>\n
The rains were steady for the rest of the day.\u00a0 I am a Quaker and decided to go to Meeting in Portland on Sunday, so I slogged along Interstate 5 north and stopped for the night just south of Portland \u2013 at one of those motels where you don\u2019t want to walk on the carpet barefooted and they use Fabreze by the gallon to prove the place is clean.<\/p>\n
I got up this morning, Sunday, and rode on into Portland for Meeting \u2013 which was wonderful and just exactly what I needed for balance.\u00a0 I\u2019m sitting now in the office of the Meeting House while a new Friend Betsey is in a meeting regarding their outreach project to Nicaragua.\u00a0 When she\u2019s done, I\u2019m going home with her; her husband Bruce is fixing us salmon for dinner.\u00a0 I will stay with them for the night; tomorrow I head to the Portland Shriners and then north to Seattle and the Ronald McDonald House.<\/p>\n
How am I holding up?\u00a0 I surprised myself yesterday, for I had to admit I\u2019m tired.\u00a0 It takes a lot of focus to ride a motorcycle, especially when you\u2019re in such varied and new terrain, on a big bike, and you\u2019re an old woman \ud83d\ude09 Another good reason for a day sitting and hanging with a group of Quakers \ud83d\ude09 The bike is doing great, of course.\u00a0 My confidence level with the bike seems to ebb and flow, though I\u2019m riding well.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like negotiating heavy city traffic, but that\u2019s a given for the next few days.\u00a0 I\u2019m looking forward to getting that second corner in Blaine \u2013 though it\u2019s then a long, long ride across to Maine.\u00a0 As my friend often says, \u201cMore than one thing can be true.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
June 19, 2011 Portland, OR After a beautiful start to my day on Thursday, I headed north on US 101.\u00a0 The stretch from Arcata, CA on US 101 to the OR border is one of the most beautiful in the … Continue reading