WILD (MILD) HOGS RIDE "THE LOST COAST"

We had to cancel the first attempt at the Wild Hogs ride to the Lost Coast due to weather concerns. After a week or so a break in the weather developed. We would be going down hwy 101 along the Oregon/California coast. Our destination would be the Lost Coast west of Ferndale California.








We agree to meet at McDonalds in Seaside for hot coffee. On the ride will be Myself, Jim T., Tim, Don, Dave and Jim S. would follow as far as Lincoln City.
















Time to suit up. It's early 7am.

















It's a little cool so Dave is bundling.
















Jim S. Is thinking where is my heated gloves.














A stop along the way to get rid of some that morning coffee. We have a long way to go today but we will stop frequently for a break now and then.









A cool shot, don't you think?













We stop for lunch in Coos Bay and of course a visit to the local Harley dealer. Don was a good sport to put up with or stops at the Harley shop.
















Were on the road again. Down Hwy 101 to California.












We saw several sunsets on our journey.












































The Mild Hogs

About time our first night. We got in late but had a good dinner and a clean bed

They were really friendly at the Super 8 and let us park our bikes under the canopy.

We are packing up for our trip out to the Lost Coast. From Ferndale you travel east on a paved narrow windy bumpy road.

One last check of the bikes and we will be off.

Tim is ready to go.

Greg an old friend of mine met us in Fortuna for the ride out to the Lost Coast. How do you like his 1200 BMW Adventure? It will turn out to be the best bike for the rough road we will be traveling on.

This is downtown Ferndale. Lots of Victorian architecture. I understand the movie the Majestic was filmed here.

Ferndale

Here we go. Heading out on Mattole Road to the Lost Coast.

Hey, it's Gregie..

Our first glimpse of the coast from Mattole Road

A photo stop along the way. We will be making allot of these.

Tim checking out the scenery

Dave posing with the new bike

Don and his Goldwing

A group shot of the Mild Hogs.

Mattole Road as it fronts the coastline.

Another stop along the way and yours truly.

Left to right Jim T., Greg and Tim

As you can see the road was just fine in about 90% of the route out to the Lost Coast and back to Hwy 101

There were four GPS's on this trip AND I don't think we got lost even once.

Leavng the coastline heading back out to Hwy 101. At Honeydew we try to take a road to Shelter Cover which soon turned to dirt and we had to turn around.

Staying east on the paved road at Honeydew will take you though a grove of redwoods and the worst part of the road. Paved but like a washboard.

Looking straight up at the canopy.

Even with the rough road the last six miles the sites were worth the trip.

We stop in Garberville for lunch.

We will head south out of Garberville and cut over to Hwy 1 at Legett.

We arrive on the coast once again. The road here was a motorcycle riders dream. That is, If you like lots of corners.

We picked a perfect weather window. The temps were in the 70's on the coast.

We will stay outside of Santa Rosa in Rohnert Park. The next day we will ride through the wine country of Napa Valley.

We take the Silverado Trail out of Napa to Calistoga.

Just about every square inch of property in this area has a vineyard planted on it.

We will ride from Calistoga over the Calistoga Grade to Middletown. We will skirt around Clear Lake and come out on Interstate 5 at Williams.

We stop in the town of Red Bluff for lunch and to make a small repair on Don's bike

Yep, I think that is the main tube that makes the bike run...... Or not. Ok, it's just a light bulb.

Dave keeps a clean machine.

Time to get the bulb back in. It's a tight fit but only took about 20 minutes.

We will take hwy 36 from Red Bluff west to Fortuna. This is another gret motorcycle road. Lots of sweeping turns and the road is in great shape.

Near the Sumit of Hwy 36 looking towards the Trinity Alps

The sun was hitting just right so I had to take the picture.

More great scenery on Hwy 36

The town of Dinsmore on Hwy 36. One of the few places to get coffee in over 140 miles.

We stay in Cresent City. The first fog we hit on the trip so far.

We are up early for our ride back to Oregon.

A stop at the Cheese factory in Tillamook. We get some ice cream and reflect on the great trip.

We allready started to think about the Wild Hogs ride for next year.

UMCI NORTH COAST BBQ 2009

It sure is nice that Jim and Anne provide our chapter with a annual BBQ each year. It is so much fun and kinda puts a exclamation point on the end of the year. This year the September BBQ had great weather and as a Pot Luck there was plenty of food and desert!

Here Anne is getting ready for the throng of hungry bikers.







Jim and Dave supervising..."Hey shouldn't that egg salad be on the left of the Veggie Jello?"













Anne having fun already.....














Let's look at Jim's new KLR and examine the improvements made on the new 2009's. There is some mighty fine BSING going on here..














That is Vickie on the right and Mary on the left.













Jim T. on the left with Aldie (his Dad center) and Jim R on the right. Jim R. has volunteered to be the BBQ chef today...












And as you can see he is a Happy Guy! OK, Jim get the utensil from Mary.














That is Tamra's new HD on the right and her husband Allen's on the left. They just Moved Up! (Harley rider writing the story) to Harley's













Jim S. and Tamra



















Left to right Jim R., Allen, Dave, and Jim T.















Left to right Paul who showed up in his new Mustang Convertible, Jim and Doug B.















The chow line has started....











Around the table Jim R is setting forward with his plate and to his right is Nancy, Tim, William, Paul, Doug and Mary. And I think that is Don in the black hat and sun glasses.















Left to right is Joy and Dixie

Nancy, Tim and William are enjoying the day and great food

That is Jim S. and Katie after hitting the desert line. That was GOOD chocolate cake...Ask me how I know?

I don't know what they are talking about but you can bet it's all about motorcycles.... well what else?

Plenty of room to park the Ole Iron Horse!

Darn they look good!

Hey, that's me and Annie having a good laugh!

That is Vickie and I hamming it up for the camera....

Thanks, Jim and Anne for having us over for a great BBQ. I hope we can do it again next year.

Ride To Birkenfield

We do email rides at the drop of a hat...That is the way they work.. Today's ride will take us to Birkenfield. If you follow our blog you will know that we go here quite often for lunch.

The weather today was cloudy and it rained a little during the night but the road was dry and the sun was coming out.











We have some new folks riding along with us and some new bikes. I thought I would introduce them to you. This is Harry's new 2010 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic. He just got it and it only has 100 miles on it. It's the maiden voyage today. What a nice looking machine.
















Three Ultra Classics's Two Peace Officer Special Edition's (Black 2009/2008) and that's Tim's 2007 Ultra Classic on the right.












Yep, that is Don's Goldwing.. Hey Don, come back... Guess he did not want to be in the picture.



















This beauty belongs to Dave and Mary. It is two weeks old but already has over 1000 miles on it. Dave can't seem to get enough time in the saddle.












Jim and Anne stopped by during the coffee clutch in their motorhome. They were off to a RC fly-in












This is Mary. What is she showing us besides the matching red and black leather ensemble.





















Oh yeah! The matching nails, which was an exact match for color and pin stripping of their new bike... I have to say this is the first time I have seen something like this...














This is a very cool shot of Harry's new Ultra. Wire smoothies look real cool!














We stop at the Elk View point near Jewel on our way to Birkenfield.














Hey Tim! How about posing for the camera?

















I finally got Don to settle down for a shot..













Uh Oh.... Yours truly... Thanks to Don who returned the favor...

Harry giving us his non smile bad boy look... Your not fooling anybody Harry... We know you can smile.. Harry is new to our group and is welcome to tag along anytime.

Dick relaxing on a bench at the view point

Our target destination... Birkenfield...

Finally a pic of Mike... Mike and Harry ride allot together and have recently joined us on some email rides. Nice ride Mike!

I should have got some pictures once the food was on the table. Well I guess I was just too busy making it disappear. (left to right) Don, Dick and Tim

(left to right) Mike, Mary and Dave

We finish our lunch and head for home. We take Hwy 47 to Clatskanie. Then Hwy 30 back home. it was a good ride. Good company and food what else could we ask for...

See you down the road.

Doug

Mt. St. Helens Picnic Ride

We have road to Mt St Helens several times for a pic nic at Coldwater lake. Today's ride had excellent weather. I thought we would cross the Astoria bridge to Washington and take Hwy 4 to Coal Creek. We would come out at Castle Rock and then we could pic up our sandwiches at Subway.



We ran into some road construction on Hwy 4 and were stopped by flaggers about four times. Then when we got onto Coal Creek we had about 4 miles of fresh chip seal.... What fun! Oh well, I guess that's what makes it a adventure..



Those on our ride today are Doug and Vickie, Jim and Katie, Jim and Ann, Dick, Don, Dave and Mary and last but not least William












These pictures show that we have arrived at the pic nic area at Coldwater Lake.




























As you can see with the tour bus in the back ground this area can get kinda crowded. There were some free pic nic tables but they were in the sun. However Vickie and I did find a shady spot and it was not long before a shady table opened up.























William is in deep thought here


























I told you there was some vacancy























After lunch at Coldwater Lake we road up the rest of the way to Johnson's Ridge










































This is the view point just before the summit. And I think I have come to realize it is actually the best view point. Less people and the view is just as good.

















Yep, it's yours truly






















That is Vickie and I with Mt. St. Helens in the background.















Thanks to Jim T. for taking this photo. It seems that Vickie and I don't get into pictures together most of the time.

















That is Jim T. standing next to his ride.

















Jim and Ann what a great shot.

















Dave, I think Mary had already ran over to the view point.

Some great rides...

Check out the informational map

Jim S. is checking out the Mountain. I don't know where Katie has run off too

Another picture of Jim and Mt. St. Where did my top go?

No we have Don S. on the right and Dave in the middle. That is William on the left and Vickie on the far left. Amazing what you can get people to do when taking pictures.

Hey Vickie. She looks like she is having a good time

Me and Princess

From Left to Right Jim T., Ann, Dick R. and

Jim S.

Ok, I think Jim is tired of getting his picture taken.

Hey Dick! Great ride so far!!

On our way down from the summit. It was probably around upper 70's at the summit and will be around 91 when we get to the bottom. Boy I have become a real wimp in the Hot weather. I can remember when 91 did not seem hot.

The flowers along the road in on the foot hills about 3/4 of the way up were amazing. And they smelled good too!

Nice and green up here!

Great road eh?

TYGH VALLEY CAMPOUT 2009

It's finally here! Tygh Valley Campout. We arrived early on Wednesday. The real bummer for this year is that Jim and Ann will not be attending. Jim and Joy, William and Della and Vickie and Doug have stepped in to fill some really big shoes.

Here is Ned setting up his camp. Ned riding his Road King with matching sidecar.

That is Pam's Trike, but I don't know where Pam went.

The Dick and Jerry have arrived and so has Ollie towing his new Bunkhouse behind his Convertible.

Camps are getting setup and the catching up on the past year begins.

Jerry and Joyce enjoying the shade.

Peggy and Greg with Brian on the right looking on.

WE got some serious BSing going on here between Dick and Ollie.

Greg setting up

Peggy

A Happy Camper!

Jan and Gordon all set up. Its starting to warm up around here. Temps will get around 100 for the weekend.

This is Duane. He had a mishap on the way over from Roseburg. Between Duane and Sam they were able to get the bike on the road and finish the trip to Tygh Valley.

Sam

Mike stopped by for a visit with his brother and family that was visiting from the East coast.

Jim and Joy relaxing.

That is Gary on the left with Roger to his right

That's Dick on the right and Ned on the left. Dick was the first to arrive this year at Tygh Valley.

That is Della on the right with Jim on the left looking on.

Cool morning with a hot cup of coffee. Ahh!

Coffee?

Vickie hard at registering.

Goldwings.! Everywhere you can see.

Ned, reflecting on the day.

Now what kind of Dohickey thinga kabobbler is that?

Goldie has arrived.

Dave, Jim and Mary off to the right.

Ben and Phil

Zack....A bigger chair may be needed here.

William thinking about all those hotdogs he has to cook.

50/50 drawing.

Jim and Della calling out the numbers.

Peppermint Patty checking to see if she has the winning ticket

I think Vickie is worn out from all the registering.

Jim and Mary

Dave and Mary

Katie

Ben

Mary was a big 50/50 winner

Well, it is the Fourth of July!

Breakfast at the Grange in Wamic

Jim and joy's daughter and family

The Wamic Grange

Joyce, Ollie and Jerry

Food was great. Can't beat the price and the new Buffet style

Brekafast at the Grange is a must do.

We road from Wamic to Hwy 35 then the Dufor cut-off to Dufor and back to camp. A short ride but very scenic

Great views of Mt Hood

Peppermint Patty

Back at camp it's time for the Pot luck and all that good food.

William cooked Hot Dogs and there was lots of side dishes and deserts.

Hey ! It's Gus

This looks like we are done eating and time to lay around.

Jim

Dick

Zack doing his thing..

Its early and people are starting to head out

Got to get those bugs off before hitting the road.

No bugs on this bike

Vickie and I did a loop from Tygh Valley to Shaniko, Antelope and Fossil. If you have never been to Fossil you must go. And make sure you check out the the Mercantile store. The GM dealer's showroom holds two cars.

The Mercantile store.

Hanging out in Fossil

Although Jim and Anne were not able to do the campout this year. I did meet Jim in Gladstone one day and we road the Historic Columbia Hwy with a stop at Vista House and lunch at Char Burger in Cascade Locks. Picture of Jim standing next to his bike (left)

That's me. Great View

Two Hog's in Hog Heaven

Jim checking out the great view!

That is Mary saying good bye to Gordon.

Jan and Gordon. One of the last campers to leave. They will be in Alaska next year. We will miss not seeing them.


That's it. We hope you all made it home safe. We will catch up with you on the next ride or in Tygh Valley 2010

The First Dinner Ride May 2009

Our first dinner ride of the year was at the Lighthouse Restaurant in Longbeach, WA. It was a nice day and we meet at our usual meeting location in Astoria. The Coffee Shack in the Red lion Parking Lot. We had a pretty good group show up for the ride over.

Vickie, she's looking happy. And that's Don, I wonder what he is trying to say?

That's Doug Vickie on the right standing next to their new HOG. Jim R. is on the left and Gene is in the Red Jacket.

William center with Joy on the left and Mark on the right.

This is the lighthouse Restaurant. It is on the ocean with a great view....Most of the time.

The parking lot shuffle. We got to the Restaurant a little early so we just killed a few minutes kicking tires in the parking lot.

I think we had Seventeen of us show up for dinner. Not a bad turn out.

A better shot of the group. We had some extra guests invited by William and Della.

Jim does not normally look this grumpy but I think he is hungry!

Ah! The view of the ocean from the restaurant?

That's Don giving the big thumbs up and Gene on his left.

Mary and Jerry road down from Seattle.

That's Jerry!

Jim and Anne T. arrived in their motorhome as they were on there way home from a Blue Grass Festival.

We had a great meal at the Lighthouse. They served a large amount of food and the service was not bad either.

The trip home was going to take us along highway 4 on the Washington side of the Columbia River. We would pass though Naselle, Skamokawa and Cathalamet where we catch the ferry for the trip across the river to Hwy 30 and Westport Oregon.

That's me in the front with Don in the background standing behind is Wing.

Vickie does not like the Ferry very much. It makes her dizzy... But it looks like she is having fun.

Joy and Jim R.

This is Vickie and I posing for the camera. The ferry is alot of fun. a 15 minute cruise for just 2 bucks. You can't beat that!

Flying the stars and stripes over the ferry!

That is Jim R. on the left standing next to his almost new Harley Davidson Ultra..

Don is looking pretty cool standing with the great background shot framed by the Ape Hangers of a HOG!

The end of the ride. the ferry arrives in Westport and we ride the rest of the way home. A good first dinner ride. I hope you can make it on the next one. Bye for now.

Gerbing's Open House Ride April 2009

Gerbing's Open House in Tumwater Washington was enthusiastically attended. Many bikes of all makes were at the event. As you may know Gerbing's makes the heated clothing that allot of us have and use for those chilly rides which help extend our riding season.

Those on the ride Doug, Jim, William, Gene, Don and Dave.

It was a great ride to Tumwater. We met in Astoria at the Coffee Shack at 9AM... We headed up Hwy 101 To Raymond and then to Hwy 12. Hwy 12 led us to Hwy 8 which practically dropped right out in Tumwater. I much prefer the back roads over the Freeway don't you?





Parking was at a premium. I dont know if the turnout was more than expected but put a nice day and free food out there and they will come!














That is Dave (left) and Jim (right) getting ready to head into the store.

Goldwing's, Harley's, Bmw's, Sport Bikes, all have somehing in common... A desire to ride and be warm when doing it!

That is the chow line.. The end that is... The beginning is somewhere in the trees in the background. I heard someone say that they just got back from Costco with another 250 Brats and hamburgers....Know Gerbing's should know they sell more XXL jackets than small, dont you think?

See you on the next one.