"Hi Bob,
Day 9
The waste basket was filling up with water so we put on the rain gear and headed north on hwy 101. The Sea Lion Cave wasn't too far up the road. Pretty interesting place. You can take an elevator down a little over 200 ft. to the inside of a big cave open to the ocean. We saw quite a few Sea Lions on the rocks there. They had a nice walkway up above the outside overlooking the rocky shore when we went back up and we saw many more Sea Lions. Interesting to watch them ride the big waves to get back on the rocks. Have to admit I would have loved to see a whale come in for one.
Next stop was another seafood diner then to Cape Perpetua State Park to walk on the rocky shore and see Thor's Well. I will attach a video I hope works.
Drove north to Newport and took hwy 20 east to 99W up to Portland. We saw lots of pear trees, wheat, chestnut trees, vineyards, blueberries, and some things we had no idea what it was. Got a room in Portland and contacted Cathy's uncle Dave Heimer who lives there.
Day 10
Dave wanted to pick us up and show us around. He said he didn't get going real early in the morning. My phone rang a little after 6 AM to let us know he was on the way over. Cathy and I had walked to a Thai restaurant the night before for spicy noodles. That call seemed pretty early!
Dave took us along the Columbia River to hike. There are a lot of waterfalls coming off the mountains and many hiking trails in to see them. Also took us to Multnomah Falls. A very tall waterfall. It was at about a quarter of flow that it has earlier in the year and was still impressive.
Chuck, I did find something for you in Portland. Check out this donut shop website and look under donuts they make. Check out the second one.
http://voodoodoughnut.com/voodoo-doughtnut-doughtnuts.php
We headed north out of Portland around 3 PM and made it to the Castle Rock K O A in Washington. Went ahead and set up camp then headed out to Mt. St. Helens. Turned out to be about 45 miles in and out so it was pretty late when we got back to our tent. They have lots of deer and elk so had to be alert. I'm glad we decided to go see that. Even though it has been quite a few years, it is still very scorched and barren. You can see a lot of logs all laying away from the eruption quite a distance away. The lava flow is still very evident. When you see how much the top of the mountain is gone, it is hard to believe. We did camp by a couple out of Yuma, AZ. He rides the bike and she follows with the pickup and enclosed trailer which he converted to a camper complete with solar on the top and a fold up boat with a 2 hp motor. They go on the road for 6 months at a time. You meet some interesting folks. One thing we found interesting is they don't have mosquitoes at all. Dave said they never have any and we still haven't found one. Don't miss them!
Day 10
Headed north out of Castle Rock on 5 to 12, turning east! 12 follows the Lewis and Clark trail. We started to see nice little towns, lots of blueberries being grown and then headed through the mountains. Caught a glimpse of Mt. Ranier through the clouds. After we were through the mountains, we saw a lot of apple orchards. 12 and interstate 82 merge for a ways. This is Washington wine country. You can't imagine how many vineyards there are. I believe more than CA. The vineyards start to fade into a mix of fields of greenbeans, potatoes, cherry trees, corn, and wheat. Eventually the wheat wins out and they plant it everywhere they can. They farm some pretty steep areas. Tonight we are in Dayton, Washington. The hotel leaves a little to be desired, but it is clean and the air works! Hopefully the bike is still there in the morning.
Tomorrow I am planning on going through Lolo Pass, not sure after that if we will try to come down around Beartooth Pass or just stay on 90.
I did find a different bike today. I may have to trade."
Hey, Jim-- Great report, but I think you'd better keep the Gold Wing. Even though you'd get better gas mileage with that big bike, I think you would probably get "monkey butt" from that hard seat, and I don't think Cathy would like riding on that back fender!
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The guys' trip to Memphis (Aug. 1-6) is only about two weeks away. I'm going to need to know who's planning on going, so I can firm up motel reservations. LET ME KNOW ASAP IF YOU PLAN TO GO!!
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