GELO TRIP UPDATE 5--ALSO BOB NEEDS TO KNOW

The last time we heard from Jim & Cathy, they were in a leaky motel room in Florence, Oregon.  The trip update now continues from that point.  Just read the previous posts if you need to catch up.

"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!!

GELO TRIP UPDATE 4

This is the 4th installment of Jim & Cathy's trip out west to ride the Pacific Coast Highway.  The first three updates can be read in the previous posts.  It looks like we have quite a following on these reports, so I hope Jim & Cathy keep them coming!

"Hi Bob,

Day 6

We headed out for Yosemite National Park.  Worked our way down through Nevada into California.  Took all two lane roads and had some very nice scenery and roads.  I did notice California roads are rougher.  Went to Lee Vining and took 120 all the way through the park.  The mountains are always impressive.  The waterfall picture was in the park.  The national parks seem to be very crowded this time of year but it was worth seeing.  Coming out of the park on 128 we had some very winding roads and it was dry.  As we got closer to Napa Valley you started to see lots of green.  A lot of corn, garlic, sod, potatoes, and orange groves.  Made it to Lodi, CA for the night.  Sorry, Bob, this one was Microtel.

Day 7

The prettiest day by far.  Took 12 out of Lodi to 128 through Napa Valley.  This area is beautiful to see.  All the vineyards, flowers, colorful trees, and the wineries.  Stopped at Castello di Amoroso winery.  That was impressive.  The towns are small and friendly.  Food is good there but they need to talk to Gunder on the burgers.  Mine was a big bun small burger.  Stopped to see a petrified forest.  Continued on 128 towards HWY 1.  Found ourselves riding through huge redwood forests.  Nothing like riding in a tunnel of redwoods.  Hard to capture on a picture.  Came to HWY 1, I guess we will have to stop going west, seems to be a big lake ahead of us.  We will head north and see if we can get around it:)  Lots of corners, makes the Dragon seem like a straight road.  Drove through the Chandelier tree at Leggett, CA.  Pulled into a state park to camp for the night.  Picked up a new air mattress in Lodi.  Much nicer sleeping on that than the ground.  I found a new vehicle for one of the support teams to follow the WNR with.

Day 8

Followed HWY 1 and 101 north.  The shoreline is beautiful and so rugged in places.  Stopped for a taste of fresh seafood at the Chart Room in Crescent City, CA.  Good food and reasonable for what we had.  Talked to some locals there that showed us where the tsunami that hit Japan so hard had wiped out a bunch of their harbor that had just been rebuilt.  Also saw some seals basking in the balmy 62 degree overcast day.  Headed out to Oregon and spent the night in a hotel in Florence, OR.  I am typing this in our room, it is raining outside and I have the wastebasket next to me catching the drip from the ceiling.  It just doesn't get any better than this!  We are planning on checking out some sea lion caves, and Thors Well just north of us and then I'm not sure.  I think I'm giving up on trying to get around this lake, it must be a big one!"

Jim, now you know that when Bob leads on the trips, he always has the disclaimer--Your tour guide is NOT responsible for rough roads, lousy weather, poor food, or dumpy motel rooms.

Sounds like a GREAT trip.....keep the reports coming!

ANOTHER GELO TRIP UPDATE

As many of you know by now Jim & Cathy are on their Gold Wing headed for the Pacific Coast Highway.  As much as possible I encouraged them to keep us WNR's updated on their adventure.  Here is the latest installment sent to me from Jim.  You can catch up on earlier reports by reading the previous posts.

"Hi Bob,

Day 3

Heading west from Colorado Springs.  Went through the Garden of the Gods and the Manitou cliff dwellings in the AM then jumped on 115 to US 50.  Made it to Montrose, CO.  Got our room then headed back to Black Canyon National Park just east of town.  Took a nice hike along the canyon.  Cathy got a new job as a park ranger.

Day 4

Headed out of Montrose and jumped on US 550 south.  This is known as the Million Dollar HWY.  It takes you into the mountains to Ouray, Silverton and Durango.  Got some ribs in Durango at a place called Serious Texas Bar-B-Q.  Good stuff!  Beautiful drive but not for the faint of heart.  Lots of switchbacks and the edge of the road is a vertical drop in many places.  Apparently a million dollars doesn't buy guard rails.  From Durango we worked our way to Moab, UT.  Pitched our tent in the Moab KOA.  Set out to explore Arches National Park.  Hiked back to the Delicate Arch.  Quite a long hike but well worth it.  It's beautiful around Moab.  Got back to our tent around 9, it was around 85 degrees yet, found our air mattress was flat.  Blew it back up and went to bed.  Woke up a short time later on the ground.  At least it was sand under our tent but it was still a long night.

Day 5

Headed north out of Moab to 70.  70 and US 50 join for a ways.  We exited back to US 50 at Salina and then stayed on that all the way to Fallon NV.  The stretch through NV is billed as the loneliest hwy.  I would have to say the NV stretch is far better scenery than the Utah section.  Many miles of desolate, hot, dry desert in UT.  Met an old fellow on a Gold Wing on that hwy riding home to California.  He was born in Iowa and had been on the road since May 15th.  I didn't ask his age but he had to be well into the 80's.  Made over 630 miles that day.  Cathy was in charge of the camera while we rode and she must have been bored because she was taking pictures of her reflection in my helmet.  Oh and Bob will be happy, we are at a Hotel 6, the light was on!

Today we head for Yosemite and the coast.  Will report when I can." 

CHUCKLES WANTS TO KNOW HOW THE DONUTS ARE OUT WEST AND WNR ARE LEAVING THE LIGHTS ON FOR YOU HERE TOO.  BE SAFE, AND KEEP THE REPORTS COMING!!

HOME A'GINS and GELO TRIP UPDATE

On a warm, somewhat humid July evening ten WNR departed Casey's at 5:30 headed for Home A'Gins Bar & Grill in the friendly little Wisconsin town of Mt. Hope.  Following Bob R on his Wing were David, Gary, and Bob Z on their Harleys, Carl on his Yamaha, Darrel on his yellow GW trike, Dale & Mike in the red Chrysler, and Dennis & Marlene in the yellow Mustang.  Someone must have known that Carl was bringing his two-wheeler, because we had two support vehicles with us tonight!  Other than forgetting to put on his helmet, Carl got along well.

CARL SHOWING OFF HIS "HELMETLESS" HEAD

WHO'S THE NEW GUY WITH THE NEW JACKET?!

DARREL JOINS US --WE PROMISE NOT TO TAKE HIM TO HOUSTON AGAIN

With Dennis blocking traffic out of the Casey's lot, we headed out on the Elon Road to Lansing/Harpers Road.  We took L/H Road down through Harpers where we picked up the Great River Road to 76 and south to Marquette.  We crossed the bridge into PDC and headed out on 18 through the construction and got on CR C.  C follows the Wisconsin River for a number of miles and offered us some cool shade.  After C ended at 133 we took it south to 18 again and then CR J on into Mt. Hope and a rest stop at Home A'Gins.  In one of the photos below you will see a metal strip that runs along the edge of the street in front of Home A'Gins.  It was placed there for motorcycles to prevent their kickstands from sinking into the blacktop.  How's that for catering to bikers!!

"WHO IN THE HECK WOULD CALL ME IN MT, HOPE?!

SPECIAL SUPPORT VEHICLE PARKING

NOTICE THE METAL STRIP ON THE STREET

COMFORTABLE OUTDOOR SEATING AT HOME A'GINS

After our refreshments, we continued on CR J to CR A and followed it into Bloomington where we picked up 35.  35 took us back up to 18, through the construction in PDC again, across the bridge and finally to Diplomat Road in Luana.  Diplomat changes to Forest Mills Road near the county line and leads onto 76.  We turned on 76 into Waukon and Gus & Tony's where we joined by Julie.  The conversation there soon turned to servicing outhouses!  I added 133 miles to the clock on the Wing and Carl remembered to put on his helmet for the trip back.

GELO TRIP UPDATE
The last report from the Gelo's had them at a KOA in Colorado Springs (see previous post) and heading into the mountains.  Here's the latest update on their journey to the west coast.

"Hi Bob-
Trip is going well, took 115 out of Colorado Springs to US 50.  Spent the night in Montrose, CO.  Heading down 550 to Durango, then Moab, UT today.  We hiked Black Canyon last night.  Very pretty."

KEEP THE REPORTS COMING.  EVERYONE IN WNR IS ENJOYING THE JOURNEY WITH YOU!

NEW LEADER & GELO ADVENTURE

As many of you know Bob was in Denver offloading his grand daughters last Wednesday, so a new leader was needed for the ride.  Here's the report as sent to me from Lois...

While our fearless leader was in "Rocky Mountain High" Colorado, 7 of us gathered to carry on the WNR tradition.  Jim & Cathy led Lois on her 2 wheeler, Meryle (welcome back), Dayton & Joan & Wayne on trikes and Dale with the top down.  As we rounded the corner heading through downtown, we met Daryl on his trike who then fell into formation.
We took 76 north to Dorchester Drive and followed that up to Spring Grove.  We then headed west and picked up smooth, black 4 and would our way through the lush, green Yucatan valley then hopped on 76 for a break in Houston.  We then headed over to Hokah, down to Brownsville then took 3 through farm country to Caledonia then 76 back to Waukon.
Bugsy joined us at Gus & Tony's to fill a table for 10.  Had 115 miles on Suzie when I Parked it.
Beautiful, quiet evening with the air feeling a little fresher than our recent excursions.
Here's a shot of us gathering at Casey's (Dayton getting camera shy); Cathy showing which way she thinks Jim should go; Gary seeing us off before packing for his CMA outing; and the whole group enjoying a stretch in Houston.

THE GELO ADVENTURE

As many of you know, Jim & Cathy Gelo took off on their trusty Wing for California and a ride down the Pacific Coast Highway.  For those of you who are not familiar with the PCH, it is listed as the best motorcycle road in the country for its fantastic scenery.  It's no doubt on every motorcyclist's bucket list.  I told Jim if he would keep us informed and send along photos, I would post them on the blog and keep our WNR following them.  So far here's what Jim sent.  Hopefully he will keep sending me the trip details, because it should be fun for all of us to follow along with them.

"Hi Bob-
Made it to Colorado Springs KOA today.  The first night we stayed in Kearney, NE.  Took 20 then worked our way SW to stay out of rain.  We will start into the mountains tomorrow.  I will try to get some pics sent your way.  I might have to let Cathy drive the bike the way it looks!"

FROM ALL OF US WNR's--"HAVE A SAFE TRIP,YOU GUYS!!"