Raven's Roads
Living an interesting life: the travels and musings
of motorcycling author Linda R. Moore

Jul 17, 2005

En route to Eureka: July 14

I had a leisurely morning with Lissyvigeen and Lios, then set off with hugs and regrets. This time, I obviously bribed the cats sufficiently, and received only a few speckles of rain. The clouds got fewer and fewer as I travelled south.

The first day, I stayed in a generic and somewhat disappointing Motel 6 just south of Eugene. I travelled on I-5 and got fed up. I deeply regretted not going just a few miles further and stopping in one of the lovely little towns along Oregon 38. This was the route that LV and Lios take on their way to the Oregon coast, and they’d recommended it to me.

What a gorgeous route! It swoops and curves and goes between grassy and tree-lined banks and through old towns and alongside a tidal river with water so clear that it reflects the sky. I had to stop for a while and chatted to the traffic controller, a man from San Jose, as I did. He told me to watch out for the elk, and I did: there is an elk viewing
area and I saw a herd, grazing quietly.

I discovered then that my camera battery was flat :: sigh :: I did squeeze out a couple of pictures, but at the first opportunity I also bought a disposable camera to at least get a few shots.

I was surprised to not be at the coast. US-101 isn’t always the coastal highway, but I did go in and out of some nifty towns and forests! Then I was suddenly right beside the Pacific, so incredibly blue and vivid that it brought tears to my eyes.

I didn’t stop as much as I would normally, as I had got into a riding groove and decided to try to make it to Eureka. I would never have made it in one day if I’d had my batteries charged. I can’t wait to go back and see that fantastic blue again.

Around the 300 mile mark my energy started to wane, and I took a break in a rest area alongside a beach. I walked a bit and rested a lot, and then I did the last 43 miles. 101 rolls into Eureka’s high street, and I settled at the Sunrise Motel.

D. showed up at 7 the next morning, having ridden all night.