Lunch Ride

I forgot to put the SD card back into the Sony A5000 camera before I headed out today during the lunch hour, so I had to resort to the camera in my iPhone 4S.

I rode east on Quincy Road, past the junction with Watkins Road to the turnoff that leads to Post 19 of the International Union of Operating Engineers.  The plains were covered with a bit of snow but you could still see the taller vegetation sticking up through the snow.

The new tires helped gain and maintain traction, especially on 

this trail which had loose gravel underneath.

That's Quincy Road, looking east.

Not much else to report, currently enjoying a relative "heat wave" with temperatures in the high 40s to low 50s farenheit and no snow in the immediate forecast.  I think the cold and snow we just experienced is headed east.

Previously: Snowy Test Ride

Uraling the Pacific Coast Highway - Day 56: Still in Salem, OR

Today, I stopped by Raceway Services to show the guys the clutch dragging behaviour being exhibited by Valencia when things are hot.

After successfully showing the behavior even after they adjusted the clutch cable to their satisfaction, the decision was made to tear into the clutch to see what's causing the dragging.  Parts were ordered, and are being sent overnight.  I'm due back at Raceway Services tomorrow around mid-morning and they're going to "make it right'.  This is per Jim and also Frank who is the new owner of Raceway Services!

I met Frank today, and he's got his own URAL on order.  He ordered an orange one just like Valencia as his daughter likes the color orange, to the point of having it the dominant color in her own bedroom.

So, as I had to stick around, I rode out to McMinnville, OR and located the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum located near there.

The museum is quite the setup, much fancier and financed than the smaller museum near Tillamook.  It's main attraction is the Spruce Goose, the largest airplane built by famed millionaire Howard Hughes.  The entrance fee is a bit pricey but the exhibits are top notch.

I shot lots of photos but as this is a moto-blog and I am not that much of an aviation enthusiast, all you get is the ones that meant something to me in particular.  :)

 The goose is one big aircraft, I bet its bigger than an Air Force C5!

Link to first video of the Spruce Goose
Link to second video of the Spruce Goose
Link to last video of the Spruce Goose
(in case you're wondering, was talking on the phone while filming)

 I liked the color scheme on this Russian plane, probably part of their version of

the Blue Angels 

 The ME-262 "Swallow", awesome first generation jet, an

aircraft I've always thought of as quite beautiful

 A pretty new looking URAL GearUP on the floor....what's up with that?

 An older URAL with a pretty color scheme was the second URAL

on display at the museum

 I liked the way they hung this "montage"

 A slightly goofy way to carry visitors around the large three building complex

Looks like the MIG-25 is chasing Valencia!

I left in the mid-afternoon, having spent several hours in the museum's buildings.  They even have a movie theater with aviation specific offerings but I skipped the showings.  The day had turned hot and it was with relief that I got back to the hotel I'd stayed in last night and got myself the same room I slept in last night.

Oh, and while talking to Martha over other matters while perusing the museum's offerings, it looks like I'll be heading towards Colorado once the repairs are done tomorrow.  It's time to go home.  I am road-weary and one should always end a trip on a high note.

Uraling the Pacific Coast Highway - Day 55: Long Beach WA to Salem OR

Today started gloomy and overcast with a threat of rain.  I broke camp and got Valencia all packed up after cooking breakfast in the RV park.  By 9:30 AM I was back on US 101 southbound.

I must say, there wasn't many picture opportunities in Washington, for pictures of the ocean.  The gray skies and haze were not exactly helpful either for that matter.

Then, as I rode along in Oregon after crossing the long bridge into Astoria, things started to look up a bit.  One moment it was overcast:

then I entered a mountain tunnel and out the other side things were nice and sunny:

So there I was, near the Barview Jetty Park, taking a picture of these rock formation:

When suddenly I hear somebody hitting the horn on what I thought was a passing car.  I turned to follow the car and what I saw instead was the approach of two riders on motorcycles.  It was Gary and Deb from the Alaska Ferry!

We had us a short happy reunion, and rode together on towards the town of Tillamook about ten miles away.  After tanking up, they led the way to the Tillamook Cheese Factory and Creamery.  They're fans of the cheese and ice cream produced by this company and they were there to pick up both.

Quite the setup, the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  You can see the cheese being cut up and packaged from a viewing room:

 Those big blocks of cheese eventually make their way to the other end

of this large processing room, get sized up, and into their individual packets.

 Gary and Deb are huge fans also of the ice cream produced by 

Tillamook Creamery.

As ice cream was consumed along with some rather tasty pepperoni meat sticks, they told me about this nearby aviation museum, so that became our next destination.

I got there ahead of Gary and Deb as they had an errand to run.  The museum is established inside the large blimp hangar built by the US Navy during World War II as part of the Tillamook Naval Air Station.  The planes inside are apparently flyable by their owners.  Quite the display and assortment contained both within and outside as well.  I'll just show you some of the ones I found most interesting:

 The Guppy

 Seaplane, used to rescue downed aviators at sea

 A Chinese XJ-750, I think it also goes by the name of Chiang-Jang

A rougher cousin to Valencia's ancestors

 The only Russian plane I saw, I found the "camo" pattern interesting

 I wonder how many URAL rigs could fit inside this Guppy?

 This old blimp hangar is huge!

 A K Class Blimp outside the hangar during the war.  The blimp is 252 ft long.

 The Blimp Squadron inside the hangar....talk about a tight fit!

 Gary and Deb at the NAS sign outside the museum

 Gary and Deb prep to depart for points south, I was headed to Salem, OR

I am sure we'll find each other on the road as we're all, as of now anyways,

all heading south along the coast, towards the San Francisco Bay area.

It's really not very hard to find the museum.

The rest of the day was spent first riding towards McMinnville where I thought I'd checked out Howard Hughes Spruce Goose but I ended up bagging on the idea once I got near the town as it was rush hour and I was too tired to deal with it.

Instead, I headed into Salem and found a room at a Howard Johnson's hotel for the night.  Tomorrow, I plan to ride to Raceway Services to both return the second PowerArc ignition components to them and to have them check out the clutch drag issue I am experiencing when the engine is hot.  I hope they find whatever is causing it, its quite annoying at the end of the day, to deal with it.  Again, not a show stopper but definitely annoying.

Valencia ran great otherwise, but in the warmth of this marvelously sunny day in Oregon, you could tell she didn't like the heat.  

Uraling the Pacific Coast Highway - Day 54: Everett to Long Beach, WA

I left the gracious hospitality of my college friends Jerry and Kelly, along with the fun company of my God-Daughter Alexis and her sisters, Chelsea and Brett this morning shortly after 08:30 after a simple breakfast of toast and coffee.

I went south on I-5 to the 205th Street exit, aka the Edmonds-Kingston Ferry exit.  It's a straight shot along this road for a few miles and then one turns onto the terminal.  Toll booths separate you from $11.05, which is the cost of a one-way ferry ride to the other side of Puget Sound.  As Valencia is classified as a motorcycle, I was able to bypass the existing queues of cagers and once I turned in my ticket at a second tollboth; was able to park near the ferry.

I chatted with some fellow riders who were there already, and soon it was about ten of us waiting for the signal to board the ferry.  I was the second motorcycle on board but because of the vehicle width, was guided to the front of the second vehicle lane from the right on the main deck.  Sweet.

 The two-wheeled motorcycles were in the rightmost lane as you can see.

 Easy on ramp for motorcycles on this ferry

Both ends of the ferry are identical it seems, what was the stern when

we first boarded, would become the bow when we left the dock.

Here's our ferry's "sister ship" inbound from Kingston, WA

as we headed to the dock she'd just left

The trip across the sound was uneventful, a bit windy but not cold.  The ferry was not really very full and there was room left open in the car decks as well.

I got off first at Kingston and proceeded on through the town and followed the below route, which had been outlined to me by Glenn of GlennandSun, folks who've been following my Alaska ride and whom I was going to meet for lunch near Bremerton, WA.

I spotted the Dennys Restaurant that was to be used as the rendezvous point and there were Glenn and Sun as expected:

Glenn and Sun and their Forest Fog GearUP

Glenn is a retired US Army E-8, he'd made the E-9 list but decided it was time to retire and do other things shortly after Operation Desert Storm.  He was an infantryman who among his varied assignments, shared with me having served in the two of the same units!  He was, at different times of course, both in the 82nd Airborne and the 1st Armored Division; as was I.  Small world huh?

Sun, his wife of eleven years, is an electronics whiz and with her brother they run an electrical controls company.  Glenn's second career is as a Journeyman Mechanic/Welder in the Bremerton Naval Shipyard and I believe he works to cut up decommissioned ships for the Navy.  Glenn, please let me know if I got the details right, OK?

Glenn and Sun then guided me with their rig to a spot near the naval yard where I could pose Valencia for shots of the decommissioned aircraft carriers that are in the process of being converted into razor blades and such.  

 Looking in rather sad shape, the decommissioned USS Independence (CV 62)

 Behind Valencia, the decommissioned USS Kittyhawk CV 63 on the left

and again the USS Independence on the right.  I spent many a day on the 

Kittyhawk as a civilian, helping to install computers in their brand new 

fiber optic network.

As we had been too close in the first two shots of the carriers to get their 

full length, Glenn guided me to the above spot for a better view.

Glenn and Sun then guided me onto the other side of the water you see above, to try and get a different angle on the carriers and perhaps see if we could get a picture of the decommissioned 688 Class submarines that are also being cut up for scrap.

It turned out we were too far away for a good shot of the submarines, even at 20x zoom on my camera.  But here's a panoramic shot of the carriers:

Left to Right:

Independence, Kittyhawk, unknown cruiser, unknown carrier, USS Stennis and 

USS George H. W. Bush CVN 77

Navy pictures done with, we cruised along to the small town of Allyn where "Big Bubba's Burgers" is located for a late lunch and enjoyable conversation.

 Cute mod on the state's road sign logo

We had us some great tasting veggie burgers and beer bartered onion rings as we talked about URALs, past military experiences and got to know each other a little bit.  Soon though, it was time to part ways, they heading back north towards Bremerton and I heading south towards Westport to check out sights mentioned by Glenn.  Great meeting you both!

Westport is a small town on the water, its where Gleen and Sun have some property and they recommended checking it out for the sight of boats and a lighthouse.  I didn't find the lighthouse, but I really didn't spend a lot of time looking for it either.

Interesting observation tower at the end of the Westport Marina

I left Westport behind and followed the below route towards Long Beach.  I'd been told one could ride one's vehicle on the beaches in Washington, as they're considered part of the state's road system.  Cool, I thought.

Once I got to Long Beach, I found camping space for the night at the Driftwood RV Park, power and wifi along with soft grass campsite for $20, pretty nice.

Before I set up camp though, I moseyed over to the beach access road in the downtown area and went onto the sand.  Here's some shots I took before I tried to get closer to the water:

Nice sunset colors eh?

I watched a couple of trucks and SUVs go by, seemingly having no issues with the soft looking sand closer to the water.  So, in a fit of "why not", I decided to try the same path they took with Valencia.

Big Mistake!

Valencia's narrow tires, though shod with fresh knobby tires, quickly became diggers into the soft sand and soon she was up to her belly in sand!  Heck, her left muffler was buried under the sand!  Crap.

Tried for a few to get her out on my own, shoveled sand around for a bit but then a couple and some other men showed up and offered to help push.  The tide was coming in too, which was adding to the urgency of getting Valencia unstuck.

Sorry, no pics of Valencia stuck in the sand, just the hole she 

left behind once she was pushed out by the good Samaritans that 

came along in the nick of time.

Note, I tried 2WD, it just made Valencia basically unsteerable and didn't get her unstuck at all.  I smoked the clutch a bit in all this as well but eventually we got her unstuck and onto firmer sand.  I thanked them all and got off the beach soon afterwards.  That was enough playing in the sand for the day!

Quite the claim being made, it's like 35 miles of continuous beach....

I got back on main street, got some dinner at the local Chinese restaurant and went back to the Driftwood RV Park to setup up camp and then eat dinner while working on this posting.  Quite the day, Valencia ran great by the way.  I met new friends, tried my luck at beach sand and found the narrow wheels are useless on sand, received the aid of good Samaritans and lived to tell the tale.