Day 6 – Humbug Mountain State Park to Brookings, OR (miles 51 / 336 total)

Written on Monday May 17, 2010 4:52 PM

Sunday was a cold, desolate, windy, hilly, fun day.

I stayed a little longer at the campground then I usually do, 11:o5AM to be exact. I was hoping to let some of the fog burn off but it proved inconsequential as the fog layer remained around 1,000 ft. As with most of Oregon, the road was insulated by tall, green, majestic trees. A rain that is described as mist in Oregon seemed to keep the wind at bay. It made me think of Gordon Lightfoot’s Early Morning Rain, one of my favorite songs (it’s sung my many others including, Bob Dylan, Elvis, Grateful Dead). See the lyrics at the bottom of this post.

After going inland for a few miles the 101 hit the coast and opened up to continuous ocean vistas. I kept asking myself, at what point do I stop taking pictures of this. I suppose you don’t stop.

While beautiful, it was also empty. Cars would pass a few feet away from my acoustic motorbike and yet they felt miles away. Where were they going? What were they thinking at that moment? Are they in a good mood? What’s on the radio? For some reason I wondered these questions.

I missed a turn off of 101 (not sure how you miss a turn off at 10 mph) which I wasn’t too worried about, as long as I’m heading south I’m heading home. The good side of this was that I got to ride on the historic coastal road further down the road.

Later I pulled into Gold Beach for coffee and to rest prior to the 800 ft climb ahead. When I ordered coffee cake the guy behind me mentioned to me that it would take a while to burn that off. Getting fat is not on my list of worries.

Pulling into Brookings I decided to stay in a motel as rain seemed immanent. It was weird to not worry about raccoons as I slept.

Overall it was a good day. I met Tom and Don, two Marines that are riding their motorcycles up the coast. I also ran into Marco from Sweden riding his bike around the country (impressive).

Pavement was the answer that I was looking for on yesterday’s. Maybe next time.

Today’s trivia can be found on in the picture library.

Towns passed:
Ophir (pop. 60)
Wedderburn (pop. unknown)
Gold Beach (pop. 1,897)
Pistol River had a post office so I’m not sure if that counts as a town.
Brookings (pop. 5,447 +1 tonight)

thanks for reading.

Sellers

 

In the early mornin' rain
With a dollar in my hand
And an aching in my heart
And my -pockets full of sand
I'm a long ways from home
And I missed my loved one so
In the early mornin' rain
With no place to go
Out on runway number nine
Big 707 set to go
Well I?m out here on the grass
Where the pavement never grows
Where the liquor tasted good
And the women all were fast
There she goes my friend
She's rolling out at last
Hear the mighty engines roar
See the silver wing on high
She's away and westward bound
For above the clouds she flies
Where the mornin' rain don't fall
And the sun always shines
She'll be flying over my home
In about three hours time
This ol' airport?s got me down
It's no earthly good to me
'Cause I?m stuck here on the ground
Cold and drunk as I might be
Can't jump a jet plane
Like you can a freight train
So I best be on my way
In the early mornin' rain
So I best be on my way
In the early mornin' rain
So I best be on my way
In the early mornin' rain