I am having a bit of a hard time concentrating here as a small black bear has just paraded through camp and is now wrestling around in the blackberry bushes behind me… I am in Canyonville Oregon near Medford but I’ll get back to that as I would like to start off by returning to South Beach where I was a week ago. Once again I stayed a day longer than I had planned. The main reason for my extended stay in South Beach Park was simply to enjoy the beaches and explore the town of Newport. As it turns out the ‘historical’ Nye Beach and waterfront area did not hold any surprises but it was a good ‘walk about’ all the same. The clam chowder at ‘Mo’s’ was very good and was probably the days highlight. I did a 300 km loop on the motorcycle via Hwy 20 to Philomath and back on Hwy 34 via Alsea and Tidewater my second day. Hwy 20 was a little busy and was a pretty casual ride. The return trip on 34 had some awesome banked twisty sections with really good pavement. I caught up to a truck in one spot where it was quite exciting so I just turned around and did again.
After leaving South Beach I cruised down and past Reedsport to the William M. Tugman Park and stayed there for 2 nights. Again I took the bike and did a loop down some hard top forestry roads via Sulphur Springs to Crow and then back via Lorane and then onto Hwy 99 back to camp. The roads were decent overall considering they are basically logging roads. The trees grew right up to the roads edge so over all there wasn’t a lot to see until it opened up around Lorane. Around Lorane there is a lot of pretty country side and small farms.
I have noticed some possible slippage on my bikes clutch so this has me a little concerned. The weather has been getting a little cooler and I find myself putting on a sweater at night.
I arrived in Canyonville on Saturday night and found there is a casino in town just waiting to take my money. I started the Saturday evening with the shower, shave, and shine my boots routine but I found myself needing the pass-code for the shower. That’s when I met Mylan from Nevada… Him and his big cowboy hat came from around the corner, and with what I guess is a Nevada cowboy accent he says ‘I recon you’ll be needin the code to get in that there shaer! Two, fave, Three.’ I thanked him and went about my shaer. Once cleaned up I went and introduced myself to Mylan and his wife Ivona. They were very nice and had quite an interesting story to tell. Mylan would be about 25 years old, my height, and maybe 140 lbs soaking wet. He was very polite, optimistic, and a true delight to listen to. His cute Hispanic wife was about 5 months pregnant and they were both sleeping in a nylon tent on the ground for the past couple of weeks. They had been staying in camp while he found some work in the area. He found part time work with the police force and has volunteered at the fire hall as well. He was hard core cowboy (straight out of the book ‘Lonesome Dove’) with belt buckle, bow legs and chewing tobacco. Before coming to Oregon he was a cattle hand in Nevada and drove 3000 head of cattle from one state to the other on his horse and with his guns. You see; Mylan says ‘I couldn’t live without my guns!’ He has a concealed weapons permit, a hand gun in the tent, and a Winchester in the truck, he packs his own load, and shoots a lot of his own food. I felt safer knowing he was in camp. He even shot a bear right between the eyes with his 44 one time. I could probably use him right about now… actually I think the bear is gone! Anyhow, I headed down to the casino and sat at the blackjack table until 1:30 in the morning. I actually left $25 up. We had a fun table on the most part. One miserable old fart sits down, learns I am from Canada, and went on to tell me ‘The biggest prick I ever met was from Canada!’ he continues ‘ And you look like a pussy!’ What do you say to something like that? I thought ‘Wow, he’s 50 years old and doesn’t know what pussy looks like!’ That boy needs to get out of his cabin! I didn’t feel singled out though. He managed to insult everyone at the table in less time than it took him to lose all his money. I wanted to dress him up as a bear and send him back to camp.
I did 2 rides out of Canyonville and both were spectacular. The roads were great and the scenery was amazing. The clutch continues to slip when I roll on the throttle and I will have to stop in Medford to see what can be done about it. It sounds like a $500++ bill to me.
I’ll head to Medford today and then I will check out the Shakespearean theatre in Ashland for the following day. I will try to get my ass to California the day after.
