Another Great Ride with Friends

Dear Family & Friends                Day 3
Today was probably the most relaxing day of the trip so far. We rode 275 miles but in perfect weather, great views, and relaxing roads. Enough curves to be interesting but fast enough to cover some distance without too much effort. And smooth too!
What makes a trip like this possible is good friends to share it with. As exciting as these trips are it is hard to find people to travel with. First they have to have the time and resources. At my age most of my friends are retired so they have the time but few still have the interest, are still riding a motorcycle,  or have the health to ride big trips like this. And finally it is even harder to find friends that will put up with me for three weeks!Also these trips can be challenging. In the past we have dealt with broken bones and heart attacks. This trip it is constipation. The latter usually end the trip and the rider gets lots of sympathy, but the last one is the hardest on the rider since he has to keep riding and gets no sympathy. The victim will remain nameless.
Brian and Ray are great companions to travel with. We have similar political views which these days is helpful in maintaining the peace.  We have similar interests but are different enough to be interesting to talk to and both are more than intelligent enough to have interesting conversations with in the evening. A great combination. I feel fortunate to know them. And they are still talking to me.
This morning we got off to a reasonable start and rode about an hour plus before we had breakfast. The morning air was cool and damp and the views terrific. By the time we stopped for breakfast we were all plenty hungry.  I tend not to make good choices when I am really hungry and I feel that what I eat on road trips stays on the road.. At least I hope so.. So too say I didn’t eat healthy this morning was probably an understatement. It was the opposite of any thing I normally eat… chicken fried steak, gravy, hash browns, and toast.. Not exactly American Heart Association approved, but heck it is only once in a  while and at least on the road I only eat twice a day.. that is my excuse and I am sticking to it..

After breakfast we continued our ride up the coast. As we left Crescent City a young women in a beat up old car started to pull into traffic in front of me. I thought I slowed up enough to give her plenty of room, but evidently she didn’t agree since as soon as she got in front of me she gave me the middle finger! I was quite surprised but didn’t react and figured she was just have a bad day. I followed her for about 5 miles and then she turned off the highway, but not before giving me the finger again! Was it something I said???After an hour and half we stopped for coffee. The patio at the shop over looked the ocean which was total fogged in. As we drank our coffee within minutes the fog lifted to reveal a spectacular view.. Life is good.
We continued riding north at a relaxed pace. One of my favorite things to do is listen to music while I ride. When the rhythm of the music matches the rhythm of the road it is heaven. Things just blend together and I feel like an eagle soaring. Once in a  while I get a song  out of rythm with the road but still has a good beat. I can’t help but react to it. A Michael Jackson song came on, Beat It which has a strong driving beat that didn’t match the road so I just started swaying my motorcycle back and forth to the song.( It takes a very strong beat for me to feel it since I am rhythmically challenged. Lost my rhythm gland in a  terrible industrial accident when I was young). Any ways I had my bike swaying to and fro as I went down the highway. I am sure Brian and Ray along with other drivers probably thought I had lost my mind.We finished up the day in a quaint seaside town of Yatchat.  No I did NOT spell yacht wrong, that is the name of the town! We went out for a good seafood dinner in the same restaurant Bonnie and I ate in a year ago when we drove down the coast A fitting end to a great day.. More travels tomorrow.

Jason

“Creative Writing uninhibited by grammar or spelling”