Day 33...I find a long lost relative

Day 33, July 12, 2014 (Saturday)

Today I left the dreary little town of Aberdeen, WA, and ended up camping along the Rogue River in Grants Pass, OR.  I didn't make camp until nearly 9PM to make up for some non-riding hours spent in Portland.  The music today will reflect the length of this day and the push I had to make to get the miles on the bike.  The Longest Day


I awoke this morning the remnants of the fog that closed in upon Aberdeen, WA last night.  It was a cool and crisp 62 degrees when I set out and fog was still kissing the tops of the hills as I turned the bike south towards San Diego.

Aberdeen is an industrial port town and not particularly attractive.  I suppose that I really don't do it justice since I spent zero time in making an effort to see its sights.  But what I DID see didn't thrill me, and at low tide it was no bed of roses to the nose.  The roads were damp, the sky about 20 feet over my head, and the rain forest a mass of shadows as I drove out.

 

 

 

Washington is by far (by a wide margin) the state with the highway troopers out giving citations.  I met one of Washington's finest this morning about 9AM.  I was in the midst of a 6 car chain and we all got pulled over simultaneously and each issued a citation.  The speed limit had dropped from 70 to 55 for no apparent reason that I could see and all of us missed the signs (if they were even there).  I guess I'll have to figure out how to send in a payment... the internet is not listed as an option.  In the picture below you can just see the 6th car behind the police vehicle.  The others were in front of me.

 The Washington coast is beautiful, but in a mossy, mildewed kind of way.  The houses all look like they've been growing mold for a decade or two.  Rooftops had moss or grass growing in muck accumulated over the years.  A lot of rust was in evidence and if I were king, I'd make people wash their boats, cars, and houses to start then maybe get the mold off the buildings.  Maybe then I'd have them clean up their yards.  As I drove through some of the little towns I found myself humming the theme from the movie Deliverance.

On the plus side though, the scenery is dramatic.  From low tide oyster beds to tumbling rivers and from rain forests to verdant fields... Washington is just a little larger than life.

 

 

Just before I got to Portland I received a phone call from my cousin Glen inviting me to stop by and visit and have lunch with him and his wife, Jane.  I had tried to contact them yesterday but my pone numbers didn't work.  My sister, Claudia, got on the job though and tracked them down.  They live in a suburb of Portland and I crossed the mighty Columbia River on the way to their house.

 

I last saw Glen (who is now a retired physician) in (if memory is correct) 1969. He was a young doctor just coming home from a tour in Viet Nam when he drove his muscle car through my home town and visited.  He has a beautiful home in a country club setting and took me to lunch at the country club.  I felt comparatively skaggy as I looked around at all the neat and well appointed golfers sharing the dining room with us.  It was great trying to catching up, but we couldn't get it all done.  We had time for little else than the ritual showing of grandchildren photos and quickly recapping where we've been for the past 40+ years.  I plan to come back for a real visit sooner rather than later.

I managed to spend 3+ hours with Glen and Jane and wished I had more time to share, but I needed to make some miles if I was going to link up with my cousin David and his wife, Ingrid, on Sunday.  As it was I had to jump onto the interstate and pass up much of Oregon's coast.  I'll save that for another day, perhaps with my wife along to share the sights.  By the time I got to Grants Pass the shadows were getting pretty long.