This morning I left Coos Bay at 9:00 a.m. it was in the 50s so I had my long underwear on along with the usual leather outer covering. It was sunny but it stayed cool along the coast until I headed inland at about 1:30 in the afternoon. From the time I left Coos Bay until about 10 miles north of Florence, US-101 stayed pretty much away from the coast with the exceptions of a short glimpse of the ocean once in a while. For that entire time, there were sand dunes just to my left that even came right up to the back of some of the stores in the towns that lined 101. This meant that there was pretty much a continuous dune from Coos Bay to Florence, a distance of about 60 miles, and it appeared that most of it was open to dune buggy riding. In Winchester there was even a Dune Buggy Festival going on this week, so there were dune buggies, quads, and four wheelers all over the place.
In Florence I came across a delightful little restaurant that caught my eye as I rode by. It was called “Hot Rod Grill.” I have included several pictures of it because it was so unique. It reminded me of several of the places I saw along Route 66, but it was as if it was on steroids. There were classic cars all over the place both on and in the building. There were vintage gas station memorabilia through out the store. Even the seats at the counter were made of motorcycle seats. Two of the booths inside were actual automobiles that had the booths inside the car. You can see a picture of one of those above. When I asked the waitress where I might begin to see the coast, she said that I would see it in about 10 miles and the road would follow the coast for quite a while after that. Sure enough, she was right and I did eventually get to the coast and it was beautiful. I eventually stopped at the Sea Lion Caves and overlook. From their store you could see quite a few sea lions playing in the surf but they were so far down that it was difficult to get a good picture of them. You could pay a fee to get to a closer vantage point, but I opted to skip the walk down because I knew it is also accompanied by a walk back up. From the store there, it was possible to see a delightful lighthouse just to the north. I got a pretty decent picture of it which you can see above.
Eventually I made it to Lincoln City which is where I started to head inland to meet up with my second cousin, David Herr. David owns The Newberg Bike Shoppe in Newberg, OR. After visiting with him at the store, I eventually headed to David’s house in Dundee where I met his family: his wife Cheri, his twin sons, Martin and Garret, his wife’s parents, Keith and Sharon Freeman, and his niece Hanna. They treated me to a great BBQ chicken meal and made me feel right at home. We had a great time visiting and sharing stories about family and travels. The twins were fascinated by the motorcycle so I got a picture of the two of them sitting on the bike.
In Florence I came across a delightful little restaurant that caught my eye as I rode by. It was called “Hot Rod Grill.” I have included several pictures of it because it was so unique. It reminded me of several of the places I saw along Route 66, but it was as if it was on steroids. There were classic cars all over the place both on and in the building. There were vintage gas station memorabilia through out the store. Even the seats at the counter were made of motorcycle seats. Two of the booths inside were actual automobiles that had the booths inside the car. You can see a picture of one of those above. When I asked the waitress where I might begin to see the coast, she said that I would see it in about 10 miles and the road would follow the coast for quite a while after that. Sure enough, she was right and I did eventually get to the coast and it was beautiful. I eventually stopped at the Sea Lion Caves and overlook. From their store you could see quite a few sea lions playing in the surf but they were so far down that it was difficult to get a good picture of them. You could pay a fee to get to a closer vantage point, but I opted to skip the walk down because I knew it is also accompanied by a walk back up. From the store there, it was possible to see a delightful lighthouse just to the north. I got a pretty decent picture of it which you can see above.
Eventually I made it to Lincoln City which is where I started to head inland to meet up with my second cousin, David Herr. David owns The Newberg Bike Shoppe in Newberg, OR. After visiting with him at the store, I eventually headed to David’s house in Dundee where I met his family: his wife Cheri, his twin sons, Martin and Garret, his wife’s parents, Keith and Sharon Freeman, and his niece Hanna. They treated me to a great BBQ chicken meal and made me feel right at home. We had a great time visiting and sharing stories about family and travels. The twins were fascinated by the motorcycle so I got a picture of the two of them sitting on the bike.
