Bodega Bay, California
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We left San Francisco on July 4, launching the day from the Golden Gate Bridge with some local motorcyclists after an interview with the ABC news affiliate.
Dusty and I finished the day in the town of Bodega (on Bodega Bay) along California's Highway One. Alfred Hitchcock filmed "The Birds" there.
My Carolina beaches have miles of sand and the occasional rock; the inverse is true of Northern California. It was strange to my Atlantic Coast eyes seeing people swimming in wetsuits and strolling the streets in hoodies, but the bracing winds of the Pacific demanded it.
We stayed in a cat-friendly motel facing the bay. One of the felines sauntered into our room, jumped on each of our beds, and proceeded to lie across my laptop so that no pesky work got in the way of a chin scratch -- California cats and Carolina cats certainly have that tactic in common.
Driving the twistie roads along the Pacific Coast Highway gave me plenty of opportunity to boost my biking skills -- and my spirits. I'll be back, Northern California!
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Majestic Redwoods
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I think it must have been in elementary school, while reading an article in Highlights Magazine, that I decided I wanted to drive through a Redwood. Forty some years later I did. These trees are so resilient that they continue living even after such rough treatment.
I toured Avenue of the Giants in California's Humboldt Redwoods State Park, where I learned about the forest ecosystem. Each tree can dump 500 gallons of water into the atmosphere daily, making the evening air a bit chilly.
Camping in a Redwood grove, I saw squirrels the size of chipmunks and ferns the size of kiddie swimming pools. The only Sasquatch sightings were in the tourist traps.
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The Oregon City Menagerie
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By the time Dusty and I got to Coos Bay, Oregon, we'd had enough of the Pacific Coast winds and headed inland.
Conga Angels Nadine and Mark invited us to stay with them in Oregon City, just outside Portland. Their menagerie included two horses, a mule, a mini-mule, two turkeys, countless pea fowl, five dogs, two cats, a couple of chickens, three goats, two ponds -- koi and trout -- and a llama. That's right, a llama. As a knitter, I coveted his coat!
We took it easy for a day and I got a much-needed haircut. As we prepared to leave for Montana, a coyote made an appearance in broad daylight (they're usually sneakier than that). Mark grabbed a gun while Nadine put the other animals on lockdown. Wile E. Coyote made his escape and we made ours to the Columbia River Gorge en route to Big Sky Country.
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