The Blog With No Name

Day 2

George and I rode to Sturgis with a group about seven years ago. We loved the sight seeing, the people watching, and the demands of the road. Traveling with Doris and John has been amazing. Today we took our time traveling from Eureka to Florence. Our first stop was at the Trees of Mystery.

Paul Bunyan & Babe the Blue Ox

Jenson & George sharing a moment with Big Bear

Paul Bunyan's foot

The Trees of Mystery was founded in 1931 and features a giant statute of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. Paul waves his hand and winks every now and then and talks to the children. I tried to get him to be a guest blogger, but his hand was so large he could not hold the pen. We all noticed the other really large thing from the parking lot. Let's just say Babe the Blue Ox can still father little oxes.  Herds of them. Doris almost get arrested trying to get a picture of the big blue "orb", but we talked her down and headed for safety in the nearby store. Needless to say, Paul wasn't talking to us! We didn't go on the tour to find out what the mystery was, but according to my source, large redwood trees have been carved into shapes illustrating stories about Paul Bunyan and his crew.

We pulled over at one point and were able to take pictures of a group of elk.

Jenson posing in front of the Elk

Elk

 It was early in the morning and the herd was lying down in the grass. We walked a bit too close and a ranger showed up and shooed us away. It was really cool though. Later on that day we rode past another herd. Gorgeous.

On our way up the Oregon Coast we stopped in Gold Beach. George and I have spent at least one night in Gold Beach during our trips. There is not a lot going on in the town. This time we headed for the harbor and had a nice lunch overlooking the water. Then it was onto my favorite town-Bandon!

John & Dee in Bandon's Candy Store

George can't decide where to begin!

The wonderful pier in Bandon

A good friend had been looking for a vacation home on the Oregon Coast and when he read my blog he decided to look into Bandon. Michael is now the proud owner of a nice condominium with, as he describes it, "a peek-a-boo view of the ocean!" So Michael, we showed Doris and John Bandon and they loved it too!

Shortly after taking off from Bandon the rain began to fall.

We love riding in the rain as long as it is the mist side of rain.  Of course the rain was falling by the ocean in a very lush, green area. You have to love people who live in Oregon, they do not allow weather to stop their activies. There were so many cyclists on the road, bike loaded with camping gear, trekking to far off locations. Good for all those healthy people. Sadly, there are also a lot of homeless people walking down the same roads.

We arrived in Florence, Oregon in fairly good shape. We have not seen a lot of riders on the road yet, but we seem to keep running into the same groups. We stayed at the River House Inn, great rooms, free breakfast. We were able to walk to Old Town Florence and have dinner. What a night! There were drinks, oysters, salad, lovely bread, and fresh fish. And of course....laughter.

I decided to use George as today's guest blogger, mostly because there was no one else in the hotel room when I was writing. George had this to say:
"I didn't even hear you last night because I was in my tent and it was raining."  George purchased an apt called Sleep Pillow. He listens to different sounds everynight so he can't hear my noises. I won't tell you what my reply was, but it rhymed with "bite me."

Tomorrow we head to Walla Walla, Washington.  Long day, many hours on the bike.

Good night Florence,
Jenson