This week has seen us pass our 12,500^th mile and complete the mission of riding from East Coast to West Coast USA. We have been 11 weeks on the road, which sometimes seems longer and other times seems like the blink of an eye.

What we have seen in that time is unbelievable.  Each day we meet people who give us new ideas and suggestions of roads to take and places to visit. We know we shall never manage them all in this one trip.  Some ideas we have stored away for another time, for revisiting by car or camper van in the future, others we may just have to accept we may not see.  My mind runs on overdrive trying to recall everything that it has recorded.  We are so lucky.

Today saw us leaving Crater Lake, with a smattering of frost on the sidecar cover.  Brrr, it was extremely chilly again.  The motel owner told me to ‘Try and Keep Warm’ with a cheeky grin.  Still, the cold only lasted perhaps 30 minutes before it made double figures.

The ride today took us westwards through beautiful tree lined roads with rivers running alongside, the Rogue River ran alongside us for a long time. We also rode through a town called Wonder.

We are in Crescent City, California tonight, and on the way here Paul collected information from the Information Centre about riding through the Redwood State Park tomorrow.  We cannot wait, as we have already had a glimpse just on the way into town of these magnificent trees.

We had a great fish dinner at a Fisherman’s restaurant at the harbour opposite the motel, then took a walk through the harbour, where we were lucky enough to see pelicans fishing.

I suppose the thing about being at 4,500 feet above sea level means that you’re going to be pretty chilly in the morning.

Even though we didn’t set off until 9 ish, the temperature was still down at 4 degrees Celsius despite the glorious sunshine.  It was only about a 20-mile ride to the park, but I didn’t realise until about 2 miles to go that my vents were open on my trousers! No wonder my legs were so cold. 

Once in to the park, there was the deep joy of sitting in a road works queue, with an expected delay of 30 minutes.  Luckily, it wasn’t 30 minutes because the wind was whipping across our faces and taking our breath away.

Of course, returning to a National Park means the inevitable traffic, and people, but once we had adjusted to that, we thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Crater Lake is a relatively small park, with a driving route of 33 miles around it.  It is, however, extremely beautiful and interesting.  It was made a National park in 1902, but was formed 7,700 years ago by an exploding volcano.  The volcano exploded where a mountain peak called Mazama once stood, leaving behind a deep basin.  The basin was filled by centuries of rain and snow forming the deepest of blue lakes.

The lake is 6 miles across at its widest point, and holds 4.9 trillion gallons of water.

The Mazama volcano is not extinct, just sleeping and forms a part of the Cascade range of volcanoes that reaches from California to British Columbia in Canada.

The park only opens from late June to mid October, as there is an average snowfall of 44 feet, which makes the roads and surrounds impassable.

We are staying again tonight at Lake Lemolo, which is a very tranquil (although still a little odd) place tp rest.

We began this morning at 20 feet above sea level, and ended our day at 4,500 feet above sea level.

The going today was on true motorcycling roads.  Starting off on Pacific Highway 101 with the sea mist drenched roads through we rode through twisty corners wending away parallel to the ocean.

We stopped for a look at Heceta Head Lighthouse and Sea Lion Cave.  We were above the cave and the calls of the Sea Lions were so loud, it was like a pack of barking dogs, with the occasional howl. 

Yesterday, at Yaquina the small fishing town we stopped at, it was possible to buy fish for feeding to the many seals that lined the boardwalks out to sea.  We thought how much better it was to hear and see those wonderful Sea Lion’s in their natural environment, diving for fish, and flipping up out of the water.

Heceta Head was also a sight to behold, nestling into the side of a large protruding rock, working away to keep ships safe.  A very famous Oregon sight.

Later, our route turned us Eastward back through thick forests, before we were suddenly surrounded by hills covered in scorched grass.  This went on for perhaps 10 miles.

We stopped at a Gas Station to ask about the next Trading Post, as we knew there would be nothing to eat, nor any shops at tonight’s stop.  Paul asked a fellow motorcyclist, who was most helpful advising him about the Trading Post, plus Gas Stations and a restaurant on the way to Crater Lake, our destination tomorrow.  He also had some good suggestions for our onward journey, after visiting Crater Lake.  Lastly, he told us about how the county is just at the end of the hot season, where there is now High Fire Risk.  The rains will begin in about 3 weeks time and continue on and off until the beginning of July, thus explaining why the trees are so very green.

After having a lovely lunch at the Trading Post, we bought some supplies, and rode the last 50 miles to Lemolo Lake pretty much alone on the wonderful roads.  The Lemolo Lake Resort is a little strange, but perhaps only as you would expect with something that really is in the middle of nowhere.  We shall head out shortly for a walk around the lake.

We were off this morning, and back onto the Pacific highway 101.  Being Sunday, and with good weather for early ‘Fall’ apparently, the roads were very busy, with all types of travellers, motorcyclists, cars, classic cars, off road vehicles, and pick up vehicles were loaded up in their backs with all types of dog, fishing gear, monkey bikes, people, etc etc.

The weather was sunny and a constant 16 degrees, with a chilly wind from the Pacific Ocean.  Once again, the views were endless and sometimes ethereal because of the sea mists.

The evergreen forests full of fir trees and conifers that line the roads are very near to the ocean, and once the road sweeps on the inside of them it’s hard to tell you’re riding by the sea, apart, of course from the salty wafts constantly drifting inside my helmet.

Along this coast there are endless fisheries, seafood cafes and restaurants. Beautiful in summer and fall, but what of winter in these parts? We ran in and out of tsunami hazard areas, high wind areas, snow zones and signs warning of flooding being possible on the roads.  It could be very bleak I imagine.  In fact, when we stopped for tonight at Yachats, in an Ocean View Motel, we took a walk alongside the ocean, and saw endless dead crab that had been flung onto the beach, where the seas are just too tough for them to live.

We made a later start this morning.  It was my Mum’s 70^th birthday on Tuesday, and I wanted to call her today in particular, because she was having a birthday party. As we are eight hours behind the UK, I had to get the timing right to call Mum at 6pm, and I was really pleased I did, to wish her a great party.

We had decided to have a shorter ride today, and meandered along through the beautiful countryside of Washington. Sometimes the road took us by the ocean, sometimes by beautiful rivers, accompanied by plenty of forest.

The way we rode took us through a large part of the Lewis and Clark heritage trail. These two were explorers in the early 1800’s and their expedition started from St Louis in the Mid West, passing through the Continental Divide over to the Pacific West. Their job was to create maps of the area and find a practical route across the terrain.  It was also to stake claim to the land to keep out the Europeans and British.

The route we chose into Oregon took us to a small toll ferry which crossed a few miles from Washington into Oregon. Sadly, and Paul will say it was my fault because I needed the loo, we arrived just 5 minutes after the ferry had left, and had to wait 55 minutes for it to return and set off again!  This was actually quite nice, as it was truly beautiful at the little ferry station, and it gave us today’s opportunity for chatting with people.

I must say how nice it is to be back moving on, and having the opportunity for meeting new people again, although they seem a little different here so far.  There were some very friendly fellow motorcyclists on the boat, but the car drivers say hello, have a good look around but seem a little more shy about asking questions straight away. 

One lady motorcyclist who was riding on the back of her boyfriend’s bike was thoroughly unimpressed with the idea of sitting in the ‘cart’, and thought the idea of visiting Central and South America was akin to heading straight to hell. It’s a good job there are plenty of others telling us how wonderful it will be, and how everyone is friendly there.

What a variety of people with differing views make up this wonderful place called the United States.

We look forward to chatting with many more of them.