Surviving ... or the show must go on.

We were pushing ourselves forward. One day at the time. Our minds were too occupied with thoughts and memories of Hertta. Sometimes I got a feeling of guilt like it would be wrong to continue without her ... continuing this journey, making blog entries like nothing would have happened.

We rode along the west coast and the weather was generally chilly, cloudy and rainy which reflected pretty much how we felt.

Walking along the beach in Seaside

Nosy Ulpu.

In Yachats we found a nice motel with direct beach access. The beach was inviting, yet the weather remained unfriendly.

Girls got a nice Scooby-Doo blanket.

Autumn beach weather - really foggy.

Seemed like the ocean demands more land.

When the beach was not fortified, the waves clearly take their toll.

Skippy made some really delicious creamy soup.

The next day was much better for riding. Sunny with some overcast, warm yet with some strong winds once in a while. We rode south on the mostly curvy Hwy101 along the west coast towards Gold Beach through many beautiful forests and parks. When the road was closer to the shore we could admire the cliffs and the beaches.

Coastline along Hwy 101 in Oregon.

Plenty of rocks along the shore creating stunning scenarios.

Lyra made a new friend.

Skippy & girls.

It rained all the time in Gold Beach. The weather forecast expressed the chance of rain as probability and they promised 100% rain for the next few days all the way to San Francisco. That was not too tempting. Maybe the weather reflected our mood. It had been one week since Hertta passed away and we missed her still very much. One of the most difficult moments were to fall asleep without hearing her snoring.

It was raining all day sometimes heavy sometimes milder. The ride along the shore on Hwy101 continued to be very scenic. Plenty of cool rocks coming out of the water and typically the creeks flew into the ocean by forming deep canyons. Stunning forests again on Hwy 197 and 199 towards Obrien. It was raining so heavily on many nice spots that I did not take the camera out.

The last tens of miles towards Happy camp brought us back into the mountains. The Indian Creek Road climbed over 1400m altitude and for a tiny moment I saw the sun through the clouds. The Garmin maps did not like that road AT ALL. Navigation was a total nightmare as the GPS told me to take all sorts of turn towards gravel roads of which many looked like hiking paths to me. This re-calculation route play went on and on until we reached Happy Camp ... somewhat annoying.

I think it was good that I booked the motel in advance as otherwise I might have gotten second thoughts on riding there in this horrible weather. This leg was only some 200km long and we were soaking wet even though we had our rain overalls on all the time. I got an extra hairdryer from the reception and I was busy getting our stuff dryish. Tomorrow would be another riding day with 100% chance of rain ... I could hardly wait.

Our track about 850km

Skippy got herself together and made another travelogue.

~ Wolfi