Adventures By Guy

Not a long day in term of miles, but it was a long day. We left the motel late and went to a restaurant I had seen the night before as we drove through town (Duffy’s). I saw they had fresh Dungeness Crab omelet. So I tried it. Barely any crab meat in it but lots of cheese! Hash browns and an English Muffin. $25. And since it was a late morning I said I would try their homemade wild blackberry pie with ice cream. It was soft serve… what’s up with that!?? It was ok. I have tried some rhubarb pie and ice cream up in Neah Bay in WA. It was ok. I have come to the conclusion that if I want good pie I have to have Loraine make me one. Her pies are delicious and I am not just saying that because I am used to them. Her crust is better and they just plain taste better. She made me a deal a long ago… if I wanted an apple pie then I had to peel the apples. I have become a very good peeler of aapples Anyway, my bill was $50 for breakfast after a tip. Whew!
Left Grays Harbor and headed south on US 101. We will follow it down the coast. We didn’t see a lot of the ocean at first. We saw glimpses of it but we were going through stately columns of trees. Then we got down towards the Columbia River and got some nice curvy roads right along the ocean.
By leaving so late the coastal fog had gone away. The overcast was still there but if you’re along the west coast that’s to be expected. We crossed over at Astoria and that is quite the bridge. So much history in Astoria as that’s where Lewis and Clark hit the Pacific and established a Fort. Then headed back home. Just amazing when you think about it. Done in 1805!
I had noticed my front tire making a funny noise when going slower and it didn’t feel right. Just south of Astoria Scott pulls over in a parking lot. I start looking at my front tire. Oh! I can push this tread in and it pops out! Uh, oh! Tire tread is separating from the carcass. This was also due to me under inflating my tires. Yes, I had raised them both but the damage had been done. It was Sunday and everything was closed. I was in a parking lot, had the tools and tire. I didn’t have a compressor with enough volume to seat the tire. What to do?
I got on the road and went the speed limit (which wasn’t hard do as a lot of cars) and started thinking along the way after saying a prayer that the tire wouldn’t blow and a solution would come about. About 15 later it came to me that I didn’t need a business to be open. (Sunday evening) I just needed a compressor. With that thought I started looking for a home with toys or a shop. I saw a few but I was by them before I really saw them. Ah well, keep going. Next town down I roll into it all the while looking around. I saw a large U-Haul place and it had an open sign lit up! I walk in all geared up and he looks at me… Can I help you? I hope so, you have a large air compressor? I just need to change a tire and I need air to seat the bead. He doesn’t answer but gets up walks over to a toolbox pulls out an air chuck and goes outside plugs it in an air hose on a reel. You mean like this? Yep, that’s exactly what I mean. Thanks! He told me where I could park to be out of the way. 30 minutes later I have the spare tire on and I do a couple of laps around the parking lot. Then return the air chuck. They closed 5 minutes later. Talk about being blessed once again. Had what I needed, found air and a safe place to do it… and if I had hesitated at any house or up in the original parking lot the U-Haul place would have been closed.
Back on the road again and watching my tire pressure. It dropped but I filled it up again and it is holding. We pulled into Pacific City, Oregon in the evening and got a place at an RV park. Good thing I bought a good sleeping pad! They are doing construction on part of the park but we forgot that and we cane across some empty sites up on the hill with an excellent view. Set up our tent then I went to plug in my Cpap machine. No Power! We got out the map and saw these sites were closed. Not tonight… as we were set up and the view was great. A “ranger” stopped by in his golf cart this morning… These are closed! Yeah, we figured that out last night but we were already set up. Oh, well you guys are leaving so ok. Thanks.
Visited with a few people this morning while I was typing this out. All the while watching the fog line over the water retreat out to sea and the distinction between clouds and the sea become more distinct. Going to check out the beach and then head for Eugene, Oregon.