September 5: On Top of the World
Happy, happy, happy! What a fun and meaningful day today with my two partners in crime, Leo Guzman Fernandez and Gene Lord. While I wouldn’t give my summertime on the road alone up for anything, I must say there is something incredibly fun about hamming it up with two good friends on the bike. Today’s ride with them was especially meaningful because we got to escort a veteran up to the top of Mary’s Peak with Craig Morris leading that part of the ride.
Leo and I headed south to Corvallis this morning to meet up with Gene Lord, Craig Morris, and Les and Erica Martin. From there we headed west on highway 34 towards Alsea with Craig in the lead. The ride could not have been better. As I swooped around one delightful curve after another with two of my favorite riding buddies, I felt the warm sun filtering through the canopy of trees above, breathed in the woodsy and earthy smells of the surrounding forest and fields, and grinned from ear to ear.
We stopped in Alsea at the home of veteran Dominic Oliver, an avid motorcyclist who is no longer able to ride. After chatting with him and his family, we helped Dominic climb on the back of Craig’s bike and headed up to Mary’s Peak, at 4,097 feet the highest peak in the Oregon Coast Range. From our vantage point at the top of the mountain we could see spectacular views of South Sister, Mount Jefferson, Mount Hood, and Mount Adams. It was a pleasure to spend time with Dominic and extremely heart warming to see him on the back of the bike, holding out his arms to embrace the wind with the sun on his back.
After dropping Dominic off with his family, Leo, Gene, and I continued west on highway 34 through the Suislaw National Forest to Waldport and then north on highway 101 past Seal Rock to Newport. The views of the Pacific Ocean were stunning, with the sun beating down on the white sand and the blue waves crashing against rocky outcroppings.
In Newport we feasted on outstanding fresh fish at Clearwater Restaurant while laughing, joking, and catching up on our summers and life in general. I particularly enjoyed my blackened salmon Caesar salad as the fish was extremely moist and flavorful and the crispy pieces of baked parmesan added a perfect crunch to the lightly coated romaine lettuce. Gene and Leo ordered deep fried mushroom risotto balls to share that were cooked with gouda and parmesan cheese as well as truffle oil. Yum!
From the restaurant we followed the Yaquina Bay Road along the bay to highway 20 east before saying goodbye to Gene and heading north on backroads through Scio, Stayton, and Silverton. It was wonderful to have such a great time with friends today and to log some more amazing miles on the bike. The only thing that would have made the ride better would have been if Grant Myers, our other riding buddy, had been able to join us.
