I left Oregon behind me yesterday afternoon and with it the Speed Zones which were unfortunately not carte blanche to drop the hammer but actually implemented to make you go slower. The weather definitely improved - the closer I got to California, the sunnier it became.
Having left the stern Washington laws behind me and after randomly thinking about hitchhikers earlier I happened upon a couple of Hoopa Indians - mother and daughter - just outside of Brookings when I stopped at a viewpoint. Maybe it was reading Kerouac’s On The Road or maybe I remembered the frustrations of hitching around Indiana a decade ago. They were also heading to Eureka so I thought that I’d give them a ride. It turned out that they’d been waiting for a large part of two days and wanted to stop in a town just outside Eureka first. I was happy to accommodate seeing as though I wasn’t in any rush.
After getting directions to the motel I dropped my passengers off and had a little tour of Eureka before checking in at the Bayview Motel. I then had a little nap, read a little, found the a problem with the wireless connection, diagnosed and attempted to fix but had to give up and head to the Lost Coast Brewery for some food, beer and free wifi access.
Last night I stayed in less salubrious surroundings than the night before but they served their purpose. Most of today was spent in a similar fashion as yesterday’s weather from Mount Saint Helens but not nearly as severe and the mist actually added to the beauty of the bay vistas.
I stopped for a walk along the beach just outside Astoria in the far nicer Canon Beach (where the closing scenes of The Goonies were shot) before getting back into my (as yet unchristened) rental car and hitting the coast road down to Coos Bay. I’ve no idea where the name stems from - I haven’t spotted a single bovine since I got here a few hours ago.
The driving is going fine - I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed it actually. I am currently of the impression that cruise control is the best thing since July 7th 1928 (the debut of sliced bread) but the XM satellite radio is starting to annoy me. It’s a huge improvement on the FM transmissions here but the trees seem to be playing havoc with the signal. I have found the 80s and 90s stations though and consequently my voice is suffering a little from belting out song after song for a large part of the day. I guess it’s a good thing that I don’t sing professionally and also that I’m on my own in the car!
