Keno, Oregon
There is no rally point 13. (In-joke for the fans of Vegas Day 5.) I bid farewell to Medford and headed south on I-5 (blech). Then I went east on Hwy 66 (not Route 66... I didn't get my kicks, in case you were wondering.) There are lots of very nice twisty, sweeping turns in this road and the parts that weren't wet were a lot of fun. My cornering confidence goes bye-bye if the ground is even a little damp, which it was in a few spots. I think it might have rained just a bit overnight and some places hadn't had the decency to dry out for me. With the exception of a few logging trucks and tire trucks*, there was very little traffic to speak of and what there was of it was easily passed. *I should explain about tire trucks. As you may or may not know, log trucks have trailers with two sections. When the truck is carrying logs, the trailers are connected and the logs ride along their length, held in place at four points by tall structures (I'm sure they have a name), two on each trailer. When a log truck is empty, the second trailer section is stacked on top of the first. What you see is a big truck with a "wall of wheels" on each side. As a youngster growing up in southern Oregon, I dubbed these tire trucks. They looked like they were carrying tires, although I was at a loss to explain why they were also carrying wheels and axles. It wasn't until much later (last week, I think) that one of my parents explained what was going on. I still prefer to call an empty log truck a tire truck. So there.
This view was taken at what was one of the two original crossing sites from pioneering days. Some time later, a ferry was added and then, eventually bridges. I took this opportunity to practice my nature identification skills. There were six animals in the water. They had feathers and bills. I correctly identified them as "birds." This whole "being outside on purpose" is getting to be fun!
The charm of this cafe, besides Brigit herself, is the decor. There are humorous phrases and pictures all over the place and I took a quick tour of everything. Some of it was "local humor" that would only make sense if you knew the farmer down the road, for instance. Much of it was "laugh out loud" funny though. Much of it not printable here. Call me a depraved low-brow. I'm a biker, after all. ;-) Having finished my coffee, and after having exercised my right to use the facilities, I rode off on a wave of caffeine-induced hysteria. ...but not before snapping a picture. I headed south again, this time for California. I'm going to take a few days break from the journal and just enjoy myself. There will be pictures to share later, but I'm not going to burden myself with a camera and note pad every minute of the day. I'll be in the San Francisco area and will be making my second annual trek to Paramount's Great America near San Jose. I'll be packing along a disposable film camera (tiny compared to my digital camera) for taking shots as I ride the roller coasters! The camera was free and, if I drop it... who cares? Should be amusing though. I'm going to try to take a picture of them taking a picture of me so that the picture they take has a picture of me taking a picture of them as they take a picture. What would Einstein say about this? I wonder if I'll go back in time? (Just like putting instant coffee in a microwave.) As I head north again in a few days, I'll document the final two Oregon rally points in these pages. Cheers, Allen. |
Hwy 66 runs along side of, over, around and generally near the Klamath River. I stopped at one of the crossings to snap a picture. The view is invigorating and, from the people gathered here and there, I'm going to assume that the fishing isn't too bad either. 
For once on this trip I stopped at a cafe and didn't have a meal. Proud of me? A sign on the counter stated that the bathroom was for use only by customers... so I became a customer by purchasing a cup of coffee.. making my need for the facilities even that much greater.