Crash!

On Mother's Day 2019 I was riding my trike coming home from church when a lady I was following slammed her brakes on hard.  I hit mine fast, but having no front brake my trike couldn't stop as fast as it needed to.  I tried to squeeze in between her car and a cement wall.  My right fender caught the wall slamming my trike into the wall and depositing me on my back looking up at the sky.  The wall was hard against my helmet and the trike wheel was hard against the other side of my helmet.  I couldn't move.  Luckily people surrounded me immediately and pulled the trike away from my helmet so I could move.  I was a bit sore but nothing broken which upheld my record of never have broken a bone in my 79 years of life.  I hope that record continues.

My trike did not fare quite as well as I did.  When she hit the wall it slammed the front forks into the wall and bent them back into the body of the trike.  Here are the pictures of the forks.

I tried to straighten the forks but to no avail. You might be able to see the fender that took all the beating.  It lost the trim as well.  Stress marks are prevalent on top of the fender and the tire shown now has a large cut in it.  It even broke my radio antenna.  Lots of other more minor stuff to be repaired as well.  The $4000 paint job is not too good either.  Most of the scars are on this fender so I will try to paint a strip over both fenders and do a little pen stripping on the body scratches so I won't have to paint the whole trike.  I can't afford to fix the forks let alone paint the whole thing.  It may not be running anytime too soon.

I am the vice-chairman of Brothers of the Third Wheel trike club of our Oregon/Vancouver chapter.  It's a bummer having to go to meetings when the guys and gals are going to be ridding on a great trip and here I am without my ride. Sad! I will try to keep everyone informed on how the repairs are going.  Thanks for reading and I would love to hear from you.  Drop me a line about anything on your mind.

If anyone reading this are interested in a great organization of trikers let me know and we can sign you up.  Our organization is worldwide so wherever you live you can join in.  Write to me at trikerman72@gmail.com and I can set you up.   

Packwood, Washington BTW Trike-In, 2016

After trying for the past three years to go to Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and having trike trouble every time just before I was to leave I thought it best to check everything before heading out to our yearly BTW Trike-In that was to be held in Packwood, Washington this August. I wanted no surprises this time even though it is considerably much closer than Sturgis.

I took the fiberglass body off so I could get to all the wiring that goes everywhere. Here is a picture of the poor disrobed trike.

 And below is a picture of some of the rats nest called wiring.

I added a fuse block. There were NO fuses at all in my trike when I bought it. This picture shows a few of the added fuses. I did quite a bit of rewiring but have a lot more to do. You might see that many of the wires are of the same color; Red. My next wiring job when I can afford it will be to completely remove all wires and replace with different colored all new wiring.

Another little project I had to complete before going on my trip to Packwood was to get the automatic transmission rebuilt. I can repair anything on a VW air cooled vehicle except the transmission. I searched all over Oregon and even checked out a place back east who advertises in our Triker magazine, all would be too expensive for my poor budget. I finally found a great deal with Marsh Transmission in Tualatin, Oregon. It only cost $600 as opposed to the $1200 ones I was seeing with other places. So I pulled out the tranny and threw it in the back of my Ford 250 Diesel truck and headed out for the 32 miles from Scappoose to Tualatin.

The transmission is quite old and I had to search a lot to find the parts. I helped locating parts since I used to own a VW shop for over 35 years and knew a whole lot of older mechanics who had such parts. It took going to two different places, one on the east coast, to locate all I needed. That done then the guys at Marsh did their magic. A few days later I was installing my rebuilt tranny and checking out everything else.

After several other repairs it was time to put the body back on my girl whom I named Wyld Chyld. I employed a couple of friends of mine who previously helped to remove the body to now get it back on. With their help all went well. I then just had to put all the bolts, wires, shifting linkages and so many other items back in place so I could try it out. All went well on the trial run.

I wanted to run some wires and hook up a trailer plug so I could take my small tent trailer, but as things will happen it didn’t happen. I instead bought a small two man tent and with my blow up mattress, no, not doll, I slept very comfortably for the three nights I camped out.

I headed out early Thursday morning since I had 130 miles, about 2 ½ hours to get there so I wanted to get a head start on the normal traffic. The weather was great. The trip was a fun ride with many people giving me thumbs up when they saw my customized trike.

When I got to the camp I located the head honcho, Kathryn Henry, who is also the Executive Director of BTW. She gets around to many of the BTW Trike-Ins all around the country. She is amazing riding her ‘57 Chevy look alike trike with a big V-8 engine all chrome. It’s quite a sight to see. I got registered and set up my tent then started to check out the place.

While I was sitting around camp talking some of the guys I looked out on the field and there were about 5 elk wandering around eating the grass. They were only about 50 yards away completely ignoring us. It was great. I spent many a days hunting for those critters and now here they are right in our camp. On the first day it the time to just get acquainted with the camp and check out the other trikes. All our meals are provided included in the registration. The meals were great.

The next day, Friday, we all got together after breakfast and those who wanted to headed out for Mt. St. Helen’s. We first went to the ranger station to get our passes then on to the mountain. The scenery was awesome and seeing the damage the explosion did to the mountain up close was incredible. We had our lunch there at a turn-out then on to a place where a ranger had a talk and pictures all about the mountain. It was so very hot sitting in the sun listing to the presentation, but well worth it.

We continued on back to Packwood after many pictures taken and lots of stories to tell the ones who didn’t make it. One of those who didn’t make it because his trike wouldn’t run was Dick Postma. Several of us checked out his trike and found that his electronic ignition was bad so he had to have another brought to him by his sister the next day. Overall, Dick missed out on both rides. A lot of pictures were taken so he could see what he missed. Below are some of those pictures.

The picture above is what Mt. St. Helen’s did to a car. It was left there by the park to remind us of the enormity of the explosion. I hope Dick gets to go on the rides next year. I know I am already looking forward to going again.

Great meals and camaraderie were  had by all that night; many talking about the ride to the mountain. We were all looking forward to Saturday’s ride which will be to Mt. Rainier.

I have forgotten which day it was, but we had a lot of fun with our trike games and trike show. They got a lot of attention of the locals who were driving by.

On Saturday we all gathered together again for our ride to Mt. Rainier which again started after breakfast. I did forget to mention that sack lunches were also provided for us. Below is a picture of us stopping for lunch.

After the trips, we all had a great dinner and visiting and getting ready for our trip home in the morning. I think everyone had a great time. I will show some of the pictures of the trikes.

Fun was had by all and as I mentioned, I’m looking forward to next years Trike-In. I hope to see some of you there.

SOLVANG TRIP

While I was living in Southern California in April 2013 I wanted to take a ride with my trike.

I have a friend who lives in Solvang, California and he wanted me to come up and visit him.  We hadn’t seen each other for over 12 years.  So, last weekend was very warm, for this time of the year, and it seemed like a good idea to head up there with my trike.  Ron Herbig, my friend, has been a motorcyclist about as long as I have and he and I are both old fogies the same age.  I wanted to show him another means of riding in the wind without having to hold up the heavy motorcycle.  I packed up a few items, stuffed them in my small trunk on the back of the trike, and off I went, heading north. 

I gassed up at Sam’s Club and after checking the mileage from here to there, which is 162 miles, I hit the road.  I wanted to know the mileage so I could get what gas mileage the trike gets.  I don’t have a speedometer, so I did it by gallons and mileage I got from my computer.  I was pretty disappointed with the results.  I only got 18 MPG with a Weber 44 on a 1776 engine.

The trike was running real well and the weather was great even in the morning.  I got to Thousand Oaks and wanted to see the old church I used to attend and preach at.  I even helped build it in 1973.  It’s called The First Baptist Church of Thousand Oaks.  It had been since 1974 when I last seen the church, so I had to ask directions.  Of course, I picked a motorcycle shop to ask.  While there I drooled over the bikes, especially the four wheel drive quads.  I would love to have one of those to go up in the hills gold prospecting.  With my bad back limiting my walking it would work real well.  After getting directions I headed up the hill and saw the church.  Unfortunately, it was a Saturday and no one was there, but it was great seeing it still standing, despite my building abilities.

Then I headed up to Oxnard where I had married my bride, Rosann, on November 26, 1961, exactly 50 years ago to the day.  With tears in my eyes, I told her “Happy Anniversary, Honey.  I hope she can hear me up there in Heaven.  When I got to Oxnard I headed to El Rio where we used to live on 334 Will Ave.  There was our old house looking just like it looked many years before, and even one of our old neighbors was there next door; at least, their children were.  We had a great talk.  Sylvia, the daughter of the folks who were our old neighbors and who I knew when she was a young girl, came to the door when I knocked.  We talked about old times and then she told me about how many of the family had died which made me sad, and even the one girl Rosann and I helped raise, since she was at our house almost more than at her own.  She died in a motorcycle crash a few years ago.  I was so sad.  It was an emotional time with the thoughts of all the neighbors who died and especially my Rosann, who I will dearly love for eternity. 

So, I gassed up there in El Rio and headed north again.  When I reached the highway it runs right along the side of the ocean.  I so love the smell, sight and sound of the ocean.  Of course, with my VERY loud mufflers, if you can call them that, I did not really hear the ocean; I just imagined it.  It made me want to get my old SCUBA gear out and head out to those Channel Islands again like in the old days.  It was so clear I could see the islands real well that day.

Ron told me about a nice scenic way to get to his place that goes past Lake Cachuma.  I was all for that and it was as he said.  I found a place to stop and pulled out my camera only to find out that it was broken.  I have never dropped it so I have no idea what happened, but now I have no camera.  Sorry, no pictures this time.  Oh well, if I took a picture of Ron it would have broken it anyway.  J

The trip went real well and I even found the Ron’s house on the first try, which is almost a miracle for me.  He was real impressed with the trike, so much so that he called a friend of his and told him all about it.  The next thing I knew Ron jumped on the back seat and off we went heading to his friends place before I really even got off my trike.  After traveling about 20 miles I asked just where is this place.  Of course he said, with his southern twang, “Just up the road a bit.”    Well, “a bit” was still quite a ways, but finally, without warning he said, “Turn here.”  A car behind us came close to running up our tail pipes.  I asked next time give me a little more warning.  We traveled up a long dirt road through horse corrals and dog kennels up to a nice looking little home.  Next to his house he had a quad.  Of course I had to see it.  While I was admiring the quad he was admiring my trike.  I wasn’t quite ready to trade for it, but almost tempted.  I sure want one of those things.  So, after much talk I asked my new friend, Richard, if he would like to take a ride.  He was a little hesitant, but finally went.  He had rode Harleys for a very long time (he was 75) and now after a stroke, really missed the wind in his hair.  We went down the road a ways and then I asked if he wanted to drive.  It took a little arm bending to get him to try it, but when he did I thought we wouldn’t ever stop until it ran out of gas.  He loved it.  When we got back to his place he was so excited that he couldn’t stop talking to his wife about it and then we sat down at a table out in the patio and then non-stop he talked about getting a trike.  It was quite an experience.  I made two triker converts within an hour.  Both were long time bikers. 

After we left there Ron and I headed to another friends house he wanted to show it to.  This friend had a Harley already, but when we showed him the trike he was very interested in looking into those as well.  His wife liked the Harley, though, so you probably know where that will end up.  Gotta keep momma happy.  If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.  He had a quad as well.  It was a four wheel drive and had two PTO’s; front and back.  Now I was real jealous.  Does everyone around here have quads?  They were real nice people and they asked us in for coffee and cookies.  Well, we couldn’t turn down that offer, so in we went and sat down and talked bikes and trikes for quite a spell.  Now, within a few hours I have made three converts.  I’m not sure how many of them will actually get a trike, but they sure were interested in mine.

Finally, we were heading back to Ron’s place.  I let him drive.  Boy, that was a mistake.  Now I can’t get him off it.  Everywhere we went he had to drive.  Like most bike riders, though he would cut the corners way too close forgetting that there are wheels way out to the sides and a few times I thought he was going to clip a few posts and one car.  I remember when I first drove one the same thing happened with me.  It takes a little getting used to having wheels so far out from the sides when you are used to riding a two wheel motorcycle. 

It was still Saturday, but now Ron wanted to go to his church.  He likes to go on Saturday night so he can have all day Sunday to do what he wants.  Problem is, on Saturday night the only service is a Spanish one, but he goes anyway, and it’s a Catholic service which I have no idea about any of it since I’m a Baptist and can’t speak a word of Spanish.  Ron doesn’t speak Spanish either, but when I asked him about that he said that when he was young he went to the Catholic church and then they only spoke Latin and he didn’t speak that either.  Being a Baptist none of it made any since to me; literally.

By this time I have had a whole lot of Saturday and not much for sustenance.  It was past 9 p.m. and all I had to eat was a small breakfast at 6:00 a.m. and our coffee and a cookie.  I guess that was lunch.  We then had to go to another neighbor and help him do something.  They were all playing some very complicated board game, but they did invite us to their left over Thanksgiving dinner.  We through it in the microwave and finally; food.  The game was way too complicated for me.  It was something like Monopoly, but with dragons and whatever.  Monopoly was too complicated for me.  The rest of the night drug on and on and I was asleep on my feet.  Finally, Ron said we could go home.  I threw a few pillows on the floor from a couch and fell on them.  It was after midnight and I didn’t wake up until 6:00 a.m. like my body does every morning.  

The next day I had to go home and I got a later start than I wanted to since my headlight was questionable.  Before I left for this trip I had ordered a bulb, but it didn’t come in so I jury rigged a small single filament bulb on the front that I taped on.  I raced the sun home, but the sun won.  Luckily, the small lights I attached to the lower faring worked pretty well and I made it home in record time.  I’m glad the road gods were with me that night and I didn’t get any tickets.  I was hauling … 

All in all it was a pretty fun weekend and I just wanted to share it with all of you.  I hope you enjoyed it a little too.

 

Trip to Ocean Mansion

Over this weekend 10/30/15 to 11/1/1 Jean and I went to her beach house for a little R&R which was good since I was recuperating from my two hernia operations. 

I am now sitting in her mansion.  It is 6700 square feet with so many rooms and bedrooms I can't find my way around without a map.  It tires me out just walking from my bedroom to the kitchen.  My bedroom is down stairs and the kitchen is way up a flight and a half of stairs, but just to get to the stairs I have to walk about a hundred feet.  I wish you could see it. .  It's in Gearhart, Oregon just a few miles from Seaside.  It is a bit rainy today and may be tomorrow, but this place is so big and so much to see that I sure won’t be bored.  I can see the ocean from here, even the TV works so what’s not to like. 

The last time I was here was around 10 years ago.  Some of you may not know, but I was the Realtor who sold this place to my very special friends.  They bought just the land, but had to build a house on it right away, so they built one of the best ones around in this gated community.  I’m very lucky to have such wonderful friends.  Unfortunately, my friend, Jean’s husband Sig died a few years ago.  We all miss him a lot and it seems like when we go to the beach house he seems to be still there.

Today before we got here Jean stopped at the Nike store where she bought $1500 of shoes.  Talk about a shopping spree.  She buys them about once a month when Nike has a big shoe sale then gives them to the poor children all over the world.  She does not get any funding for what she does; it just makes her happy to help others; like me.

A couple our age who plays tennis with Jean, Bill and Barbara, joined us for the weekend.  They were wonderful.  I really liked them.  The three of them went out to the tennis court here on this property and played for about 3 hours.  I stayed here and played on my computer since I don't know which end of the racket to hold.  We all had a good time here. 

Below are some pictures I took with my new tablet that came out pretty poor, very fuzzy.  I really don’t know much about this tablet so I hope I can do better next time.  Maybe you can get some idea of what the inside of the house looks like.

This first picture is the front of the house as if you couldn’t tell.

Below is my friend Sig

Sig who is 6'8" in his very large kitchen, notice how tall the ceiling is compared to Sig

This is just the guest bedroom

Game room with the full sized pool table as the center piece

A poor picture of the wine closet

Upstairs Den

Here's Jean, I caught her putting on her makeup

The pictures don't give any justice to the house, but it's my lousy picture taking, not the huge beautiful house.  I'll try better later.

I hope you enjoyed my little trip.  I know you didn't enjoy it as much as I have being here; sorry about that.  

Silverwood Lake Trip

Silverwood Lake Trip

On Friday, September 9, 2011 the High Desert Brothers of the Third Wheel (BTW) held their annual picnic at Silverwood Lake, California.  I got my tent trailer all wired  up for lights, hooked it up and headed out to join them.  I had not met any of them before so when I got there I introduced myself and immediately I was treated like family.  Two of them came right up and helped me set up my tent and introduced me to the rest of the group.  Because I had to work late on my trike getting everything ready and was waiting for Robert, our director, to get his trike fixed I didn’t get up to the lake until 7:00 p.m.  Robert never did get to go so I was the only one from our chapter. That evening I met each member and really enjoyed sharing riding experiences and other stories with them. 

The next morning Rusty, the camp cook, rustled us up some good grub.  He is a great cook.  We then went on a long trike trip with eight trikes and 13 members.  We went up to Big Bear Lake.  There, we found a good restaurant called "The Cowboy Express" and had lunch and then headed back.  It was a very nice run.  That night Russ BBQed a bunch of meat.  We ate like kings and queens.  We had great music, conversations and dancing.  The best dancer was their 11 year old mascot named Taylor Oatman.  She sure can dance and is one of the smartest 11 year olds I’ve ever known.  What a cutie.  She even helped me by pumping up my air bed with the foot pump all by herself.  She thought it was fun.  Silly girl. 

Here are some of the pictures of that weekend. 

This is a picture of Taylor next to her grandma's trike that they rode up on.

This is my trike and tent trailer all set up.

Silverwood Lake

Below are pictures of some of the trikes that were with me on the run

The following pictures are from a ride going around the lake area

Then all too soon the long ride home.  I hated to leave

It’s great to have another group of people I can now call my family.  I really felt welcome by the High Desert Trikers.  Thanks guys.  Above is my trike and tent trailer all ready to head back home.

RIDE TO SAUVIE ISLAND, OREGON

I have been riding my new Harley trying to get used to it since I have not been on a two wheeler for about 6 years now since I got my trike.  It is taking a little time to acquaint myself to all the new controls and fancy electronics they have on them now.  When I get a little more money I will be adapting it more to my body and not some 6 foot plus person they build them for.  I’m doing alright with it. 

I took a very nice ride to a place called Sauvie Island which is a pretty big island just a few miles from our house.  It has fantastic beaches were many families were swimming and frolicking; all in all, a very nice day.  Here are a few pictures of the island.

My Harley the day I bought it

Sauvie Island Bridge

Sauvie Island Beach and Columbia Slough which flows back into the Columbia River

Sauvie Island Beach Up River

Sauvie Island Beach Down River

Sauvie Island Marina

Marina Down Stream

I hope you liked the pictures.  There's not a whole lot more to tell about the ride escept that it was a great day and as you can see a beautiful sky.

My Oregon Trike Trip

My Oregon Trip

trikerman72@gmail.com

I worked long and hard getting the trike ready for her big voyage north to Oregon where I was moving to from La Verne, California.  I tuned her engine and changed her oil.  I gave her a new front tire which turned out to be a project as well.  I ordered a tire over the internet, my first mistake, and told them that I wanted a 3 ¼” front tire.  So, they sent me a 5 ¾” rear tire.  Of course it wouldn’t even go between the forks.  So, back it went and I had to re-order again.  This time they sent me a 3 ¾” tire. With time getting short because I wanted to attend the Western Conference Trike-In in Madera, California that starts on May 1^st  I used it anyway.  I squeezed it on the forks, but had to use a spacer on the axle to do it.  It still was very close and rubbed at times.  I figured it would make it to Oregon, though.  My friend, Steve polished up the trike real well.  He even got some gas stains off that a body shop couldn’t after I paid them a bunch of money to detail it.  Good job, Steve.

Wednesday morning, May 1, 2014 at 4:30 a. m. I started out in La Verne, with a bit of rain.  It wasn’t supposed to be wet, but it was.  I headed up to see my friend, Ron Herbig, in Solvang.  When I got there I found that I had quite an oil leak and my exhaust pipe nut loosened causing quite a noise.  Ron and I repaired the problems in just a few minutes and then we had a great visit.  I let him drive my trike.  He has some motorcycles, but like me he is my age so he is thinking of getting a trike.

The next morning found me heading toward Madera to the 1^st Western Conference Trike-In.  We have had several trike-In’s, but this one was the first all western states.  It sure was a lot of fun with lots of trike games, shows, a poker run that toured Yosemite Park; and great camaraderie.  I slept in my tent trailer.   

We're lined up to go on a ride

.

My home away from home with my trike in the black custom cover and has the BTW Emblem on it.

On Friday when the rest of the guys went on tour to Yosemite I went to Bass Lake which is just four miles from Hwy 41 going to Yosemite.  I followed everyone up until I got to the turnoff.  They continued to Yosemite and I went toward the lake where I was raised to reminisce over the places I used to live and play.  Yosemite was my “back yard” so I was quite familiar with it unlike many of the others who wanted to see it.

Trikes going to Yosemite gassing up

I visited my old grammar school and found that it was closed with weeds growing all over it.  That was sad.  I didn’t know it had to close.  I was one of the ones to first attend that school and there were three of us who were the first to graduate there.  Just we three were the whole graduating class in 1954.

I then headed to The Forks Resort, where my parents managed it for about 40 years.   I said “hi” to some of the people I knew there and visited my folks’ ashes that are just behind the store. Then I went back to the fairgrounds where I was staying in my tent.  It was a real fun trip, but marred by the bad valve cover gasket again.  This time I had to change the gasket and then clean off the muffler and pipe where the oil sprayed and really made a mess.  With steel wool, chrome polish and a lot of elbow grease I actually got it all shiny again.  I wasn’t sure it would ever get that way again.  My trike and especially my new trike cover with our club emblem on it was a big hit.  Everyone wished me a safe trip back to Oregon. 

The Forks Resort

The Trike-In was a hit with me for sure and I am also sure with everyone else who attended.  I wish I had a count of how many people and trikes that was there, but there were hundreds I would guess.  It was a success.  On Saturday night there was an award ceremony, but I didn’t win anything.  I didn’t think I would since with so many great looking trikes; the competition was stiff.  Some of those trikes were absolutely beautiful.  Mine is beautiful too with her chameleon paint job, but has a few bangs and chips on her.  I asked a body and paint shop what it would cost to repaint her and he told me $4000.  I decided she could just be old like me and have a few war scars on her like I do.  It would be nice to get a trophy for something, though.  In her younger days she got many trophies, even some in Sturgis.  Those were days before I bought her. 

Yes, I call her a “her” because she is my baby.  She and I have been through a lot in our five years together.  On a trip home from my first Trike-In in Madera she blew a hole in number three piston while climbing the “Grapevine” on I-5 south.  I told her that if she got me home I would shine her up with new chrome and give her a new engine.  She got me home in style, but with a lot of groaning and coughing.  The first thing I did was re-build her engine and replaced all the black sheet metal with chrome.  I kept my promise to her and she came through like a trouper.  I’m real proud of her.  She is 23 years old and still beautiful.  Her name is “Wyld Chyld.”  (My spell checker really didn’t like that spelling.)  I was thinking of calling her Wyld Chyld 2 since I am the number one Wyld Chyld. J As soon as I can afford it I am having someone paint her name on her and also give her some nice pen stripping over some of her chips and scrapes so it won’t look so bad.  Maybe then she can get an award for something.  She deserves it.

I am now writing this at my aunt Evelyn’s house in Clovis, California where I am staying tonight (Sun) so I can visit her and wait until the trailer parts open to get a wheel bearing cover for my trailer that fell off somewhere on the vast freeway system.  It seems like every time I come to a trike-in something falls off.  One time my whole back seat fell off.  I am going to attend the Portland Trike-In on August 30^th, so I hope nothing falls off there.

Monday morning saw me getting up early because Steve from La Verne just wanted to call and see where I was; at 6:00 a.m!  I was not happy since that was the first decent sleep I was having since the trike-in.  Being an old man the younger folks like to party at night a little later than I like to be up.  Not much sleep during that time.  So, since I was up I started the day and straightened up my stuff getting ready for my next leg of my trip.  I wanted to go to Campbell, California so I could see what the town looked like that they named after me.

I had to wait until after 9:00 a.m. until the trailer place opened so I could get a dust cover for my trailer axle.  When I finally got it the thing didn’t fit real well and I had to get pliers to bend it inward to fit in the hole then pound it in with a hammer.  My uncle Gerald had lots of tools in his shop so that helped.  He died last year.  I really miss him.  He was the best uncle anyone could have.

After several goodbyes to Aunt Evelyn I headed out for Campbell.  From there everything went very smoothly.  It was a great trip and, for me, great weather.  Some would say it was too cold; I say it was just right.  But, having to drive at only 55 and with a late start I didn’t get to Campbell until 5:30 p.m. and it seems that Campbell rolls up the street pretty much at 5:00.  Even the police station was closed.  I tried to get some information, but no one knew much.  One gas station lady didn’t even know where she was.  I found out that she was in Campbell, which was what I had asked her.  She said she didn’t know where that was.  I’m not sure that she could speak English very well, but I guess she could get away with being dumb, she was pretty.  (I know; politically incorrect, but accurate.)   At the police station I did find a couple of local newspapers, and I took a few pictures with the town of “Campbell” sign on them.

Tuesday Morning. 

Right now I am sitting on a little stool next to my tent fighting off the mosquitoes trying to write this at 6:30 a.m.  I am waiting for the camp to open up so I can pay and get out of here.  I did find this beautiful campsite at Saratoga Springs near San Jose.  It is so peaceful; no parties and no loud music; just a rustic, no frills campground.  My camp is right next to a beautiful running creek that lulled me to sleep last night.  There are big trees all around.  I am very happy now.  I hope that continues through the day.  I will be taking pictures of my camp when it gets light enough. 

At my camp I saw a sign that said “Campbell Saw Mill.”  It was a plaque dedicated to William Campbell who started the saw mill there and they named the town after.  I had a great, great grandfather named William Campbell who was from Scotland and moved to Washington.  I am curious if he moved south and started a saw mill.  That would be interesting.  I guess there could be more than just one William Campbell though.  I also found a place called “The Campbell Inn” where I wanted to stay, but even though my name is Campbell they still wanted to charge me $175 plus tax to stay there even though I told them that my name was Campbell.  They weren’t impressed.  I continued my search for a place to stay.  That’s when I found the little campground I mentioned earlier.  It was $35; a lot cheaper, but still a bunch for just a spot to pitch my tent.  Oh well, Inflation!

After packing up and paying for my tent space I headed out for the Golden Gate Bridge.  The morning was pretty cool, but wasn’t supposed to rain.  I wanted to go over the bridge and take pictures which I did.  It was an experience.  As soon as I stopped at the viewing site at the end of the bridge a small crowd surrounded my trike and asked many questions about it and wanted to take several pictures.  The people were from all over the world; Europe, Canada, and others.  This has happened everywhere I stopped.  They even took pictures while they drove next to me at speed.  One lady was weaving all over the road taking the picture; she was driving at the time.  My attention getting machine might be my undoing at that rate.  Somewhere around the bay area it did sprinkle a little, but it was the only rain I got on the whole trip. 

With only an eight gallon gas tank I had to stop about every 100 miles to fill up since the trike only gets about 18 mpg without the trailer and probably a whole lot less with it.  I am taking mileage checks along the way and will probably be shocked at the results.  I have a way too big carburetor on my size of engine so it wastes a lot of gas.  I have a 1776 VW engine and a Weber 44 Carb and I think it needs some adjusting as well.  As soon as I get settled in Oregon I will be saving for a couple of much smaller carbs.  

I said all that to say that I got to my friend, Bob Donaldson’s house in Petaluma somewhat later than I wanted to; like a day later.  I was going to stay at his place, but I needed to get up to my sisters in Bandon, Oregon so we just talked for a while and then went out to lunch.  It was great seeing him.  He has been a wonderful friend for so many years.  Bob and I worked together for years at the General Telephone in Oxnard, California. 

After our visit I headed out for my sisters place in Bandon.  It was too far to make it all the way with all the gas stops and me wanting to see so many things along the way, like the big trees; one I drove through; picture included.  After all, I may never get back along that route again; so much to see; so little time. 

It was getting late on Tuesday night when I started looking for another camp site, but to no avail.  I even looked up on my GPS for one and the closest one was 45 miles to the west at Fort Bragg on the coast.  I opted not to go that far out of the way just to save a few bucks so I found an old, small motel in Willits.  It was only $45 which is only $15 more than the camp site.  It was a little run down and the worst was they only had smoking rooms.  Yuck!  It didn’t smell very pure, but I got through it.  I got to write on this story and got my emails since it did have Wi-Fi.  I even got to have a nice shower. 

On Wednesday morning it was a little cooler so I got all bundled up with several layers of clothing and headed out for Bandon.  I wasn’t sure that I would make it, but I would try.  The day didn’t warm up much at all.  In fact, when I would go behind any of the mountains, which there were many, it became very cool; cold even.  If I got cold then you know it had to be cold.  I would stop every so often just to warm up.  I actually was glad that I had to stop every 100 miles so I could get warmer and work out the stiffness from the muscles.  It was that way all the way to Bandon.  I was very glad to see Bandon.  I got there at about 6:30 p.m. after 1350 miles on this trip so far.  Overall, it’s been a fantastic trip with very little trouble.  I am blessed. 

My sister was glad to see me and so was my niece, Kylie who couldn’t wait to ride on my trike.  She is ten years old.  I took her on about a two mile trip at about 25 mph.  She was so thrilled, even with the cold, that she didn’t want me to stop.  We went in the house and watched a video of her rehearsing for her big ballet number where she dances.  She does tap and ballet and looks like an angel.  The production was very professional and done on a major stage in Bandon.  It was done by a dance studio in town that Kylie attends.  The next day Kylie wanted to ride again so we took a 55 mph trip up Hwy 101 for a few miles.  Even in the cold she wanted to go faster.  What a trouper.

After all my goodbyes on Saturday morning April 11^th I headed north once again.  Still up the 101 highway with its incredible scenery.  I made it to Cloverdale, Oregon where my friends Bruce and Karren Crocker live.  While I was a Realtor I sold them a house there and we have been good friends since.  I stayed there with them so I could attend my old church; The First Baptist Church of Cloverdale.  Right now it is about time to get ready to go so I will continue my trip and story later.

I found out that the weather report said it would rain on Sunday, so instead of going to my old church in Cloverdale I decided to head out to Beaverton which is much closer to where I am headed to live in Portland.  I went to the Baptist church in Beaverton which was the one I used to go to up till about 1994 when I then moved to Scappoose in a houseboat.  It was great seeing the church again; although, it has grown to enormous proportions.  They have expanded the building to twice the size it was.  I was surprised.

After church I went to my son Tony’s house, who is 24 and has Down’s syndrome.  I took him on a ride on my trike much to his amazement.  He loved it.  We went out for lunch and then because of the threat of rain I headed out to my camp site in Portland where I will soon be bringing my motorhome so I can live there.  I will be helping out the lady who is letting me stay on her property.  She lost her husband Sig just over a year ago who was also one of my best friend’s.  He was like a brother to me, even if he was 6.8” tall and I am only 5.6 ½” tall.  We looked like Mutt and Jeff together.

Sig’s wife, Jean Jensen was not home when I got there and I found out later that she had not received any of my calls and only one email telling her that I was accepting her invitation to come live on her property and help her with fixing things around there.  I wasn’t sure she even lived there still, but I set up my tent on a flat spot on the 10 acres.  After about 4 hours of waiting to see if she was coming home I gave her another call and she answered.  She had come home and I hadn’t noticed.  I surprised her when I told her that I was camping in her back yard.  We had a great visit telling each other all the things that had happened since I last saw her at the funeral a year ago.  We talked until about 10 p.m. 

Today I also stopped by my son Dan’s apartment and took him for a ride on the trike.  He really liked it and, of course, wants one now.  I let him drive it which really thrilled him.  It’s so much fun to drive.  As soon as I got to Dan’s I called Kent Gore of Bridge City Trikers in Aloha, Oregon and signed up for his chapter.  I want to get to involved ASAP.  In San Gabriel, California I was the Assistant Director and now I want to offer my services where ever I can for my new chapter.

I also used Dan’s computer to buy my plane ticket back to La Verne so I can drive my motorhome back to Oregon for my last trip.  Well, tomorrow I may have another adventure. 

Note:  My second trip to Oregon with my motorhome was a nightmare.  All my luck was used up on my trike trip earlier.  If you are interested in that trip you can write to me at trikerman72@gmail.com and I will send you the story.

Happy triken…