The first business trip to the coast with the motorcycle was in June and was my usual overnighter while working Lincoln City, Newport, and Tillamook. We have a place in Rockaway Beach that makes a good “field office” on the North Coast. From here I can conveniently work from Long Beach, WA to Newport, OR. The twisty Pacific Coast Hwy is loaded with coves and small beach towns and makes for a great scenic ride. I was looking forward to this new experience on the motorcycle.
It was the encounter with the parrot that made this trip unique. Had I been in my car this meeting wouldn’t have taken place. As usual, I work Lincoln City and Newport on a Thursday then drive up to the beach house in the late afternoon to spend the night. Friday morning I make a few sales calls in Rockaway then work in Tillamook and come home Friday afternoon.
On Thursday afternoon as I left the hustle and bustle of Lincoln City, which is a fairly big coastal town, I was looking forward to making the hour long trip up the coast. North of town the road is flat for a few miles then rises and opens up to two lanes on each side with 60 mile-an-hour sweeping curves up to a nice elevation. The road is wooded on both sides so there's not a view of the ocean. I had been riding from Newport and my plan was to stop in the first small resort town, Neskowin, nestled on the north side at the base of the mountain. I wanted to stretch my legs and get a cold bottle of iced tea and take a little break.
Soon after I rolled into the parking lot at the local market, the guy who was sitting in the car next to me got out and starting asking questions about the motorcycle. He was a retired salesman on vacation from California with his wife and dog and it turns out, their parrot. He was intrigued about me using the bike to commute as a salesman. I was intrigued about the parrot in his back seat. After quite a few minutes talking with him, his wife came out of the store with their two ice cream cones. The three of us continued to visit, then about 4 kids who were sitting on a park bench with one of their moms ran over and asked, “Can you make her do her trick?”
The parrot repeated what she said and did a little singing routine while fanning it's feathers.
This all happened so fast I didn’t have time to get my camera but I managed to snap a few pictures with the BlackBerry.
The couple with the parrot were staying in the RV park as where the kids and their parents. This explained why the kids were familiar with the “trick”
After saying goodbye, as I got back onto the road I thought to myself how neat it is to stop and meet good people, have conversation and see something that’s out of the ordinary. I think being on a motorcycle had a lot to do with meeting them. I wouldn’t have stopped there with my car. I’ve passed by that general store many times before. This type of incident isn’t going to happen everyday, but my thought as I got down the road that day was if riding gives more opportunity to meet people and engage with them, I’m looking forward to more of it.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment