Day 29 (The Longest Day...Eureka to Valencia...14 1/2 hrs!)

After an incredible breakfast, 2nd day in a row, it was time to hit the road.  My plan for the day, was to ride Mattole Road/The Lost Coast, Ave of the Giants, visit The Drive Thru Tree, and make my way into San Francisco.  I've ridden this a few times before and it is one of my favorite rides in Northern California.  

Here are my hosts, Gil and Becky, as they see me off.  The two days spent with them were relaxing and fun.  Thank you again Gil and Becky!

 

I arrived in Fortuna to a deep marine layer, in addition to a steady mist.  If it was that bad in Fortuna, I reasoned that the ride along The Lost Coast might not be worth the 2+ hours invested.  I decided to forgo The Lost Coast and head for my other pre-planned stops.  First up, was The Avenue of the Giants.  I have always loved riding thru twisty roads with big trees.  It doesn't get any better than The Avenue of the Giants!

Pics can never do this area justice.  The coolness, the smells, and the ride, can't be experienced in a picture, but here are a couple pics anyway...

 

Because I did not ride The Lost Coast, I did get the opportunity to ride all of The Avenue of the Giants, starting in Pepperwood..

 

Had to stop here :-))

 

Bigfoot looking a bit sad that he can't take IKRAN for a ride...

 

Stopped here for a few minutes.  Patty and I stopped here on our ride, a few years ago, and we purchased a 'mini' Bigfoot for our backyard.  He guards our Koi Pond.

 

Here is my other destination.  I needed to update the cover pic for my blog. New bike, new pic...

 

 

After the drive thru tree in Leggett, it was time for the Hwy 1 run from Leggett to Fort Bragg.  Motorcycle riders will argue 'best roads', this portion of Hwy 1 is always in the conversation.  

Earlier in this blog I mentioned that a couple runs, specifically Hwy 4, between Port Alberni and Tofino, on Vancouver Island, just might be my new favorite.  It had been a few years since I'd taken the Leggett to Fort Bragg run.  There are no pics, there is no time.  It is technical, it is fun, it is still the best motorcycle road I've ever been on.  Period.

Eventually Hwy 1 dumps you out on the coast.  It was still mired in a deep marine layer, cool, and misty.  Here's a pic of the Cali coastline in the fog...

 

I stuck along the coast for awhile and rode thru a series of canopied areas that were pretty cool!

Pretty neat riding through tree tunnels...I didn't honk my horn though...

 

Tiring of the mist, fog, and cool temps, I came to Hwy 128.  I had heard good things about the road, but had never ridden it.  I decided to try something new...Hwy 128.  It did not disappoint.  It reminded me of riding in California's Gold Rush areas, like Sutter Creek and Amador.  Within 10 miles after turning inland, the temps climbed into the 80's, and the hills were littered with oak trees.  

Then came the vineyards!

I'm in wine country now...

 

 

Vines and tasting rooms galore!

 

Wish I had time to stop, but none the less, grape country is cool!

 

I came across a lumber mill, was fascinated by the amount of cut trees that were stacked.  I was reminded of the ugliness of the land that I witnessed in Oregon...

 

This was just one side of the mill...

 

Hundreds of thousands of redwood trees...kind of sad :-((

 

Ok, no more pics.  My goal was to head thru San Francisco, get the obligatory Golden Gate Bridge pic, and ride Lombard Street.  However, if I take away anything learned on this trip, it is DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RIDE THE BAY AREA ON A SUNDAY!  It is impossible.

I ran into traffic, stopped traffic at Rohnert Park, at Petaluma I gave up.  The bike's temps were in the 215 range, I was hot as well, with temps in the 90 degree range, I was roasting as I sat there in my KLIM jacket.  

Time to improvise again...headed east on the 16 to Napa/Sonoma, then a series of Hwy's/Interstate's that allowed me to go around the east side of the Bay Area.  Finally dumping me out on the 5.  Once on the 5, I decided to make a run for it...all the way home to Valencia!  

I knew if I hoteled it that night, that the temps on the 5 the next day would be in the 100's.  I did not want to mess with that again.  So 14 1/2 hrs after leaving Gil and Becky's place, in Eureka, Wally and I arrived home just after midnight, on the 30th day, having spent 29 days on the road! 

 

Life Is Good!

The end.

Day 28 (Eureka/Arcata)

What a fun day!  Treated to a superb, home cooked breakfast, then off to the Arcata Farmer's Market.  Gil told me that this is a throwback to the late '60's/early '70's...and it was!

Arcata Farmer's Market...

Great weather, perfect day...

A bit of juggling...

Some herbals...

The band 'Motherlode' was playing...with a 3 piece horn section!

'70's...u gotta have hula hoops!

This guy was best hands down...incredible what he could do with a hula hoop!

I bought some nectarines...delicious!

BBQ'd oysters...oh yeah!

Delicious!

Psychedelic cauliflower?!?

All colors are represented...

Being from Iowa, I gotta try the sweet corn!

More of 'Motherlode'...love the horn section!  Of course playing tunes from the '60's/'70's!

Gil with his shopping bag...

Back in Eureka, the famous Samoa Cookhouse...

Back 'in the day' (early 1900's) all the mill workers were fed here, today it's a 'family style' restaurant...

On to the Black Lightning Motorcycle Cafe...my kind of place, run by ex-motorcycle racer, Jeff Hesseltine.

Bikes on display throughout the cafe...

Great coffee, sandwiches, and Lost Coast Brewery bier!

More bikes...

This one a custom build, by a local guy...love the dry clutch!

A vintage 49cc Ducati...

Cool signs...

Famous motorcycling couple and my hosts, Gil & Becky, pictured on 'The Wall'...

View from the front of the cafe...

This mural is on a building across the street.  It is massive!  The significance of this mural, to me, is that the artist, who did this, is the artist who painted the original Downtown Brown mural for The Lost Coast Brewery.  So, why is it significant to me...

...because it is on the door, in my G'Raj Mahal!!!

I needed to do some chain maintenance on IKRAN, while out there, Gil brought out his Italian beauty!

Love the Moto Guzzi's!

Day 27 (Florence, OR to Eureka, CA)

Yesterday's ride was the longest of the trip.  Port Angeles, WA to Florence, OR...10 1/2 hours, including stops for food/fuel.  I originally had planned on camping, but weather threatened, I was absolutely beat, so I began looking for a motel with a Jacuzzi and a liquor store nearby.  Goal obtained, I stayed at the Economy Inn, in Florence, secured a cheap bottle of Chateau St. Jean's Cabernet, soaked for 45 minutes, drank half the bottle of wine, and passed out...slept like a log.  Here's my top box packed the next morning and ready to go...

Earlier in this blog I talked about the 'older' guys who would approach you and reminisce about times gone by and their riding memories.  Well, this is Ray.  I met Ray at a Dairy Queen I had stopped at for lunch.  As I walked out the doors of the DQ I found Ray looking at my bike.  Usual beginings to the conversation..."Nice bike, where are you from, where are you headed...."  It's at the point now, when folks hear the 'where I'm from and where I've been' part, they are like "WOW"!  Ray and I visited for a bit.  He's an 'old school' rider.  Scramblers, 450's, 750's..."I'm a Honda Man" is what he said.  Ray stopped riding a couple of years ago, due to a surgery, but still has a bike in his garage.  Nice meeting you Ray!

Oregon, like Cali, has an amazing coastline...

Like Cali, the roads hug the coastline, giving you some great views...

Somebody or something, lost it's foot...

More boring coastal views...

The roads also turn inland and provide some nice riding...

Almost New England (ish)...

Came around a corner and had this guy threatening me...had to get a pic with IKRAN!  There's a whole forest area, that's a 'pay for' tourist attraction, whereby you venture through the trees, and have a number of dinosaurs on display...

Selfie along the Oregon Coast...

Miles of empty beach areas...this one was neat with all the rock formations...

SO...I finished gassing up, had pulled over in the parking lot to layer down some clothing items, as the temps were now into the high 70's.  I see this guy and his sign, I'm thinking of my half bottle of wine, and ask him if he'd like to have it.  You'd have thought he had just won the Oregon Lottery.  I had to get his pic...not sure how he's going to get the cork out, but I'm sure he'll figure something out.

CALI!!!  You know immediately when you've crossed over.  The trees.  Northern California is known for it's trees and they are incredible.  Here's what you get when you enter Cali from the north...

I have always loved riding through the redwoods, the air is cool, and there's just a peacefulness to it...

IKRAN in the trees...

I had to stop here.  Cheesy tourist attraction, but a 'cool' cheesy...

Souvenir shop...

A bit of information...

And the star attraction...I've seen pics of these two at attractions in Wisconsin and Minnesota, but I think the one here in Klamath, CA is the best...IMHO.

Made it to Eureka!  After settling in at Gil & Becky's, it was time to head to my favorite craft brewery that's in the USA...The Lost Coast Brewery!  Had to have a couple draft Downtown Brown's...Get Down With Mr Brown!

The outside from the front...

Inside on one wall, there is a surfboard with an actual shark bite and the article's below, detail the incident, whereby a young surfer and his board were bitten by a Great White Shark...he was put back together and survived, the board not so much...

My friends and hosts, Becky and Gil...awesome people!!!

Gil, Becky, and I go back a ways.  In 2002 I met Gil and Becky while meeting up with a group of riders from an online sport-touring motorcycle group.  Been friends ever since and a few years ago, while Patty and I were on a 10 day motorcycle trip, we stayed with them.  Cool to see how they put up pics in their guest suite, of all the motorcycle riders they've hosted throughout the years...Patty and I at the bottom of this board from 2009!

Here's a second board...

Patty and I in 2009, fun trip!