Heading Home

I took off this morning from Livermore for the first leg of my trip home. I rode Vasco road out to Brentwood to scope out the area a bit then crossed the Antioch bridge and rode the delta levy roads to Sacramento

The photo is of one of the many drawbridges throughout the delta. Riding this route was far superior to taking 580 out to I-5 and then north to Sacto.

After I passed Sacramento, I stopped in Woodland for gas and took the opportunity to visit the Agricultural museum there. Fascinating place full of old tractors and trucks. I have lots of photos but here are a few from the truck section of the museum for now. This notebook is tough to edit photos on ! :( I'll put the rest into a slide show when I get home.

Entrance to the museum

A 1936 Chevy Pickup

This is a full size wooden model of a 1957 GMC pickup. It's
made entirely of wood, not one piece of metal was used. I
Have more photos of this very cool truck!!!

A 1932 Pierce Arrow Truck

From there it was a pretty boring ride north on I-5 until I passed Redding. After that the ride is more enjoyable. It's a bit cooler because you start gaining altitude and the road has a lot more curves to enjoy. The scenery is also better.

Anyway, I rode as far as Ashland, OR today so I should make it all the way home tomorrow, albeit, a bit late in the day.

St. Johns !!!!

Slept in this morning. I really love that part of a vacation!!! Lunch today was at my favorite burger joint in the whole world and that's not an exaggeration, I really mean the whole world. At least the part that I've travelled, anyway.

Below is the Blue Bacon Burger. The absolute best!!! They do have some new items on the menu that I was tempted to try but I stuck with my favorite. The Philly Cheesesteak made with brie was a real temptation though.

After lunch we went to a park so Kit could play. She really likes driving things.

Day 3: Santa Rosa to Santa Clara

Slept in this morning, no point in getting up early just to get caught in rush hour traffic going into the city. I crossed the golden gate bridge about 11:00 AM or so. It was sunny and warm when I left Santa Rosa but it was freezing when I got to the bridge.

From there I took 19th ave through the city to highway one and continued down into Pacifica.

I stopped at the bakery there for a creme horn but GASP!!, they were out! The bakery there has the best Italian creme horns and I was really looking forward to one. Oh well. On to the old homestead. The house and neighborhood looks the same as it did when we left in 1987. For that matter, most of Pacifica is the same. There were a few minor things, the theatre is gone, the Central market is gone and converted into a group of smaller shops.

From Pacifica I headed down toward Half Moon Bay. I thought they had bypassed devils slide but the work isn't anywhere near done yet. In fact, they haven't even started boring the tunnel. From the looks of things, it will be ten more years before the slide area is bypassed.

After a lunch stop in Half Moon Bay I headed east on Highway 92 then turned south onto skyline blvd. Skyline is a really nice twisty road that runs the hilltops all the way down to the santa clara valley. Beautiful ride.

I met up with Dick & Sheila (and Fritz) for a visit and quick bite. Nice to see them and meet Fritz. From there I took the quick trip into Santa Clara and landed and Dan & Tuks house around 7:00 or so. I plan to stay parked here until at least Sunday.

Day 2: Sparkplugs to Santa Rosa

I left Sparkplugs around 8:00 AM and headed for Crescent City, CA. Unlike the day before, the weather didn't cooperate today. Drizzly rain off and on from the start. I had breakfast in Crescent City and headed south. Except for the showers, this ride is what it's all about.

I've often said that riding a motorcycle is an assault on your senses. Today was really the definition of that. The scenery in this part of the state is really awe inspiring With the Pacific Ocean on one side and thick towering redwoods on the other. The scent of sea air mixed with the smell of redwoods and evergreen, tarnished occasionally by the odor of a dead skunk or an ill maintained diesel truck spewing partially burned fuel. All of this accompanied by the rhythmic rumble of a harley davidson motor tooling down the road. Yep, this is why I ride.

But, By the time I reached Leggit I had had enough of the rain. I get plenty of that at home and didn't need it this week so I took 101 and headed inland to warmer and sunnier weather. heading south from leggit still offers plenty of beautiful redwood groves before opening up to vineyards that start to dot the landscape as you approach marin county.

Day 1: Duvall to Sparkplugs

Day one was really a pretty boring day. I left Duvall around 9:00 AM and headed for I-5. Flew down the slab stopping for gas and fast food.

I got to Sparkplugs motorcycle camp around 8:00 PM and was greeted by Brian, aka "Sparkplug". Brian is really quite a character. He and his wife Tracy run the camp that provides campsites for motorcyclists only. No cars allowed. Nice setup they have, a real throw back to the old days.

The Tee Pees were all taken by the time I got there but Sparkplug provided me with this tent with a real bed inside!! Worked quite well, except I had a dream that I got snowed on!!!

Qualicum Beach, BC

We went up to Qualicum Beach, BC for our 27th anniversery. Qualicum Beach is on the eastern shore of Vancouver Island about 100 miles north of Victoria.

The weather was absoutely perfect so it was a really nice trip going up there. Plenty of "top down" time! We took I-5 up to the border and crossed at the peace arch the went to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal to catch the ferry to Nanaimo, BC. From Nanaimo it's just a short 30 miles up to Qualicum.

We stayed at the "Old Dutch Inn", a place we've stayed before that's right across from the beach. The price is right and they accept pets. We discovered the place five years ago when we took a motorcycle trip up the sunsine coast and down Vancouver Island.

We spent Saturday on Salt Spring Island. Salt Spring is one of the Gulf Islands and I had heard that it's one of the most visited. It's a really nice place but next time I'll take a good map of the island. The brochures all had interesting places to visit but no maps. I figured that it's an island, how hard can it be? Pretty hard, it turns out. A lot of the roads just turn into dead ends and many don't even have road signs to tell you the name of the road. Still, it was a nice adventure and we got to see new things. It was quite an adventure for Romeo too. There was a craft fair in the park and Romeo got to meet a lot of new people and a few new canine friends as well. It was a good socialization event for him. He was quite popular, I couldn't take three steps without someone wanting to pet him and ask about him.

On the way home Sunday we decided to take a little side trip to Lummi Island. Lummi is one of the San Juan Islands in the US. Sunset Magazine had an article about it some time ago that praised it as an excellent destination. Very nice place with spectacular views of Mt. Baker and the other islands. We had a nice dinner at the Beach Store Cafe then cruised around the island before heading home.

Here's a slide show with some of the photos I took.

Qualicum Beach 2009

First haircut

Romeo got his first haircut yesterday. He was really getting bushy and Carole was reluctant to take him to a groomer. Ever since she first took Buster to the groomer and got back a completely different dog than she took in she's been a little gunshy of groomers.

Personally, I'd have had her trim Romeo a little more than she did, but he looks quite cute. before the grooming he was beginning to look like one of those things you keep by the door to clean your shoes before coming in the house!

His ears are taking on an interesting look now. His right ear is always up and his left ear is always down. It's more pronounced now that he's had a haircut. It's really cute so I hope it stays that way permanently.