Above, L-R: my friend Damien; Damien & his ST1100; Wes crossing the Golden Gate Bridge
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31 JULY
Got up. Got out of bed. Jason ran a comb across his head. Made our way downstairs and had a cup, etc. etc. (my apologies to Paul McCartney!) We walked down to the new house to get our bikes, rode back to the old (current) house to load them up, and drank our coffee. Jason made a snide remark at the coffee shop (Jumpin' Java) that not only made the clerk laugh, but probably made him think we're together, too.
Damien showed up on his Honda ST1100. We socialized a bit and Jason admired the Black Mamba (which I had the pleasure of riding last year on a business trip out here). I led us down (or rather, up and down) Scott Street to Lombard and out across the bridge. We stayed on a northerly heading on US 101 until Ukiah, where Damien bought us lunch at a Red Hook brewpub. He split after that, mentioning something about a threesome waiting for him at home, and we continued north.
Above, L-R: my friend Damien; Damien & his ST1100; Wes crossing the
Golden Gate Bridge
We burned up the road to Eureka, where US 101 becomes the Pacific Coast Highway. That was cool. Getting to the coast again boosted my spirits in the waning daylight.
I really dug going through the redwood forest - Avenue of the Giants is what the road through is called. Big trees, no doubt about that. Trying to get back into the groove of the road after a week off, plus Jason's side trip to Wisconsin and all the fucked up shenanigans he's got to deal with over this divorce.
Above, L-R: Wes greets a long-lost relative; Jason's unique front-jump-kick
mount method; bikes & redwoods
The lower the sun sank the colder we got. By the time we reached Klamath and the Redwoods Hostel, we were shivering despite wearing basically all our gear and several other layers to boot. Jason had on his rain gear and some rubber gloves he conned from a gas station clerk. I had on my thin liners, spring and fall gloves both, and jacket liner as well. Once we got cold, we kept the throttles pegged with every intention of getting to the hostel before we froze to death.
Nice
hostel but some silly rules. Shoes off at the door (no problem there), curfew
(as in "we lock the doors at 11"), etc. We stayed up til 3 talking
to Wilmoed and Femke, 2 very cute girls from the Netherlands who are studying
to be lawyers. I talked mostly to Wilmoed (pronounced fvil-mode) since I thought
Jason might be a little sweet on Femke (pronounced fam-kuh). I was surprised
to find that she was not afraid to travel in the US. She thinks Americans are
negative, undereducated, and closed-minded, but not particularly dangerous. I
taught her to say "Willits, I reckon" to answer the bus driver when
they get picked up tomorrow and he asks, "Where you 2 goin'?"
Gas Log -
13 July -
14 July -
15 July -
17 July
18 July -
19 July -
20 July -
21 July -
22 July
23 July -
24 July -
26 July -
27 July -
28 July
29 July -
30 July -
31 July -
1 Aug -
2 Aug
3 Aug -
7 Aug -
Wrapup