Day 7 Pacific Coast Highway...again

The alarm was set for 6:30AM. I forgot to take the phone off of vibrate! Luckily I heard the hum at 6:45 AM. I got up and got dressed, being very quiet so that I wouldn't wake up Chuck. I went into the bathroom to wash up and closed the door so that I wouldn't disturb Chuck. He is soooo sensitive! When I finished, I walked out and Chuck was dressed. We finished dressing and packing our bags and took them out to our Motors. We packed up and cleaned our windshields. While we were doing this, the other guys came out one at a time and started doing the same thing. We walked to the "upper 40" to the lounge (that's where the breakfast buffet was served) with computers in hand. We couldn't do the blogs last night because we had poor reception for the wi-fi in our rooms. There wasn't much time so I didn't do the blog. Sorry! I did check my e-mail and also checked my Facebook. We finished breakfast, returned to our Motors in the 'lower 40," and rode them back to the office to check out. We left at 9:05 AM with Chuck in the lead.

We had talked last night and during breakfast about going back westbound and catching the Pacific Coast Highway again, north of San Francisco. We wanted to stay away from the City because of the traffic. Chuck had checked Map Quest for the map between Yuba City and Fort Bragg. It gave him Hwy 20, which would take up to Fort Bragg. We headed westbound. We weren't on Hwy 20 for very long when we found that we were on another great, Motorcycle road! The longer we were on it, the better it was.

AT 10:22 AM after riding 76 miles we stopped in Clearlake Oaks, CA for gas and a pit stop. Chuck said that although he didn't really need gas at this time, it was time for a pit stop and, instead of having to stop in another 30 miles, we gassed up. Chuck took a lot of lip from Jan! After all, it is Jan's turn to lead next. We left at 10:49 AM.

Jan took over the lead and we continued westbound. This road got better and better. When we were within 22 miles before reaching Fort Bragg, we were riding in a mountainous, forest road. We turned at a curve and there were two deer "puppies" standing by the side of the road. We all slowed and I rode very close to them. I rode to within 4 feet of one "puppy" (OK, fawn) and reached out my hand to it. (I didn't know if it was a he or she, and I wasn't going to take the time). I didn't stop, even though I wanted to so that I could take a picture, because we were on a curve and there was traffic behind us. We continued on this great road and 12:48 PM and after riding 93.7 miles, we stopped for lunch at Denny's in Fort Bragg, CA. Did you notice that it took us two hours to ride 93.7 miles? We were riding at an average of about 45 mph. We left at 1:50 PM with our bellies content. We drank a lot of water and pop, so guess what is next?

Jan led us northbound on PCH. We continued northbound and 7 miles from Leggett, CA, which is where PCH ends and US 101 starts, Jan stopped for our "after lunch break." Jan pulled into a roadside stop area with a gravel parking lot. Jan entered the area and we had to slow so that we wouldn't "go down" on the gravel. Jan rode to the opposite end of the lot and came to a controlled stop. I was behind and stopped to Jan's left. Ken was behind me and slowed to a stop to my left. C.E. was slowing, came too close to Ken's Motor and C.E.'s right handle bar bumped Ken's trunk. This caused Ken's Motor to drop on its right side, narrowly missing me and my Motor. Jan went to Ken's aid and helped Ken lift his Motor. C.E. felt very badly that this happened and he apologized. We didn't say anything much about it at this time...at this time. We let it go for a while and then we brought it up! This is one of those things that we don't forget about and we will mention it again later, just like Bruce dropping his Motor on the Four Corners Ride in Key West, Florida. This can happen to anyone, which is what makes our rides that much more interesting! I'm sure that C.E. will be laughing about this later. We sat around for a while, threw rocks at a large pipe, took pictures, talked, laughed and made a pit stop. We then left at 3:17 PM.

We had talked about heading for a small town named, Arcata, CA. for our rest stop. Jan led us northbound and 4 miles later, I saw a sign for the "Drive Through Redwood." I stopped and honked at Jan. Jan stopped and Chuck rode up next to me. I told Chuck of the drive through tree and he said, "What the hell, let's go!" Jan turned and we arrived at 3:29 PM. It was a private park and Chuck was kind enough to pay for our admittance. It was $3 per motorcycle. We all decided that we would keep Chuck in our group! At least for a while longer. :) We rode up to the tree with the hole in it and, one by one, rode through and I took pictures of every one in the hole. While there, we made a pit stop. We left at 4:08 PM.

Jan led us north again and 16 miles later, we stopped at 4:30 PM in Piercy, CA. for gas. After we all gassed up, Chuck told us that he had noticed Bruce's right tail pipe loose and bouncing. Bruce parked his Motor in the shade and took off his right saddlebag and exposed the tail pipe. I told Chuck and Bruce that I had a "Harley Repair Kit." This kit included plastic ties, two hose clamps and electrical tape. We used 4 plastic ties and tied the tail pipe to the existing bracket. Harley fixed! Bruce put his saddlebag back on and we were off again. We left at 4:55 PM.

Ken led us north on US 101. After 90 miles of riding, we arrived in Arcata, CA. at 6:26 PM at the Best Western. We checked into our rooms, parked our Motors in front of our rooms, took our bags into our rooms and tucked our Motors in for the night. We, again, had great roads to ride and enjoyed them. We rode for 321 miles today. We walked across the street to a strip mall where there was a good Mexican food restaurant. We ate a good meal and we each had a different beer to drink. The waiter was very nice and accommodating. He identified each of us by the beer that we were drinking. With our bellies full we returned to our motel, where all of the guys by me went into the hot tub. I had some catching up to do. Tomorrow we plan to go to Redwood National Park. Until tomorrow...