South

I left Florence with only one way to go, south. I decided to continue along the 101 for as long as I was comfortable and was enjoying the ride. I had a plan to reach San Francisco and ride over the Golden Gate bridge, it did occur to me to do this outside the morning/afternoon rush hour. Also, I wanted to see and ride along the Redwood Highway.

Morning coffee and the sea mist is burning off

Crossing into California I only had one problem, petrol (gas). At my first fill-up I could not enter a zip code while trying to pay using my card at the pump. In order to get around this you go into see the cashier, hand over some cash money and they will activate the pump. It is too difficult to guage the exact amount you need each time so I settle for 20 dollars, if you don't use the full 20 you go back to the cashier and they give you the change. Also, they have a consertina cover on the pump handle to catch fumes, so I end up fighting with this, some pumps also have a switch (cleverly disguised). The first time I filled up, I was there for about 20 minutes providing great enterainment for the locals. Now I just pull up, kill the bike, walk into the shop, handover 20 dollars, fill up, walk back and get some change, ride off, a master.

Redwood National Park, Info centre

Riding along the Redwood Highway was somewhat intimidating, at certain parts the trees are right on the edge of the road, no where to go if you get it wrong, so big and beautiful. I didn't stop to take a photo but there's plenty on the web. In fact this route is photo oppourtunity overload and the further south you go the more there is to see. I can't recommend this route enough (thanks Chris), I met one Dutch couple who had flown over and rented a small (for North America, big for Europe) RV/camper, they loved it, could be a way to see it all if you choose not to ship the bike.

I stayed the night in Eureka and decided, as it was Sunday, to ride straight for San Francisco in order to be clear the otherside by the start of the working week. Even though I moved more inland the countryside still amazed. I stopped at a rest area and got talking to two ex-pat Brits who now lived in Vancover, they were heading to the Nappa Valley just north of San Francisco to see the wine. It had been raining on and off and they had decided, like me, to make up some time, in fact they had Redwood overload, " ... there's only so many trees you can take in". They had not riden across North Dakota and Montana, clearly.

Golden Gate, in all it's foggy glory

No, that's not rain, it's the famous fog/sea mist, but it might as well be rain, I was soaked. So, I rode over the bridge, pulled up with all the other tourists for the 'photo' and then found myself driving through the centre of San Francisco, it was one of those moments when you just keep smiling. Deb and I had been here before so no need to stay and do all the sights, it was the bridge/bike I needed. After the city I picked up Highway 1 and spent a couple of nights in Santa Cruz, I wanted to finalise my route into Mexico and sort out a service for the bike just before I cross the border.

Highway 1

What can I say about Hwy 1 ? nothing except, please ride/drive it. You have to accept it's a tourist run and so you have to crawl along at times and the 'curves' will be taken out for you by an SUV enjoying the view, but relax and just enjoy, again it's 'photo overload'.

Still the '1'

I came to a halt at Ventura, I planned to get up early the next day and ride through Los Angeles before rush hour, 'man, god and plans' eh ?

Ventura, it's SoCal

Many thanks for all the support, especially from the NAS based in WSM, I'm missing you too guys, keep the club running, it's needed. Bike is running really well, have not even needed to top up the oil, just keeps going whatever the weather, about 5000 miles now, will treat it to new oil before Mexico. Gear is holding up well, no really hot temps yet, remains comfortable and dry. Body OK so far, ocassional aches, mostly linked to riding the 'super' winds. Still on imported baccy, they have local stuff but have not tried any, the filters here are massive though, about the size of toilet rolls, makes for interesting rolling. Also, they still offer 'smoking rooms' in motels, even in California, I tried one but could not work out what to do, it's been years since I smoked inside, I still joined the local branch of the NAS outside....