Woke up this morning and went out for a walk and it was cold and drizzle. Went back to bed for a while. Finally, I decided we were here to ride and the cold misty conditions shouldn't deter us.
So it was pack up and get on the road. Which we didn't until 8am.
Wets on to start and we headed for the hills behind Eureka. It was about 35 miles to the first town where we stopped for coffee. Getting there was delayed by roadworks. Well not really. You know when travelling in Australia you often see a little sign plonked on the road that says "mower ahead" and sometime in the next fifty miles or so you might come actoss one or two tractor mowers at work on the side of the road.
No so here. We were held up by the usual stop/go mob for a full ten minutes before being escorted through about two miles and saw three - count 'em - three mowers working the edges. Sheesh. OH&S gone mad.
Then we went over a mountain. Charleen is still affected by the altitude changes but is a bit better today and also had bought some chewing gum. It made things a lot more bearable for her.
We followed the Trinity River and it felt a bit strange as the road seemed to be going mostly downhill, but the river was flowing at us. A careful check of the altimeter part of hte GPS showed we were actually gaining height very slowly. Thank goodness for that.
At Weaverville we turned north on to Hwy 3 which was to take us to Yreka on I-5 where we would turn back west on Hwy96 and back down to where we had coffee earlier and then back to Eureka. That's right, two towns Eureka and Yreka quite near each other - confusing.
The ride over Hwy3 was lovely and the weather cleared up to a bright and clear day. Nice. Warmer in the mountains than down on the coast. What a topsy-turvy country this is.
Then it was a short stint on I-5 and turn back west to follow another river, the Klamath. The road curved to follow every bend of the winding river. Wonderful. Warm day, clear sky, winding road. Motorcycle heaven.
However, time was slipping by and to go all the way back down to Eureka would take us to well after dark - and we had just spent two nights in that town. So we looked at maps, changed plans and picked a mountainous route back to the coastal Hwy 101. What a hoot that was. Both GPSs played up a bit, trying to get us to take dirt road shortcuts. But it turned out to be a fun ride over the hills and into Oregon - a new state for us.
We eventually turned on to Hwy 199 heading west through another range and down to the coast back in California again.
Sure enough as we neared the coast it got colder and colder until we got in to Crescent City where it is darn near freezing.
We checked in to a KOA and got a nearly identical cabin to keep us out of the drizzling rain and went out to get fish and chips for tea.
So after a lovely day of great riding I'm pretty much back where I started. I'm Cold. But a little further north.
We had to wait ages for this?
Misty roads in the morning
Didn't go that way - someone might spot me.
Both getting in to it.
Curvy roads - motorcycle heaven
Apparently dredging for gold on the Klamath River
Near the Oregon border - quite a view
Down at Crescent City, the seals rest for the night.
Too cute
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