San Francisco

Riding down the coast of California always presented one formidable challenge, getting through San Francisco. I try to avoid big cities, but avoiding SF would require riding far inland and missing many miles of coast. Since I have never been in SF, I decided it would be better to take the opportunity and see the big city. But I needed a plan. After leaving Fort Bragg, I left the coast to get warmer and ride through the wine country of the Sonoma and Napa valleys. This was nice until I got within about 30 miles of the Bay area, when traffic became snarled. I spent Thursday night camped at China Camp SP, but since it was booked for the weekend I found a cheap hotel in Pinole. This was convenient to the BART rail and provided a secure place to leave my things while in went into SF on Saturday. I rode the BART to 24th and Mission, a seedy part of town reeking of urine, and walked to the tourist district on the north end of town. On Sunday I rode the motorcycle across both the Richmond – San Rafael Bridge and the Golden Gate bridge to get south of SF. Along the coast again, the vegetation has changed markedly, resembling more Mexico than the great Northwest, but the temps remain cool.

Coastal Fog

Spent a rainy Saturday in Aberdeen WA, a town that seems to have seen better days. Then rode to Ridgefield WA to meet my oldest niece working at the Wildlife Refuge. She was very nice to let me stay the night in Portland at an apartment she and her husband Chris have not yet moved into. Then spent 2 days riding down the Oregon coast, which is very scenic when the fog lifts, usually in the afternoon. I broke one of my motorcycle keys in a luggage lock, but, after a few tries, found a locksmith who had the blank to make a new one. Riding into CA, I thought the temps would be warmer than Alaska, but that is not the case, at least not this morning. Hwy 1 between Leggett and Fort Bragg is twisty and the big trees are awesome, but with temps in the 40's, I was cold. I think this afternoon will be warmer.

Back in the Lower 48

Getting back into a city, even a pleasant and moderately sized city like Victoria, BC, was tough after traveling in the wilderness for 4 weeks. So many people, so much noise, so many signs, they overwhelm the senses. Need to turn the filters back on high, especially before entering the big city of Vancouver, where I had some business on Monday, which fortunately was a Canadian holiday. I then headed east along the southern border of BC to Osoyous, where the ST returned to the lower 48 some 13 months after leaving. This allowed me to spend the night in the town of Winthrop WA, which was a fun biker town when I first went there in '84, but is now just another tourist trap. Then west on highway 20 through North Cascades, a very scenic ride. I did an overnight backpacking trip to try to readjust my senses after the cities. One night at Deception Pass and then onto the Olympic Peninsula. From here it could be a straight shot down the coast to LA, but sometimes things happen.