June 1999 Trip to Northern California


On June 14, 1999 I embarked on a whirlwind motorcycle trip of Northern California with some friends.
My friends Stefano and Kathleen were leaving for San Diego to attend the wedding of Kathleen's brother.
They had two friends visiting from Milano, Italy; Mauro and Paolo who were lucky enough to borrow a couple of motorcycles and along with  myself and my other friend Dwayne, ride down the Pacific Coast for a sightseeing tour of Oregon and California.  Since I only had three days to ride before I had to be back at the office, I chose to ride as far as San Francisco and then return home while the others made their way further south to San Diego.  The following is a haphazard chronicle of that trip:

Please forgive the quality of my photos.  I should have taken my good camera but my space was limited in my bags so I took my small Olympus point-and-shoot. All photos enlarge to full size if you click on them.
Monday, June 14 at 8:30 a.m.:
I had packed my luggage, tent and other necessary and unnecessary supplies onto my bike the night before and was ready to go.  I chose to ride my '79 Suzuki GS1000 over my other motorcycles since it is the fastest and most reliable bike I own.  I knew if I wanted to keep up with Stefano on his Moto Guzzi California II, I would need all the horsepower that my bike had to offer.  I met Dwayne at his shop and we proceeded to Stefano and Kathleen's house outside of town.  Mauro and Paolo were riding older BMWs while Dwayne was on his '74 Moto Guzzi Eldorado.
Getting ready to leave

So we hit the road and headed out Oregon Highway 126 which heads about 60 miles west to the coast.  I've ridden this road a thousand times and nothing was out of the ordinary except for the bear that went running across the road in front of us.  I'd never seen a bear in this area although there are a great many of them in the surrounding hills.  It got a little foggy and cold over at the coast so we stopped in Florence and donned our rain gear.  Heading south on US 101, we stopped in Reedsport for a snack and some gas, then it was on to Coos Bay for lunch and a minor adjustment to Paolo's bike. The weather was fair and we were all having a good time.
A real crappy photo of a really beautiful view near the OR/CA border.

As we continued south on 101, the weather got a little worse.  The Pacific fog began to move in and soon we found ourselves riding through a very heavy fog.  It was wet, but not cold and entirely tolerable.  We made it into Humboldt County and into the City of Arcata.  I didn't think there was a city in the USA that had more hippies than my home town of Eugene, OR, but Arcata takes the cake.  Considering the tactics that the County Sheriff uses against environmental protesters in Humbolt County, I'm surprised anyone still lives there!  The whole time I was in Humbolt County, I kept thinking about having pepper spray swabbed into my eyes by sadistic deputies delighting it torture tactics.  It really is a war going on there. (Sorry for the soapbox aside but this is my page and I'll say what I want).

We pulled into Arcata and decided to have dinner at the Humbolt Brewery.  Good food and brew can be had there and I would highly recommend it.  Any food always tastes better when you've been on the road all day and good food makes it that much better.  The bartender directed to a KOA campground just outside of town.  Not the ideal spot to camp but it was getting dark and we were tired and didn't really care.  Stefano and I pitched tents while Dwayne, Mauro and Paolo rented one of those little log cabins.  Kathleen paid $4 for some firewood and we shared a few beers around the campfire before retiring for the night.  It was fun trying to pick jokes that could be told in Italian without losing the punch line in the translation.
Stefano shows his best side while Dwayne comments on his other side.



Tuesday, June 15, 1999:

I woke up at about 5 a.m. in a soaking fog.  We packed up our gear and headed off to Eureka for breakfast and fuel.
At this point my motorcycle developed a problem.  It would not idle down after being revved.  We traced it to a loose intake manifold clamp on the cylinder head.  What a relief.  That bike has always treated me quite well and I was glad when it was only a simple problem.  After repairing the bike and eating breakfast, we headed on down 101 into the majestic California Redwoods.  We decided to take the Avenue of the Giant's road so we could enjoy the ancient trees.  The experience of riding through these massive ancient trees on a motorcycle is amazing.  I wear ear plugs when I ride to seal out wind noise so it's a surreal experience to fly under these monsters in total silence with them towering above you.  The Avenue of the Giants is best experienced in a convertible Cadillac or on a motorcycle (if you must drive, otherwise a hike on foot is even better).
Being tourists, we decided to take advantage of one of the "Drive Through Trees" along the road.  For $1.50, you can ride your motorcycle through the remains of a 5000 year old Redwood tree.  It's kind of like walking under a giant's legs and looking up his ass.  Cheap thrills for $1.50 (Thanks to Kathleen for paying for all of us to ride through!)
"Welcome to Humbolt County. Open your eyes so we can mace them!"
Stefano and Paolo in the "Drive Through Tree"
The "Crew" inside the big tree.
Looking "up the giant's ass" from inside the tree.
"The 5 Stooges" From Left; Paolo, Stefano, Me (Dave), Dwayne and Mauro along the Eel River.
 

As we left the Redwood forest and traveled on, the weather got warmer and warmer.  It was a great ride with very little traffic or construction.  We all pushed our bikes pretty hard and I think I determined the limit of my cheap IRC tires and by the time we hit Hopland, it was time for a break.  We ate lunch at the Hopland Brewery, another fine place to stop the next time you travel on 101.  Excellent food and brew.  I could have stayed there all night but we had a schedule to keep and had to press on.

As we rode further south, the sprawl of the Bay Area started to show its' ugly underbelly.  Traffic and houses everywhere.
Since it was rush hour, we decided not to ride over the scenic and historic Golden Gate Bridge and instead took the San Rafel bridge into Berkeley.  Up into the East Bay Hills we rode.  Up, up, up to Kathleen's Aunt Marilyn's home.  This is a beautiful house right out of the 60's.  It's the kind of swank swingin' pad that the likes of Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack could have an all week party with Ann Margaret and Tuesday Weld.  What a great place!  Even better is the 180 degree panoramic view of the Bay.  You can see all the way from the Golden Gate, past the city of San Francisco to the Bay Bridge.   We unloaded the luggage from our bikes, changed our clothes and headed to Oakland where we had a dinner date.

Stefano led us all on a high speed chase through the back streets of Berkeley to Oakland, where we arrived at Kathleen and Stefano's friend's restaurant.  Pastino's Pasta and Pizza at 4207 Park Blvd. in Oakland is a small Italian bistro with some absolutely incredible food.  The owner, Sal, is a friend of Kathleen and Stefano and is originally from Sicily.  Course after course of wonderful food was placed in front of us until we had eaten so much that I was sure we would pop.  If you ever find yourself in Oakland, by all means visit Sal at Pastino's.  Get there early since there are only about 10 tables.  If you live nearby, they also deliver.

We all headed back to Aunt Marilyn's Swingin' 60's Party House for a well deserved night's sleep.  I had the privilege of sleeping in the living room on a genuine Italian leather sofa with that panoramic view of the lights of San Francisco to put me to sleep.  That was the last view I would get of the City by the Bay because when I woke in the morning, all you could see was the deck railing.  Beyond that was nothing but that famous Bay Area fog. 



Wednesday, June 16:

It had been my intention to leave early in the morning and head back to Oregon but after some discussion, one of the Italian guests, Mauro, and Dwayne decided to ride back as well.  Kathleen, Stefano and Palo went on to San Diego.  We left about 9:30 and chose to shoot straight up I-80 to the 505 and then up I-5 home.  The road from the Bay Area to Redding is about as exciting as having a drunken dentist perform a root canal on you without the benefit of Novocain.  We just pressed on, stopping for gas and the occasional pee break.  Had a snack in the shadow of Mount Shasta and kept going.  The trip back is about 200 miles too long to ride in one day but we did it anyway.  Arriving in Eugene about 10:30, we decided to stop at Max's Tavern for a well deserved beer.  No beer tastes better than the one you drink at the end of a 600 mile motorcycle journey.

All in all, it was a great trip.  If I had planned better, I would have taken a couple days getting home but that's the next trip.

I have some pictures from the ride home, but they are still in the camera.  I'll post them here when I finish off the roll.



Back to Dave's Motorcycle World
 

last update: June 24, 1999