road trip post for Tuesday 7/15

Tuesday, I made my way up to Redwood National Forest. Heading up I-5 was one long, flat, boring stretch of interstate. I was going to cut over to 101 on CA 20, but I missed the turn. My next chance was CA 36. As I got close there was a flashing advisory sign, so I pulled over and got out my crappy little wind up radio to see what it said. I was worried that it would be closed from forest fires, but the advisory just said to look out for crews and equipment, but it was open. When I got on CA 36 I saw a sign that said curves “next 170 miles”. If I ride long enough to have a top 10 list of motorcycle roads, this will be on it. Beautiful twisties, and nice little rises, and long curves... I had a great time in Hollywood, and San Francisco, and Sacramento, but now I felt like I was on a motorcycle trip again. Absolutely beautiful. And there were a lot of other bikes. Apparently there is a rally or race or something coming up called the GT or GP something.

There was a some visible aftermath of the fire, and it's going to take a while for the scenery to grow back, but the road was awesome.

When I got over to 101 I headed up to the redwoods. They are really impossible to get in a picture, but they are big, beautiful trees, just as you would expect. Made me feel like a hobbit - in a good way (nothing against hobbits).


This day was a highlight of the trip. I was worried that I'd wear the center of my tires totally flat, but I finally got a chance to round out the tread wear a little.

At the camp (which was almost full on a Tuesday) I was greeted by the unofficial mascot of the northwest even though I was still in California.


Cute little fella, huh?

I set up camp and enjoyed what will be my last campfire for a while.