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Finally came to the 116 exit and we were headed for the redwoods, sunlight streaming through the trees, and cooler temps. When we arrived in Guerneville, Patrick, Stevie, and Kendra, who had left earlier in the day, were waiting for us with wine bottles cracked and cheese and crackers at the ready for us weary travelers. Our merry little band kicked back and let the stress and tension of the real world just melt away. We stayed at the Creekside Inn again. We've stayed there for three years now so the owners know us and it's one of those places where you feel at home with. There are towering redwoods all around the cottages - the smell of the Russian River area is so lovely - love those redwoods! Our bikes were safely tucked away in the covered parking areas, front wheels peeking out. We decided to walk into town (Guerneville) and find some place for a little sustenance. As we walked across the bridge the moon was pretty close to being in full swing. The water of the river was very still and made beautiful reflections of the trees and mountains around it. We walked by one store that was advertising a brand of wine called Cleavage Creek, which sported a buxom blonde on the label... 10% of the proceeds of their sales goes to breast cancer research which I thought was pretty cool! We found a nice little wine bar/restaurant and they stayed open late just for us! The sign up on the wall that greeted us when we walked in seemed a pretty good motto to live by, me thinks! “Live Well, Love Much, Laugh Often” The service was really slow but we were in no hurry and just enjoyed the comraderie of old and new friends while we sipped good vino and laughed... a LOT! We headed over to the grocery store to get breakfast goodies. How many bikers does it take to do grocery shopping? This was actually pretty funny... seven people all throwing their personal favorite breakfast item in the cart... Nat pullrf out some sausage asking who put that in there?? Kind of like going shopping with your kid and they keep putting stuff in the cart when you're not looking! We headed back to our little home away from home and off for a good night's rest before the next day's adventure. The next morning, we all gathered and shared breakfast together and had one more surprise addition, Real, who drove up from San Jose that morning to join us! We headed out via Armstrong Woods to Sweetwater Springs Rd., a beauty of a single lane, paved (and I use that term loosely in some spots!), goat trail that twists and winds its way through the mountains, keeping us all on our toes and very focused upon occasion!! No chance of speeding tickets out on this road! 10/15 mph signs were scattered everywhere and they were pretty accurate. Time for a nature pit stop... ladies room, first tree on your left, gents, 2nd on your right... when you're a biker, sometimes a tree is all you get (and after seeing some of the porta potties along the road, I think I prefer the tree)!! The road was quite narrow here and luckily we didn't encounter much oncoming traffic - this area was beautiful with dappled sunlight everywhere and the stream running along the side of the roadway. At the tail end of Sweetwater, you break out of the trees and into bright sunshine and tons of vineyards - I have always loved the symmetry of the perfectly aligned vines on the hills. Emerging from the wilderness, we traveled along Westside Rd., West Dry Creek Rd. (a wonderful road past more wineries, jazz festivals, and green, green, green in all directions), across Yoakum Bride Rd., Dry Creek Rd., and finally onto the beginning of the roller coaster ride that is Stewarts Point-Skaggs Spring Rd. Before venturing onto the road mecca, we decided to stop off at the day area to check out the view of Lake Sonoma... but alack and alas, it was closed for some reason... budget cuts? Well, we found a place to see the lake and do the required picture thing anyway. I don't have any pics of the Stewarts Point section because I was too busy riding!! I don't think that section of the road has one straight on it... turn after turn after turn of perfect pavement... and we were pleasantly surprised at the lack of traffic and no sightings of local enforcement along our way! The other half of the roadway, Skaggs Spring, is not as well maintained and a bit goatier but still fun nonetheless. As I was standing on the side of the road taking some pics, these two gents came by in their jeep and offered to take a pic of me which I thought was quite nice of them... I do have to admit I had a brief moment of panic as I handed over my camera and had this vision of them speeding away with it... but then I figured what the hell, it's just a camera... not only did they not speed away, they took a pretty nice pic! We stopped for a break at the steel bridge that becomes Annapolis Rd., another gem of a road. Dona is in the habit of dropping trou when we're at these stops when she gets too hot... I have many pics of her with her pants around her ankles. So we decided what the hell, when in Rome, and we joined her in the tradition, lined up on the bridge and dropped our riding pants (except for Kendall who wasn’t, um, under-geared properly to be dropping trou!)... the funniest part of the pic is that up until this moment, there had been ZERO traffic... not one car... as soon as we all lined up with our pants around our ankles, everyone came out of the woodwork to cross this damn bridge... the looks on the inhabitants of the cars going by were priceless! We arrived at Hwy 1 and stopped off at the Sea Ranch Lodge for a wonderful lunch and lovely view of the ocean. Continuing south on Hwy 1, we cut in on Fort Ross Rd. which plunges you into deeply thicketed trees onto this one lane, bumpy, up hill road... it was so dark at one point I was extremely glad that I had chosen to NOT wear my dark glasses because it would have been almost like riding blind! We buck'd and bronc'd our way to the top breaking out into bright sunshine which was almost blinding in its contrast. Fort Ross continues on down through the trees and was much like our earlier morning jaunt on Sweetwater... one lane, goat (some parts more than others), hairpins, and beautiful scenery. Someone obviously had a sense of humor when naming their roads up here... we passed road signs for Wayne’s Way and then right across the road was By the Way. J From there, the road turns into Cazadero Hwy and is a nicely paved, smooth road... as we rode through the town of Cazadero, there was a local wedding reception going on and we were waved to come join them but an obviously inebriated participant... we chose to wave back and continue on our merry way. Scooted back along 116, another stop at the grocery store for dinner fixings, and to our humble home away from home to relax and share another night of good food and laughter. We decided to go healthy and Stevie and Nat whipped up a big, delicious salad with shrimp… and I fixed my world famous garlic bread... yumMEEE!!! Sunday morning rose and so did we, reluctant to leave but knowing we still had some adventures ahead for the day... Bohemian Hwy, Bodega Hwy, Valley Ford-Freestone Rd, Hwy 1 for a quick pit stop... backtrack along VFF to Chileno Valley Rd., Wilson Hill, Marshall Petaluma Rd., Hwy 1, gas in Pt Reyes, Pt Reyes-Petaluma Rd, and into Nicasio for lunch. Hesitant to return to reality, we donned our gear slowly and headed for parts home. CC and I have a little ritual when returning from our northern trips by taking the back way along the Great Highway and avoiding 19th Ave., 280 to Black Mountain Rd., Canada Rd. and stopping beside the reservoir for one last gab fest and reminiscing of the wonderful weekend we had just experienced. Finally, since we were getting blown all over the place by the wind, we mounted our trusty steeds and headed home, eagerly awaiting what the road has in store for us in the future! Peace,
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Well, due to work constraints, we got a bit of a late start Friday afternoon. Met up with CC, Dona, and Nat and managed to hit 101 just in time for rush hour. The commuter lane offers no solace up in Marin - it's just as packed as all the other lanes. Now, I haven't done a lot of lane splitting on the Trophy so I was a little hesitant to do so but after about 5 minutes of trying to balance the beast in pedestrian traffic and heat, I quickly got over my hesitation and away we went. The folks up in Marin County are pretty polite and most kindly moved over to the share the lane with us. Of course, there has to be the one butthead who just couldn’t stand it and actually pulls over to the other side of the lane to not let you pass... but we're on m'cycles and easily manuevered around him with a friendly wave... :P