Since I was heading up for Charlie's UC Davis commencement ceremonies (Atta Boy!!) I decided to extend the excursion into a road trip. I figured why not look around and tap into a bit of my inner Huell Howser. For all I know, the zombie apocalypse might be going down soon - best not put these things off. Covered a lot of miles, and saw some beautiful, wide open parts of the state. My favorite area was Mt. Shasta - the town seemed like Mayberry.... IF Mayberry had a 14,000 Ft. extinct volcano as a backdrop. I had been through here on a climbing trip several years ago, and had liked it so much that I planned to come back and look around. Glad I did. Nice place. Friendly people. The kind of town i could live in when I retire. Well, except for......
Little did I know, but the county in which the town is located (Siskiyou) is smack dab in the middle of the simmering effort of some northern parts of the state to succeed from California and form their own state of
Jefferson. You can't make this stuff up. So Mayberry might be getting a new governor soon. I'll need to dig a bit deeper before calling any real estate agents......
 |
| Oh my...... |
Day 1
First day of a road trip is always a transition day. You're tired from the week of work and all of the list checking and packing (or is that just me......) that you did the night before, but YOU ARE starting a road trip and that feeling of freedom pushes the tired out of the way. Coffee helps too.
Rather than blast all the way up to Davis, I took a short detour to do a quick bike ride up out of Frazier Park. Be a shame to bypass the opportunity to ride on a cool, pine scented mountain road - especially when the temps in Davis were forecast to be in the 90s. Didn't see any bears, but was on the lookout after seeing this sign:
After the ride, I couldn't resist the 17 lb "mountain breakfast burrito" at the local gas station/deli/post office which I inhaled - not sure if it was the perfect recovery food, but it sure was good!
Drive up was uneventful, save for a small work emergency that required a phone meeting when I got to Davis. Meh, Transition day. The hotel also had no hot water, so I had a quick, refreshing shower before heading out for dinner with Charlie.
Davis is a really cool town with a great downtown - always enjoy my time here. The highlight on this trip was meeting Charlie's girlfriend (Jess) and getting to see Charlie do a little standup comedy that night. I went to bed with a smile on my face.
Day 2-3
Getting into the swing of being away! Yesterday was another travel day - hit the Davis Farmers Market and said good bye (for now) to Charlie before hitting the road.
Oh, and I went for a nice ride out to a small town (Winters) via the Putah Creek road. The whole ride was very "Davis" like. Great bike paths and roads, courteous drivers and plenty of other friendly riders. Some guy had even erected a giant plywood cycle art thing in the middle of his Almond orchard. Sure. Why not. I also experienced a new road aroma: the smell of the almond orchards being irrigated. Nice.
Made it up to Shasta by mid afternoon. The town still has the good feel :). Alex and Sarah rolled in around 3 and we talked about road touring non-stop for almost 2 hrs....... They had stayed at my house back in early May when they started their Sierra Cascades tour (Mexico to Canada). You can read about their adventures here: Sarah , Alex. Beyond the nuts and bolts of touring (which I could mostly figure out) they are both people I really admire and love hanging out with - both doing what they have chosen to do. Not society or some other outside influence. Anyway, they certainly did nothing to cool my enthusiasm for touring....... In fact, my time with them solidified my decision to get some tours planned.
On Sunday, I rode out with them to Grenada via the the stagecoach road. No cars, trees and mountain scenery and excellent roads (with share the road signs!). Parted company with Alex and Sarah at the 76 station in Grenada - they pushed on to Ashland.
 |
Bike friendly Jeffersonians?
|
 |
| The 76 station in Grenada - you MAY NOT shower in the restrooms here |
Day 4
Despite Sarah's "heads up" that Randy (a fellow tourist who had been riding with Alex and Sarah for some time) was coming - he never rolled in last night. Too bad, he seemed like an interesting guy and I would have enjoyed getting to know him a bit.
Today was dedicated to exploring the town of McCloud and a little fishing. Can't ride every day, right? McCloud was indeed a quaint, Idyllic town. Used to be a bustling logging town but alas no more...... I like quiet and peaceful, but this place might be a little slow for me. Especially with Shasta only 10 miles away. I did see (as I eased through town) an older lady just sitting on her porch looking off at Mt. Shasta - you could do worse than this town :)
Fishing was ok - it is a beautiful river, but one that requires you to pay your dues before you have much success - I was happy with the beautiful scenery and a handful of small rainbow trout. That, and not stepping on a rattlesnake, which i almost did (twice) the last time I was here.....
Debated with myself about going into town to watch the Kings NHL finals game (they won and are now up 3-0!) instead, I stayed in camp and enjoyed the quiet, a view of Mt. Shasta, and the new book Charlie got me for Fathers Day ("The Martian").
 |
| Go Kings! |
Day 5
Today, I rode my bike a whole bunch. First up, was heading up towards the trailheads that access Mt. Shasta (Bunny Flat and whatever the one at the end of the road is called). Then back down into town (super fun descent!) and over to Castle Lake. GREAT RIDE! I could hurl a bunch of superlatives out here, but i think the pictures do a better job of telling the story:
 |
| guess who is about to enjoy a 15 mile descent? |
 |
| Looking off towards Castle Crags |
 |
| looking back at Mt. Shasta from Castle Lake |
Day 6
My last day in Mt. Shasta started off with a trip to the tailgate coffee shop:
 |
| can you smell that? |
Before i headed out, I took a quick ride on (yet another) uncrowded mountain road. This route took me around the south west shore of Lake Siskiyou and then along a road that paralleled several forks of the Sacramento river that drain into Lake Siskiyou. It was so relaxing and peaceful that i didn't take any pictures! Sometimes you just have to be there.
Now it was time to get down to Sebastopol to see Mike and Jane (and Ben). Most folks would have just headed back down the 5, but Huell would have taken the scenic way. And that's what i did. Fast it was not. But I saw an awful lot of California in the next 10 hours. My route (from Redding) followed Hwy 299, to Hwy 3, to Hwy 36. All twisty turny, 2 lane roads through some remote areas. At one point about 60 miles from Hwy 101 (and way past the point of no return!) the center line on Hwy 36 disappeared and it was a single lane road.
 |
| typical view along Hwy 36 |
Even though I ended up getting to Sebastopol quite a bit later than expected, I did roll in right as dinner was being served! Reminds me of some cultural awareness training I went through at work where it was explained to the class that in some cultures, there was no such thing as being late. So if you rolled into a 9:00 meeting at 9:07, you were not late, you were "in time". I didn't buy it. But, in this case, it made a bit more sense.
Day 7-8
Mike and Jane were great hosts for my stay at their home ins Sebastopol (a nuclear free town - so if you're packing neutrons, best stay away). I was so busy that i didn't take a lot of notes or pictures (the wine consumption may have contributed...). Here's what i remember:
A trip to AT&T Park to see the Giants play the Nationals (GIANTS WIN, GIANTS WIN!!)
 |
| Mike, Jane, and me |
 |
| Gary, Jane and me |
A bike ride out to Bodega Bay and back. Sonoma county has thousands of miles of country roads - perfect for riding.
 |
| Mike and Gary before we dropped into Bodega Bay |
 |
| Mike and me |
Had a great dinner and uniquely Sebastapolian experience at the
Sonoma Wine Shop. Here's what I remember (not necessarily in the order they occurred): Good wine, A wonderful vegetable and herb garden, a chicken greeting you as you walk into the restaurant (but its NOT a restaurant), super friendly people, more good wine, a perfectly dressed salad, the chicken doing something outside the window that got a lot of attention, a giant cookie, talking skateboarding down the hill from Idyllwild with the "wine guy" who looked a lot like Jerry Garcia, smiling all the way home.
We got back to Mike and Jane's in time to see the Kings finish off the Rangers to win the Stanley Cup. KINGS WIN! KINGS WIN!
Day 9-10
Up early on Saturday for a return to Davis. Nice quiet drive (listening to a couple of "Freakonomics" podcasts) got me into town while it was still morning. I stocked back up at the Farmers Market and then hung out with Charlie the rest of the afternoon. Since he was graduating tomorrow, it seemed apropo that we go out for a couple of beers. Manly stuff. His idea:
 |
| THE Graduate |
 |
| The proud dad |
GRADUATION DAY
For those familiar with UC Davis, you will note that i used the school colors in my heading. What can I say about Charlie graduating from college in 4 quick years, that won't be overshadowed by the accomplishment itself. I am quite proud of him. He's a bright guy who has only begun to realize what he can accomplish. He's also a great son, who has tried (and succeeded!) to make his parents proud.
Here's a few pics from after the ceremony (when did he grow so much?)
