Very wet today.  A much shorter trip than planned.

The last day of the trip. We rode south from Napa to San Francisco to return the rental motorcycle to Eaglerider. The Goldwing was 100% reliable and very comfortable, but I could not get used to the weight, lack of power and poor luggage capacity compared to my Yamaha FJR1300.

A day off from motorcycling, to do the tourist visits. A guided tour of some of the Napa Valley wineries.   Really well organised.  We chose a tour bus, so we could drink.   The Vineyards charge $10-$20 for the tasting, 5-6 half glasses of wine.   I was surprised that each vineyard grew many different types of grape.    Bobbie doesn't care much for red, so I often drank hers.

My planned tour was complete, with a couple of days to spare.   So a trip to Napa / Sanoma, to drink some wine, and spend a day not motorcycliing.

A cruise down the coast, with Lunch at Alice's Restaurant. An experience as the local sherrif and deputy ate there, the sherriff was called to deal with a fallen motorcyclist half way through their lunch. Sherrif stopped eating and waited for the sherrif. The food was OK. We saw a recover vehicle dragging the bike out of the hillside as we left.Santa Cruz is a great place to visit.

The coast road, down to Gualala.   A really nice town on the coast.   Dinner in a restaurant overlooking the Pacific.  An early stop, and a stroll down to the Pacific.

SMOKE! At times so much it was a little difficult to breath. Pilot cars in some areas. A pick-up with red lights that led cars through the worst areas. Small tent towns where the firemen slept.After Hayfork the air cleared, but it was then HOT!

Check the news for fire details, as some roads may be closed, or difficult to pass through.

A great days motorcycling. The roads are real motorcyle roads.   Lassen was an OK visit.   It became hot as the day progressed.   With a lot of trees, and some smoke,  and little views, so not many photographs.Yreka was a real nice town,  'real america' to a tourist.  A real nice Best Western in the middle of town.

North up the I395, and the temperature starts to become bearable. It's still very clear and sunny, but only in the 90's! It's BIG here, with little else but road and scenery.From empty roads, and little else to Lake Tahoe, which was crowded, with crowded roads, and slow traffic.

Hot!! With BIG scenery. Little traffic or much of anything else. The temperature dropped to the high 80's as we approached Lee Vining. We stayed in the town centre, and ate in an American Diner.

After starting cool, the temps hit 100+ again in the afternoon.Roads really good, with Sherman's pass being a great ride.Close to completely empty roads, maybe two other vehicles all day, one being a white wing pulling a trailer.There's a nice microbrewery in Kernville. Nice beer, with good food. Surrounded by great roads and countryside.

The day started out at 55 F, and ended at 105F. It was HOT.The I58 resembles the Mars landscape in places, hot dry, with no visible signs of life, and it's HUGE. Where the I58 crosses the I5 I put 6.1 gallons of gas into the Goldwing. I was glad to get to that station!The road to Kernville is great. Take the right at Fig Orchard. A "proper" alpine road.Kernville is a great place to stop.

After a weekend with Pashit Tours we were on our own, with no more pre-booked hotels. I wanted to ride down the coast road, the Pashnit website had advised 'anti-clockwise' was the better way, closer to the views, easier to find a place to stop. So off to the coast it was.After watching 'The Wild One' some years ago, spotting Hollister on the map, and on the way, we dropped in.

The last day of the pashnit tour. We visited a fire lookout point, in the Eldorado National Forest. This overlooked Union Valley Reservoir. The lookout was OK with the group climbing up to enjoy the view.At Placerville we ate at Denny's and waved bye bye to the group.    Jackson was advised as a destination, as it was higher ground, and we'd find it cooler.    It was hot getting there.

The second day of the Pashnit Tour An early morning visit to Bodie, an abandoned gold mining town. It's well worth a visit. The last few miles of road is a dirt road, it's good enough for any motorcycle.

We met up with Tim from Pashnit toursWe first visited Yosemite, and then over the Tioga pass to Lee Vining.

The whole trip.   Thepage may be slow to load.There are a few breaks where the tracker lost signal, but 99% of the route is there.   Zoom in for detail, and click on Stats to see the speed and distance/elevation for the trip.

It\'s a BIG country.   Keep your gas tank full!.   Plenty of good accomodation, but it can be miles and miles to find it.   The Garmin made navigation simple.

Click on Title above for map and more picturesThis morning we picked up a GL1800 goldwing from EagleRider in San Francisco.Then we rode down to Fisherman's wharf for lunch, which was similar to Blackpool but bigger!!Afterwards a ride over the Golden Gate Bridge and North on I1 to get used to the Wing. Then off to Livermore for the 2nd nights hotel.

After a great night with Bobbie's sister and Brother in-law, we returned home on the FJR.