April Ride

Day 1 - Medford, Oregon to Eureka, California  199 miles

I headed to Eureka under cloudy skies.  There
was a 50% chance of rain today but weather checks have been looking clear for my destination. 

             "I" for Idlewild

 I stopped to see the light house and the ocean looked pretty stormy. 

 

Very friendly squirrel.

 

I crossed this little path towards the light house and realized the tide was coming in too fast for my comfort.  I didn't want to get stranded so I crossed back and went back to my bike.

 

Saw this cute face!

Down the coast a little farther I stopped for some photos.

 

Stopped at The Trees of Mystery for a photo of Paul Bunyan and Babe the blue ox.

So with a name like "Babe", I always though the blue ox was a girl.

I was wrong.

I'm walking up to the gift shop and some guy yells "HI PAUL!" and a voice from the big guy says "Hello visitor - and a big welcome wave for you!" and then the hand starts waving. 

Wow, I guess it's automated, that's cool.

The visitor says "How are you doing?"
Paul says "I'm fine and having a great day!" 

I say "Dude, you are freaking me out!"
Paul says "Oh, um, sorry!"

Me:  laughing my ass off!

 

"K" for Klamath.  Not a friendly town.  The lady in the picture started screaming at me, wondered why I was parking my "fucking bike on the fucking middle of the fucking sidewalk".  I told her she was "fucking welcome" as I rode off.

 

Cool neon sign.

 

I was on vapors as I pulled into Eureka but got gas and checked into the Red Lion.  As I was unpacking my bike it started to rain.  I got a great room and my bike is right outside my back door.

 

I wrapped a garbage bag over my seat to keep out the rain so I don't have to ride with a wet ass.

 

 

Day 2 - Eureka to Redding 208 miles

 

Getting Hammered!

 

"F" for Fortuna

"H" for Hydesville

 

 

 

 

Watch how you ride - these guys are waiting!

 

Lizard? Skink?  I don't know but he was very patient while I took his picture.

This tree is located about 30 miles west of Red Bluff on highway 36.  It has a lot more leaves on it than when I saw it a couple months ago, but you can still see the decorations.

This oak tree has hundreds of shoes in it.

I looked up "shoe tree" on Google and imagine my surprise, there are lots of these trees.

I brought a pair to add to the tree.

So you can picture me off the side of the road trying to throw a pair of shoes into a tree.  It was a lot harder than I imagined and it actually took me about 6 tries to get them up there.  They landed on a sucky little branch and hopefully if they fall out, someone will throw them back up there for me! 

 

Nice roads! 

 

I arrived in Redding around 3:30, gassed up and checked into a hotel.  Found another Red Lion and I got to park my bike right outside my hotel room again. 

Tomorrow I'm meeting some friends in Etna.

 

Day 3 Redding to Etna and home 265 miles

 

Shasta County Courthouse 

 

Hwy 299

Hwy 3  - it's now on my list of favorite roads.

This lake was so low.

The road went up from the lake and it was great.  There were some super tight 180 degree turns that went straight uphill and some gorgeous scenery that I couldn't see (to do so could have resulted in my death!)  It's not a road for beginners or the faint of heart!  It's pretty remote and sometimes I would go 20+ miles before seeing another car.

 

I met up with the gang at the Etna Brewery and had lunch.  We rode through town and got gas before heading north to the Liquor Mart!

Train at the gas station.

We took over the gas station - 15 bikes.

 

I had a great ride and got safely home.  The puppies were pretty happy to see me!

 

"B" for Butte Falls

 

Such a gorgeous day today.  I got off a half-hour early and jumped on my bike when I got home.  I headed up to Butte Falls and got a picture of this barn on the way up.

 

I caught the attention of a couple horses who started walking over to me to see what I was doing.

 

 

Cute little train museum in Butte Falls.

 

I had a nice ride and somewhere near Eagle Point on the way up to Butte Falls, I rolled over 10,000 miles on my bike.  That's pretty big since I have only had my bike for one year.  I love it a lot and am having so much fun!

 

 

 

Pretty Day

Such a beautiful day.  Feeling a little better today and since it's been raining the last few weekends I couldn't resist the call of the road. 

We headed up towards Grants Pass through Jacksonville and stopped to get a picture.  While we were stopped, Max (from work) pulled over with his lovely wife to say "Hi". 

We stopped for a picture in Murphy to satisfy the "M" in my ABC's of Harley Rally.

 

Selma for an "S"

 

Found this odd guy in a tree missing a shoe.

 

I stopped in for some "SWEET CRON" but they said they wouldn't be selling it until "CRON SEASON"  I told them I would be back.  

Josephine County Courthouse in Grants Pass.

We stopped at the Powderhorn for lunch and this pretty building was across the street.

Grants Pass for a "G"

 

The call of the road was strong and it was rewarded with a lovely ride.

Tummy Ache

I've had issues with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) since I was in my 20's.  It comes and goes and sometimes it gets pretty bad.  It has kept me awake some nights in severe pain with vomiting.  I don't want to get too graphic. 

Since I got back from Mexico it got much worse and the pain caused me to go home from work on Thursday.  I felt so tired and am probably anemic.  Since I had lost my appetite and hadn't eaten anything all day I got scheduled for a colonoscopy on Friday. 

The prep is the worst part, the procedure itself is a breeze.  The sedation part (Propofol) was even kind of fun for about 2 seconds and then I was out.  I remember saying "WooHoo!"

They found lots of polyps (labs pending) and some sort of inflammation.  At least they found a reason for my pain and now we can treat it.