Pacific Grove Run

The trip south left from Hawks Prairie at am Wednesday morning, the 7th of April.  Kent, Don, Mike, Gary and I off in the early dawn.  Breakfast at the Rusty Tractor in Elma and we all headed southwest in a steady drizzle.  The rain was light across the Astoria Bridge heading South on Oregon 101.  It stopped mid state and by Florence the sun was out and the roads drying.  With dry roads the pace picked up some, and the fun started.  We kept saying "It just doesn't get any better than this", but then it would.  Our first night was in Brookings, Oregon, just north of the California border.

Breakfast in Eureka, California at the Samoa Cookhouse,  an experience and worth the trip.  Highway 1 kicked the pace up another few notches and we broke out onto the Pacific Ocean after a spirited run West.  Hours later, one great vista after another we finally turned East, hit 101 and the Golden Gate bridge.  A  special treat  was saving the $6 dollar toll by just squeaking through on the last minutes of rush hour  "no toll in the carpool lane for motorcycles".  Evening at Half Moon Bay and a great dinner at a local fish fry joint.

Friday morning's run brought us to Gilroy where we met up with almost a dozen California VII riders.  An hour later in the bikers Mecca of Hollister, was lunch and a ride across the county, roads so narrow they were listed as "one lane".  We came into Carmel and then our final destination of Pacific Grove.  The Light House Inn provided a bar-be-que both nights just for us, and a great breakfast in the morning.  Saturday morning was Founders Day for Pacific Grove and the entertainment was a motorcycle parade that we chose not to participate in, and a parade and street fair that lasted all day.  Lots to see and eat.  Sorry that the police motor officer competition that we were always there to see has stopped.  Californian VII had a hospitality room set up and there were around 25 or so there each night.  Most were so tired by the end of the day we were in bed by 10.

The weather turned south as we headed north Sunday, and within an hour we were in the rain.  We finally broke through in to the sun as we were leaving California high up in the Shasta Range north of Weed. Now it was cold, just above freezing, and very windy.  The last hundred or so miles without rain were great.  Seven Feathers put us up in the "old" section, but the buffet dinner made it a great night.

By Sunday morning the wet weather passed sometime during the night, and we worked our way North between storms.  Sometimes the road was damp on the shoulder, and we knew we were catching back up to it.  As we crossed back into Washington we could see the storm ahead. Rather than run into the back of it, we stopped in Woodland and let it get ahead of us as we had lunch.  Home by 3 PM, 2100 miles under our belt, and we finally caught up to the drizzle a mile from home.  A great ride, good friends, good roads, and good food.

Don Moore