Got the pictures of the 49er Rally on my Yahoo Pictures site. I hope this works.
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/owl2up/album/576460762403177716I put descriptions on the photos besides just the title so there is a bit of story along with them.
We left Thursday morning, but not too early. We headed up and over the hills to Calistoga and down to St. Helena and then Rutherford on Hwy 128. We followed Hwy 128, which has some nice twistys, up past Lake Hennessey where we stopped for a bit. There were lots of geese and ducks with their fuzzy little babies out on the water. I thought those little ducklings were just fuzz balls at first.
Then we continued past Lake Berryessa and down to Davis for a bite to eat. I sure wish there was an easy way to get from there to Auburn without going on Interstate 80!
But, there it is and I don't see a way around Sacramento without it taking hours on traffic clogged city streets.
Soooooooooo, we go. I really am going to find another way around this, but I did find out from my trusty bike computer that I can go 85.5 mph.
You do that when the traffic is going that fast and you want to stay away from the cars and trucks. I just get in the left lane and go for it and my wonderful riding partner stays behind me on his K100 LT and blocks for me as much as he can. But there are a bunch of crazy drivers rushing to wherever it is they rush to. But I'm just watching my back, and my front and my sides and staying out of people's way.
It really doesn't take that long to get up to Auburn from there, and we get there early enough to pick a good camping spot even though the best ones are already taken. We find a nice spot with shade most of the day, which is good because it does get up to 95 F one day and is in the 90's every day.
With the heat, though, I don't feel like doing much. I wanted to take the class on slow riding and be able to ace the Asphalt Trials, but it was in the afternoon on a hot parking lot in full sun. Forget that. I'm there to have a good time, not pass out from heat stroke. So we just hung out, ate, drank a beer or two, talked with people, checked out all the vendors, met new people, met with old friends from previous years, and had a great relaxing time.
I did see Chris from BC and his wife Arlie. She rode her beautifully faired R65. Arla showed up Friday evening on her R1100RT and set up her tent near ours. Also met a few others from another forum. I thought Joan might show, but it is a long way to come down here from Seattle for just a few days. Sorry I missed you Joan! I'd even heard rumblings that Duane Ausherman might be there, but I never did see him
There was a great group of people camped near us. There were 3 side cars that came in together. One was a Ural that was bought sight unseen by an Australian couple who picked it up in Seattle. There he rode a side car rig for the first time ever. And they are going to be riding across the US and Canada for a year. What an adventure for them. They are keeping up a blog on a website but I can't remember it right now. I'll get that later. The other 2 were put together by a guy from Bodega Bay. One of them for his daughter who lives in the Valley (what's the name of that town - where Duane Ausherman lives).
The group on the other side were from Vancouver, BC, and belong to the Bee Cee Beemers. What a kick they were. Quite the characters.
I did buy myself one big item - a pack to fit everything in that goes across the back of the seat and down onto the side cases. There's a picture in the photos of it on the bike. I got it from Mag's Bags. Margo Thomas is the owner and sews these things up herself. They are made really well. Motorcycle accessories made by motorcycle riders are the best. The funny thing is that she and I were in the same class in High School. It was a small school, so everyone knew everyone. I hadn't seen her since high school and I finally figured out who she was on my 2nd trip to the 49er. It is a small world.
We headed out Monday morning along with everyone else that was left by then. Since we don't like the heavy holiday traffic, we always stop and stay somewhere mid day so as not to get into that stuff. We decided to head down I 80 and it turned out to be okay. Not much traffic yet. The cars were much better mannered. I think the drivers were in a better mood as it was a holiday.
I was in the lead and making the decisions about which way to go. As we got to Davis i didn't recognized any of the off ramps and couldn't decide which one to take. I ended up taking us on some back roads with very little traffic and in the right direction but that road ended right at the California site for the US Primate Study Institute. Now that was a trip. But it's hard to get lost as the Coast Range is always to the West. I took us on a little adventure and we saw a part of the country we wouldn't have otherwise. We ended up in Woodland and decided to get a motel, get a shower and go out and have a nice dinner.
The next morning we headed out towards Hwy 505 to get to Winters and get back up Hwy 128. I managed to take us on another mini adventure as I was trying to find a side road. No more freeways for me. We had a nice ride up Hwy 128 and back to the Napa Valley where we had a nice BBQ lunch and then home.
I'm all out of space, so that's it for the story for now.
