Wheaton and airboss do Kalifornia (did we really do this?)

[wheatonFJR]

Thanks for thinking of our buddy.. :yahoo:

I was thinking of him the whole 140 miles...

 

[wheatonFJR]

Part5 – Last Days in California, 25 May and 26 May

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Day 12 – 25 May, Wednesday, Camels in the rain…and the Willo

Doug/Bugnatr had pulled out the stops for me today. First, he stepped up and organized and posted a ride linky to the Feather River Canyon area, then posted up a dinner meet for my birthday linky. Both of these events were above and beyond hosting both Karl and I for a couple nights at their place in Grass Valley. I want to say thanks again to Doug for doing this for both of us.

Well, the best laid plans of men, even good men, are subject to the forces of nature. There was rain in the forecast, and although rain was often in the forecast during our trip. This time it came. When Doug saw the forecast, he did some fancy dodging and last minute shuffling to still try and make this work…because tired or not, I was still up for riding.

On this trip I was like that little kid at the amusement park who has ridden the roller coaster for the umpteenth time and still tells the parents he wants to ride it again. I was all up for riding, even in the rain, so Doug did his best to oblige. The rain was supposed to be mainly in the am, so Doug planned a ride around some place called the Sutter Buttes in the valley, then he was going to take us elsewhere later on when it cleared up. SacMike was meeting us, as well as Gary/gfran who I had met briefly on Saturday at Alice's. fjROB and his wife Terry was also going to meet us…all this in spite of the rain forecast. Kudos to all of you for making the effort to ride with us.

But first, Doug thought he'd give us a brief tour of his business… Grass Valley Pest and Weed

That's right, Grass Valley Pest and Weed. Doug tells us that employs others to take care of the pest part, but HE is all about the WEED part of the business. Hmmm, you don't say…he says he never inhaled.(but I believe that line now as much as I believed it in the 90s.)

Well, his wife Gayle was already working there (hmmm, wife works while the hubby goes off to play…hmmmm), so we talked to the Boss for awhile and then Doug shows us where his office is. Actually Doug seems to be a hard working man; you know how hard it can be in the WEED business.

On to the ride now, we pick up Rob and Terry, then Mike and Gary at the gas station. It is sprinkling lightly just like the weatherman said, so we are heading west on 20, then turn north just west of Sutter as we look to take a tour of the Sutter Buttes (The world's smallest mountain range – clicky).

photo from Wiki-

I am trailing airboss and do something I rarely do - I roll through the 4-way stop sign in Sutter and sure enough a police car was monitoring that intersection from a parking lot. He promptly pulls out onto the road right after SacMike - who was just behind me. I am sure that I am about to get a ticket…he follows us for a long ways, but leaves at some point as we turn west to head around the Buttes. The Buttes are really mysterious looking in the fog and drizzle. It is raining harder now. We stop all of a sudden on this 2-lane country road…Doug is motioning to the right, as I stop and look, I see the head of a camel looking out at us from a barn door. Not a llama…a camel. So we're starting to really get rained on as we tour around the Buttes, not just a little drizzle now…some serious stuff. Doug finds a structure with some overhangs that we can park our bikes and wait out this hopefully brief period of pouring rain.

It turns out that we are in the Gray Lodge State Wildlife Area just north of the Buttes…

Now, we're dripping wet, some people are changing their gear…and Bugnatr is spouting off various factoids about the area like Cliff on "Cheers". Yeah sure there Cliff, I mean Doug. You know it's kinda hard to take Doug seriously with that Ole and Sven accent he has from the Minnesota motherland. You'd think he was auditioning for the movie "Fargo", the way he talks. So when I'm finally through zoning out on his accent I hear "…and that's how butter is made". So we all nod our heads like it was real interesting…Actually, that may have been SacMike with the butter presentation, but it's been awhile and my memory is a bit fuzzy…being old and all.

Back to the weather, the rain is NOT letting up at all, if anything the rain is pounding down even more. So the decision is made to head north and east to Gridley to have lunch, get out of the rain, and have some conversation. I forget what the place was called where we ate lunch, but it was a great Mexican place. We were dripping wet with our gear, but the owner/manager didn't frown at all. He was very friendly, as was all wait staff…good service.

They weren't real full at that point, so Bugnatr got us a place in the back where we could put our wet gear and have a good meal. It was real good…I would have had more, but I knew that there was a birthday steak dinner coming up that night. It was great to sit and talk with the others as we shared a meal together as good mcy buddies…none of whom I had met even but a few days before. Yet, it didn't seem to matter. Somehow, that's just really cool.

Well, we capped the ride at that lunch stop. SacMike and Gfran split from there after good byes. Rob and Terry headed back east with Bugnatr, airboss and myself. After they split off for their home, if anything, the skies opened up even more. No drops now, just one long river of liquid from the heavens…we weathered the last few miles in this wash…and I was soaked. 120 miles of riding…but that was enough. God's way of giving me a rest day I guess.

We got inside the Bugnatr home, stripped off the garments and hung them out to dry wherever possible. Put stuff in the dryer as well. The rest of the afternoon, we relaxed at the Bugnatr mansion, surfing the web and finding out what Fairlaner had said this time <I know Fairlaner is not reading this>...

Well after a long hard day at work, Gayle came home and asked Doug if he wanted his slippers, pipe, and newspaper to read. Doug, ever the gentleman, burped and said, "not today darlin', but can you hand that new spittoon over…and clean this old one please? It's kind of full." Now, she gave him that knowing smile and went upstairs and slammed the door. Doug said not to worry, she's always like that.

A few hours later, everyone was all smiles as we headed out the door and into Doug's Bentley for the ride over to The Willo.

The Willo

Airboss, Gayle, and Doug the Minnesotan (or is he a Yooper…I'm not sure yet)

Karl and I…and the Bear

Sorry I don't have photos of the inside…but it reminds me of a good 'ol supper club from Cheeseland(Wisconsin for you out of towners). The food and drinks were great, the ambiance was right up my alley, and the friends there were great….made me feel special for my birthday. Rob and Terry came back for the dinner, and Sam/puppychow came for the dinner as well. I may have forgotten others, if so I apologize. (EDIT: Oh yeah, BMWTom and his wife were there as well!) Thanks all for making my birthday feel special! I even got a special birthday ice cream (coconut in vanilla –excellent) from the owner. Everyone there sang HB as well. You all are lousy singers – HA!

So, after all the planning done by Doug, I have to say that the day was a success. He did a lot of work, and Karl and I felt very welcome. Though the ride was cut short, I will now have a reason to come back and see the Feather Canyon area…THANKS DOUG (and Gayle) :clapping:

Another good day out in Kali... :yahoo:

Next up...Day 13, 26 May,

...Gold mining country, waterfalls, lakes, backroads, and a Thud pilot.

 

[rogdeb]

A Thud Pilot ??

It keeps getting better Mark :yahoo: :yahoo:

Soooo glad you got to do 36 ...... and through Quincy ........ aaaand 49 .. excellent riding areas

The flowers ? Deb didn't know if she should say "Lupins/Lupine .... Doug beat her to it though.

Cannot WAIT ... for the next installment

I wonder if Terrie's hair has dried out yet :lol: .. Never seen her with "mussed" hair at all :lol:

 

[wheatonFJR]

Before the next installment, I wanted to share a couple notable quotes during this trip,

At a rest stop on Peach Tree Rd in Central Kali...

Fairlaner to me, (after I've asked him "What?" one too many times) "Take your ear plugs out you *****! We're at a rest stop.".

I don't know why, but that struck me as funny, and SO "Fairlaner". :lol:

In NorCal, at the Black Bear Diner...

Exskibum to Highlander (about Starcom), "...It's okay with just my headset, but then with a passenger I get to hear the noise out of her mike."

Me to exskibum, "Wow! Pretty harsh doncha think Rich? She sitting here right next to you." :lol:

 

[TomInPA]

And in a final twist of justice, it hasn't rained since. Good report in spite of conditions. I was watching your spot progress that day for a while and saw you stopped in the middle of no where near a wildlife refuge. For the life of me I couldn't figure out why anyone would sit in the rain watching ducks.

Beautiful picture of the Sutter Buttes in their spring green. That has since browned out.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Part5 – Last Days in California, 25 May and 26 May

Day 13 – 26 May, Thursday, Gold mining country, waterfalls, lakes, back roads, and a Thud pilot.

Woke up that morning at Bugnatr's abode…had to be out of there by a certain time because they were having some arborists come take down a HUGE tree that needed taking down. Doug said the guy had a crane coming and he was the type to come early as he was antsy to get going on it. He was. He came early with the crane. I'm sorry I did not get a picture of the tree or a decent picture of Doug and Gayle because they were the perfect hosts, but we did have to skedaddle, so no time for piccies. Thanks Doug and Gayle! :clapping:

Karl and I headed over to the interstate for the quick ride over to Auburn to fill up and stop at Starbucks for coffee and to meet up with TomInCA. Now Karl enjoys a good cup of coffee, so a good strong Starbucks is what he prefers in the morning. I may have had something sweet to munch along with mine…as sweet breakfast pastries are a little slice of heaven to me. We parked our bikes next to a couple of County LEO vehicles shooting radar or something other from their vantage point in the parking lot near the road. There was a nice, sweet German Shepherd in the back of the K-9 unit squad car. He rolled down the back windows of the squad car after we parked our bikes. I think he was trying to see if the dog would get a "hit" on anything we were packing in our bags. Good thing Old Michael wasn't with us! Nope, they didn't catch a whiff of anything. That stuff is WAY in the past for me.

So after the rainy day on Wednesday, it was sunny and cheery this morning. We basked in the sun, chatted for awhile as we waited for Tom and Hycle to show up. Hycle said he would drop by to chat for a bit before he headed off to work. Thanks Mike for taking the time to stop by…it was good to get to know you a little better.

Tom is a very good photographer as well, as you may have noticed from his RRs on the Forum. It was great to head to the various stops along the way that day and get the story of the local history or local scuttlebutt. I eat that stuff up…

So, at the appointed hour, we got saddled up and Tom took us east on Forest Hill to the old Forest Hill Rd so we could see the bridge over the dammed up area that never was dammed. Damned maybe, but never dammed.

For scale. notice the construction crane at the top of the bridge

That was a fun road to go down and then back up on. We continued south on 49 to Coloma to the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historical Park. We stopped on the one lane bridge where Tom pointed out the place where Sutter's Mill is…

Looking back on Sutter's Mill

The bridge

The snowmelt swollen river

TomInCA

Other side of the river

Tom had us continue on this road across the river through the back ways, I believe it was Mt. Murphy Rd for awhile, then he took so many turns that I lost track and just enjoyed the experience of riding unknown roads on a beautiful day…I loved it.

Tunnel of trees

…and some of the local inhabitants

Peaceful day with sunshine…

Tom took us through the back roads for a wonderful tour. Here we are on a road (Maybe Rock Creek Rd just north of Placerville?) above a river swollen with snow melt…

Tom stops for a break at a great spot…a little waterfall on the left side of the road. Karl and Tom with the little waterfall behind them...

Karl

TomInCA photos (all used with permission)

Me in front of the waterfall

Karl and I

The area was beautiful…

waterfall pool

rock and earth

We came down and crossed a river/creek on a neat little bridge

TomInCA photos - all Tom's photos used with permission -

We passed through Placerville and weren't ready for a meal stop yet, so we continued on and took a road (Pleasant Valley Rd?) east to Jenkinson Lake.

The Lake and area are beautiful! These pictures don't come close to showing how intensely blue that lake was. Wow.

snowcapped mountains

trees and water

Tom asked us if we were up to an adventure…He said that this was the Mormon Emigrant Trail, and he said that the pass was most likely closed, but that it was a fun area and we could go past the barricades and check it out. We did. I don't have photos of all the rock and mudslides on the road, but there were some…just to make it a unique little adventure.

Eventually though, we had to turn around...

…just shortly before we have been able to head north towards ******* Pines on another fun little road. Tom grew up in the ******* Pines area and knows all the roads in the area for sure.

Some of Tom's photos from that area...(with permission)

After the turn around...On the way back...Tom's photos still

Karl

Me

We ended up stopping for gas and lunch in ******* Pines (I believe). Great little Mexican bar/restaurant.

Tom's photo...

They had an unbelievable special on burritos…I think it was $2 lunch burrito specials or something like that. I thought they were little baby ones for that price, so I ordered two. But they were not…they were big. So I only ate one burrito as I did not want to ruin my dinner with my Uncle and Aunt that evening. They were good and hit the spot. Well, Tom knew I needed to get back to my Uncle's place in Lincoln early that evening/ late in the afternoon…so we wound our way west. West through Placerville (A place I've heard of many a time on this Forum), then west on Green Valley Rd I believe. At Lotus Rd or thereabouts, airboss split off for his motel up in Auburn, whereas Tom and I continued west towards Folsom.

We took a short detour into a state recreation area at Folsom Lake where Tom showed how the snow melt had caused the reservoir levels to rise so high as to cover the much of a parking lot at a boat ramp. He showed markers out in the water where the boat ramps normally occur. Nearing the end of our ride together, Tom asked me if I wanted to enter Lincoln from the south or the east. We headed on the west side of the reservoir and I wanted to enter Lincoln from the east…so I split off from Tom to the right at Auburn-Folsom Rd as he headed straight.

Now kudos go out to Tom, because he stepped up at the last minute, literally the day before, when life got in the way of Rich taking us around on that Thursday. This whole day happened because Tom took the time to do that for us. Tom is very knowledgeable of the area and very engaging. Karl and I sure appreciated it. THANKS TOM!

So here I am again, riding alone in the California afternoon sun…thinking about this trip. It was great to have time to just think back on all the various happenings on these last ten days in California:

1. Death Valley, Kern River and my Dad's.
    
   2. Pacific Coast off SB and KJ at Morro Bay.
    
   3. Rt 58, the Penny bar in McKittrick, and meeting my FJR friends at Big Bad Bubbas BBQ in Paso Robles.
    
   4. The San Andreas fault, the hills of central Kali and chasing the Wing up to Hollister.
    
   5. Alice's, Tyler and OM from Pescadoro Beach to GG, the hills near Bodega Bay.
    
   6. Hwy 1, Skaggs, and Avenue of the Giants.
    
   7. Killer NorCal loop in the Alps.
    
   8. Hwy 36 and Rt. 49
    
   9. Riding in the rain with friends, the Willo.
    
   10. The back roads of gold mining country.

What.

A.

Riot.

Well, I promised my Uncle that I would call about half an hour before arriving to give them a little "heads up", so I stop after getting on 193 going westbound and make the call.

I looked around me and liked what I saw. There's just something about a grove of trees and the hills that are so irresistible to me.

It harkens me back to days on my grandparent's farm in the summertime and the grove of trees west of the farm house in the pasture grasses.

So I head west on 193 towards Lincoln. Wow. Great set of curves once you get west of Newcastle! However, just before I get onto that set of curves, a semi turns onto that road just before me at a stop sign. Now those who know me know that I am not shy about making a pass, but there was just no safe place to do it. So I sat behind him in agony and frustration. I think it was a test from above…or below.

Either way, I passed…the test. I did not risk life or limb for this one set of curves…no matter how delectable. I told myself that I would get them tomorrow when I went to meet airboss in Auburn.

The rest of the day and evening was a glorious one of spending time with my Uncle James and his lovely wife Sharon. I had the overwhelming sense of trying to take this all in…as I had never been one on one with my Uncle before…to savor it like the fine evening that it was.

My Uncle James

He showed off the plants, -flower and vegetable- that he was tending.

Here was a man, who had grown up on a farm (He was my mom's youngest brother…one of six brothers my mom had), become a combat fighter pilot, become an airline captain and instructor, and was now tending plants and taking beautiful photographs. My Uncle James did everything well. Believe me, my mom beamed with pride whenever talking about him. And what 7-8 year old boy doesn't want to be a fighter pilot like their Uncle?

I talked motorcycles and of past memories of him and my mom. I asked him about lots of things, things I've wondered all my life. I asked him about his time in his 20's when he was in the Air Force, flying the F-105 Thunderchief over North Vietnam. He was the best of the best and got his choice of what to fly. He chose the F105…a supersonic fighter bomber...

WIKI PHOTO

The F105 (LINKY) was nicknamed the Thud. So he was a Thud pilot. He shared some stories and insights I had not known from days long ago.

He and his wife Sharon also gave me a tour of their place in Lincoln. A beautiful house, with many beautiful things that they thought of or designed together. A wonderful place. A wonderful home.

One element of interest to me was a heritage photo wall/piece that showed many things from the family farm in Newman Grove, Nebraska.

Photos of my cousins (as I remember them) during the 70s sometime at the mailbox in front of the farm.

My mom is in that piece, and I am as well if you were present there and looked hard for a young man in his 20s. My grandfather's name plate from that mailbox. The whole piece is just really well done and exquisite…for me, one who cherishes my farm memories.

Sunlight out of the farm kitchen window...

My Grandma (Danish) and my Grandpa (Swedish). Both of their families immigrated to America in the 1800s to work in the farm fields of northeast Nebraska.

aerial photo of the farm buildings, the farmhouse, the chicken coop, the pig barn, the cow barn, the equipment and storage buildings...we roamed around here and the fields a few summers growing up. This I am claiming as my ancestral home...although it is no more.

I love barns too...

Thanks Uncle James for this great ending to my last full day in California.

 

[Tyler]

Wow, Mark... simply WOW!! This has to be one of the finest ride reports ever. You have done yourself proud! :clapping:

 

[Bugnatr]

Wow , more great pictures. I hope you got Tom's permission to use his pics . Looks like a great ride to taste the flavor of our foothills. It's still green above 1,500 feet and the rivers are even higher with snow melt but some real heat is on the way this week.

Gayle and I enjoyed having you and Karl stay with us. Too bad we had to do the Duck ride, dry would have been a bit more fun.

WEED? All you need is your script in this state

The weeds are history for this year so now I've been bonding with Poison Oak. Can't wait to see your Hwy 50 report.

 

[TomInPA]

Thanks for the great ride report and even finding some places to put in my photos of a fun day spent with you and Karl. The valley rains from the day before shut us out of the high country with a lot of snow. It was a good time to go taste the foothill goat-trails and canyons and even some dirt. Thanks for the ride, and the ride report.

 

[Old Michael]

Beautifully done, Wheatie. Perhaps your best installment, IMHO.

Bravo!

 

[Fairlaner]

NIce job Mark, whats next?

R

 

[wheatonFJR]

NIce job Mark, whats next?

R

I don't know Richard.

I'm thinking about it.

Did you read what I said about you?

 

[Tyler]

Did you read what I said about you?

I think he just likes to look at the pretty pictures...

 

[wheatonFJR]

Did you read what I said about you?

I think he just like to look at the pretty pictures...

Don't we all.

 

[Tyler]

Did you read what I said about you?

I think he just like to look at the pretty pictures...

Don't we all.

Yeah... but there are some that actually read the words that go with them... makes the pretty pictures that much mo' better.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Next up...Chapter 6 - The Long Way Home - The Last Chapter

Day 14: May 27 - HWY 50 - Unexpected Pleasures

...It's gonna be a couple days before this one is in the bag...so hold on. This RR will have it's rightful conclusion soon.

 

[Tyler]

Next up...Chapter 6 - The Long Way Home - The Last Chapter

Day 14: May 27 - HWY 50 - Unexpected Pleasures

...It's gonna be a couple days before this one is in the bag...so hold on. This RR will have it's rightful conclusion soon.

 

[puppychow]

Beautifully done, Wheatie. Perhaps your best installment, IMHO.

Bravo!

+1 Gold country backroads are awesome! Great pictures from that day Wheatie!

 

[airboss]

You're doing a great job with the RR Wheatie, it almost feels like I was there.

 

[rogdeb]

Encore, encore :yahoo: :yahoo:

:clapping: