Charlie's Day I took off for San Francisco about 8 AM in order to miss (?) the morning traffic into the big city. It really was not too bad until about 15 miles out. As I approached the Golden Gate Bridge fog was observed in large amounts. Stopped at the observation point and could not see San Francisco. Well, I had come this far so decided to press onward to Fisherman's Wharf. Parking is a premium, however there is space in the public parking for motorcycles that is free. Four wheeled vehicles get hit with a $3 for 20 min or $30 for all day. There is a National Park area that includes a walk thru tour of several vintage sailing ships and a maritime museum. While there is a charge, it is free to those ... read more

Today we went to Calistoga to do the touristy thing. Selected a route that looked interesting and yes, it included a bit of road construction. I discovered that California had a "Petrified Forest" and stopped by for a viewing. It seems that an volcanic eruption 3.4 million years ago created the onlyredwood petrified forest. There is a short, winding trail on a hillside where you can view the trees. I have been to the Petrified Forest N.P. and this is quite different. There is shade on the walk!Then on to Calistoga in search of a local brewery and other interesting sights. Right off the start I found the brewery closed for remodeling after a fire. So much for the first plan. Right across the street was the Vermiel wine shop. Familiar name, and yes, it was ... read more

It was a lovely sunny cool day on the Coastal Highway, not a g and p day, hallelujah. There is a nice organic cafe called Queenie's Cafe. It is located in Elk,CA and the food is awesome. The coffee in California makes me itch it is so strong. I still think that is what makes the drivers so crazy here. They are constantly wired! Drink more wine for heavens sake... Then onto the seal beach vista point where we met a BMW F800 rider. He was having chain problems so we gave him the Santa Rosa dealer's number. When we stopped by to visit the dealership later, they were still there and we visited some more. He was impressed about the anonymous book for our riders organization that lists numbers of dealers and riders all over ... read more

Another day in Eureka. We had no reservation at the KOA for 7/4 so we moved over to our new found friend Bea from Juneau, Alaska. She is a motorcycle rider, 75 years old and travels with her dog, Virginia. She had room by her RV and seemed like a great thing to do. However it is now 6 pm and no one is in our old site. Bea lead the Juno parade for years and was the guest leader for Ferndale's. We went to Ferndale, a quaint Victorian village about 20 miles down the road for the annual 4thof July parade. Proved to be a neat event, lots of friendly people and even a few local BMW bikers. If you are ever in Ferndale, the fairgrounds have water and power and no charge for camping ... read more

Well we are camped at a KOA .Tomorrow we will tour the redwoods Excuse spelling as this is phone.... read more