Day 4, 5, 6 - Rocklin to Redding to Klamath Falls, Oregon.

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I thought I'd start this blog entry with some excuses.....or explanations at the very worst! Please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors in these blogs, as I write after a long day on the road, a few bourbons & a feed and man fingers with a small keyboard! I will be referring to temperatures & distances in Fahrenheit and Miles, so if you wish to convert, use Mr Google, he is your friend! Also, please don't forget to click on the images for a larger view.

On my last entry, I mentioned that we were heading off to dinner at the Branding Iron Restaurant, well let me say, what a great dining experience. Excellent service by our server, George, who gave us the low down on their specials and all the good stuff. Clam Chowder to start, followed by the most tender piece of 8 oz. Prime Rib, sautéed mushrooms & sweet potato fries. Just a heads up, there will be more reviews on restaurants in my blogs, as we love a good meal over here.

Day 4 - We left Merced early and headed for Mariposa, and onto Yosemite NP, hoping to beat the heat of the day. Being a Saturday we did encounter the 2 mile long queue to enter the park, luckily we had our pass which on arrival at the gate, got us past a couple dozen cars. Into Bridal Veil Falls for some pics then down to Yosemite Village for a look around. A brilliant ride with the massive rock formations towering above on each side. Again, being a Saturday, plenty of visitors to the park staying at the multitude of camping grounds. To date, our wildlife encounters are a little disappointing being a tally of 2 chipmunks, 1 squirrel, the sound of 1 woodpecker & 2 dead skunks (in the middle of the road, would make a great song, hey?). This, I'm sure, will increase as we move north and into more National Parks.

The ride from Yosemite to Groveland is great, plenty of twisty bits, then into Sonora, an old gold mining town, which has a beautiful main street lined with old western style stores and hanging baskets lining the footpath. The route from Sonora to Folsom Harley Davidson was out through some back roads which had lots of hills, twisty bits, out through cattle grazing areas. We arrived at Folsom HD at 4pm, bought a t shirt, had a couple litres of water, as at this time it was still 106* F. Hot.....Damn Hot! A quick fang into Folsom Prison (famous for the Johnny Cash song, Folsom Prison Blues.......all together now.....

I hear the train a comin'
It's rollin' 'round the bend,
And I ain't seen the sunshine
Since, I don't know when
I'm stuck in Folsom Prison
And time keeps draggin' on
But that train keeps a-rollin'
On down to San Antone)

where we missed getting into the museum by 20 minutes. We had a chat to the Sheriff onsite and given the drum on not to pass a certain point (or the alarms go off and the armed guards appear), as I already had accommodation booked in Rocklin, we didn't require an overnighter at Folsom Prison singing the blues with the inmates, so we heeded the Sheriff's warning. From here it was another short ride to our motel for the night in Rocklin. Again, through some grazing land and a great road, with heaps of really steep dips, sharp corners (10 mph switchbacks) & a cow!

For the riders reading my blog, the new 2018 HD Ultra Classic goes pretty good, plenty of grunt, especially from a standing start, but it runs very hot, my right calf is somewhere between well done & cremated today. Handles great especially 2 up with both saddle bags, top box and rack full. I've just given the bloke on reception a couple of our small sachets of Vegemite. He found some crackers, spread a small amount on & hooked in. Comment - "Its very salty....ooh, has a bite to it....oooh...I think its ok, I'm putting this on FB".

:-) You're still humming 'Folsom Prison Blues', aren't you? Talkin' to you Norm!



Day 5 - A nice breakfast to start our morning before hitting CA65 up to Marysville, then onto CA70 for the magnificent ride through Feather River Canyon. This 70 mile long canyon runs east -west along the bottom of the canyon, with the Feather River running right alongside you. White water rafting is popular on the river, a few sections of rapids and as it is school vacation here, there are plenty of families enjoying the river activities. Turning left onto CA89 another great stretch up the mountain into Greenville, for an early lunch. We continued to follow CA89 into Lassen Volcanic National Park. This ride takes you up the mountain to 8500 feet through a very green pine forest. Add 1 deer to the tally of wildlife! At the top of the peak, we stopped for photo's of the perma ice, as I'm told the official term is. The temp was about 70*F at the peak, so very comfortable, as we started to head down the mountain, it warmed up very quickly. As we approached Redding, we topped out at 108* (42.2*C). We found our motel for the night and quickly changed and headed for the pool, which was extremely pleasant, sad we had to get out! Another fantastic dinner tonight at The Cattlemen's in Redding. My first meal of Shrimp, followed by a massive plate of baby back pork ribs.....excellent.



Day 6 - We left Redding early to avoid the heat, at 7.45am it was already 86*F, but as we climbed the mountain it was much cooler and at one point was a mere 69*F, so quite fresh, great riding weather. Arriving in Canby at 11.00am we had morning tea and rode to Lava Bed National Park for a look. A scenic loop road takes you around the amazing lava caves which you can climb down into. Wildflowers are plentiful and add a splash of colour to the area. Past Tule Lake and into Klamath Falls for the night.

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