North California Road Trip

Road trip in Northern California April 2016

What was originally planned as a motorcycle trip, turned out to be a fantastic road trip to the North of the state I have visited most frequently. California has it all: the golden with deserts and sunny locations along the Pacific coast, the fantastic forests of the North and the Sierra Nevada mountains to the East.
The objective of the trip to California this time around was an ISO meeting in Sacramento. As usual, I planned to have a couple of days off in front of the meetings in order to adjust to the nine hour time difference. As I had never visited Highway 1 North of San Francisco, I discussed this route with a colleague that frequently visits San Francisco. He definitively recommended the route up to Fort Bragg, but his preference was to ride by motorcycle. By looking at the map, I found some attractive routes East towards Redding. Finally, driving South again either on Interstate 5 or some of slower highways I could make it a round trip and be in Sacramento on time.
I was initially reluctant to do this trip on Motorcycle, mainly because I would need a suit for my meetings in Sacramento and the packing on the Motorcycle would be complicated by this. After taking to my colleague, I was convinced that HW1 would be best explored by motorcycle. As I have ridden a Harley-Davidson Road King before, I knew that I would not choose HD for the exploration of windy roads. I was set for riding BMW R1200 GS and looked for options to rent one near SFO airport. I quickly realized that this was going to be an expensive road-trip: the daily rent for the R1200 GS was around $185, not counting extra insurance, GPS and panniers. With the bike only being used for 3 days, parked in Sacramento for half the time, I started looking for alternatives. The HD’s were more than half the price, but I was still not tempted based on my previous experience. So I decided to do the trip by car.
As always when I am visiting the US, I started looking at American luxury cars. This time, I found that Budget would give me the best deal at around $400 for a week. They listed a Lincoln MKZ or similar as luxury alternatives.
Arriving at SFO at around 18:00 PST, I got to my Lincoln fairly quickly after rejecting offers for `upgrades´ to Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar. I was very pleased with the 2016 MKZ 3.7 in White Platinum Metallic Tri-coat. I was of course a bit disappointed that the car was not all-wheel drive as I am no fan of the front wheel drives.

I mounted my Garmin Nüvi 2699 on the windscreen and set a route North that would take me over Golden Gate. Just after 9/11 I rode across in a Ford Mustang Convertible but due to fog the only memory that comes to mind was the fact that it was a toll road. This time around the weather was excellent and I stopped at the Vista Point to get some photos of the bridge. It was close to the sunset, so the colors were beautiful. The Vista was full of people who wanted to take photos of the bridge, downtown SF and Alcatraz.

After logging a virtual geocache and having a look down onto The Presidio (I remembered the Sean Connery movie), I continued North in search of a motel for the night. Where HW’s 1 and 101 separated I still had not found accomodation. Luckily, I did not have to go further North than Corte Madera before I found a Best Western.

From my last visit to California, I had learned that this state is a haven for beer lovers. As I was checking in at the Best Western, I asked at the desk for a good place to eat and drink beer. I was recommended `Brick & Bottle´ a few blocks away. Arriving at the restaurant I scanned the beer menu and found several entries from the famous North Coast Brewing Company (Fort Bragg). I started off with a Belgian strong dark ale named `Brother Thelonius´ after the jazz musician. The beer was excellent (Untappd rated: 4.5) with the good atmosphere and friendly staff. When travelling solo, I find it sometimes hard to enjoy dinner alone: The atmosphere of the place is crucial to not emphasizing the fact that your only company is your Apple product. Eating at the bar often works well, and this worked at the Brick & Bottle too. With dinner I had an excellent `Cell Block Amber´ by Eel river Brewing Co (Scotia, Untappd: 4.0).

After a good night's sleep not bothered with jet lag I backtracked on the HW101 down to Manzanita and found the famous HW1. After driving through the rural areas the road became windy and the traffic slowed down. The Lincoln behaved fairly well, but comfort required a moderate driving speed. I observed that a lot of motorcycles were on the road and with their overtaking traffic and being able to ride at higher speed I started to regret my choice of transportation. The motorcycles were mostly sports bikes and motards: I believe a Harley would not be optimal here with lean-in angles around 30° only. My BMW F800GS would have worked out nicely, though. My first stop of the day was at the Muir Beach Lookout. The view along the coastline was gorgeous in both directions with only a slight fog left from the night. I took some photos, regretting that I had left my DSLR at home and started my ride due North.

Arriving at Stinson beach, I just rode through the quiet town. The view along the Bolinas Lagoon was very nice. Arriving at Point Reyes Station I could not resist a detour along the Sir Francis Drake Boulevard on the West side of the Tomales Bay. Preparing for this trip, I came across the name Inverness that I had selected for a stop. The town of Inverness was quiet and not very exiting. I had a walk down to the shore to look at a stranded boat that appeared photogenic.

Backtracking the Boulevard back to HW1, I then followed the bay up to HW1 and continued North. In Port Reyes Station there were a lot of activity: this appeared to be the turning point for a lot of the motorcycle riders and there were quite a few cyclists as well.Continuing North, the HW1 followed the Tomales Bay to Hamlet before leaving the coast over the Bodega Bay. The road reconnected with the ocean at the North end of the bay in a very scenic area with the city of Bodega Bay and its lagoon. From this point on, driving along HW1 was pretty eventless: the road was windy with little traffic to slow me down. The view was nice and drive enjoyable.
Around lunch time I decided stop at the Sea Ranch Lodge at the Black point. This turned out to be a very nice lodge with scenic view and good food. I had a walk out to the point to enjoy the view and to pick up a geocache.

After lunch I continued North on HW1. After a while I came to realize that I had become saturated with the view and the windy road. It was however no alternatives routes so I resolved to stick it out while streaming my favorite music from my iPhone.
Arriving at Fort Bragg I quickly looked up the North Coast Brewing Co. in order to visit their shop. I had a quick walk around town and a good coffee at a local shop. The stop was quick and pherhaps not too exciting. It was time to move on after spending less than one hour there.
Again continuing North I was really getting bored with HW1. When the road turned East it became more windy passing through a mountain range. I resolved to more aggressive driving and was surprised how well the Lincoln behaved in sport mode with pad shifting and with stiffer suspension.
Arriving at Leggett I was close to the reasons why I wanted to drive North: the Redwood forest. I cannot remember when I first saw a photo of a car driving through a large Redwood tree but now I was here. A $5 entry did not turn me away and once there I managed to fit the large Lincoln through the tree. Mission accomplished!

In Leggitt HW1 meets up with HW101 so the drive from this point on was much faster. The view was still very enjoyable, and after a refuelling in Gaberville I could not resist to detour on the `Avenue of the Giants´. This turned out to be a very nice, windy road amongst majestic Redwood trees on the East side of the South Fork Eel River.
I was arriving in Eureka late in the afternoon and I wanted to find lodging as quickly as possible. Entering the business area, I stopped at the Best Western Plus Bayshore Inn. They had several room options and at decent rates. At this time I was mighty hungry, so I was pleased to find the Shamus T Bones restaurant next door. At the restaurant I was happy to find beer on the menu from Eel River Brewing Company. The food section offered spare ribs, so I decided to go for the full slab as usual. After a couple of pints and half way through the ribs I recognized my native language spoken. It turned out that the couple on the next table were Norwegians on vacation just like me. While their motviation for visiting Eureka was interesting enough, it was not as absurd as mine: The movie `Eureka´ directed by Nicholas Roeg (no other connection than the name).
After a good night's sleep, I drove downtown and stopped in Old Town Eureka for a walk around this nice area and down to the riverewalk. I then drove on to the main attraction of Eureka: the Carson Mansion. This fabulous house is unfortunately not open to the public so the visit was brief.

The previous night I had been studying the map, looking for scenic routes eastwards. I decided to try the Trinity Scenic Byway (HW 299). The road to Willow Creek was really amazing: beautiful, windy roads. Again, my choice in transportation was contemplated. I stopped at a nice location by the river to eat the rest of my spare ribs and was joined by two bikers from Weaverville who was out enjoying the road. They could only confirm how nice these roads were for motorcycle riding (although we did not meet on the choice of wheels; I prefer lean-in angles greater than 32 degrees). The road all the way to Redding was really enjoyable, and I particularly remeber the Shasta State Historic Park and the Whiskeytown Lake at the end of the drive well.

Arriving in Redding I actually passed through town without knowing it. This is unusual when the GPS is set for a specific city. I stopped in the outskirts and had a look at the places to visit in Redding. I found the Sundial bridge on top of the list and decided to drive through the city center to the bridge. The bridge turned out to be a very interesting landmark and I spent some time walking around the nice area. Once I again I recognized my native language spoken: it was two girls from Norway going to bible school in Redding. I was in a good mood so I had a pleasant conversation with them about the meaning of life: ethics, values and so forth. When they starting talking about the healing of disabled people they had experienced it was time to move on.

Before driving on eastward, I checked the map for options. HW89 to Lassen Volcanic National Park so I decided to visit Lake Almanor insted. I found a good Best Western on Hotels.com and booked for the night. In order to avoid having to ride the I-5 South and then ride HW36 East, I decided to follow HW44 East and ride the backrouds South. The GPS complained about my choice for many miles but eventually it found a route to my destination. The GPS turned out to make a lot of bad choices and I ended up driving some serious dirt roads in a fantastic landscape. The view of a snow-capped Mt. Lassen was fantastic.

The drive on HW36 to Lake Almanor was scenic, but from the Trinity Scenic Byway ride earlier in the day I guess I was saturuated. It was however interesting to note that as the elevation reached 6000 ft, the tempeature had decreased from 90 to low forties! In the intersection with HW89 I got out of the car to walk in the snow. I arrived in Chester late in the evening, and after checking in I went to the closest diner to have quick food and local beer. Outside `The Locker Room´ a BMW R1200GS was parked with a dog on a carrier. I just had to talk to the owner about the best roads down to the owner about the roads down to Sacramento. His recommendatation was to drive HW32 down. Looking at the map I decided to follow HW89 along the lake and then drive HW70 down to Yuba City in the morning.

After a good night's sleep at the Best Western, I started out on my last leg of my journey towards Sacramento. The Lake was magnificent and I made a quick stop in the Indian town of Greenville. The 70 was really scenic and stopped at the Belden bridge for some photos of the river. From this point, the drive in the Sacramento River Basin was uneventful. I made a quick stop in Marysville to visit the old town. I arrived in Sacramento at check-in time at the Marriott Cal Expo.

After three days of ISO meetings it was time for my return to SFO. As I had an Early flight I decided to stay close to the airport in order to avoid traffic. I found a hotel in San Mateo that would take me to the airport in less than 30 minutes. From Sacramento I followed the I-80 and then took a detour to Napa. The place was pleasant but several people had told me that Sonoma was much nicer so after a quick walk around downtown I rode on to Sonoma. This place was very charming and I spent some time walking around the center, even picking up a few geocaches. I suddenly got the urge to visit the shooting location of Falcon Crest. A quick google suggested it was not worth the effort.

The drive from Sonoma to San Francisco dull: I dropped by the hotel in Corte Madera to pick up something I forgot and the view of San Quentin made me think of my very nice visit to Tiburon in late November 2015. The traffic over the Golden Gate was busy and it took me a while to reach the Best Western in San Mateo. After a quick check it, I drove downtown to find a restaurant. I had a very interesting kebab at a Lebanese restaurant where I was the only customer. Food and service was very good.
Next morning I got to the airport well in time to drop off the Lincoln. After a 1600 km drive I was ready to leave the front-wheel drive and return to my BMW 525 x-drive M sport. The three day road-trip had been perfect: duration and distance just the way I like it, very scenic and with solid American food and drink. I think California is starting to grow on my and I have already started to plan my trip here in early 2017.