One Last Blog Report

Dear Family & Friends                  Thursday Aug. 15th

This will be a bit long but be patient, it is my last blog for a while.

So after last Sunday night’s dinner with Hannah we met with her Monday morning for a delightful breakfast before we headed south. She was cheery and happy which always makes me happy too.

After breakfast Brian and I headed south to Eugene, Oregon to visit a friend of mine, Murph from Murph’s BMW & Moto Guzzi Repairs and Restorations. Not only does Murph do great work he is a hell of a nice guy. If you ever need a classic BMW restored or you are in Eugene look him up. Here is his website:http://murphsbmw.com

It was good to be riding with Brian again. He is good company in the evening and an outstanding motorcyclist. I like following him because he is rock solid and never seems to be out of control or making a mistake. There is a saying there are bold motorcyclist and old motorcyclist, but there are no bold old motorcyclist.. Age teaches wisdom.

I got another email from a friend, Jackie,  suggesting we try the Somoa Cookhouse just below Eureka. It sounded very interesting and I was planning to go there for lunch the next day but when I went to their website they have a different dish every day and that is all they serve for the entire day. For today day lunch was fried chicken, take it or leave it.. Fried chicken is on of my favorites right up there with crab but Brian told me he doesn’t like fried chicken so always trying to be a good friend I passed on it…but next time!

That night we made it to Ukiah. Now we were starting to enter the hot zone. We got there towards evening and it was still in the 90s.. We went out for dinner and I had an excellent broiled lemon chicken served on top of cooked spinach, on top of mash potatoes, covered in a wine gravy. That an a mojito and I was a happy camper.

The next morning we headed again over the mountains back to the coast and to old highway one. It would be far cooler than the inland route which was expected to be over 100. Another friend, Clem Salvadori called and told me we had to go see the Zen Motorcycle Shop in Point Arena.

Again it was a terrific ride over the mountains and we got to Point Arena before the shop opened so we had breakfast is a small classic cafe. Point Arena was literally a two block village, very charming.

The Zen shop is in an old gas station and garage and has room after room of modern and classic motorcycles they are repairing or restoring. They must do fabulous work because they are located in a VERY remote town out in the middle of no where. I got to talking to the owners, David and Kelly. Absolutely a delightful couple and such a romantic way they met. David was traveling around the world on his motorcycle, Kelly was enchanted and joined him and the rest is history. Turns out David was a Cal Poly Architecture major but his life’s calling took him in a different direction. A bit like me.When I asked him when he graduated he tried to impress me by saying WAY back in 1995, so then I told him I graduated in 1974. Wow I am starting to feel old. To learn more about the Zen shop go to:

http://thezenhouse.net/about.php

From there we continued down old highway 1. Again spectacular views and clean fresh sea air. I commented to Brian that riding a motorcycle is one of the few things that feels just as good today and it did 50+ years ago when i started riding. He agreed.

We made a stop at a coffee shop and parked there was a beautiful red E type Jaguar. The owners were driving down to Monterey for car week. When I told him my name the gentleman said to me  “Not THEE Jason Len of XKs Unlimited!!”. I modestly said yes. Still a big fish in a very small pond.

As we approached the Bay Area we cut back inland. Wednesday night I was going to spend the night with my daughter Sarah and her family in Oakland and Brian was heading down to Gilroy. As we approached Petaluma someone turned on the blast furnace! The thermometer on my bike shot up to 103 which is not fun in full riding gear. As I crossed the SF bay on the Richmond Bridge I got a few minutes of cooling but as soon as I approached the shore the temperature shot up again. I was very relieved to get to Sarah’s house.

One of life’s little mysteries is how I could have four daughters and they are all so completely different, in good ways. They all have their own special talents and I love them all. Sarah is extremely creative and a high powered executive with a design company specializing in hospitality design (restaurants, hotels, etc) She and her better half Caprice cooked us dinner. I hate to say this because I pride my self in my BBQ and grilling skills but Caprice is a better cook that me! We had delicious grilled vegetables, chicken, and sausage and had an enjoyable evening getting caught up.

That night I made the decision to get out of the bay area as early as possible to avoid the traffic and heat so I said my good byes that night and got up the following morning at 5:30am. I was on the road by 6am. I still ran into a bit of traffic, but nothing like rush hour and the temperature was very mild.  By 7:30am I met Brian in Gilroy and we had breakfast.

The temperature along US101 was expected to be well above 100 so we immediately headed back to the coast again. We cut over to Watsonville and rode down Hwy 1 through Monterey. This week is Monterey Car week so the traffic was heavy but it was like riding through a mobile car show all the way down highway 1!

It was a great last day to a fun 3000 miles, two week adventure ride, but it is good to be home.

Now one more unrelated topic. Every year I organize and participate in the SLO Distinguished Gentlemen’s Ride. The DGR event is a world wide event held every year on the last Sunday of September. It is a charity that raises funds for men’s health issues. Mainly prostate health which every man is concerned about, and men’s mental health which affects everyone married to a man. So please support my ride this year but clicking on this link and making a donation. 100% of your donation goes to the charity. Thanks!

https://www.gentlemansride.com/fundraiser/jagracer15

Hope you enjoyed my travels. Until my next trip.

Jason