Wednesday, June 30 to Fort Bragg

The ride South along the Oregon coast took me through more and more groves of redwood trees.
It was difficult to ride with my full face helmet because the play of shadows and patches of sunlight coming through the trees was blinding me.
I changed to the red helmet which has a sun visor and hat worked well.



This time my lunch on the beach was accompanied by an excellent bottle of Pinot Noir, Erath 2008.

However, it made me a little sleepy, so I found a nice spot in a redwood grove and took a nap.

It was spectacular to lie down in the forest and look up at the majestic trees. One could easily imagine how the Indians stalked silently through the woods in search for food.

The silence is complete, only broken by the buzzing of an occasional insect.

At Crescent City I stopped a the Visitor Center and go maps of California and the Redwood National Parks.

The 101 veered away from the coast and the ride became slow and very curvy.

I decided to cut back to the coast at Leggett and ride through a famous tree there. I never found it, but a lady on the same road showed me the pictures she took.

The road back to the coast was etremely diffiult and it was getting dark. I could not go faster than 15 to 25 miles and reached the coast just before sunset.

Crossing into California I stated seeing the famous wine estates in the Mendocino valley. The tasting rooms were closed when I passed, so maybe tomorow I will have more luck.

After taking these pictures the sun set and the temperture dropped steeply into the 50.

I was time to find a hotel, which I did at Fort Bragg.

I had dinner at a local restaurant, but the beef Stroganoff was not very good. The hotel was very expensive but disappointing too, there was not even a room for breakfast.

So now I am in California, land of 5$ gas and million dollar egos!Let's see what happens!