May 21,2014 – Departing my residence at 0545 hours, I find it raining, but that will not deter me from joining up with some friends for an overnight run to Eureka, CA and a visit to the Samoa Cookhouse. Yep, I was there a few short weeks ago with my brother.  The rain continued to fall all the way to Truckee, where I could see clear skies to the west. Meeting up with Jim in Truckee, we crest Donner Summit under blue sky. Meeting up with Gordy, we head down I-80 to I-5.  This is not our first choice of routes to ride; we are trying to shave off some time to catch up with three other riders who left Rocklin before we could get there.

In Williams, we connect to CA20 west which makes a great run through the rolling hills before dropping down to Clearlake.

Along the north shore of Clearlake with Mt. Konocti in the distance.

Reaching US101, we turn north for lunch and fuel in Willits.  Come to find out, we were ahead of the other three riders who had left prior to us. Lunch is at the Lumberjack Restaurant where we meet up with Moose, Bill, Les and Pat.  All four additional riders I have met previously or worked with.

Leaving Willits we head up US101 for a great run through the Redwoods on our way to Eureka.

Arriving at Eureka, we checked into our respective overnight accommodations, mine being the Town House Motel. Once again, I found the staff to be most accommodating of motorcyclists.

After a quick cool down beverage at the Lost Coast Brewery, we headed to the Samoa Cookhouse for dinner.  Dinner was soup and salad, corn, potatoes, pot roast and short ribs, with fresh bread, and carrot or strawberry cake.  After a long day on the road, we all dug in and enjoyed the homestyle cooking, so much so, I forgot to take a picture of the group. But I did capture one after we walked out with our bellies full.

Looks like there may have been some horsing around – not sure what was going on in this next picture!

We head back to the Samoa Cookhouse for breakfast the next morning. This time I captured it on film (digital).

Breakfast consisted of eggs, biscuits and gravy, sausage, pancakes, OJ and coffee. Needless to say, we didn’t leave hungry!

Leaving the Cookhouse, we head through Arcata and go north on US101 to CA299. It was overcast in Eureka, but in didn’t take long before we encountered blue skies.  CA299 is a fabulous motorcycle road with many twisties and sweepers through some of the most scenic country in California.

 

No! While we may be considered more senior, we are not holding up traffic. Note, we are at the front of the pack waiting for a green light at a construction project.

Rolling through Willow Creek, a very picturesque town.

The pace picked up as we travelled along the Trinity River through the sweeping curves (hence no photos). Entering Weaverville, we had 45 miles to Redding.  Moose, a former motor officer decided to set the bar high and exercise his skills, and mine.  He’s a darn good rider, but I don’t think I did half bad keeping up the pace through the curves on the downhill run towards Whiskeytown.

After a lunch stop in Cottonwood, we said our goodbyes and headed south on I-5 to CA36/99, where Jim, Gordy and I separated from the others for our respective routes back home.

As far as overnight trips go, this was one hell of a good time with friends! Look forward to another one soon.