Monday, August 22, 2011

Frustration

Another cold foggy morning. We ate our oatmeal and watched our pot-smoking neighbors from Pennsylvania cram themselves into an old crappy van.

Today we were going to ride the pacific coast highway. The road from Leggett to the coast is nice and twisty but from the coast to Fort Bragg it is a straight and boring stretch so we didn't do that. Instead we decided to ride 101 to Willits, then take Hwy 20 to Fort Bragg.

But first the Avenue of Giants. Dwarfed by 250 foot tall (and 15 feet in diameter) redwoods we rode through the groves in awe.
In Willits we had a sammich then got Hwy 20. Once again traffic pulled over for us. We got behind the green van from Pennsylvania, and after a couple minutes driving like a turd (crossing the center line in corners to straighten the road, etc) even they used a turneout to let pass. Then we go behind a Honda Odessy with Consul plates, who was behind two other vehicles. Those two pulled off to let the Honda and I pass. Then the Honda proceeded to go 40mph for the remaining parts of the good twisties. What a total jerk. Perhaps the jackass couldn't read the "use turnouts to let traffic pass" signs. Maybe the idiot didn't understand why others let them pass. "Ooooh we are diplomats, they know we are special and thus let us pass". Yeah, short bus special. They should be diplomats in Chicago where they will fit in perfectly.

In Fort Bragg we gassed up then went south on Hwy 1. This was. Letdown. The cold fog let up for a short time in Port Arena, but then blanketed the coast. Towards Jenner we got a few glimpses of the cliffs but that was all. We hightailed it to Santa Rosa's very clean Travelodge and walked to the Russian River brewpub. Here they serve up incredible ales, fermented with wild yeasts and aged in oak barrels. They are pioneers, and exceed even the belgians in their craft. Apparently many others feel the same way, as it was packed and noisy. This was truly a high point of the trip for me.

Once back in the Travelodge I was quickly asleep.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4

No comments:

Post a Comment