Wednesday…Is it Wednesday? I can’t keep up or even remember. Each time I sit down to write about a days happening, I have to count on my fingers from Day 1 which was Saturday the 5th. I don’t even know the date today That’s the kind of ride/vacation I like.

I spent way too much time at the vista point on the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge. But it was nice!

The new tire I got yesterday afternoon is no doubt scrubbed in well after today’s back and forth leaning along California Hwy 1 from Soquel to here at the Russian Gulch State Park near Fort Bragg. Yes you heard it right. Fort Bragg, California is right up the road from here. Maybe 3 or 5 hundred more curves! The wind today was not as ferocious as it was yesterday coming up that part south of San Francisco. Part of it was due to the fact that I stopped and dawdled a little more than yesterday….although I still did not take many pictures of the amazing cliffs and beaches I passed today. Its just UNBELIEVABLE…and I didn’t or COULDN’T stop and take photos to prove it to anyone…and I don’t care. I’m starting to feel pretty good after 12 days on the road now.

As I wrote above, I’m in a California State Park camp site tonight with no internet connection and no cell coverage, but my neighbors here are very nice. Well, to begin with I had to stop before I reached my planned day’s destination due to the curvy slow roads and me dawdling all day. I wanted to get up to a National Forest campsite on Ruby Lake, which is at least another 75 miles north of here, but it was already near 5PM local time when I stopped and soon the sun would be getting low, and I’m not even sure I would find that bother place before dark set in. Not a lovely prospect. As it is I pulled I here and right away was shocked by the price of a California State Park tent camp site. $35 in cash money. They don’t even take plastic. I choked but managed to pull the money out of my wallet and paid for the site.
As I was setting up an older guy (like myself) walked by with his grandson, a little 4 year old extrovert. The kid yelled “MOTORCYCLE!” and ran over to my bike and started crawling up on it. I went over and helped him get up on the seat and grandpa and I started to talk bikes. He’s about to buy one and was commenting on the BMW brand that he liked. Then he asked me how much I had to pay for the site. I told him it was robbery! They took me for $35! He told me he had a site just across the trail that he had paid for but was vacant because his party had not all showed up, and he suggested I ride back to the gate and ask for my money back and then he would help me move my gear over to the other site.
Lo and behold, the gate guard lady went for it! I got my $35 back and the nice gentleman would not take $20 which is what he paid for the empty site. YAY! I saved $35 today.