Great Pacific Coast Adventure day 2 & 3.

Saturday, July 10.
Our first "official" day of vacation! We left the hotel in Sacramento at 6:30am and headed to Sonora, CA to catch a GWRRA (motorcycle club) Chapter meeting at 8:30am. Everyone was very friendly, had a great time. The ride there was very pretty, brown mountains and a few scattered trees.

We followed highway 49 which is part of the original trail the gold diggers took.
Stopped at Sutter's Mill which is where gold was accidentally found and is rumored to have started the Gold Rush. The scenery is so different from Georgia's lush green landscape.


Sunday, July 11.
Today we headed to Ft Bragg on the coast! Rode through winding roads that would put the "Tail of the Dragon" in North Carolina to shame! Stopped in Napa Valley to tour Sterling Winery. We took a gondola to the Winery, the views were beautiful! Tasted a little wine, bought a couple of bottles then back on the road. We stopped in Callisto for lunch at an old Train Depot. It warmed up a good bit so layers came off. After leaving lunch we got back on the road. As we hit the Coastal Mountains the temperature went down!!!! The higher we got the more the temperature went down!! I was freezing by the time we finished crossing the mountain range.

As we came out of the mountains I could almost immediately see the Pacific Ocean. It was a thrill I must admit. We walked about a mile to Ft Bragg Steak House to have dinner. It didn't look like much from the outside, but the food was wonderful! Then we walked back to the hotel, dropped off my purse and walked a half mile to the coastline to watch the sun set. We watched a seal playing, then saw more seals in the ocean riding the waves. what a great way to end the day.

Still not able to download pictures to blog. :(

The Pacific Coast Grand Adventure!

We began our adventure with an adventure! I’m used to flying stand-by, but for our vacation we BOUGHT tickets so we’d get to Sacramento with no delays. Well, after sitting on the runway off to the side for about 30 minutes, the Pilot comes on the PA and explains that there is a problem with the air pressure and something about a light not working. We wait another 15 minutes and once again the Pilot explains that the light can’t be fixed where we were, so we are returning to the gate where a mechanic will be checking on the plane. After sitting at the gate for about 10 minutes once again the pilot asks over the PA that everyone turn their air vent on and close the window screen to keep the plane as cool as possible. This isn’t sounding good right now…. Once again we hear the Pilot, this time he is explaining that the plane has been grounded and we will be disembarking, the search for a new plane is on. Finally about 11:30ish we are on the run-way, this time actually taking off. Only 3 hours later than originally expected. AND, with a bought tickets! Sigh…..

Up in the air, I began reading my book, (“Rooms” by James Rubart – great book) When we were flying over New Mexico and beyond I was watching out the window. How beautiful the world is! Even from 38,000 feet up. We could see canyons, (not the Grand canyon) buttes, rivers… the changing landscape was amazing. Pretty thrilling to the snow capped Sierra Mountains in the distance and watch them get closer and closer until we could see trees. Flying over lake Tahoe was just a taste of what we will see in a few more days as we drive around it on the bikes.

I was the typical tourist and took pictures from the plane! (I tried to upload pictures but not able to)

We finally arrived in Sacramento and headed to “In and Out” a burger joint. Very limited menu, good hamburgers. It’s a California “thing” we were told.

We head out early tomorrow, will head to Highway 49, part of the original trail of the Gold-diggers. It’s in the foothills so am looking forward to taking lots of pictures!