The Journey Continues - Part 5

Continuing On North

Leg 5

November 7, 2007

Willits, California

Here I am at 5:00 AM, outside temp 37, in Willits, California.

Willits is on the 101, 10 or 15 miles north of Ukiah, about 30 - 35 miles east of the coast.

They call Willits the “Gateway to the Redwoods” and the “Crossroads of Mendocino County.”

Can’t say I know exactly what that means quite yet....I just came up here yesterday afternoon, and clearly some clever marketing guy came up with those slogans...but I’ll find out.

The owner of the KOA RV Park where I’m staying, Jerry (and his wife Connie), is from Huntington Beach. Jerry was a fire sprinkler contractor and just got tired of the rat race, came up here on a vacation, fell in love with the place, and bought the campground in 1993. Been running it ever since.

He’s also a motorcycle guy, so you can see the bond. He gave me a personal map of all the best “rides,” off of the main routes, all around the area, plus all the best hikes, site seeing, etc. A valuable resoource, for sure.

So in between work related activities, there is probably a lot to explore around here....hikes to be hiked, rides to be ridden, and scenes to be seen.

Here’s my spot. It’s big, peaceful, quiet. Other than some long term people in the long term area which is down the road a bit, there’s only 1 other RV here at the moment, so I pretty much have the place to myself.

Well, not quite to myself....here’s some of my neighbors.




More on Willits and its environs later.

November 8, 2007 – Still In Willits

Busy day yesterday with business projects.

Sneaked out for a quick hike around the property here. Nice little trail. Short, picturesque, steep in parts. May try jogging it today....feel like I need to start getting some running type activity in. Groin is somewhat better....not perfect by a long shot, but I was able to mount my motorcycle the other day regularly....like you’d get on a horse. First time in....well....since I can remember. I won’t even try to explain how I was doing it. I’m sure if any people happened to watch me trying to protect the groin and swing my right leg forward....sort of step over the seat/gas tank...they’d be laughing their butts off.

Here’s a couple of pics from the hiking trail.

(Trail Head.)

(Catch & Release Fishin' Hole.)

(Surrounding Area.)

Reply to Comments:

Hi Chel. Miss you, too and am sorry I'll miss Blake's 1st Birthday. But I understand there are 70 some odd people expected at the party, so I doubt he'll miss me.

I probably won't get to do any real exploring or take any motorcycle excursions around here until the weekend...and it's supposed to be raining by then....so we'll see how it goes. Nothing I can do about it.

And, I do love my neighbors. Not one of them has come over to attempt to engage me in time wasting, useless, banal, and sophmoric chit chat. Love it. My kind of people.

November 9, 2007 – Stuck In Willits

Been very busy and haven’t even looked at the map to plan my next stop. So I’ve decided to stay here for sure over the weekend and hope the weather’s OK for some motorcycle exploration and some hiking. There are several State Parks/Redwood Preserves fairly close and right on the motorcycle routes Jerrry mapped out for me. We’re looking at highs in the high 50’s/low 60’s with “showers” on Saturday. And, we’re getting down around the freezing point at night. I don't mind the cold, but I really hate driving my motorcycle in the rain. Even with the best rain gear you still get wet and I just really don't like wet roads and poor visibility. There is no windshield wiper on your helmet face plate.

Only thing I did yesterday other than look at my monitor and talk on the phone was....get this....take a run. When I say "run," that really means "fairly slow jog." As far as I'm concerned, no one should ever actually run farther than from the base line to the net. That's plenty far enough all at once. Beyond that, you're just wasting time.

Nonetheless, I went out on the trail here at the RV Park which is hilly and steep, so it was a test since I typically don’t run and haven’t run hills since the Marine Corps as far as I can remember. Finished up with some sprints. It actually felt great to get out. Heart seems to be working fine. Groin feels OK - no worse. And, the rest of me isn't too awfully sore...at least not yet. Took a nice hot Jacuzzi after.

It did make me remember why I don’t run. It’s really plain old boring even in the lovely hills out here. Next time I’ll plug myself into my iPod which might help....but probably not all that much.

Hope you all are doing more interesting things than that.

November 9, 2007 – Meet The Neighbors

My darling daughter Chelsea was asking me about my very quiet and desirable neighbors, so I promised her some pictures....

(This guy (or girl....I really didn’t get close enough to figure out the gender), is easily as tall as me and I’m guessing comes in at 400 pounds or somewhere in that range. Llamas are known to be very smart and have been used as pack animals for centuries. Some enjoy their meat, and there is a growing movement promoting Llama meat as an alternative or addition to beef, pork, etc.)

(Naturally, I nicknamed him/her Dali.)

(And here's the rest of my Neighborly Menagerie.)

(Slim)



(Seabiscuit.)

(Hidalgo.)

(McGruff.)

(Wolly Bolly.)

(Lucifer.)

November 10, 2007 -- Willits – Of Footballs and Bummers

Interesting hour last night and big fat bummer today.

Last night when I went outside to light my bbq, I ran into some football players. There were 5 or 6 of them. All were 8 or under....down to about 4, I’d guess. Three of them are brothers and 1 a cousin of the brothers and the others are just others. The brothers and cousin are in a giant 5th Wheel Toy Hauler that came in yesterday afternoon....I don’t know where the others came from.

So anyway the kids are throwing this ¾ sized nerf football around and I say, “Here....throw me one.” Well, Andrew (the 8 year old and clear leader of the pack – who has quite a good arm by the way) says, “Nah....you’re too old.”

Too old? That was a big mistake.

But, I didn't want to be rude or scare them or anything, so I just quietly hung around and watched and, inevitably, the ball bounced over to where I was. So I picked it up and told Andrew “Go Long.” He sort of looked askance, but I motioned for him to go out and he finally did. After 10 yards or so he stopped and looked back like he was thinking that was about as far as an old codger like me could throw.

“Long, I said.”

So he hauls off and (luckily) I launched what turned out to be a perfect spiral easily 30 yards or more down the driveway. Right in his hands. Pure luck, of course. Couldn’t do it again in a million years. I haven’t thrown a ball that I can remember for a long, long, long time. Certainly not a football....even of the nerf variety.

But that one was a thing of beauty and hit the mark exactly and, just like that, I was one of the guys.

So me and the guys tossed the ball around and I told them about our high school CIF Championship teams and having the honor of playing a little ball at UCLA.

A cute little blond girl around 7 or 8 came by and said, “Here...throw me one.” Andrew said, “Nah...you’re a girl.”

I eventually got the ball and threw her one. Jennifer, it turns out, could catch as well as any of them and throw as well as any of them except Andrew. I told them stories about Chelsea (my daughter for those of you reading this who don’t know) and what an incredible arm she has and stories about both of my “girls” and what great athletes they are.

Maybe they got some points about “old” people and “girls.” Maybe not.

All in all a fun diversion. Nice kids.

As I mentioned before, the weather forecast said there was a chance of rain today.

In fact, yesterday early, weather.com said chance of showers. By mid day they said showers overnight and chance of rain Saturday.

At 3:00 AM it was definitely showering. By 9:00 it was definitely raining. Right now, at 11:30, it’s out-and-out pouring. Expected to continue until midnight.

BUMMER.

I stayed here for the whole week partly so I could take some time this weekend for motorcycle excursions, exploring, and hiking. I still could do those things, but it’s really not worth it when it’s raining this hard. Plus, it’s in the low 50’s.

So thus far this morning I drank way too much coffee and ate way too many pancakes. Might need to throw up in a while.

The good news is I’ll get some work done, there are a lot of good movies on TV all day long, plus the UCLA football game is on a station I can get up here.

So I guess I’ll just sit tight and stay dry and warm today, do some work, watch some TV, keep stuffing myself, I’m sure, and grouse about the rain.

I wonder why we don’t have a rule that it can only rain on Wednesdays and Thursdays? Wouldn’t that be a lot better? And easier, too?

(Don't know if this pic out my galley window paints the picture for you, but maybe you can see that it is wet and rainy. BUMMER.)

November 12, 2007 – Monday – Last Day In Willits

Yesterday, Sunday, was a big day in at least 3 ways.

First, it was my Grandson’s 1st Birthday. My daughter and son-in-law threw a little 1st Birthday Party for him. When I say “little,” I mean they only had around 100 guests.

Happy Birthday, Blake. Sorry I missed it, but I’m pretty sure you didn’t miss me.

Second, it was Veteran’s Day. A day to remember, thank, and give tribute to all of the men and women who have served our country to help keep it free. Sometimes voluntarily....sometimes not. Sometimes honorably...sometimes not so much. Sometimes for causes we like and believe in....sometimes not. But think about it....without them, where would we be? What would your life be like today if the soldiers throughout our history had not served? It’s pretty easy to be critical when you’re sitting on the couch with the remote in your hand, isn’t it?

Third, I finally got out and about.

It started with a big pain in the butt. As I was tying my trash bag to take to the dumpster, it broke spilling normal trash, but worse, several days worth of wet coffee grounds all over my carpet and rugs. Wet coffee grounds on the carpet are not our friends. It slowed me up by about ½ hour to clean up the mess....and I think the stains are permanent. Plus, I may have destroyed my DustBuster with the sludge.

The trip also started out in a whole refrigerator full of cold. It was really cold. Remember, it had rained the day/night before for 20 straight hours. So when I started out at 9:00...well, 9:30 after the coffee grounds cleanup effort....it was icy cold and soaking wet.

Drove over to town for gas (my tank only holds enough gas for about 90 miles or so and even though it’s only 35 miles west to the ocean, I wasn’t sure what I’d find over there, and the last stupid thing I want to have to write about is running out of gas in the middle of nowhere).

The road I picked to go west was 90% forest. Pine forest. Up, up, up through the forest to the peak of the coastal ridge, about 1500 feet, I think. Then down, down, down through the forest into the coastal plain. A wet slick road. Winding and replete with a number of switchbacks. A great beautiful ride except for the wet road and the fact it was freeeeeeezing cold. There are parts of the forest that probably never get a single ray of sunlight on the forest floor. They’re cool in the summer. Just imagine yesterday when the outside temp in the sun was still only in the 40’s to start with.

Now I’m no wimp and I was prepared. My best gloves with extra cold weather liners. 4 layers on top. Wool socks and boots. Jeans and lined wind breaker pants. And, my godsend Balaclava. Plus I have a full face shield on my helmet.

Even with all that, there were lots of cold parts....nose, chin, cheeks, fingertips. Very cold parts.

Although it’s only about 35 miles across, I’d say the average speed on that wet, windy road is 30. It took me over an hour.

When I hit Fort Bragg, Lo & Behold, I bumped right into a Starbucks. Glory be!

Warmed up inside and out.

I was expecting the coast to be foggy as it had been when I last visited it in Bodega Bay. But it wasn’t. It was crystal clear with views forever.

Nothing much to say about Fort Bragg. I cruised around a little, but didn’t see anything worth exploring. Fort Bragg was an Army post (hence the name) before the Civil War but the fort only existed for a few years. There was also a big Indian reservation established before the civil war, but it was discontinued in 1886 and the land open for settlement. It became a major lumber center and has a big port, Noyo, around which the town grew. Lumber and fishing sustained the economy and still do so today. That’s now supplemented with a fair bit of tourism (during the warmer months), I expect.

Headed south along Highway 1, enjoying dry roads and awesome views. Still cold as all get out.

30 miles or so down the coast I cut back west heading toward Navarro, a town with a total population of 67, and out to the Hendy Woods. Back up, up, up a windy road through the pine forests to the coast ridge summit, then back down again on the east side of the ridge. Hendy woods is tucked back in there and you have to be looking for it. It is a virgin Redwood Forest (meaning it was never logged), majestic, silent, primeval. Took a good long hike soaking in...well, I’m not sure what, but soaking in something for sure. Maybe just the staggering piece of the place.

Then continued east out of the woods and into the heart of the Mendocino Wine Country. Miles and miles of vineyards. Now stark...bleak. The fall leaves have fallen from these Mendocino vines and they appeared naked. You’d think they were vulnerable, but, of course, they’re anything but.

Landed in Ukiah, and then north up the 101 back to Willits. Got to my place around 4:00 or 4:30.

Still freezing. It was never not freezing yesterday.

This was not a day everyone would enjoy. It was not a day for the faint of heart.

But I’m glad I did it. Glad I saw what I saw. Glad I experienced what I experienced. Glad to be alive.

I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone except the adventurous.

I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

You can always find warmth at the end of your journey.

And what might you miss if you don’t take the journey at all?