July 9, 2011

Here we are, five days into the Epic Road Trip. Tonight finds us in Ely, NV; about 75 miles west of the Nevada/Utah state line.


We rolled out of Lacey last Tuesday morning, headed down to Longview then cut over to the Oregon coast. Rode Highway 101 down to Florence, stayed the night at the Villa West motel...nice place, old motor court style motel that was built in the late 50's, and the current owners are remodeling and updating it. Very biker friendly, the owner actually rides a Fatboy. Headed out the next morning under cloudy skies, but mild temps; and followed the coast down through Gold Beach and Brookings, and on into California. The second night was in Eureka, and we went to dinner at the Samoa Cookhouse. No, we did not see fat guys in grass skirts roasting a pig, the Cookhouse is on the Samoa peninsula just outside Eureka, and used to be a logging camp. The restaurant is actually the old dining hall, and they seat you at long tables with a bunch of other people, and serve everything "family style", meaning the soup is brought out in a large tureen and you serve yourself...same with bread, salad, meat, potatoes, etc etc...and it's all you can eat! Highly recommend this place, for about $15 you cannont get a better meal anywhere--and everything is homemade on site!

Thursday morning dawned gloomy and damp, no rain but definitely no sun, either. We continued down Highway 101, and jumped off just south of town to ride the Avenue of the Giants through the Redwoods. While we were tooling through the trees, the sun made an appearance and by the time we got back on the highway just north of Garberville, someone had turned the heat up! We rode into Ukiah just before noon, and it was about 90 degrees out. We hit the Harley dealer after a quick lunch, and since we were headed to Woodland(near Sacramento) that night, we asked Jeff in the parts department how far it was. He was close, only about 30 miles off the mark, but told us about a bar in Capay called the Road Trip Bar & Grill, and it was only about 10 miles or so from Woodland. After a gorgeous ride through Lake County (aptly named), we saw the place. Ended up talking to the owners, Jerry and Paula...amazing people, both riders, and they have a biker bar goldmine there! Outside seating, outdoor stage, killer food, cold beer, and a really cute and friendly bartender named Lila. Definitely put this one on your map if you are ever in the area!

Found a decent hotel in Woodland, not far from the Road Trip B&G, which was good as it was well over 100 degrees out! Heading down to Sacramento the next morning, we saw the first sign on the Interstate indicating the beginning of US Highway 50, along with a mileage sign shortly after that showing the miles to Ocean City, Maryland! Highway 50 splits off the Interstate shortly out of Sacramento, and climbs through the hills to South Lake Tahoe. The views are unbelievable, and as we rode around one curve, the valley (we were 7300 feet up) and Lake Tahoe stretched before us in the distance. A quick stop in South Tahoe and we headed down the hill into Carson City, then on to Dayton for the night.