So a couple of days ago I called a BMW Dealer in Sonoma to find out about some service and I said would be there first thing next week when they opened for an oil change and was told they could squeeze me in if I got there at opening. A picture of their front door on their web site showed it opened at 10 on Monday. The Google listing also showed Monday at 10. I got there at 9:45 and discovered they are closed Mondays. I guess I could have gone by the hours posted on their web site, but they don’t have them posted. According to their web site they are hiring though The job description for a salesperson position is “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua”. I’m not sure if that translates to “Skills required include knowing how to change the hours on the door and on Google.”
When I arrived the shop door was open and someone was washing their Porsche. A guy looking like a hungover bear that just came out of hibernation walked over and said they were closed. I mentioned that I had called, and that the sign on the door said they were open, but he kind of shrugged and said “Yeah, I’ve been meaning to get that changed”. Yeah.. it would be a lot of work to get a piece of black tape to cover it for now, or to maybe put your hours on your web site.
At least it wasn’t a wasted trip though. I got to visit the Chandelier Tree in Leggett, CA on the way south, which means I had to ride the amazing Avenue of the Giants again. These are the sacrifices I have had to make on this trip. Somewhere I have this same picture taken here 21 years ago.
Leggett is the north end of the famous Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). The first 22 miles of the PCH from Leggett to DeHaven are amazing, with enough twists and turns to keep any motorcyclist happy. Think Deals Gap with more elevation changes thrown in, and twice as long. And really, the next 175 miles down to the Bay Area is also great. Well, on a motorcycle it’s great but in an RV it’s probably not that attractive. Here I was thoroughly enjoying the sharp turns and really smiling about it only to see more than one road weary shell shocked oncoming driver white knuckling his 50 foot diesel pusher motorhome around yet another 20 mph hairpin turn, while dragging a Jeep on a tow bar. I can just imagine three kids arguing in the back and his wife telling him to slow down, while he has his entire weight on the brake pedal and his butt arched off the seat trying to slow that behemoth down in those hairpins.
I rode down to San Francisco to get another good look at the view from the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge. While the view from Battery Spencer is the one most people take pictures from since you are so close to the bridge, I found a better location half way up the road to Hawk Hill where you can see the whole bridge with the iconic San Francisco skyline in the background. And without a horde of people all jockeying for the ideal position.
After a quick glance at the weather, I realized it was going to be a little cool along the coast ride home, and the SIlverSasquatch™ onesie I’m wearing does very little to keep you warm. I have my heated liner with me, but the cable won’t reach the new outlet I installed while at Ralphs house. I have a coiled extension, but its 2,400 miles away. I also need an oil filter so I rode into the city and picked up a short coax extension and filter before heading north, so if the temps dropped as far as expected I’d be okay.
With my errands done it was time to head back north to Arcata, so I made my way across the Golden Gate and onto the PCH. I stopped for the night in Point Arena at the Wildflower Boutique Motel. What a hidden gem. Like may places it comes with breakfast. There were four choices at check-in and they would prepare it for you in the morning at the hour of your choosing. I chose the breakfast sandwich described as “Farm Eggs, Roundman’s Bacon, Tomato, Emmentaler, and Pennyroyal Farm Goat Cheese on Costeaux Bakery English Muffin served with a side of fruit”.
This was much better than the usual knock off fruit loops in a turn handle dispenser, or the blueberry muffins with polymers as 5 of the ingredients so that they don’t get moldy in the three or four months they sit on the breakfast counter.
When I got up the next morning it was very cool, so I plugged in my heated liner and hit the road. It stayed cool and foggy for a while, then when I got to Fort Bragg the fog lifted and the temperatures climbed to 70. When I got to the very twisty 22 mile stretch just north of DeHaven it started getting a little warmer then just a few miles later it was 99 degrees. It’s amazing how fast the temperature climbs as you move away from the coastline.