Zen & Riding the West Coast : Returning north today

So first off today my buddy and riding partner turned 50 years old! The day was all about Scott!

This is what he looked like before snoring most of the night away. He was technically still on his 40s for this shot.

We ate our breakfast at the hotel and loaded our gear for the trip north. One nice thing was our bikes were parked right out side our room. Easy loading.

The ride started off slow on Rt. 80. I was cruising about 55 mph waiting for Scott as the traffic was zipping by at 70 mph. I'm not use to trucks, cars and motorcycles (especially HD) blowing by me but I thought I would stay patient and ride at Scott's speed. In no time I could no longer see him in my rear view mirror. Not to worry. We had agreed ahead of time the route we would stick to. Rt. 80 to 505 to Rt. 5 to Seattle.

It was kind of boring but I kept cruising. Soon Scott came from no where and passed me going over 70 mph. He motioned towards his head but booked on by and I got a smile on my face. We cruised faster and faster.

That is a row of pistachio trees.

There were signs all over about a drought and water being precious. The farmers had some very cool dykes and water passages to their crops. Agriculture is big all over California.

Soon we stopped to fuel up the bikes and decided to find somewhere to eat in Maxwell, CA. A very small town off of the freeway. We found the Maxwell Inn and had a nice lunch. Wow, what a cool place. It is owned by a big rancher and it was loaded with all kinds of cool hunting trophys.

We got back on the road and I saw this cool camper.

The weather got hot, very hot.

I think my temp gage said 104F in the below picture. I was miserable.

I pulled over to wait for Scott to catch up and this truck and machine parked next to me and Red Velvet. Cool looking!

So we decided to stay at a KOA and Scott cashed in his KOA rewards and we rented this cool cabin for $14.10. Cheaper than tent camping!

I took a swim in the pool, the water felt great.

Here is Scott after he took a leak next to his bike again. He could not wait to go in the cabin. Everything goes downhill when you turn 50!

Scott then took a nap before we went to dinner, again showing his age.

Here is what the cabin looks like....pretty nice!

Here is my birthday gift to Scott, I put it in his tank bag after he fell asleep. It is some 3 day old jerky I bought on the beach somewhere. It's extra hot!

Scott wanted Mexican for dinner so we went to the best Mexican restaurant in Shasta, CA, called Casa Romos. Scott is holding up the number of beers he had with dinner.