Since Mark’s going to be traveling for an unspecified amount of time and he is selling his house, he needed someone to look after his motorcycle for a while.  I took up the challenge, which was convenient because I had a meeting in San Diego right when he was going to be leaving.  I went to the meeting in San Diego, then took the train back to Santa Barbara to ride back up the coast.  The train ended up being 2 hours late, due to the train in front of us hitting a pedestrian.  I ended up not getting back to Santa Barbara until 11:30 at night at which point I had to pack, figure out how to strap my non-motorcyle luggage onto the bike, then wake up at 6 am and start riding.

I ended up getting about 5 hours of sleep, then jumping on the bike and heading over the pass (CA 154) just as the sun was coming up. I headed up to San Simeon on CA 1 and made my first stop at the elephant seal rookery.  There were lots of seals laying around on the beach, including the recently abandoned pups trying to learn the ways of the world.  Some of them were splashing around in the tide pools trying to learn how to swim.  Others were dragging themselves around the beach inspecting rocks, sticks, seaweed, anything to keep them occupied.  Most of them were sleeping in the sand.  The few females that were around were scratching and rolling in the sand trying to help themselves molt off their old fur.  The big males mostly laid around enjoying the fleeting sun.
* WPG2 Plugin Not Validated * An adult male laying around.

* WPG2 Plugin Not Validated *A pup inspecting a stick. 
* WPG2 Plugin Not Validated * Kissing pups.
After leaving the elephant seals, I cruised up the Big Sur coast.  It took me until 3 pm to read San Francisco because of all of the spring break tourists hanging around Big Sur and clogging up the highway.  I met Mark for lunch and debated whether to spend the night in San Francisco.  I finally decided to keep riding which I did until 9 pm when I got to Willits.
* WPG2 Plugin Not Validated *Alcatraz and the Bay Bridge.
* WPG2 Plugin Not Validated * San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.
I woke up the next morning at 6 and it was 24 degrees.  Not the best riding temperature, but it was clear and the road was dry so put on all my clothes and kept going.  I rode one of my favorite roads, the Avenue of the Giants then headed up to the Humboldt  Bay NWR to shoot some photos.
* WPG2 Plugin Not Validated *The Avenue of the Giants.
* WPG2 Plugin Not Validated * Standing in front of a giant Redwood. 
* WPG2 Plugin Not Validated *A great egret at Humboldt Bay NWR.
* WPG2 Plugin Not Validated *Another egret.
* WPG2 Plugin Not Validated * The old barn.  The NWR used to be a ranch that was changed back into wetlands.

I was the only one at the NWR, which was cool.  I think I only saw two other people.  It was cold, with the wind blowing straight off the ocean.  Tons of birds.  It’s a beautiful refuge.I kept cruising, eating lunch in Eureka.  It was getting colder and windier as I kept going north.  I stopped at Redwoods National Park to shoot some photos of the elk herd that is resident there.  There was a big buck with 1/2 of his anglers broken off.
* WPG2 Plugin Not Validated *The big buck.
* WPG2 Plugin Not Validated * The rest of the herd sitting in the sun.
I finally hit the Oregon border and Oregon welcomed me home by briefly dumping rain on me.  It had been beautiful and sunny until I hit the border.  I passed through that storm and it got sunny again.  I had a beautiful ride up to Coos Bay where I jumped over the coastal range and into Eugene.
* WPG2 Plugin Not Validated *Whaleshead beach in southern Oregon.

By the time I got to Eugene, it was getting dark and cold.  I stopped to get some tea to warm me up then got my aching butt back on the bike and road the last two hours to Portland.  I got home around 10 pm after riding since 6:30 am.  

I’ve decided that this is my last long-haul motorcycle ride.  I’ll never ride over 300 miles in a day again.  My body was sore for two days and I froze myself on the last leg.  It even snowed on me as I got into Clackamas.  Amazing ride though.  Now Mark gets to do the same ride at some point.  
View all images.