Today we leave the redwood forest, so it is mostly just a travel day. The original plan was to go to Fort Bragg and ride the Skunk Train, but evidently there has been some damage to one of the tunnels, so the Skunk Train now leaves from Willits. No big deal, since Willits is directly on US-101, we could just drive the 134 miles south and end up at the hotel, but what fun would that be?
     So we started back down on US-101S, and rode the Avenue of the Giants one more time from beginning to end, this time with the GoPro camera running so we could have a video . It's really just a great motorcycle road, with the added bonus of some spectacular redwood forests.   By the time we reached the end of the Avenue of the Giants, there were still a few commercial sites further to the south that we hadn't seen yet. The first was the Legend of Bigfoot Gift Shop, They did have some interesting chainsaw carvings, but since we already have all the Bigfoot souvenirs we will ever need - none, we just looked and took pictures.
     The next commercial sites were right next door to each other. The first was the Grandfather Tree, which was just a big redwood with a gift shop. But the second was much more interesting, it was the one-log house. Originally built in 1946, the one-log house is an entire house built into a hollowed out log. It was evidently restored in 1999, and costs a whole $1 to see inside. We did take a bunch of pictures. The gift shop at the one-log house also had a coffee shop, just when we needed a cup.
     The last was the Chandelier Drive-Thru Tree. This is the one that most people think of when you talk about driving through redwoods . This one cost a whole $3 to drive through, and since it was Monday, it was a lot less crowded. We actually had time to take a bunch of pictures, and then take a video of me driving through the tree so we could post it on Facebook. This one had a good t-shirt, at the gift shop, and we hung out for a while eating ice cream.
    We decided that since we had time, we would follow the original plan and get off US-110S which by now was more Freeway than scenic road, and follow the coastline down on CA-1S which eventually becomes the Pacific Coast Highway. The first 10 miles or so south from Legget is some of the tightest, twistiest turns we have seen so far. Most of the riding was in second gear, occasionally upshifting to third. Turns were typically 10-15 mph, with the faster ones at 20 mph. It was just a blast to ride! Once we got out of the really tight curves, we reached the Pacific Ocean. It was pretty foggy, but you could still see the water below, though the mountain tops were all in the clouds .
    For the next 30 miles to Fort Bragg, CA-1S just followed the coastline. Sometimes way up in the air, other times down at sea level, but lots of times with a steep cliff drop to the ocean below. We stopped at all the Scenic Vista stops, and at one of them, the cliff had given way and taken some of the railing with it down to the beach below. The scenery was breathtaking when the fog was clear enough to see. But it was a little chilly at 63 degrees.
     We made a quick stop in Fort Bragg, as we wanted to see the Skunk Train Station and Gift Shop, but since the operation has moved over to Willits, the gift shop closed up at 2:00. So we just go back on the bike and followed CA-20E cleverly called the Ft Bragg-Willits Highway, all the way back to the 101 and our hotel in Willits. CA-20E is a spectacular motorcycle ride. The scenery is ok, but the twists and turns are never ending for the entire 35 miles. This is a third/ fourth gear road, with 25-30 mph turns and typical 45-50 mph riding . Occasionally you could get into high gear. I was having a blast, but evidently the Mercedes behind me though I was going too slow. He finally flashed his lights and beeped his horn at us, and the passenger leaned out the window and applauded when we pulled into the turnout to let them by. There's something about those Mercedes drivers, I don't know.
     We took a chance on the hotel in Willitts. It had good TripAdvisor ratings, and is called the Old West Inn. The hotel is "U: shaped, with the rooms on both sides of the courtyard facing each other. They are setup on the outside like storefronts on an old western town. Our room is the Doctor's Office. But the room is clean and inexpensive, has a fridge and a microwave, and comes with a free breakfast. Such a deal! Dinner tonight was burgers and sandwiches at the local chain called Lumberjacks, since we couldn't go to the Italian place we wanted as it was closed on Mondays.
     Tomorrow we are scheduled to ride the Skunk Train for 4 hours at 9:45. When we are done, we will ride back to Fort Bragg for the night, setting ourselves up for the 200 mile ride down the coast to San Francisco, It should all be great fun!

192.1 miles today
11,279.6 miles total

5.409 gallons today
270.233 gallons total