Long, hot, and tiring day. I find riding on the Interstates exhausting, plus it's hard on the tires. My back one is starting to develop a chicken strip. But thankfully I got a chance to work that off later :) Stayed on the I5 from Redding until I hit the Hwy 20 exit. From there I headed west to Clearlake.
The valley from Redding onwards reminded me of the prairies, flat, hot, dry and dusty. With endless fields of grass. The monotony was only broken up by some olive groves and the occasional rest stop.
I found myself tiring quickly today, mostly due to the heat I believe plus I let myself get a bit dehydrated the day before. I had planned on stopping in Clearlake for lunch and a coffee, but bailed on that pretty quick. I popped into the IGA and got shouted at by someone who wanted the parking spot that I was occupying. I stopped, did a u-turn and backed into it, that was my crime. Silly people. Then the IGA was having it's roof re-tarred and the smell had permeated the entire store. Instant nausea.
So bailed on lunch in Clearlake and continued on to the next town. Ended up stopping in Middletown, had the best meal of this trip yet at a panini place. Fantastic sandwiches and salads all washed down with an organic fresh fruit smoothie!
I'm so glad I stopped in Middletown, the next 10 miles were some of the toughest twisties I've ever ridden. Think the switch backs on the ride up to Cypress Mountain, then multiply that by back to back switch backs for 10 miles. Managed to have a few spinchter clenching moments on that one. It's Hwy 29 over St Helena Mt if you're interested.
Tonight I'm camping at the Bothe-Napa State Park. Nice enough, but doesn't compare to the state parks in Oregon. I don't think I've ever heard so many crickets(or maybe it's frogs) in my life!
Another day with not many pictures, not a lot to take pictures of.
Tomorrow, I'm heading through the rest of Napa Valley with a detour through the Sonoma valley. From there I'm thinking I may head east for Yosemite Nat'l park and then for Death Valley afterwards.
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