Sunday, April 27

The morning was bright and sunny. Breakfasted in the hotel lobby mezzanine, and then packed up and mounted up. The oil light on the Ninja flashed, so off we went to a nearby gas station to gas up the bikes (especially the Yamaha) and add some oil (3/4 quart) to the baby Ninja. Then, we were finally on the official start of the tour. A lovely ride on some wonderful roads, especially the gnarly Trinity Road, and then a mid morning egg-roll break at the Turtle Rock Store. Then a rarity, almost all of us (except Don, who lagged us by about an hour) rode together to Middletown, and a gas stop and then lunch at the Cowpoke Cafe. I regaled with tales of Goop, the wonder glue.

During lunch, the sky clouds up. Kate and John and I managed to suit up and saddle up and get out ahead of the rest of the group. Too much group riding is boring. Kate led on the baby Ninja and we had a good ride to the next hotel, the Baechtel Creek Inn in Willits. The last 20 miles or so was in a steady rain, but we're all more or less waterproof, so we didn't stop to don rain gear and made it to the hotel in good shape around 3PM.

Time for shower, reading, checking email, then the hotel had prepared wine and cheese and fruit for us, so we met in the lobby for that at 5:30PM. Then at 7 we got shuttled the mile to the restaurant, which was opened especially for us (normally closed on Sundays) Dinner was fine, and John was the life of the party, surprising even me with how entertaining he was with his wise cracks and jokes and stories.

After dinner, we gathered in the bar behind the restaurant. Kate played the piano some, and Frank played a song also. Kate and I finally called it a night and got shuttled back to the hotel, along with Tom and Carol.