This will be the last post on the ES blog for 2005. The sun goes down into the Pacific Ocean, right behind the North Spit along Coos Bay. This is close to my house, I got in around 6 PM on Oct. 6th. 6717 miles, trouble free, and never had to ride in the rain. This will end the blogging until the next trip.

Our last rest stop before getting home. This is on I-5 at the junction of Hwy 42 that goes over to the Coast. We're about 90 miles from home from this place.

Fall colors are starting to come out. This is in Northern California.

Mount Shasta, taken from the South entrance of Weed, California.

Don, Karen and Preston in front of the Market club. This was another of our "found food" places. There weren't many on this trip.

Don has been coming here since the 1940's. It's a real local "hang out"

They had a regular menu, but this was the specials. You had your choice of rice or potatos with each entree. They were big on baloney and spam in here. I had Linguisa and eggs, it was wonderful.

Don led us up here from his house this morning. We left in the dark, got into rush hour traffic in the Sacramento area, but this place was worth it! There is not actual street, we parked by the produce loading dock.

The Market Club. A very old Restaurant in Sacramento. Most people don't know it's there, since it's not on a real street, and not advertised.

This is what Don VSP looks like at 5:30 AM. He's in his kitchen.

Contented cows having their evening graze.

Some of the leaves are a little farther along than the others.

It looks like we're going to get wet, but we didn't. Made it all the way home without having to ride in the rain.

More roadside pictures of the changing leaves.

A green pasture in the late afternoon sun, on Hwy 42.

Fall is in the air. The leaves are just starting to turn here.

We're on Hwy 42 now, the last leg of our journey. Only about 80 miles from home here.

A nice pasture full of cattle. This is just south of Roseburg, Oregon, taken from I-5.

The leaves are turning now. In a couple of weeks, they will be the brightest. Not many reds yet.

They grow grapes in Oregon too.

A couple of pretty ponies near Medford, Oregon.

Preston and Karen going up the last climb to the Top of the Siskiyou Mountains. This little summit of almost 5000 feet is the hightest point on I-5, between the Canadian and Mexican borders.

Mount Shasta from a long way off.

Some cattle country in N. California.

A cattle pond near Yreka, CA. In Texas, they call these "tanks".

Black Butte, near Mount Shasta in Northern California.

Mount Shasta, near the City of Mt. Shasta.

Castle Craigs near Dunsmuir, California, taken from I-5.

Part of Shasta Lake. This is about the average height of the water for this time of year. It will fill up over the winter.

Irragating a field of something in Northern California.

We passed this sign in California somewhere. I think Kelly could find a bouch of hats in here!

A green pasture along Hwy 42 on the way to the coast.

This is my kind of sailing. Tied up in a nice little cove with totally flat water. There is lots of boating here on the delta. That's Mount Diablo in the distance. In the early 60's I used to come to this area to Duck hunt and fish for Strippers with friends that were stationed at the Rio Vista Coast Guard station. The "Good ol' Days"!

We left the bikes at Don's, and he took us around in his car. Karen looks sleepy, she had a very full tummy after our dinner in Stockton.

After dinner, Don took us for a loop around some of the levees on the Delta. The sunset was beautiful.

It pays to go out with someone that knows the owner of this fine dining restaurant. Don requested a private room, and got it. He ordered Walnut coconut prawns, pressed duck, beef in oyster sauce, chicken oriental salad with a special dressing as per his request, gai-lan (a green vegetable in some kind of sauce) and steamed Sole. along with rice and tea. We enjoyed it to the fullest!

Don VSP in his living room. We were getting ready to to out for dinner.

This is where we had breadfast this morning. It's on the outskirts of Barstow, CA, a favorite stop of mine. Last year I posted a large bowl of Menudo that I was eating inside this same place. A very MEXICAN place, where they make their own tortillas daily.

This is another "over the head" shot. Karen and Preston on California Highway 99. This paralles I-5 though the central valley

A common site. A house and outbuildings, right in the center of the acreage of fields.

There are miles and miles of orchards, vinyards and field crops, that are constantly being rotated.

A corn field. Some with earlier maturing are all dry and standing, ready to be cultivated back into the soil. This field was just recently harvested.

California is the "Bread Basket" of America. And, they have Buffets to serve the bread from.

Oil and grapes. A fine combination.

An Orange grove near Bakersfield, CA. The town that belongs to Buck Owens, the "Bellowing Billionaire" from Bakersfield! He now has the Crystal Palace, among other properties there. Some people call him Buck Owns.

Fruits and Nuts! Yep, this is California. (Sorry guys )

One of the largest cash crops in california now, replacing food crops. This is sod for roll out lawns. Lots of these farms on the Sacramento River Delta also.

Remember back in March, someone posted a beautiful picture of the record amount of wildflowers in the Tehachapi mountains? This is the same place, in October, after a long hot summer!

Highway 58 between Mojave and Tehachapi. Hundreds of wind generators on all the ridges.

This is the last picture of the day. The must get large tourists in Oatman, AZ. Lots of motorcycle riders too. Can you imagine the size of someone that wears a 5XX!!! I took a whole bunch of pics here, but only posted a few. It's getting late and I'm sleepy, but this will give you an idea of our day.