As you head north from Carson City, NV you continue on US 395 as far as Susanville, California. It's interesting that along this stretch of highway you go into and out of California/Nevada several times as it winds its way north. Just west of Susanville you turn onto Hwy 44 and eventually onto Hwy 89. It's an awesome ride with views of Mt. Lassen (above), and Mt. Shasta farther west. It's truly hard to beat this area for beauty. The route is about 150 miles to Weed, California (395 to Susanville, Hwy 36 out of Susanville to the turn at Highway 44 and then to 89 as you wind northwest toward Weed). There are only a couple of gas stations and only one or two restaurants on this entire stretch, so once again; plan ahead.
You need to be constantly vigilant for deer and other critters crossing the road on this road. I had narrowly missed squishing two chipmunks on my way down this road. I saw 5 deer alongside the road, and two dead dear that were freshly killed by cars in recent days. So...watch out!
It's so pretty along here. High mountain plateaus, streams, huge green grassy water filled meadows, snow occasionally (in June), and spectacular mountain vistas.
As we cruised along, ever vigilant; we were totally freaked when from out of the brush on the left side of the road an animal burst onto the road. After the initial shock, it was almost laughable that it turned out to be a wayward chihuahua. Some folks on the right side of the road were stopped at a rest area and their dog had evidently crossed the highway in search of 'big game'. You just never know what you'll see.
We always stop in Weed, California (Weed is the name of an early settler/politician). There's a great restaurant and motel there. It's called the Hi-Lo Motel and Restaurant. The motel is spartan, but quite adequate. The restaurant is awesome! Great homestyle comfort foods and the kind of waitress that you only get in this kind of place; friendly and with the kind of experience in their job that everything goes just about perfect. We stayed in the motel on one of our trips, and we've eaten here several times. Weed has lots of great gas stations and motels and many fast food restaurants along with the local ones.
It's just south of Weed that you return to the Interstate Highway finally as you head north toward our homes in Olympia/Vancouver BC.
This stretch of I-5 is filled with wonderful views and wide open riding. The traffic has never been anything close to heavy from Weed north into Oregon. You can zoom along and feel relatively safe as this road is well maintained and has wide open views.
Peter and I always say the same thing as we ride up thru Southern Oregon. 'I love Southern Oregon.' It's a magical area. The mountains and meadows are green and the hills and valleys are often with a beautiful farm and horses or cows strolling about contentedly.
You follow or pass over lots of streams and rivers heading north; often following a river valley for miles. So pleasant....and a relief to be on a major highway with much less stress about deer and other things on the road. (obviously deer can be a problem even on the highway, but the visibility is so much more open here that it is much easier to keep aware of them)
Ashland, Oregon (where they have the annual Shakepeare Festival) is a place I could see myself living in somewhere down the road. Medford, Oregon (just north of Ashland) is another place where I could easily live.
Along the way on this day; we decided that we should make Rogue River, Oregon our destination for this night. On our ride to Infocomm in 2008, I had a flat tire on the rear of my bike on a Sunday afternoon. As motorcyclists know; it's nearly impossible to change a rear tire 'on the road' these days. As a result, I ended up stuck in Rogue River that day. When we finally realized that no amount of phone calls would bring help, we decided to make it to the closest motel in that very small town, and stay there until Tuesday. Most motorcycle shops are closed on Sunday and Monday....don't know why...but it's the way it is almost everywhere.
The good news about the realization that you can do nothing about the problem, is you can then just relax and enjoy what the day brings you. In the case of Rogue River, it was a special treat to discover this town.
Situated on the raging Rogue River (it's name fits perfectly). We learned from a waitress at Karen's Kitchen - next to our favorite Best Western Hotel that lots of famous people have made this place their destination for the kind of amazing fishing that you can find in the rivers of Southern Oregon. Clark Gable and many more came here to float the river from Grant's Pass out to the ocean near Brookings.
Our stop at Rogue River this time yielded a huge cache of interesting people and once again we fell completely in love with RR.
I'm going to take the next post to describe our amazing afternoon and evening there. See you there.
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