Day 9 - The Rollercoaster Day

Day 9 - Saturday - Weed to McCloud

The fire truck just happened to be handy on our way to breakfast and the logo caught Donna's eye.

We don't normally take pictures of our food but this Banana Nut Bread French Toast breakfast was something else. It was the special of the month at the HiLo Restaurant and a perfect way to get ready to ride. 

This is the lobby of the Townhouse Motel where we stayed. The Boles Fire started on the slope behind the green tree.

Our host, Navin, saw the fire as it shifted north and started to burn towards Main Street. He said the he thought he might lose everything at one point and didn't sleep or eat for 2 days, it was so scary. Almost everyone we talked to had a story they needed to tell.

After breakfast we rode around some of the edge of the fire to fully appreciate what Weed had seen.

Mt. Shasta still has it's head in the clouds as we leave town.

We won't be in Sacramento for at least another week.

In the meantime, we are happy for blue skies, smooth pavement, and a tailwind.

Going UP.

Going DOWN. Goodby I-5. Hopefully that is the only time we will have to ride on a freeway this trip. The shoulder is very wide but it sure is noisy.

We have been in Mt. Shasta City many times but this min-park is new since last time we were here.

Our favorite store.

This is new too and nicely done!

Our route out of town.

Last week's storm still hasn't quite let go of the big mountains.

Going UP.

Going DOWN.

Donna's rear fender lost its bolt sometime between Weed and here. Everything had to come off to get to the right spot. The gear guy, of course had a spare.

But I really, really needed to pee!

It was a late lunch in the White Mountain Cafe in McCloud.

At the back of the little museum. Everything seemed to close at 3pm today and we didn't get to town until 2pm.

The specs on that big hunk of machinery.

We had thought we would camp tonight but the weather is still unsettled so we wandered around town checking out all our other options.

This is the McCloud River Inn, which had a Bike Friendly sticker on its door and had 1 room available.

And what a nice room it was! And she let us use her laundry room. And it rained during the rinse cycle.......so glad we aren't camping!!!

The wall art was even appropriate for 2 retired foresters.

Note the unit of measure!

The Breakfast Room

Note the bandsaws above the counter.

It turns out that this building used to be the Administrative Headquarters building and bank for several different timber companies over the years. After reading the history of the building, Donna realized that she dropped off a resume here 36 years ago, just after getting her forestry degree. About the time she started her career with the Forest Service, the company closed down their operations in McCloud.

The very luxurious bike parking location.

There was only one place to have dinner, The McCloud Hotel and we didn't have reservations until 7:30. We were seated between 2 other couples, one from Dallas, Texas and the other from Clovis, California. We had a delightful meal and conversations with both of them.