Today dawned dry but overcast, and surprisingly our coldest day of the ride.  We all rugged up in fleeces under our jackets and took off North on the freeway before heading east towards Vallejo and our first stop of the morning.

Vallejo Harley-Davidson always puts on a warm welcome for us, and the fresh muffins and coffee helped thaw the cold from our early ride.  We had a special guest waiting for us – Gail Kamei – a US rider who will travel to Australia next week for our Amazon Heart Thunder ride down under!  The riders had a great time filling her in on their experiences and what to expect, and we look forward to seeing her on the road there next month!

Rhonda again rode in her truck with us today providing perfect back up support for the sweep van.  We had two other surprises during our visit at the dealer – Stitch (Maria Cronin) who was one of our van drivers last year came along to visit with her boyfriend and his bike, and Pippi (Linnea Johnston) a rider from last year had sent us a care package of ride essentials to help us through our last couple of days on the road.

After a good shopping break, we were back on the bikes heading north to Napa.  Stitch and her boyfriend rode along for a little while before heading on their way.  The roads were a little busier along the way but the vineyards were beautiful.  We stopped for gas at Callistoga a little behind schedule and Meredith and Gig snuck across the road to buy some barbeque tri-tip sandwiches to keep them going the last hour until our lunch stop.

Further north the roads were quieter, narrower and had some beautiful twisties.  Megan and Nancy led our group through Healdsburg where Nancy had grown up – she was better than a GPS for the difficult turns!  Then on at last back into the redwoods we have all come to love, before arriving at Korbel for lunch.

The champagne there looked pretty good, but sadly as we were on the road we couldn’t enjoy the tasting room!  We did have a fantastic lunch, and then back on the bikes for another hour through the redwoods to our overnight stop at Rohnert Park.

The last night of the ride is always a special occasion.  All of the riders were given a guardian angel to hang on their jacket zipper to keep them safe on the road, and had the chance to share with each other what the journey had meant to them.

Then we headed out for a special evening adventure that we are all sworn to secrecy not to reveal.  The only photos we can post are of our van driver mascot, Pancake (a red squirrel from the UK) and Smokey, our ride mascot.  They were baaadddd to the bone last night.


Loading the van in San Rafael


The gang at Vallejo Harley-Davidson - including Maria aka Stitch and Gail


Sonoma County


Harvest season in the wine country


Arrival in Rohnert Park


Nancy and Megan observe the tattooing and piercing from outside


Pancake and his new nose ring


Our mascot Smokey the Bear gets inked