SONOMA RIDE

 Our ride to Sonoma and the Wine County was fantastic. Robert Schatzman bought a special map for Biker rides in Wine country and that started it all. We decided to meet in the middle of our area so no one would have to drive out of his or her way to meet for the ride. It was agreed to meet in Cordelia, California at 8 A.M. on Saturday the 12 of May.  Duane Stark met me at my house at 7:30 from Woodland (on his 91 Voyager). We left for Cordelia at 7:35 A.M. Just after getting in Cordelia I stopped to fill up my tank for the ride and Duane continued on to meet the rest of the riders. After paying $2.00 a gallon for regular gas (ahhhhh) I went to Denny’s to meet the rest of our group. WOW. Five other Voyagers ready to ride. We had 3 - 1991 Voyagers, my 1999, and Jerry’s 1990. Present riders were Robert & Karole Schatzman from Concord, Jerry Grimsley from Concord, Duane Stark from Woodland, George and Sue Rogers from Fairfield, and myself, Bob Webb from Vacaville.

 We left on our ride at 8:00 A.M. as advertised and started to jump on the freeway for a short mile to our exit BUT we had an emergency STOP. I had forgotten to strap on my helmet. DA. Now we were finally on our way with George in the lead.  Onto the freeway and off again to Hwy 12 to Napa/ Sonoma.

After a fast stop on the side of the road to verify our leader was going the right way (he was) we continued on to our first stop. Breakfast. After 20 minutes we were there. Ford’s restaurant in Sonoma. It’s CLOSED. We checked our tour map. YEP, it’s supposed to be OPEN. Oh well, on the road again to find SOMEWHERE to eat. We should have eaten at Denny’s before getting started. Next time. We had some very crabby people who wanted breakfast (Robert). Off we went into Sonoma to eat. When arriving in old town Sonoma, we were sidetracked by Duane who took over the lead. He led us to a group of Victorian homes he wanted to see and show us. These are Brand NEW, to look like Victorian. I would die to have one of these homes. They MUST have been in the 1 to 2 million-dollar range. WOW, where they ever beautiful. While we were stopped, I just had to take some pictures. After taking two or three pictures, I was rushed; we were again on our way to breakfast with George again in the lead. We finally found a restaurant in Sonoma to eat at.

 Tummy’s all-full. We were on our way again with George in the lead, then Robert because George had made a wrong turn, to go to the Petrified forest. After stopping a time or two for potty and smoke brakes, we found our way to the Forest. $6.00 to see some dead trees? No thank you. We went through the store and bought some stuff and we were on our way again after another potty brake.  This time Robert took the lead to get us to the Geysers in Calistoga. After an ice cream and gasoline break along the road, we finally made it to the Guysers. Again, $6.00 to get in to see the EARTH SPIT. I decided to wait and come back again later with my wife Shirley, to see this. Robert bought a mascot for his Voyager. An Eagle. Very nice looking on the back of his bike. Again, we hit the road, this time heading to a special place for lunch.

 We found the Silverado trail going through Sonoma and Napa. Again, George was leading the way. It is a beautiful road and didn’t have a lot of traffic on it. Long sweeping turns and some nice straight roads where we could open up our Voyagers a little. After a short stop to check to see if we were going the right way, Robert took over the lead. We were going the right way BUT on the wrong road. We made a turn to get us to highway 29 where we found THE RED HEN Mexican restaurant. Good food BUT I couldn’t say much for the service. It took about 45 minutes to get our food. But it was good food.

 After eating we decided to break up and head to our own destinations. Jerry, George and myself headed for Vallejo to check out prices at the Kawasaki shop. Robert, Karole, and Duane headed for home.  It was REALLY a wonderful day ride. Nice company. No hurry to get there. Nice roads with curves we could have fun with. Reasonable weather. It had started off overcast and windy but ended nice and sunny.  About 130 mile ride. We didn’t get lost (too often) and we found some beautiful biker roads with little or no traffic. What more could you ask for? We stopped when and where we wanted and had an EXCELLENT ride.
 
 

A group of NorCal Voyagers are getting together. We are planning a ride to the WINE Country (Sonoma) on the 12TH of May. We will be meeting at the Dennys restaurant just off Interstate 80 in Cordelia on Suisun Valley Road. This is the same exit you take to get to all the burger places and is just East of the 680 off ramp to I80 East. Dennys is on the South side of Interstate 80. Anyone wanting to go, be there at 8AM prompt. We will be leaving for a ride through Napa, Sonoma and stopping at BIKER friendly places to eat and partake of some of the local wine samples. It will be a ride of around 100 miles or so at a leisurely PACE and OFF the normal roads for tourists. Robert Schatzman will be leading our group (he bought the map), so if you need more info, call him. If we
get lost, you can also blame him. This will be a Saturday ride, if you don't have anything to do, come and join us. If it RAINS, we're not going as usual.  IF you think you would like to come, E-Mail me so we will be waiting for you. I don't want to step on anybodys toes, this was a spur of the minute type thing.
Everyone is welcome.

Robert Webb- NorCal Voyagers Club