Rising early, I still didn’t know if I was going to finish the campuses today or stop somewhere along the route. Another option was to call it quits after the Bay Area and return for the two remote campuses (Arcata, Chico) next week.
But first, San Francisco – Leaving around 6AM I beat the rush hour traffic and was leaving over the Bay Bridge before 7AM. The Maritime Academy (nice campus!) in Vallejo was next and before 9AM I was in Sonoma for the last of the Bay Area campuses. It occurred to me that I could be home by noon from here …
Nah, Arcata is only four hours north. And I headed north – My GPS now suggesting I would be home at 6:30PM. Most of the roads are familiar to me as this is my favorite stomping grounds – I was so tempted to peal off to Mendocino, Shelter Cove, or the Lost Coast but that would have seriously impacted my schedule. So I stuck to the gentle, undulating curves of 101 through the northern California forests. Arcata was mine just a little after 1PM.
From there it’s 299 to Redding – Normally a two hour ride, but construction and single lane detours really slowed things down. Now my arrival time home would be 7:30PM. I’m tired and it’s really hot now that I’m away from the coast - A brisk 100F!
Arriving at Chico just after 5PM, I looked for a sign for my scavenger collection. I found one but it was inside the campus quad and inaccessible to motor vehicles. So I drove up and down the streets and parking lots looking for anything that said CSU-Chico. Nothing! I circled the campus a second time and still nothing. This was amazing – Not one identifier anywhere.
So I returned to the off limits sign, pushed the bike until I could finally get a picture, pushed it back and rode away. Several students are still scratching their heads and wondering what the heck was he up to?
A quick refuel (and Gatorade – It was hot!) and now my arrival time at home moved to 8:30PM – I had wasted an entire hour with that silly shot. But first, a quick stop at Sacramento State for item #23, and my day was almost done. 30 more miles up the hill and I was home.
Over 1,900 miles in 2.5 days but I got the maximum points – First prize is a set of tires and the way this summer is going, I’ll need them.
