Well, if you listened to the weather man and stayed home today you missed out on a great ride. There were 5 bikes that showed up to brave the storm, rain gear ready, and we didn't even get wet! The closest we came was a few sprinkles as we rode through the Sonoma area.
We departed McGuire's and headed north on 680, over the Benicia bridge, across 780 and onto I-80. We took the Hwy 37 exit off of 80 and then turned north onto Hwy 29 through Vallejo and American Canyon {Hi Al!} From there we turned west onto Hwy 12 then onto Napa Rd to cut the corner over to Broadway and up into Sonoma. So far the roads were relatively dry with a few areas of wet pavement and small puddles. Just enough to get the bike dirty so your friends would know that you went riding. We tuned left on Napa followed by a right onto the Sonoma Hwy up into Santa Rosa. When we got to Santa Rosa we turned off of the Sonoma Hwy onto Calistoga Rd followed by a left onto Montecito and a right onto Fountain Grove, which we followed all the way to Hwy 101. From there it was a short ride down 101 south to the Steele Ln exit and over to the museum. The traffic was light and the weather good for the entire trip with temps in the low to mid 60s under partly sunny skies.
It was warm enough in Santa Rosa that we peeled off some layers before heading inside the museum. We took our time going through the museum, reading the numerous comic strips on display and taking in some of the various displays. One of the items on display was a German WWII helmet the Schultz had brought back from the European Campaign. Yet another reminder of what others have done so that we all may enjoy our freedom.
Now it was time to eat. We made our way over to the cafe and ordered. The cafe was your typical arcade type cafe with hot dogs, nachos, fries, etc. on the menu. After what seemed like hours, we got our food. It was OK, but nothing worth going out of your way for.
After we ate we walked through the gift shop and checked out the wall, which was a huge mural with all the peanuts characters, and collected our free gift. Yes, we got a free gift, a small pin with a peanuts character on it. It turned out to be very appropriate too as it has Snoopy riding on a bike (ok, it's a bicycle, but we can pretend it's a motorcycle). We call them our ride pins ;?)
Then it was time to head for home. We rode down 101 to the Lakeville Hwy, to 37, 780, 680 and home. The weather was still cooperating for our ride home. The temps were in the upper 60s with partly cloudy skies.
A beautiful day for a ride, and another great day spent with friends.
