Day Five – Ready, Set, Recalculating…

Breakfast was scheduled to be delivered to our room at 8:30. We brewed the in-room Keurig coffee but decided we needed more than this. Breakfast was a win! Tom had an egg and ham breakfast sandwich and Cathy had a tomato terrine. The Wildflower Inn was great.

We geared up to go to the Point Arena Lighthouse and then back through Point Arena to stop at the Zen House for a t-shirt. We walked back to the co-op for cappuccinos and loaded the bike.

Helmets on, ready to go… we tried to start the bike. It turned over but there was no sign of life. Luckily, right next door to the hotel was the Zen House Motorcycle Repair. We waited until 10am when they opened. Tom walked next door and returned a few minutes later with the shop attendant. We all pushed the bike next door and they hooked the battery up to a trickle charger.

While waiting an hour for the bike to charge, we thought of all our options. We were basically in the middle of nowhere. We could pray it started. Find a way to Fort Bragg to rent a U-haul. Call friends or family to rescue us. Bullet straight back home… if it starts. Continue the trip in the car?

While we waited, the shop attendant, Bob and his wife, Pam, were very helpful. They used their computer to help us explore our options. Pam even offered to drive us to Fort Bragg! Great people! We decided to try to start the bike and if it started, we would go to Santa Rosa and purchase a new battery. The battery that failed was only three weeks old so we were not entirely confident that the battery was the problem.

It started! Thank God for Bob, Pam and the Zen House!

We did not go to the lighthouse, we did not pass go, we went straight to Santa Rosa. It was a pretty drive but we were both so stressed, we really didn’t enjoy it. The ride was foggy, cold, curvy, on a cliff and our nerves were frayed. We made it unscathed.

At Cycle Gear we purchased a battery that needed to be charged. That took several hours. Tom walked to an auto parts store to see if they had a portable jump starter while Cathy observed the variety of people coming and going at the cannabis shop next door.

We installed the new battery but only after losing the screws and washers that came with it. Thanks to the helpful manager at Cycle Gear, we were able to secure the new battery. The bike started and we decided to go to Olema and continue where we left off. Not the idyllic coastal drive we had envisioned but at least we were continuing our trip.

We made it to Point Reyes where we needed to purchase gas. That would be the test. We killed the engine, filled up and crossed our fingers. It started. We decided not to press our luck and went straight to the Inn.

Once we unloaded the bike, we chilled a bottle of wine and sat out on the deck at the Inn until the fog engulfed us. A short walk down Sir Francis Drake Boulevard was a nice restaurant that could accommodate us. We ate dinner, people-watched and monitored the score of the Giants game.

Our plan tomorrow is to visit our sister-in-law, Anne, in Aptos and then proceed to Monterey to stay with our daughter and son-in-law for a few days… that’s if the bike cooperates.

Good vibes and Zen!