I spent the night with a old friend I had not seen in years, Baby Bundles and her husband Kyoji. We had a great time and they are great people. Despite being in an urban area there was all kinds of wild animals roaming through.
I left“Menopause Meadows”, as Bundles calls the over 55 community she lives in, and headed for Redding, home of the new scooter. William was waiting with the Vespa and 2 of his other 2-wheeled machines. The Vespa was everything I expected and more. William had it cleaner than if I had gotten it new from the dealer. It has about 10 coats of wax. I had only talked to William once on the phone and, as I expected, he is a great guy. He and his girlfriend put me up for the evening, wined and dined me and gave me a tour of the area. If I had not left he would have given me so much stuff I would have had to add another luggage rack. Thank you William for a great visit and I hope to see you soon and thank you for selecting me to own the scooter.
Big Red and me rolled out of Redding about 9:30 on US44 headed into the hills. Yesterday I had seen 111 degrees on the test ride but climbing to over 8,000 feet should keep it cooler. At the entrance to the Lessen National Park, I met 3 Swiss students who are traveling America and wanted a couple pictures on the sign with Big Red. It was a beautiful ride over the mountain with very little traffic. At the peak of over 8,000 feet, Scoot and I would have been clawing our way over. Big Red never missed a beat. Rain showers were around but never fell on us, but the fresh smell they brought was great. This is a volcanic mountain and there are steam holes. Unfortunately, I got no pictures of them. On the back side of the mountain temperatures climbed again to 100 degrees.
I called it a day in Portola, Ca. as I felt it was time for a celebration drink for owning another scooter.
