What Price, California?

This will be a longer post than usual. California has provided a great deal to write about.

I rode to Mendocino today, which reminded me of a song: 

The views from Highway 1 have gotten better the farther up the coast I go. Around Manchester and north of here, the coastline is spectacular. It really seems pointless to take pictures and to write about it. Especially from a motorcycle, it is a totally immersive experience that really cannot be conveyed secondhand.

Riding through redwoods this morning was also an amazing experience. Fog coming in off of the Pacific, beaches, twisty road, wildlife, all amazing. 

And that has been true for most of California as a whole. The views and scenery are extreme, something you won't forget and won't find anywhere else in the country.

And then, there is the weather. I could write for pages about the weather but don't want to relive it. The weather, from the time I got into California on December 28, until today, has been terrible, with few exceptions I could count on one hand (with a thumb left over). But not "bad" in an ordinary sense, rather it has been traumatically bad. That is not an overstatement.

I do have a sense of accomplishment, seeing what I have overcome, but am left with the question: Was California worth the cost?

Well there are many items to tally up on the plus side of the column, and everyone would arrive at their own conclusions, but for me, the benefits are greatly exceeded by the physical and mental cost of dealing with the weather here. 

I am going to Washington from here and will have to come back into California on my return trip, but I will get out of here and into Arizona as fast as possible. The trauma, I mentioned above, has me dreading the return trip already.