Friday, December 31, 2010

Crossing Bridges on New Years Eve!

New Years eve and the day before in the Sacramento valley provided a much needed relief from the incessant rain that has been lashing California this winter. I hear we are already at 200% snow pack, but I digress - New years eve was a beautiful day to go for a ride and I had the day off from work - perfect!

I was meeting a friend for lunch at 12:30PM, but I got a ~9:00AM start so I only had 3-1/2 hours to goof around on my way to Davis, so I almost never got off the bike when taking these pictures..


I soon found myself west of Lodi heading towards the delta on Hwy 12. Pretty farm country and I happened upon this helicopter dusting the crops! I have never seen a heli dusting crops before...very cool!
Can you spot it? :)


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The first bridge to cross was on Hwy 12 to Brannan Island.
I took a picture as I was crossing it..


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Then turned the camera around and took another, once I crossed it..


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Shortly afterwards I reached the Rio Vista bridge.


Rio Vista Bridge.
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I reverted to Hwy 160 form here and there was not much traffic on this sunny day and the river looked calm and gorgeous as Hwy 160 ran alongside it hugging it close..


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Next stop was Isleton. I snapped a quick picture of this Isleton establishment. Crawfish - the poor man's Lobster! It is considered a delicacy - I had tried it once before, I think I like Lobster better.


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I also found Bob - The Master Baiter..
Yes, I am a little immature! 

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Next up was the Hwy 160 bridge past Isleton, as Hwy 160 splits off from River Rd. 
Took a picture as I was crossing the bridge.

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Then pulled over to take another shot..

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On my way to Ryde - I found a houseboat cruising the river, enjoying this fine day!

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Pulled over at the Ryde hotel to take a picture, before Ryding on..

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Crossed over again from Hwy 160 onto River Road at the Walnut Grove bridge. 

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Pulled over to the side to take a picture once I crossed it..

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Crossed over from River Road to Hwy 160 again before Courtland.

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I made a right(wrong) turn here instead of making a left (right) turn and missed the Steamboat Slough Bridge :( 
Next time!

Racing towards Sacramento I happened upon this parade! 

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These were riders from the "Jesus is Lord, Black Sheep" motorcycle group. There were about 20 motorcycles in this group and these guys were painfully slow, I wondered if these nice christian folk would let me by. So, I passed the sweep and waved to him behind me. It was my way of gesturing that I intended to pass all of them, the sweep held back, so at the first opportunity I passed about half of the group and at the next all of them giving them a goodbye wave as they vanished from my rear view mirrors.

I was soon in Sacramento crossing the last bridge on my ride plan. The Tower Bridge in Sacramento.

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I took a parting shot at the State Kapitol of Kalifornia, before it was time to "Go west, young man!" So, I headed west to Davis.

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Thanks for reading! :) 

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