July 4, 2015

Willits California
Now we're starting to see the real America. No more crowded "chic" restaurants, mega malls and barely courteous people. We hadn't had the bike parked for 5 minutes when Claudette and Larry came by to say 'Hello". They were in Willits for Frontier Days and were really interested in our trip, so when we emerged to go to dinner, they introduced us to their friends Art and Louise, who also wanted to know all about our trip. Walking downtown, folks all greeted us, cars stopped when we crossed the street. We ate at Adam's Restaurant where we sat next to a chatty woman who proceeded to tell us how Willits was a nice place to visit but not to live in due to the fact that 50% of the population has cancer from the now closed chemical plant. Apparently she was a regular as the staff and piano player gave us a subtle grin. The town was surprisingly quiet as most of the rodeo festivities were on the outskirts of town. The big parade happens today but unfortunately we need to move on, next time. We say goodbye to our new friends and hit the road.

 The view from our "Old West" Hotel room