AdventurePoser Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 At least that was the GPS odometer reading when Jennifer and I rolled back into Glendora last Tuesday. We'd somehow managed to pry six days out of our mutually busy schedule, and rode to Lake Tahoe to visit friends. From there, we headed to the coast for a couple of days in Carmel and Morro Bay. Along the way we laughed, reconnected with each other and friends, rode thru blazing heat, foggy chill, sweepers, incredible straightaways, forests, meadows, coastlines and deserts. We ate lots of good food, and saw some beautiful sights. We also took some pictures that we'd like to share with you. So, here they are, in no particular order, but with some narrative to describe them. Enjoy! The road is a powerful addiction. Here is CA 14 near Red Rocks State Park. At 0800, it was still cool enough to be comfortable in the Stiches! Soon, the Sierras emerge from the desert. They are magnificent! Aren't we a good looking couple? When in Bishop, CA stop here and buy some jerky. We suggest the turky teriyaki. Dee-licious! And, speaking of food, when traveling the mid Sierras, stop here. Everyone else in Walker does. Try to not gas up in Bridgeport if at all possible. Still, Bridgeport is a beautiful little town, nestled in a valley. Folks raise cattle here, and a few people are building second homes. Seems a bit cold in the winter for retirement though! Soon we found ourselves in NV. This is Topaz Lake, near the Carson Valley. Soon, we'd find ourselves in Lake Tahoe, visiting some good friends. Pulling into Lake Tahoe City is an interesting statue. Fortunately only ten miles to Sugar Pine State Park, where our friends promised us a clean bed...and lots of food! We spent some time touring Lake Tahoe. If you haven't been here, you should come on out. There are many state parks for camping, and about a million motel rooms. Of course, Jennifer took a picture of me... We decided to take a day off the bike and head over to Virginia City, which is an old silver mining town. It's like Oatman, AZ on steroids. Some old mining memorabilia, but lots of tee shirt and ice cream places as well! Here are a few shots... This is the cemetary-a fascinating portal to the Old West... Is Jennifer appearing scary in this shot?? Or is the wind attempting to blow her over? Virginia City was a breezy spot Friday afternoon... Behind this town, there ain't nothin' for about 600 miles! Well, to make a long story shorter, we had a good time visiting our friends, but the RT was calling us. We saddled up early Sunday morning and lit out for the coast. Did you know it was 40 degrees cooler on the coast than it was in the Central Valley? We headed west on CA 152 to the coast. Of course, what coastal tour would NOT include a meal at Phil's? Phils was excellent. We ate fish and met Tom, a HD rider from the Central Valley. He liked Jennifer. With a couple of days left, we rode into Carmel and had incredible bakery offerings. Fortunately, we had a bit of room after Phil's dinner. Try the Carmel Valley Bakery at the ocean end of town. Good stuff. Try the chocolate covered Biscotti. Here are a few shots of the ride south from Carmel to Morro Bay. It was a typical summer day's ride on CA1. Breezy, foggy, and wide open... Lunch is nice at Lucia... The roadsides are covered with flowers! It was chilly under these clouds: We did love the flowers! Maybe Jennifer was too tired to hop back on the bike? It was quite windy here too... This was a great ride, made all the better because we have so little time to ride. We hope you are riding far this summer! When you do, make sure you make it over to the Left Coast! Cheers, Steve in So Cal Link to comment
Marty Hill Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 Great pics as always. I feel a pull to the left coast. Link to comment
GelStra Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 Gee, why would you want to leave LA? It was only.....947 degrees here! Very...COOL pictures! Link to comment
Dances_With_Wiener_Dogs Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Thanks Steve, it's always enjoyable to see your photos! Link to comment
AdventurePoser Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share Posted July 14, 2006 Thanks...originally I wrote a story to go with pix. About an hour and a half after working on it, I went to "continue" to check it. Did so, and when I went to work, the page would not refresh...ah, computers and websites.... So, instead, just a bunch of photos with captions! Ride safe, Steve in So Cal Link to comment
GelStra Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Tip 1: write "Tales" in Word. Copy. Paste. Tip 2: Change avatar. I'm getting a migraine! Link to comment
AdventurePoser Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share Posted July 14, 2006 Hmmm...both worthy thoughts. I don't mind cutting and pasting words, but copying the URLs to picture links would be too much. Avatar change? Hmmm...I could try that. Steve Link to comment
glockster Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Steve, the general store in Walker, do they still have the St. Bernard dogs that roam the front porch? Link to comment
AdventurePoser Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share Posted July 14, 2006 Marco, Did not see a St. Bernard, but did see several large shepherds. Cool place, huh? Steve Link to comment
Francois_Dumas Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 What a wonderful way to start my day..... browsing through all those pics of places I've never been ! The coastal roads have a big attraction to me, looks splendid !! (And not too warm.. <grin>). I am glad to see Jennifer and you had a good time on the bike ! Greetings from another 'west coast', Francois Link to comment
Joel Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Thanks Steve, it's always enjoyable to see your photos! +1 Mountains, desert (& desserts! ), lakes, ocean ... just mix in something like Nebraska and you'd have the ingredients for a cross-country trip! Well done! Link to comment
Albert Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Really nice pictures and fun to ride along. Thanks. Link to comment
Shawnee Bill Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Wait until I'm back in Oklahoma then show me what I missed! Except of course the price of gasoline, paid 4 bucks in Lee Vining also. Great pictures. Thanks. Link to comment
AdventurePoser Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share Posted July 14, 2006 It's pretty hard to beat the scenery of CA1. Just about the entire route from Lompoc to Legget is incredible. It's even better when there are few RVs to compete with. We saw very few motorhomes on this trip. Maybe the price of gas? In Nevada, gas was cheaper than CA, but still pretty pricy for a vehicle that gets 6-12 mpg, I would imagine. I think the solution is, everyone sees the US on motorcycles... Steve in So Cal Link to comment
Whip Posted July 15, 2006 Share Posted July 15, 2006 What???...no Dairy Queens in California.....just a little musical remender.... http://www.technidata.com/dq.htm Whip Link to comment
AdventurePoser Posted July 17, 2006 Author Share Posted July 17, 2006 What???...no Dairy Queens in California.....just a little musical remender.... http://www.technidata.com/dq.htm Whip Larry, I appreciated that! And, yes, there are DQs in Cali, but they seem better in TX! Steve in So Cal Link to comment
AdventurePoser Posted July 18, 2006 Author Share Posted July 18, 2006 Thanks, Francois, I feel the same way about your ride tales and pix. I don't know if I'll ever get a chance to ride in Europe, but your words and images transport me there. It's like magic! So, keep your work coming... Cheers, Steve Link to comment
Couchrocket Posted July 20, 2006 Share Posted July 20, 2006 Steve, Once again a wonderful narrative and photos. Sorry you lost your original "script".... Cutting and pasting from Word does work if you just do a paragraph at a time, insert photo, next paragraph or so, insert photo... That way it is more like a back up of the text. I also take the URL's for photos from the host site and paste them into an ordered "list of them" in notepad and save it. Then just cut and past those into the "post" as I create it. But, back to my reason for posting . . . I can always count on your ride tales being "upbeat," funny, informative, and embed with a sense of sharing more than just "the trip" but also as sharing your approach to life. I've learned a lot from you "by example" that makes my own travel more enjoyable. Thanks! CA 1 sure is hard to beat, I never tire of its variety, beauty, great "destinations." It is almost always a dependable place to really have a great time on a bike. Link to comment
GelStra Posted July 20, 2006 Share Posted July 20, 2006 I can always count on your ride tales being "upbeat," funny, informative, and embed with a sense of sharing more than just "the trip" but also as sharing your approach to life. Just a little secret between friends, don't tell ANYONE I told you. Steve assigns his Ride Tales as creative writing assignments and uses the best one here. He's actually quite an untalkative, monosylabic curmudgeon in person. Remember, you didn't hear it from me! Oh, crap! I just remembered I'm going to see him tonight at Coffee Night! Note to self: never let my coffee out of sight. Link to comment
Joel Posted July 20, 2006 Share Posted July 20, 2006 Note to self: never let my coffee out of sight. And don't let him order you one of those hemlock lattes. Link to comment
AdventurePoser Posted July 21, 2006 Author Share Posted July 21, 2006 Note to self: never let my coffee out of sight. And don't let him order you one of those hemlock lattes. Link to comment
Couchrocket Posted July 21, 2006 Share Posted July 21, 2006 He's actually quite an untalkative, monosylabic curmudgeon in person. Paul, I might have bought this if I hadn't already met Steve! LOL . . . nice try. You guys have a good time tonight. I hope to join you "next time." Something cold or frozen sounds like the ticket for this weather. Scott Link to comment
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