Day Eleven, Part Two, Redwoods

We made it to Leggett, CA home of the Chandelier Tree that you can drive through. What a massive tree! It was really amazing. We each took turns driving through the tree and then I even took a video of Robby going through it. We saw an SUV with a big tour pack on the top that looked like it was gonna get stuck.

After that we headed up near the Avenue of Giants and drove through some incredibly tall and massive trees. It is truly like being surrounded by giants! Again, I wished I could just snap photos of what I am seeing all the time to share, but we couldn't and it was getting dark and cold so we pressed on to our hotel.

Tomorrow we are going to try to make it to Lenny's house in Idaho. Wish us luck, it is 690 miles.

We have over 3500 miles on us now. OVER HALF WAY!!!! The bike's compass should point to the big E from now on.

Ciao!

Day Eleven, Part One. San Fran

We started the day about 100 miles south of San Fran. When I woke up I saw that the high temp for San Fran was going to hit all the way from the current temp of 57 to 58 degrees. Wow! Gonna be a cold one. We slept in a bit, cause we are kind of worn out! Got a move on though and missed most all the traffic going into San Fran. We took the 101 straight into downtown. We were headed over the Golden Gate but we detoured to Fisherman's Wharf first for some photos of Alcatraz, the Sea Lions, Pier 39, and the like. It was fun, Robby hadn't seen any of that before. I kept wanting him to say "the Rock" like Sean Connery, but he wouldn't play along. ;-) We took several photos. They have all been posted to Facebook for those peeps.

We left the Pier to go to the Bridge and I realized I needed gas again. Finding a gas station in downtown San Fran is actually kind of hard. We found one and headed off through the Presidio and then over the bridge. The last half of the bridge was covered in a shroud of f0g. It was so cool. It was one of those times I wish I could have just stopped to take a photo, but unfortunately we could not.

After our foggy and chilly Golden Gate Bridge crossing we headed north to the Redwoods. The traffic came to a stand still and yet another "helpful" Californian told us that bikes can share the lane and go between the cars. I folded in my highway pegs and gave it a go. It was just a little to close for comfort for our big bikes though. If I had my V-rod I wouldn't have been so nervous. I was just waiting for a person texting while stuck in traffic to decided to change lanes and smash me. Not too much fun.

Traffic cleared some and we headed to Leggett to the drive through tree...see next post.

Day Ten: SoCal to Middle Cal...is that what they call it?

We got up early with Mike to go meet his brother and check out some cool airplanes. Of course this was AFTER we went to Starbucks to get some caffeine for the day. Had a fun morning, but we were off to travel west til we hit water and then north and had to get a move on.

Mike gave us directions to go through downtown LA for a more scenic route, but then stressed that we don't want to miss the road signs cause we could end up in a very bad place and get shot. After talking to someone who cares about me and being told that wasn't a bright idea, we opted for I10 straight to Santa Monica Pier. The traffic wasn't too bad until we got close and then it was the typical LA parking lot on the interstate.

We made it to the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) and headed north. We took the PCH up through Monterey, CA ,where we are now. Every once in a while you had to go over and pick up the 101 but the majority of the day was spent on the 1. It was a very twisty road after San Simeon north. About 60 miles of tight curves. Robby loved that. He got in the lead way before it turned curvy, but that was a mistake. He missed our turn twice. The first time I followed him and caught up and told him we needed to turn around, the second time I just went ahead and turned and figured he would miss me sometime and come back and find my brightly colored bike sitting here at the missed turn. It only took him a minute to miss me. ;-) I told him he was not ever allowed to point out any missed wildlife to me again since apparently we have figured out that I read the signs while he is looking for Bambi.

Robby left me behind when we got into the tight turns. You can sure tell he is 22 and doesn't have a mortgage or any of those thoughts of disibility pay while cornering. :-) Speedy! He pulled over to wait for me two or three times. Each time we put on more clothes. Crazy that yesterday when we left Vegas it was pushing up to going over 100 degrees and we were wearing as little as possible and today I had on four layers by the time we got here and my teeth were chattering.

We had a beautiful viewing day. Rob had never seen the Pacific Ocean so that was new for him. I asked him if he was excited and he said what do you want me to do cry, do a cart wheel? We did see a little seal that was floating on his back and flipping his flippers and sticking his tongue out at us when we stopped near Hearst Castle.

More tomorrow. Have around 3200 miles so far. I forgot to check the exact mileage before we came up.

Nite!

Day Nine: a Recap (longer blog)

Last night was just a little something to let everyone know we were still alive. ;-)

We got up very early in Vegas and left the very inviting digs that Brenda was letting us use. We were starting to fall in love with that house and the little casino that was in the neighborhood so we got up before dawn and left HOT Vegas and headed west.

We arrived at my friend Mike's house in Rancho Cucamonga around lunch time, which worked out great cause Mike took us to lunch! ;-) We then had to let him go do some stuff and we ended up catching a movie at the big mall just to stay cool. Met up with Mike again after the movie and went to dinner and to further Robby's education of beer. The kid only drinks Busch Light, which Mike (the beer conniseriour) thinks is just awful! We got a sampler of different beers at a little local brewery and made Robby pick a darker one. We texted his best friend with a photo and his bud thought he was drinking oil. Too funny.

We had a great visit with Mike. He has been off work for some time and I had missed seeing him. ;-) One of my best friends said this was my "visits to furloughed pilots around the country" tour, it kind of seems like it so far. ;-)

So other than the mention of the gun battle in the little short blog that about covers it for our Day Nine.

Now to write for day ten...

Day Nine...i think.

Am blgging from my phone. No Internet at the house. Staying just outside of LA at my friend Mike's house. On the way here we rode on Route 66 out of Barstow for 20 miles until we came to a police roadblock just outside of Victorville, CA. They told us to turn around that there was a stand off up ahead and they thought there was gonna be a gun fight. The road was closed cause they did not want us to get hit by a stray bullet.

Short blog cause these keys are too small. Nightingale is a bad influence with all the fancy froo froo beer.

Ciao

Day Eight: Vegas, 111 degrees here

We didn't do much today cause it was 111 degrees here today. We drove down to the Hoover Dam and took some photos and then came back and vegged for a while longer. We finally motivated to go to dinner early and then hit the local casino for a little more craps. Broke even. ;-)

Robby and I have decided we need to get back on the bikes, we miss it and we miss the silence.

More tomorrow. We are going to visit my friend Mike Nightingale in California. ;-)

Ciao!

Day Seven: Vegas!

Today was the day I introduced young Robby to many things.

1. Craps. I drew the craps table on a piece of paper after breakfast and quizzed him on possible rolls. We lounged around until afternoon and then got ready to hit the strip. Photo of us at the Casino (first time I have worn any makeup at all in a week, figured I should document that!) We had fun playing, won some, lost some. ;-)

2. Cirque Du Soleil. We got tickets to see Mystere' at Treasure Island. It was fabulous. Rob liked it a lot too. I had seen 'O' before and the tickets for it were about triple what Mystere' were so that was an easy choice. You gotta wonder what people are thinking when they design those costumes...or maybe I am just not artistic at all. The acrobatics were amazing though.

3. In and Out Burger. He had never heard of it...seriously? We ran through there on the way home and he now loves their fries. ;-) He was thrown, just like I was the first time, when they asked him at the drive up if we were gonna eat in the car. If you aren't familiar, they pack it up in an easy to eat out of tray if you say yes to eating in the car. ;-)

We didn't even start up the bikes today! What a needed rest day though. Thanks AGAIN Brenda for the use of your car. You are the best!

Tomorrow is Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam, gotta get to bed. Nite!