Today was 603 long hot boring miles from Bishop California to my driveway. We left Bishop shortly after 8 am and arrived home shortly after 6 pm. It was all interstate through desert. The temps were pretty good for the first 300 miles but it got really hot for the second half. According to the GPS, the grand total was 9 days, 3381 miles, speeds ranging from 0-90 and elevations ranging from 0-10,000 feet with a total moving time of 64.5 hours.
It's good to be home......
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Days 7 and 8
So I didnt get the chance last night to update the blog so I get to do two nights tonight. On Sunday morning, we left Ft. Bragg about 0730 and headed south down Highway 1 in search of breakfast. We figured we would stop when we saw something that looked interesting. We found a small diner next to the beach in Mendocino and went in.
There was only one other couple in the place and they looked at us like we were biker trash. I guess leather jackets, chaps and bandanas didnt fit in with their high brow ways. We sat at the table right next to them....Breakfast was really good. Ang had oatmeal and a muffin and I had scrambled eggs and fruit. Yeah, rough tough biker trash.......
Highway 1 continued to wind its way along the coastline, changing from wooded areas to huge sweeping vistas along sheer drop offs to the ocean below.
We eventually made our way to Point Arenas and went out to the lighthouse there. We were hundreds of miles from home, in a far away distant locale, and yet the Mother in Law found us.....:)
We took some pics around the lighthouse and then headed back on down the road.
When we reached Tomales Bay the road was lined with cars and people on foot. The oyster farms were packed with folks buying their supply of fresh oysters for the July 4th holiday. I was quite surprised at the crowds at these places. We also noticed that traffic in the opposite direction, heading out of San Francisco, was backed up for miles while we had mostly clear sailing into the city. We did hit some traffic approaching the Golden Gate Bridge however.
We didnt stop to do the normal touristy pictures by the bridge because we have been there and done that already plus, the place was packed with tourists and we didnt want to fight the crowds there.
About 10 years ago, I was a detective in the Criminal Investigations Bureau and Angela was a dispatcher with the TPD. I worked with a detective named Doug Fisher and Ang worked with his wife, Jeanette, in Radio. Doug and Jeanette had a timeshare in Hawaii and they used it often. In March 2001 they were in Hawaii when Doug lost his life in a diving accident.
Jeanette's world was shattered. In an attempt to start over fresh, she moved back home to San Francisco. We lost touch with her over time and many years passed. Some time ago, Ang and Jeannette reconnected on Facebook and when Jeanette learned this week that we would be in San Francisco, she offered up her guest bedroom to us. So, we made plans to stay with Jeanette. However, she would not be home from work until about 8 pm so we had a few hours to kill.
We went down to the Fisherman's Wharf area to hang out. Parking was $3/20 minutes. Thats $9/hour to park. No way was I going to pay that. Then, we stumbled across a Harley clothing store with free motorcycle parking out front.
The nice people behind the counter agreed to keep our helmets and jackets for us while we walked around so we locked up the bike and headed back down to Fishermans Wharf.
Then it was time to leave the freak show and go find Jeanette's house. She lives 3/4 mile from the beach and a few miles south of the Golden Gate Bridge. We still had some time to kill so we went and had dinner at an authentic Chinese place where we both felt very out of place. Besides being the only Caucasians in the place, again, we were decked out in the Harley garb. After dinner we hung out at the beach for a while.
We went to Jeanette's and spent the rest of evening catching up with her. It took several years but she "finally got back to being me". She went back to school and became a respiratory therapist and works at one of the local hospitals. Of course there were Doug stories and lots of laughs.....
Day 8 started much later than any other day of this trip. Ang wanted to sleep in a bit and she wanted to hang out with Jeanette a little longer. I think it was almost 11 before we actually hit the road.
We took the 280 freeway south out of San Francisco and after two near misses with cars, both of which were my fault, I was glad to get out of town. We then took Highway 92 e/b to Hayward and it took us across a bridge that must have been at least 5 miles long.
We took the 92 to the 580 to the 210 to 120 and headed to Yosemite National Park. Once we crossed the bridge, the scenery was plain and boring and the temps steadily rose. It reached the point that we were down right hot. I thought we were back in Phoenix.
Most of the route was freeway so we made good time but it was boring. After about 150 miles we started the ascent to Yosemite. As we climbed, the temps dropped back down to something that was actually quite nice.
The road turned to twisties, which I always like, and then we finally reached the park entrance.
The road through the park was 56 miles of incredible scenery. So far on the trip, other than a couple of deer in a motel parking lot, we had not seen any wildlife. We finally ran across some deer in the park. It only took 2700 miles....
Ive said it many times already but the pictures just dont do the scenery justice. We crossed over Tioga Pass as we exited the park and then continued on our way to highway 395. I had now made a complete loop as I had traveled 395 northbound a week earlier heading to Lake Tahoe. We went south to the town of Bishop, CA where we had the best meal of the trip and called it a day.
Total mileage today was 320 miles.
There was only one other couple in the place and they looked at us like we were biker trash. I guess leather jackets, chaps and bandanas didnt fit in with their high brow ways. We sat at the table right next to them....Breakfast was really good. Ang had oatmeal and a muffin and I had scrambled eggs and fruit. Yeah, rough tough biker trash.......
Highway 1 continued to wind its way along the coastline, changing from wooded areas to huge sweeping vistas along sheer drop offs to the ocean below.
 |
| Ang on the phone with her mom |
When we reached Tomales Bay the road was lined with cars and people on foot. The oyster farms were packed with folks buying their supply of fresh oysters for the July 4th holiday. I was quite surprised at the crowds at these places. We also noticed that traffic in the opposite direction, heading out of San Francisco, was backed up for miles while we had mostly clear sailing into the city. We did hit some traffic approaching the Golden Gate Bridge however.
About 10 years ago, I was a detective in the Criminal Investigations Bureau and Angela was a dispatcher with the TPD. I worked with a detective named Doug Fisher and Ang worked with his wife, Jeanette, in Radio. Doug and Jeanette had a timeshare in Hawaii and they used it often. In March 2001 they were in Hawaii when Doug lost his life in a diving accident.
Jeanette's world was shattered. In an attempt to start over fresh, she moved back home to San Francisco. We lost touch with her over time and many years passed. Some time ago, Ang and Jeannette reconnected on Facebook and when Jeanette learned this week that we would be in San Francisco, she offered up her guest bedroom to us. So, we made plans to stay with Jeanette. However, she would not be home from work until about 8 pm so we had a few hours to kill.
We went down to the Fisherman's Wharf area to hang out. Parking was $3/20 minutes. Thats $9/hour to park. No way was I going to pay that. Then, we stumbled across a Harley clothing store with free motorcycle parking out front.
The nice people behind the counter agreed to keep our helmets and jackets for us while we walked around so we locked up the bike and headed back down to Fishermans Wharf.
 |
| Alcatraz Prison |
Then it was time to leave the freak show and go find Jeanette's house. She lives 3/4 mile from the beach and a few miles south of the Golden Gate Bridge. We still had some time to kill so we went and had dinner at an authentic Chinese place where we both felt very out of place. Besides being the only Caucasians in the place, again, we were decked out in the Harley garb. After dinner we hung out at the beach for a while.
We went to Jeanette's and spent the rest of evening catching up with her. It took several years but she "finally got back to being me". She went back to school and became a respiratory therapist and works at one of the local hospitals. Of course there were Doug stories and lots of laughs.....
Day 8 started much later than any other day of this trip. Ang wanted to sleep in a bit and she wanted to hang out with Jeanette a little longer. I think it was almost 11 before we actually hit the road.
We took the 280 freeway south out of San Francisco and after two near misses with cars, both of which were my fault, I was glad to get out of town. We then took Highway 92 e/b to Hayward and it took us across a bridge that must have been at least 5 miles long.
 |
| Angela and Jeanette |
We took the 92 to the 580 to the 210 to 120 and headed to Yosemite National Park. Once we crossed the bridge, the scenery was plain and boring and the temps steadily rose. It reached the point that we were down right hot. I thought we were back in Phoenix.
Most of the route was freeway so we made good time but it was boring. After about 150 miles we started the ascent to Yosemite. As we climbed, the temps dropped back down to something that was actually quite nice.
The road turned to twisties, which I always like, and then we finally reached the park entrance.
Ive said it many times already but the pictures just dont do the scenery justice. We crossed over Tioga Pass as we exited the park and then continued on our way to highway 395. I had now made a complete loop as I had traveled 395 northbound a week earlier heading to Lake Tahoe. We went south to the town of Bishop, CA where we had the best meal of the trip and called it a day.
 |
| Grilled salmon, asparagus and mashed potatoes |
Total mileage today was 320 miles.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
PCH Day 6
Today started off with fog rolling in. in fact, we spent about 180 miles in cold fog today. This is what we woke up to...
And...it took nearly 2000 miles but we finally ran into some wildlife. These two were in the parking lot of our motel. The only other wildlife we have seen was a fox that ran across the street infront of us a few days ago.
So....Today was more of the same old boring coastline punctuated with rocks...
With the fog it felt like the temps must have been in the high 40's as we continued southbound on the 101. We stopped at Whales Head beach and snapped a few pictures and then continued on our way. Because of the fog, they actually look black and white.
We crossed the border of Oregon into California and it was nice to be out of that state. The state is pretty but they do things a little weird there. Anyway, last night I talked to a guy in the parking lot of our motel who was riding a BMW. He told me about a restaurant in Crescent City California that he always stops at when passing thru and recommended we have breakfast there. It was about 50 miles from where we stayed last night but it seemed like a good idea to try it.
We finally reached the Chart Room and took a table next to the window looking out over the harbor. The view was nice but would have been better had there not been any fog. The service and the food were terrific so I would say following the BMW guys advice was a good idea.
Crescent City harbor, where the Chart Room is located, was hit by a tsunami back in March following the devastating earthquake in Japan. They had before and after photos in the restaurant. The harbor was severely damaged and they suffered million of dollars worth of damage. I felt sorry for the locals here....
After a late breakfast we continued on our way. We reached Eureka CA and stopped in at Redwoods Harley Davidson to thaw out. It was pretty darn cold!
After about 45 minutes we hit the road again. This area is all part of the Redwood National Forest and there is a road that skirts along the side of the 101, criss crossing it back and forth called Avenue of the Giants. The fog cleared, the sun came out, and the temps warmed up. Things were definitely getting better as we took the turn off to the Avenue. The Avenue of the Giants cuts through the redwood forest and yes, the trees are ginormous!
This beauty went on for 30 miles. Check out a little video from this portion of the ride...
After getting back on the 101 we headed for Leggit where we would leave the 101 and pick up Highway 1. The 101 cuts inland while Highway 1 runs along the coast. The first 20 miles were nothing but switchbacks, or twisties. The road was alot of fun filled with decreasing radius turns and lots of ups and downs through dense thick forests.
And then, you round a corner and this bursts out in front of you...
So, after 300 miles we arrived in Ft. Bragg CA. We were done for the day and wanted to stay there but I got a little nervous when the first 4 motels we passed had No Vacancy signs posted. A little further in to town we some that still had rooms but I wanted to keep checking and see what else was available.
All the motels and Bed & Breakfast places were booked up so now I knew we had to act fast to get a room and that it would not be cheap. We went back to the first place we saw with a vacancy and got in line behind two other couples wanting rooms. Luckily we got a room. Unluckily, it cost us $200 for a room that normally rents for $60-70 per night.
Apparently, Ft. Bragg has an annual Salmon BBQ and fireworks show today/tonight and it draws plenty of out of town guests. Motel rooms are at a premium. If we passed this one up and continued further south down the highway, it wasnt going to get any better the closer to San Fransisco we got. So.....We took the room and here we are.....
 |
| Ang in her leather bikini on the beach |
We finally reached the Chart Room and took a table next to the window looking out over the harbor. The view was nice but would have been better had there not been any fog. The service and the food were terrific so I would say following the BMW guys advice was a good idea.
Crescent City harbor, where the Chart Room is located, was hit by a tsunami back in March following the devastating earthquake in Japan. They had before and after photos in the restaurant. The harbor was severely damaged and they suffered million of dollars worth of damage. I felt sorry for the locals here....
After a late breakfast we continued on our way. We reached Eureka CA and stopped in at Redwoods Harley Davidson to thaw out. It was pretty darn cold!
After about 45 minutes we hit the road again. This area is all part of the Redwood National Forest and there is a road that skirts along the side of the 101, criss crossing it back and forth called Avenue of the Giants. The fog cleared, the sun came out, and the temps warmed up. Things were definitely getting better as we took the turn off to the Avenue. The Avenue of the Giants cuts through the redwood forest and yes, the trees are ginormous!
This beauty went on for 30 miles. Check out a little video from this portion of the ride...
After getting back on the 101 we headed for Leggit where we would leave the 101 and pick up Highway 1. The 101 cuts inland while Highway 1 runs along the coast. The first 20 miles were nothing but switchbacks, or twisties. The road was alot of fun filled with decreasing radius turns and lots of ups and downs through dense thick forests.
All the motels and Bed & Breakfast places were booked up so now I knew we had to act fast to get a room and that it would not be cheap. We went back to the first place we saw with a vacancy and got in line behind two other couples wanting rooms. Luckily we got a room. Unluckily, it cost us $200 for a room that normally rents for $60-70 per night.
Apparently, Ft. Bragg has an annual Salmon BBQ and fireworks show today/tonight and it draws plenty of out of town guests. Motel rooms are at a premium. If we passed this one up and continued further south down the highway, it wasnt going to get any better the closer to San Fransisco we got. So.....We took the room and here we are.....
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