Friday, July 15, 2016

Cat's Memorial and Final Aebleskiver Get Together

July 15, 2017

This is going to be a year with a lot of miles. We are doing a trip to finish out riding the west coast. We have done Washington and Oregon, and now we are going to finish California.

Today we left home and rode to Casper, WY. to check out an Arctic Fox dealer. We are starting to look for a new or newer Fox, and they had one we wanted to look at. It turned out to be one that we wouldn't consider, but we had to look. After that, we decided to go on to Riverton, WY. I got us two hours closer to Lava Hot Springs, ID. We stayed there once before, and knew we would go back, so we are.

On the way there, about half way, we were enjoying a tail wind when all of a sudden we got hit with an extremely strong side wind that had us struggling for a few minutes. The wind was strong enough that it pushed an oncoming pickup partially into our lane, but he got back before he got to us. Melanie was sure we were going to get wet, but we didn't even have enough sprinkles to clean the bugs off our windshields.

Anyway, we got to Riverton and they had a car show and other goings on here, that had the US highway through town closed. So we found our way through town to the Days Inn, and they had nothing but smoking rooms, so we weren't staying there. They sent us to Roomers, and it is a neat and clean little mom and pop motel that we would definitely stay at again. The guy that checked us in had the AC started in our room when we got here, that is service! He also recommended a place called Trailhead Family Resturant and it was excellent food.

364 miles.

July 16, 2016

An uneventful but windy day of some very nice Wyoming scenery. The biggest problem we had was passing a gas stop, so by the time we got to Kemmerer, WY we both needed a bathroom and gas, in that order. I had a brief problem with the new Motochello com system I was using. It quit doing anything with the microphone or two way radio. I did a factory reset on it and it worked after that.
The Atlantic City area needs to be researched more. There was water at the base of the workings by the highway that was some of the bluest water I have seen. We stayed at the Home hotel in Lava Hot Springs again. This is a neat but very touristy town, with river tubing the biggest draw.

300 miles 

Todays route

July 17, 2016

We wanted to get an early start, but that didn't really happen. I was hoping to be in Pocatello, ID for breakfast by 7 am, and we just got out of the hotel at 7 am.  Oh well, we are on vacation. It is going to be our long day an the way to the coast, and the wind and weather looked good. We were able to make good time, and took the interstate for about half the day. That meant we were able to run 80, and we were able to talk all day, even at 80. I did have a problem with having to do another factory reset on my Motochello. I am going to be calling them about this. After we got to Bend, OR, we decided to go to Crescent, OR, and we had our worst weather of the day. We ran into a few heavy sprinkles, so we stopped so Melanie could put on her chaps and her jacket liner. After we did that, we headed out on the last 20 miles, and didn't get 5 miles down the road and we hit the rain, and it was pretty heavy. Melanie swears there was hail, but I think it was just heavy raindrops. You know, the big ones that three of them can soak you when you are walking. Well, whatever it was, it did sting when it hit you. And, to make things better, we got behind an extremely safe, nervous clown in a car who decided 40 was a good speed. That won't even let the rain blow off the windshield or helmet visor. We were in the rain for about 10 miles, then we were in dry roads and sunshine. Fortunately, I was able to turn on the front seat heater to help dry out my pants, so it didn't look like I wet myself when we pulled into a town that didn't get any rain. It is now 5 hours after we got here, and I am still hearing about how hard the wet "hail" was.
I am sure I will have to change this post when She reads this!

After we got here we ate supper at the Mohawk restaurant. They had really good food, a huge bottle collection, and lots of stuffed animals of all types.

631 miles, and much talk of how hard the golf ball size hail was.

Oh wait, it might have been watermelon size. ;)

Our route for today

July 18, 2016

It was a dark and stormy morning.  Actually a thunderstorm. We were going to get an early start, but we didn't want to start with getting wet. So we went across the street to the same place, and had an excellent bisquits and gravy. After eating, the rain had stopped, and we got packed up. It was an hour ride to Crater Lake National Park, and it was cool, like 50. On the way to the lake inside the park, when we got to the first pull off to see the lake, the fog was moving in, with some clouds. Melanie talked to some people from Iowa while I took pictures, then we moved on. Then it started to rain again. Fairly heavy rain, so it was hard to see through the windshield, helmet, or glasses. And there was construction, with gravel. Melanie doesn't like gravel. Luckily it didn't last long, and neither did the rain. Well, I thought I was going to have to come back here again. This was my second time trying to get good pictures of Crater Lake. We stopped at the visitor center, Melanie bought a shirt, and we each ate a really expensive sub.

The up side to spending the money, was that the fog burned off, and it was then only partly cloudy, so I did get some beautiful shots, and Melanie got her first stamp in her National Parks Passport book.

We finally left the park after 3 or 4 hours there, and had a nice fun ride towards the 101 and the coast. It is as pretty as I remembered, but it was foggy and/or overcast so I only took a picture for the blog.

We ended up at the Eagle House Victorian Inn in Eureka CA room 43. The woner offered to let us park our bikes in the ball room, but we declined. It would have made one heck of a picture though. Our room was on the top floor and overlooked the town and the bay. The restaurant had the best Halibut fish and chips we have had.

About 320 miles, but google won't cooperate right now to load a map.

July 19, 2016

We expected to start the day with fog and drizzle, but it didn't happen, but we didn't get as early a start as we hoped. We headed south a short distance on 101 and then took a planned detour on to Avenue of the Giants. That is a must do road if you are ever in the area, whether on a motorcycle or car. It is beautiful. I took more pictures here than on the coast. After a relaxing time spent in the dark canyons these huge trees provide, we got back on 101 and headed for 1 to ride  the coast. Well, we got to the turnoff and got on 1, but it took what seemed like a couple of hours to get the short distance tot he coast. It doesn't show up on the maps, but it is about 30 miles of seemingly linked hairpin turns. They aren't quite that bad, but when you aren't expecting it, it was something! That stretch of rode is FUN, but really slow when you are trying to put down some miles. We stopped for lunch at a place called Jennies Giant Burger, a local burger joint and enjoyed a delicious hamburger and fried, then headed out again. Melanie mentioned getting back on 101 to make some time, and I agreed. When we got to the turnoff, I had talked myself out if it. I came here to ride the coast, and riding inland wasn't riding the coast. When I stopped to talk with her about it, there was a sign that said Highway 1 closed in 20 miles. Knowing we were on a road that would get us where we were going, and knowing that we were getting back on 1 at the Golden Gate Bridge, I figured she was right. We should take 101. The bridge was shorter than I had expected, but every bit as scenic, and there was no problems with the wind, there are enough barriers to protect you from the wind. At the south end of the bridge, we missed our exit so we went into town a little ways to get gas, and look at a map. Google wanted us to go back toward the bridge and take the exit we missed, and we ended up doing just that. So we got another look at the pretty bridge. Well, through all our mistakes and lack of planning, we were now in the middle of rush hour, so 1 was a parking lot at times. We also had to go through  Santa Cruz yet, so we ended up with that near parking lot speed also. After we got in, we ate at The Beach House at Lovers Point Inn. We had gotten in later than we planned, but luckily we were still in time to eat, and we had a shot of good tequila, after Melanie said she could use a shot. We didn't get to the beach here, and we went to bed early so we could meet Don and Mike for a tour of 17 Mile Drive and the Pebble Beach area, where motorcycles are not allowed.

415 miles.





July 20, 2016



203 miles, but it took us all day. The 17 Mile Drive is amazing. This is where the one percent people live.
After that we got headed to Solvang. It was another fun and very scenic drive. We didn't take many pictures, because it is just like you see in the pictures, and I didn't know if more pictures were needed. We did go by the Hearst Castle, the same Hearsts that were in Lead. We also saw a large group of elephant seals sunning themselves on the shore. We ended up in some more traffic, partially because our timing wasn't good this trip. 

This finished out the coast for us.

July 21, 2016

Today we did a short group ride, and we saw the entrance gate to Neverland, some baby shetland ponies, and we stopped at some lavender fields. we went back to town early and walked around town with Don, Mike, and Kate. It is an interesting town, but definitely a tourist trap town.

July 22, 2016

Today we went to the motorcycle museum, and it is really one mans collection of very rare bikes. It is a VERY impressive collection, and he also gave us a tour of the bikes he doesn't have ready for the museum.

After that, we headed to the coast for a Jalama burger, on Jalama beach. It was a nice group ride, at a nice relaxing pace, but the road was pretty rough in spots.
The burger was good, with an interesting sauce. Melanie finally got on a beach, but forgot her kite, and it was definitely windy enough for it.

After that, I checked the bikes over and we spent one last evening with the group. saying goodbyes to these people is always difficult.

July 23, 2016

We were hoping to leave by 6, but we were on the road at 6:30 PDT. We had a long hot day ahead of us so we wanted to get as much cool riding as possible. We also got one more chance to see the coast and ocean on our route home. By the time we got to Barstow, CA the temps were over 100 degrees F. and at Baker, CA the temps were 111 and rising. I saw a high of 118 on my bike, and it seems to be pretty accurate. By the time we got to Las Vegas, we were stopping every 50 miles to soak our cooling vests and take in more Gatorade. We made it to st George about an hour later than we planned, but the time we spent in the beer cave at a c-store in Mesquite, NV was time well spent!


July 24, 2016

We got a late start again. We got rolling at 8, and I was hoping to be at Zion NP by 8. Oh well, I won't set an alarm when we are on the bikes. I figure if we don't get up, we needed the sleep.
We woke up to 86 degrees, and after yesterday, it felt cool. The ride through Hurricane was nice, and we got to the park before it got too busy. We did go through a town called Virgin, and I thought they could sell t shirts with the town name huge, and Utah in very small print. I laughed about that one several times.

I thought that US 89 out of the park was better than the park itself, except for the mile long tunnel. We also saw about a dozen big horn sheep shortly after the tunnel, on the side of a big hill. We have to go back to the southern Utah parks, and just spend time there.

The high temp today was 104, which was still hot, but nothing like yesterday. But it was on I-70, and there isn't a more scenic interstate that I have been on. At least until you get to Denver on it, then it sucks like all the rest of them.

We got another later start, on the road shortly before 8 am. Mal and 'Vette were great, and we love spending time together. It seems the time is always too short.
I wanted to go through the Glenwood canyon, since I haven't done it for several years. Well, I should have taken my normal route through Craig and Steamboat Springs. When we got to the turnoff for CO 131 there was a DOT trailer sign that said something about the road being closed, but there wasn't time to read the sign in traffic. It turned out to be closed at State Bridge. We had to turn around and go through Denver. The traffic wasn't too bad, but it was worse than Las Vegas, but 25 degrees cooler. After what seemed to take forever, we made it to Guernsey, WY. I checked the tires, and this time they all looked good. It really only took us that half hour longer I lost to get home. It seemed longer, but we rolled in the driveway at 6 pm on the dot.

577 miles including the unfortunate detour.

3595 highway miles, not including the side trips and rides we did while at Solvang. We were on the move a lot during this trip, more than normal, but we did lots of things we wanted to do, so it was a good trade off.
The redwoods were phenomenal, and the coast in California turned out to be good, but not as good as Oregons.