Home Again

Day 59 - 466 Miles

Total Miles: 16,814

Wow. From April 18th to July 29th.
Three months and 11 days, on the road, seeing sights and meeting people.

It's addictive and I intend to feed the addiction soon... To get on the road again.

Los Angeles Day Trip

142 Miles

Spent the morning lounging around... and headed toward LA to see a couple more old friends...

Figured I'd snap a few shots of Vasquez Rocks seeing this was the third time I passed it and just because I've seen it before, doesn't mean you should be deprived.




If you don't recognize the scenery, just imagine Superman, the Lone Ranger, Tom Mix, and a host of other heroes saving the day or heading 'em off at the pass on your 1950's vintage television...





This is the place the studios came for authentic old West scenery... (and Superhero stuff too.) I even saw a crew hurrying up and waiting there this afternoon.




Total Miles: 16,348

Homeward Bound... but first... Lancaster.

Day 56 - 233 Miles

Spent the morning watching the final stage of the Tour de France, a break for breakfast, and then headed north. Stopped in Monrovia for a housewarming and then back to Lancaster.

Just beginning the journey home.

Total Miles: 16,206

Corner #4

Day 55 - 284 Miles

Breakfast at Otto's, then a run through the high desert to I-15 down to San Diego to pick up Kip's daughter, and on down to San Ysidro at the Mexican Border.











Wow... I'm done and feeling a little melancholy about it. I really didn't expect that. LOL. I love riding and started thinking about the next trip. Of course, I have to go home first.

Spent the night in San Diego.

Total Miles: 15,973

Lancaster Redux

Day 54 - 74 Miles

A short day today, up early, said our goodbyes as everyone was up early, cleaning stalls, feeding animals, and unloading large water tanks for emergency water needs. You didn't realize living in Los Angeles was so rustic?

We stopped in Newhall and ate breakfast at the Way Station, a 30 year tradition. As good as ever but for the first time, K didn't recognize any of the staff. The main drag in Newhall is completely changed but it was very cool. Lot's of places you couldn't park... except for motorcycles. Heh heh.

We headed into the high desert and are relaxing in Lancaster...

Total Miles: 15,689

Tomorrow is a motorcycle maintenance day.

A couple of oil changes, new chain and sprockets for the Interceptor,



and wash jobs.

Los Angeles

Day 53 - 469 Miles

After determining that my nephew could indeed join us for the last corner, we relaxed for a better part of a week at home, ate some great meals, and got up early each morning to watch the Tour de France, anything with two wheels eh?

The nephew is working a late shift, so rather than try to get back to Lancaster so as to arrive in the morning, we headed to our old haunts in Los Angeles and our SCA friends in Lake View Terrace. 'Bear' is an old room mate of mine, so we had a great evening reminiscing and talking about the trip.

No pictures... I tried but the circuit board fried when the camera auto focused on his mug. LOL

The smoke was fiercely renewed and the heat through the valley made for a tiring trip. Only while we were going up the 'Grapevine" and over Tejon Pass was there any relief to the temperature. And of course, the whole southern valley around Bakersfield was smoggy.

Total Miles: 15,615

Errands

56 Miles

My car must have some sort of minor short, no other reason for the battery to be dead, (remind you of Day 1?) Rather than worry about it now, I ran my errands around town on the bike. After all, what's an extra few miles on the bottom at this point? LOL

On the way home I detoured to the Lake and took these pictures. Not the lowest I've seen it, but quite depressing.









Take a closer look and you realize the "primary" boat ramp is dry, and the secondary ramp, which is usually under water, is just barely usable.




Total Miles: 15,146

Northern California

Day 52 - 263 Miles

A brief sojurn to my own domicile. We'll take a few days rest here, catch up on blogging, mail, and general correspondance. I brought my spouse flowers and a 250 lb anniversary gift, meaning moi. ;^D

Well, first, it turns out we were lucky at Crater Lake, because the next day, the wind turned and all of southern Oregon was socked in by California fire smoke, and you couldn't even see the lake from the crater rim.

Our trip from Medford into Northern California was both hot and smokey. We saw a four engine flying boat in Shasta Lake, and just north of the city by that same name, a field that had been converted into a "combat" helipad, 20+ pads in fact. Each with a chopper equipped with fire-fighting buckets. We saw Chinooks, SkyCranes. The opportunity to take our own pics was missed, but here's a couple that we saw.





I was told by people along the way that the smoke was "better" but you could have fooled me. I never even caught sight of Mt. Shasta, which you can usually see it from 50 miles away and I never saw it even from a couple of miles. And Black Butte didn't appear until we were well into Weed California.

The gas in California is definitely the highest so far... and as it was likewise the highest for a long time after I left. But only in California, so far, are the trucks and most of the cars on the Interstate, actually curtailing their speed and trying to improve their gas mileage.

The ride was short, but the heat and smoke took all the starch out of us and we'll probably turn in early

Total Miles: 15,090

Crater Lake

Day 51 - 295 Miles

We decided to meet at Diamond Lake about 7 miles north of the Crater Lake National Park. Kip got there first and discovered it was the equivalent of Collier-Seminole Park in Florida, mosquito heaven. Not as hot but just as thick with them. I noticed it too, having arrived just a bit later. I stopped the bike to phone him and the mosquitos found me within 10 seconds.

So we didn't cruise the Diamond Lake area and headed on to Crater Lake. Higher, colder, and the water is further away, down in the crater, and not so many mosquitos. That and keeping the bikes moving made for a really pleasent tour.





I'd been before, but it was much colder, the snow banks much higher, and the full loop was closed. So I was very happy to see that the whole park was open and available.

Here's some of that White Dirt...



Wizard Island. (Gotta love that!)



A variety of views of the crater.











Scott Mountain



The Pumice Castle, a welded plume of fallen pumice ash.



The Phantom Ship, a remnant of a later cone within the larger original crater. This mini-cone is dated as 400,000 years old.





One of the many waterfalls from the crater rim.





We stopped in Rim City to grab lunch and were apalled at the prices. The park services really need to revise how they award concession rights. This was ridiculous. We opted for a very simple meal of chili. But based on the prices we saw, this one man bought lunch for himself and his son and had to have spent $45 dollars on it... for TWO. and it wasn't even "Subway" quality.

We decided to head down to Medford early rather than camp at the park, because we figured just eating would be more expensive than a motel... and we have a back yard available waiting for us in town. It will just be hotter.

The ride down the Rogue River to Medford was as beautiful as my ride up from the valley along the Umpqua. And it was indeed as hot as we expected, but by the time we arrived and set up the tents, it was already cooling down.



Total Miles: 14,827

The Oregon Trail

Day 50 - 352 Miles

Heading, more or less, towards Portland and southward, we decided to take the same route south as the STP and it was really great, both from the aspect of having ridden it twice before and from getting to see all the riders enjoying the route and the weather.



We just followed it from Napavine to Vader, but I think I want to ride again next year. We'll see.

The Winlock Rest Stop.





The Winlock Egg... LOL. Everytown has its idiosyncrasy.




We separated temporarily while I visited a friend in Portland and Kip went into the city to check out some bike shops. He decided to go on to our destination on the coast, Newport. When I arrived it was icy cold and a wind was blowing. Who knew winter had come to the Oregon Coast. LOL. I called to find out where exactly Kip had set up camp and got a belated voice mail telling me Kip had returned to the I-5 corridor. Thanx Verizon Voice Mail. I could have saved four hours and 128 miles of pointless riding... I returned to the corridor myself, but we'll have to meet up tomorrow.

Total Miles: 14,532

Neah Bay - The Geographic Corner.

Day 49 - 458 Miles

Yesterday we saw a bit of Seattle from my sister's car (your mileage may vary but it doesn't count toward this trip, ;^D )



The Fremont Troll. Note the actual VW Bug it caught.





This is the old transmission and gearbox for the above drawbridge...



Said our goodbyes this morning. Getting back on the road is always exhilerating. The weather was great, clear and cool, as we headed south toward the Tacoma Narrows.

Don't you just love the words "No Toll This Direction"? I certainly do.

No Troll here either. Whew!!

Last time I crossed here, there was a single span across the Narrows. Now there are two. Almost identical in form, but the new structure is concrete where the original suspension bridge was steel.

Lots of small towns admidst the beautiful forests. The west coast really puts the east to shame for truly spectacular scenery in my opinion. Yes, there are moments here and there that are the west's equal, but the shear quantity of unrelenting beauty can not be matched.









The fishing towns along the northern shore are great, hewn out of the forests that come right down to the shoreline. This one is watched over by "Rosie"



I don't know if this is still a Mermaid or a "Fishmaid" but either way, too much fish to eat, not enough woman to love.



And of course, the requisite pictures of us at a recognizable waypoint.







Crossed a river I had not heard of... but it's my favorite river now... the Humptulips. 'Nuff said.

We headed inland to spend an evening with an old schoolchum of Kip's. He wasn't sure if there would be an overnight accommodation but we'd play it by ear... and if not, we could spend the night at the City Park which allows camping. I looked quizically at Kip and asked if he really thought there would be any space to camp anywhere in the county because... "You realize there are 14,000 people intending to camp out in the area tonight." The STP (Seattle To Portland) bicycle ride is this weekend. Kip's eyes widened and then he laughed out an "Oh-oh" but Gene and Marcia had a great place for us to set up our tents and I slept very peacefully far from the bicycle crowd.

Total Miles: 14,180