ROAD TRIP!!!

I don't want a pickle, I just want to ride my motor-sikle:

I'm on a road trip...Yahooooo. Left this am bright and early and in the wake of Suz who was off to fly and babysit some of the grandchildren.

I stopped for the traditional breakfast burrito at Dos Hermano's and it was yummy (ham/red). Cruised on and actually stood on a corner in Winslow Arizona while eating at Subway. Yup...me and Jared. Caught a little rain on the other side of Flagstaff which was welcome and brought down the heat factor. Motored into Kingman with a heat wave of 100 degs. Wasn't too bad, so I decided to put 60 more miles and head to Needles, CA. BIG mistake!! My bike thermometer peaked at 113 degrees and I just sort of melted into the hotel. When I handed the clerk my credit card he commented that it was hot, and I don't mean stolen. I checked in and started to move my motorcycle and discovered I could barely hold on to the blazing clutch and brake levers!! I guess mountain living has got me spoiled.

Headed to the coast tomorrow!!

Yeah!! Made it the coast and spent the night at a fairly crappy camp ground near San Luis Obispo. The good spots near the coast were taken by the time I got around to finding a spot. I had to spend some time removing my rear tire for a replacement at Cycle Gear. It was nice of them to accommodate me and probably only spent an hour or so getting this done.

Sunday was a beautiful morning as I headed North on US 1. Smoke from the fires were noticed a long time ago, probably as early as Mojave, 150 miles from the coast. What beauty there is along the coast!!! It's hard to concentrate on the road when you want to take in all the continuous changes in the landscape. I got past San Semion and caught a glimpse of the Hearst castle (through the smoke) and high on a hill. I thought to myself that I really need to stop at that place one of these days, but not today. The road turned to fantastic twisties as I went further and I had no problem concentrating on needling through this section of road. Wow, this is really fun!! I knew the road was closed near Big Sur--because of the fire-- but what I didn't know was that the roadblock was not located near a detour option for Highway 101. So, I got about 40 miles up this winding coast line and had to backtrack to grab 101. Not too bad, the twisties were just as fun on the return.

I stopped for lunch in Monterey. I've always liked Monterey. We went to a professional bicycle race there a couple of years ago and had a great time. One thing about riding up the coast...It's freak'in cold!! Temps were about 55-60 degrees all day!! I made it to Santa Cruz and grabbed a motel hoping for a hot spa.

I'm off again bright and early and finally put on another layer of clothes for riding. Up through San Francisco and across the Golden Gate Bridge. Hah, I crossed for free as do all North bound traffic. I'm one up on them!!

I really liked the small communities that spring up along the coast that seem to cater only to tourists. A general store and one or two restaurants seem to make up most of the town. Almost all the B&Bs in the region were without vacancy. Moving on through Bodega Bay, famous for the filming location of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds", I camped at the Humboldt State Park, home of the California redwoods. The trees are huge...but then again, so are the mosquitoes! This was one of my favorite areas. I just can't believe how big some of these trees are.

Next morning I proceeded up the so-called Redwoods Highway. This is a fabulous forest, clean and almost pristine. I crossed into Oregon right after lunch in Crecent City CA. Oregon wins for having the best, and most, state parks. I begin to see many logging trucks filled with fresh cut trees. This section is also the beginning of more industry in the towns, mostly wood and pulp. I find my way to Coos Bay where I spend the night at a really big state park. The park is full except for primitive camping, which was fine with me. Primitive to these guys includes an included hot shower!!

I decide to begin heading East to make it to Salt Lake City in time for the 4th of July activities with my daughter's family. My primary stop along the way is Crater Lake. This is a 2,000 ft. deep lake formed from an extinct volcano. There was still snow--lot's of snow--surrounding the lake. The lake is simply stunning, but again fogged in from the smoke.

I connected with 140 SE and fought off the rabbits and wild donkeys on 140 and hit junction 95 in Nevada at sunset. My plan was to ride to I80 and spend the night in Winnemucca.

About 15 miles outside of Winnemucca my lights came upon a deer trying to make up it's mind as to whether to cross the road or stay in my path. I put the bike in ABS mode and placed my bet on the deer turning back, she probably would have if not for me colliding with her head and front quarter. Boy, you want to talk about temporal distortion...seemed like extreme slow motion. She knocked the "knock-off" mirror from my RT, brushed the front of the bike and also my leg. I caught a glimpse of her in my mirror and she just dangled her head and shook. I have my mirror tethered with a leash so it was now banging on the side of the bike. Wow...I was still upright and in control!! No harps!! I stopped the bike and went to the front of the bike and accessed the damage. At first it looked like the mirror coming off was the only causality and I popped it back into place. I assumed the deer was long gone so I remounted and slowly proceeded while I accessed any handling problems. None detected, so I continued to ride to Winnemucca. I later noticed my primary lights were out and I was riding with only my PIAAs (hi-intensity lights). I guess the impact knocked out the H7 bulbs. I reached a hotel and checked in when a city police car pulled up and the officer asked me if he could talk to me about my bike. I said, "sure". He asked if I had just hit a deer and I looked at him surprised as to how he knew. I told him I did and he said my saddlebag was back at the scene and a whole lot of policeman were looking for me to determine if I was hurt. He, in fact had just come from the hospital to check. Well I glanced at the bike and--sure enough--my saddlebag was missing! I guess the deer sheered the bag right off the back! I didn't notice the bag was missing because I got off on the left side and inspected the damage on the front and didn't even notice the right side bag was gone. A state policeman was still at the scene and finally had to put the deer down. I guess she made it as far as the fence and was in shock or brain damaged. The SP was kind enough to bring my saddle bag to the hotel...as least what was left of the bag. He brought me about three pieces of the bag and my shoes with 3 pair of socks. The rest was scattered throughout the desert. All the policeman were great throughout the incident and they just couldn't believe I didn't go down. I guess I can't either. I replaced the H7s and found a little more damage to the headlight assembly in the light of day. I shattered the Cee Bailey headlight cover and cracked the lens on the main headlight. So, here I am, happy to have seen the sun rise one more time.

I slept in the next morning even though I wanted to get an early start to avoid the head. I bought and installed two new lights for visibility and headed towards SLC. I think this was about a 400 mile trip. It was really hot on the way and I was sure wishing for some of that 55-60 degree coastal weather I was feeling just...a day (?) before.

After SLC I made it home following the 600 mile ride. I had a renewed focus on deer and must have seen 6 dead on the side of road coming home. We need more deer hunts!!! Total trip milage was about 3500 miles. I'm now planning to head up to Wyoming for the BMW national rally, sooooo, more later.