Category: Winter 2018

Sick and tired of cold temps and pushing snow so I decided to leave Harbor Beach for warmer climates. I loaded up the motorcycle and bicycle in the trailer and headed West. Not much preplanning but I did a little research and decided I would stick with 2 lane US highways and thought US50, which is called the “Loneliest Highway” would be interesting. Just like the last trip, I never planned more than a day in advance. Continue reading “California, Here I Come”

Today I decided to head down to San Diego on the BMW.  It’s a fun trip that Becky and I took quite often. I took the Pacific Coast Highway (better known locally as PCH) down and tried to avoid the freeway. It’s only about 50 miles from where I’m staying here in Dana Point. It’s a great ride with lots of beautiful ocean views and famous towns along the way. You go through Oceanside, then Carlsbad, Encinitas, then Cardiff by the Sea, Solona Beach, then Del Mar, and LaJolla. The beach around Cardiff is really nice and seems to go on forever. The temp was an unseasonably warm 85 degrees so the beaches were full of joggers, bicyclists, sunbathers and such but the traffic wasn’t bad. Continue reading “Trip Down to San Diego”

Back in the mid 70’s when I was still riding motorcycles, I remember reading an article about the top 10 motorcycle rides in the country. One of the routes was the Ortega Highway (it might have even been no. 1 on the list). For some reason, even 40+ years later, I still remember that article and I remember hoping to ride it some day. In fact, I put it on my bucket list which I made about a year and a half ago. Well that some day came yesterday! Continue reading “Check Another Item Off the Bucket List”

This morning I took a trip up to Simi Valley to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. It’s 100+ miles right through LA’s freeways to get there. I planned this trip for the weekend to avoid the commuter traffic which is horrendous. The ride up was uneventful with light to moderate traffic. Continue reading “Ronald Reagan and the Joys of Lane Splitting”

Update: I went back the next day. A few more pictures added.

I left Dana Point this morning to go a bit North of LA. I wanted to go on a couple famous mountain routes up there before I head back toward the East. In particular, I wanted to ride Angeles Crest Highway. It’s 66 miles through the Angeles Forest National Forest and is one of the most scenic rides in the country. It’s often used to photograph sports cars and motorcycles and Jay Leno frequently films his new car show up there. It was incredible. I’m putting together another short video which should be done soon. Not much time for sightseeing as the route is rather technical and a mistake can take you off the side of the mountain. Besides that, I left my good camera back in the truck which is parked in Dana Point. There is a few shots in the photo gallery.

I think I’m going to skip the San Bernardino Mountains tomorrow and repeat the Angeles Crest Highway.

Update:

Yep, I went back. Another nice ride. A little more confident and pushed a little harder. I wanted to do another video but discovered that I didn’t aim the camera properly and they didn’t turn out very well. I attached the camera to my helmet hoping to get a better perspective. I guess we’ll skip the videos this time. I have included a few more pictures in the photo gallery.

I went back to Dana Point this morning to pick up the truck and trailer and start heading East. I decided to go back to the David Allen Collection and scout out some wood. After all I had the truck to ship it back. I was looking for a piece to make a bench for my new dining room table. I found the perfect piece and negotiated a good deal. I believe I can get 2 benches out of the slab. Should be fairly easy to make. Just hope it doesn’t take 3 years like the table.

I went down there with just the truck and I needed to get the big slab in the trailer. My friend wasn’t in town so I went to the local Home Depot parking lot and looked for a big strong guy to help me move it to the trailer. No problem and it’s now safe and sound in the trailer.

Next stop, Vegas…