onderroad

Minneapolis, MN

I'm home.

Here's the temperature highs the past week since I left San Diego (F degrees)
104
108
115
108
104
104
100
98
84

I love that last one, 84. That's today, the coolest day in a while. High overcast, and for the first day in a week, the air coming over my windshield did not feel like it was coming from a blast furnace.

Speaking of windshields, mine looks like I am collecting bug specimens, one of every type on the west coast.

Today's ride was from Gillette, Wyoming - almost 800 miles, 600 yesterday from Missoula, MT to Gillete, WY and 500 the day before, from The Dalles, OR to Missoula, MT.

I'm ready to be home, I'll post pictures after I catch my breath.

Through California

80 Miles per hour, 110 degrees, in the Mojave Desert

Leaving the desert and into the Sierra Nevada mountains

Overlook from Moro Rock in Sequoia National Park, California

Big Tree in Sequoia National Park

Left San Diego and hit the HOT interior. Did I mention that it is hot in the desert in the summer. Hit Mojave and it was close to 110 degrees. Whew, drank lots of water and took inside stops where any air conditoned space provided refuge.

Mojave - Airport where mothballed airplanes are parked, then out of the Mojave desert and into the Sierra Nevadas. I got some tips on some great roads, small twisty canyons, no traffic through the Sierras, and then on up to Sequoia National Park. Stunning overlook at Moro Rock. General Sherman tree - largest (biomass wise) living thing on the planet. Twisty road up to over 7200 feet elevation - ELEVATION=COOL.

Back down into Fresno about dinner time, stopped to cool off (100 degrees at 7:00pm in the evening). Got on the Highway 99 and headed north through the cooling evening. Kept going as long as I could and ended up north of Sacramento about 10:00pm. Good day - 430 miles, longest day of the trip, I definitely got a second wind in the evening and really enjoyed the cooling highway drive.

North towards Redding, CA. A little cooler today, only 97, then up through a couple of passes on a beautiful stretch of Interstate 5, and then dropping down into Southern Oregon. Stopped in Ashland and hooked up with my friend Anne, went and saw a move, "What the bleep do we know?". Interesting pseudo-documentary reviewing quantam mechanics and it's impact on our thinking and the ability of our minds and consciousness to imagine and shape our worlds.

San Diego, CA

The trolley in San Diego

Making tortillas in Old Town, San Diego

Blues singer in Old Town, San Diego

HMS Surprise, the ship used in Russell Crowe's Captain and Commander, The Far Side of the World, moored in San Diego Harbor

Entry into the Gaslight Quarter, San Diego

The scenic Tiajuana River, Tiajuana, Mexico

Street scene in Tiajuana, Mexico

Novelty guitars in Tiajuana, Mexico

San Ysidro and Tiajuana entry into Mexico

Sailboats on Mission Bay, San Diego

San Diego and San Diego Bay from Point Loma. Coronado is in the foreground

End of the line. I stopped at a lush tropical resort hotel, Paradise Point for a couple of days of R&R. Pool, sun, reading, laying low. Sun, no sightseeing. I needed a little downtime, traveling can be tiring (I know, I know, it must be rough).

After a couple of days by the pool, I was ready to explore San Diego. I rented a sailboat on Mission Bay, I drove out to Point Loma and took in the fantastic overlook of San Diego bay and the city, I took the trolley (light rail) down to San Ysidro and walked into Tiajuana, Mexico for a couple of hours, learned how to say "No, gracias" over and over. Walked through Mission Beach and Pacific Beach through the gaslight quarter of San Diego, Little Italy, Old Town, lots happening and a lot of people out on a Saturday night.

The end of my west coast US trip and the beginning of another phase farther south, for a later time. Time to head home for a vacation break (sic).

Heading home tomorrow.

LA and Orange County

Laguna Beach, CA

Randy and Eric @ 45 in Laguna Beach, CA

Still life with dog (?!?)

Randy, Justin, and Katrina

Drove through LA on 405 - 7 lanes of bumper to bumper in each direction. Hooked up with my friend Randy in Rancho Santa Margarita and spent a couple of days checking out Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, and Long Beach. It was great to hook up with Randy and spend time catching up, and to meet his really cool kids, Justin and Katrina.

Orange County is so wealthy, expensive to live. California median house price in $465,000 for a single family home. Up from $380,000 last year at this time - 30% rise in one year. Beautiful shopping district in Laguna Beach, galleries, ocean, restaurants, cool little town.

Santa Barbara, CA

I stopped for a night in Santa Barbara, charming town, nice downtown.

Monterey, California

I headed south out of SF along the coast on the Pacific Coast Highway and stopped at Monterey. I spent three days here and checked out the great aquarium with beautiful displays of jellys, and kelp forest. Drove to Salinas for an afternoon and visited the Stienbeck Center. Salinas is the birthplace of John Stienbeck and many of his stories are centered in the valley and down into Monterey. The highlight was the custom camper Rocinante which Steinbeck traveled around the country in his book Travels with Charley.

Monterey has a beautiful old downtown, with lots of spanish era structures. I also visited the beautiful mission at Carmel, as well as checking out the cute (and expensive) village of Carmel, lined with expensive galleries and exclusive shops.

Unfortunately, Monterey was clouded over for the entire time I was there - three days, so I was happy to head south on the Pacific coast highway and check out Big Sur.

Benicia and the east bay

Sailing under the Carquinez Bridge near Vallejo, CA

My friend Susanne in Benicia offered me a place to stay, so I headed over to the east bay area for the weekend. The east bay area is very industrial, with lots of oil refineries and manufacturing. Benicia itself is a nice little town right on the Carquinez strait - a body of water that connects San Pablo Bay (which is just north of San Francisco Bay) and Suisun Bay and the delta of the Sacramento River. There is a deep water channel all the way up to Sacramento, so there is a considerable number of ocean going ships passing through. Benicia was the capital of California for about a month in the 1800's.

In Benicia I had the opportunity to check out Port Costa and the Warehouse, a bar where they have a walk in cooler, and you can pick your own beer out of almost 200 choices. We went to a Sunday afternoon Bikes, Blues, and Barbeque party and listened to some good blues and enjoyed watching the bikers admiring their bikes. In the late afternoon, we went sailing out of Vallejo on some friends of Susanne's Oday '27. It was a beautiful, breezy afternoon, and it was fun to man the helm and drink a few Sierra Nevada's out on the water.

In the beer cooler at the Warehouse in Port Costa, CA - You can go in and choose any of the close to 200 beers they have in bottles.

15 MPH at the Marin Headlands

Parrot Head at the big Benicia Yacht Club shindig

San Francisco, California

Golden Gate Bridge from Marin Headland; Marin County, CA

I headed into the city. The undeveloped Marin Headlands frame the north side of the Golden Gate channel where San Francisco Bay pours into the Pacific Ocean. I took a little loop drive that provided stupendous views of the Point Bonita lighthouse, the Golden Gate and namesake bridge, San Francisco Bay and downtown San Francisco.

I spent three days in the city and loved it. I walked around Union Square and downtown, walked through China town, checked out the Citi Lights bookstore and the Vesuvio Cafe, where Kerouac, Ginsberg and other beat poets had their work published and hung out, at the corner of Kerouac and Columbus. Had some great sushi, japanese food, and great seafood, checked out the hispanic Mission district, eclectic lower and upper Haight Street, caught a ride on the streetcars to Fisherman's Wharf (it's funny that people at home won't ride a bus or mass transit or light rail, but they line up 100's deep to ride the San Francisco cable cars.)

Corner of Haight and Ashbury; San Francisco, CA

Mission Dolores and moon in San Francisco, CA

Vendors in new ferry terminal building; San Francisco, CA

California Street cable car; San Francisco, CA

China Town scene; San Francisco, CA

China Town scene; San Francisco, CA

Chinese musicians playing tradition Cantonese instruments in China Town, San Francisco, CA

Vesuvio Cafe, haunt of Kerouac, Ginsberg, and other beat poets - Columbus at Kerouac, San Francisco, CA

Looking down Columbus Street towards the Transamerica Building, San Francisco, CA

I saw Santana at the Warfield Theatre, I was able to get a floor ticket and stood about 10 feet from the stage - incredible show!

Marin County, California

Hwy 1 between San Francisco, south of Stinson Beach, California

Headed south on Highway 1 from Point Reyes Station and Olema, through Stinson Beach. South of Stinson Beach for about 10 miles the highway curves into a whirling dirvish, up and over the headlands, tremendously curvy, drop offs and views on the ocean side, after which the road heads inland, and just like that, you're in the land of expensive houses in the Bay Area. It's kind of a culture shock after being in mostly small towns along the coast to suddenly be on the freeway Highway 101 and on the outskirts of a major city.

San Francisco Bay and Alcatraz Island

I headed into Sausalito, parked my bike and enjoyed the beautiful sunny view of San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz, the Bay Bridge and downtown San Francisco. Sausilito is a bustling little well to do town with a nice downtown and filled with high end galleries.

San Francisco at night from across the bay in Tiburon, CA

I stayed a couple of days in the north bay area, southern Marin County. Very affluent, well manicured little towns, like Sausalito, Mill Valley, Tiburon. One day I headed up to Larkspur and Fairfax, a cute little town, a little funkier than some of the others.

Blue and Gold Ferry on San Francisco Bay at Tiburon, CA

I drove up to Marin BMW in San Rafael to get my scheduled maintenance done on my bike. I really liked the service and the people at the dealership and they even had a loaner bike for my use for the day. I took the loaner bike up to Petaluma and out to Sonoma and Napa. Sonoma has a beautiful little square downtown and some restored mission buildings, while Napa is a little larger and spread out. I got a chance to see the famous Napa Valley and the brown hills covered with green grape vines, before heading back to pick up my bike. In San Rafael, I stopped and admired the Frank Llloyd Wright designed Marin County Civic Center, with it's striking gold oblesk and blue roof.

Loaner motorcycle from Marin BMW F650

Euculyptus tree on the Sonoma Square, Sonoma, CA

Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, CA designed by Frank Lloyd Wright