Me, a blonde, 2 Ducati's....3,000 miles (and then some)

Our hometown is great! Ride thru the keys was beautiful as ever. Ate a lot of stonies.
kali in mid may.

We'll be here. Let us know when you're around.



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hey there, how are you liking the new 848? I've been considering one to replace my 07 Monster possibly this season. I was disappointed they didn't make any updates to the bike for this year but it's not the end of the world.

I haven't ridden it all that much but from what I have ridden, I really like it. Wouldn't hesitate for a second to get one for myself. If you have a chance to get one to replace the Monster I would highly recommend it. Great Bike.

Day 3
I forgot to mention a few details about the restaurant from the previous night. First, the place lived up to the name, "sea chest". It had a maritime feel to it without looking too much like the inside of a pirate ship. When we got there I had asked for a not-so-small two-person table, but when I saw the tables they weren't that bad and took whatever they had. I almost wondered about the section they put us in because there were 2 tables in the small section that had wheelchair bound people. Also, adding us to the room brought the average age to about……..70. Anyway, didn't matter. The place was close and as it turned out, the service from our waitress was great and the food was good as well. The rest you know.

Anyway, back to this morning when Stephanie would get the top of the line version of her free breakfast. At this hotel you circle the items you want for breakfast on a door-hanger card, leave it on the door (in this case we handed it to the girl up front) the night before and they deliver it to your room the following morning at the time you indicated you wanted it. Sure enough, a little after waking the knock on the door came and food was delivered. I tipped the guy and we laid the food out at the small table by the window:




Breakfast, which again I forgot to take a picture of, (if you remember it took me a good few days into our 3,000 mile trip to remember to take pictures of the food), consisted of salmon and cream cheese Bagels, muffins and some pineapple juice. Nothing spectacular, but good enough, and being able to eat it in the room with the view we had only made it better. We finished up and got ready to head out for a bit.

Cambria is the sort of place you just kind of hang out at, walk on the beach, hike and maybe go visit Hearst castle. We weren't going to be doing much of any of that this morning since we wanted to have the time on the road as we headed back towards Monterey. With this in mind we headed out on the bikes and down to Main street (about 2 miles away) which is essentially the small downtown area of Cambria. I also figured we'd get gas while we were out and avoid having to fill up down the road where, as I mentioned before, buying gas is pretty much like getting mugged or raped…or both. I can understand to a certain extent. These places are off the beaten path so I assume GETTING gas is also somewhat of a hassle for the seller. But not THAT much of a hassle. The gas stations are spread out to 30-40 miles at times so it's simple supply and demand I guess.

When we were passing through this downtown area of Cambria a few years ago it had been bustling with activity. Today, not so much. It was a Saturday too, so maybe it was the combination of overcast skies and cooler temperatures that was keeping people home. We walked around for maybe 10 minutes and took off. There really was nothing going on. Check-out was at 11:00, so we had some time to get back and gather our things and head out.

When we got back to the hotel there was an older couple walking into the lot of the hotel. He was much older than she and the inevitable assumption of the guy crapping money was made. As they walked by the older gentlemen said, "those are beautiful bikes", while his wife commented about what a wonderful way to travel that must be. We concurred and said thank you. Again, more nice people :)

We packed and called the front desk to check out and headed out to the bikes to load up. I guess the front desk people thought we would be gone within a few minutes because just as we were walking out one of the cleaning ladies opened the door and of course, seeing us there (and Stephanie already with her helmet on) scared the living crap out of her. She apologized to which I said no problem, we were just walking out. I'm pretty sure she'll always knock from now on, just in case.

Out at the bikes, we loaded up and Stephanie fiddled with her heated liner, eventually getting things just right. We were off. Next stop, probably a warm drink, then food a little further down, then Monterey. Traffic was light again as we made our way north along HWY-1. It was a little warmer out. About 54 degrees, so not by much. Visibility was much better than yesterday though. it was still somewhat overcast, but there was no fog. The same could not be said about the roads, which still obviously had a lot of debris from the recent road re-surfacing. Stephanie later told me the she was being pelted by rocks again so I suggested she rode a little further back from here on out.

Just passed Hearst Castle we came up on the spot where the previous day there had been what looks like a thousand sea lions along the shore. We didn't stop then because of the time, figuring we'd stop today on the way back. Today there were just as many PEOPLE as there were actual sea lions!! It was not to be I guess. When I pulled off to the side of the road, just across the street from the lot we would need to pull in to, I asked Stephanie if she wanted to pull in. She was just as enthused about the crown as I was and said no thanks. Next time.
Here's the street-view of the spot (click here and pan around and you can get an idea as to how many elephant seals are here):


We continued on and came up on 2 guys on harleys. The first guy seemed much younger and was on (I think) a Harley Sportster. The 2nd guy was on a cruiser. We weren't in a hurry, especially on the gravel ridden sections, but the 2nd guy in the pair (sadly enough, with Florida plates) was DEFINITELY not in a hurry. We weren't waiting for him and apparently neither was his riding partner. Only further along did the Sportser pull over to wait for his buddy.

It was still a bit on the cold side and we were coming up on the Whale Watcher Cafe again. Time for a stop. When we were getting off the bikes I see Stephanie staring at her bike and she didn't look happy. Looks like she wasn't the only thing that was being pelted with gravel. Her new Streetfighter had 2 nice chips in her paint as well. Poor Stephanie was almost in tears (it is a new bike after-all). I assured her I would get some touch up paint and that she'd never know it happened (YouTube here I come). After said consoling we went in and had the same hot drinks. We'll get food a bit later down the road. Once settled I mentioned about there not being fog and how much better the visibility was today. To this Stephanie commented about how it probably WAS a good thing she couldn't see yesterday. At least today she was on the inside lanes.

Google street view of the whale watcher cafe (click HERE to pan around):


I'm not one to judge, but while we were inside this guy comes in that I swear looks like a maniac. He was probably about 6'1" and weighed MAYBE 150 pounds soaking wet. His hair was all mangled and what little you could see of his eyes had that look of perpetual eye shadow. Yet, he didn' have makeup on. In short, he looked like Marilyn Manson, Dave Navarro and Rob Zombie had birthed a child together. That's the only explanation. No, not that he is their child, but that he must be in a band or something. I mean he didn't look homeless or anything. This is this guy's look. So the guy comes in and asks the waitress if she had seen a big crazy looking irish guy. Seriously?? What might THAT guy look like if THIS guy was saying he was "crazy looking"?? The waitress laughed and said she hadn't seen anyone. Was pretty funny. One that show was over, we paid the bill and walked outside. It must be something about this place because again, it seemed like everyone was having a really hard time pulling/lining up to the pump. It was as if the damn pump had a force field around it. Forget people watching. Or Sea Lion watching for that matter. You could sit here and watch the people coming in and out of here for hours. And as you can see in the picture above (from the previous day), there is a LOT of room there. Again, great entertainment, but we had to get moving.
Outside, I'm putting my gear on and I see a brand spankin new Corvette Z06 that was all blacked out. It didn't even have a tag yet. Just had some L.A. dealer's plate on it. I signal to Stephanie and nod towards the car for her to take a look. I hadn't seen anyone around it and didn't see anyone whom I would think would be the owner. I say out loud to Stephanie "wonder who's that is". Not 2 seconds later, who walks towards the car? You guessed it…….Rob Manson!! Now I figure for SURE the guy is in a band. The "Big, crazy irish guy" was a few steps behind him. They get in and roar off south in the opposite direction of where we're headed……...(more to come)

It wouldn't be long now until we made it to Monterey. Still longer than we'd want to wait to get some food so we'd be stopping along the way. Traffic was still light but even then you still come up on cars that aren't exactly moving at the same "pace" you'd want them to travel at. And of course, you inevitably come up on a guy like the one we found ourselves behind. That guy driving a mini-van who upon seeing you in his rear view mirror says "oh no need to pass me!! And DEFINITELY no need for me to use one of these many turnouts. I'm not slow. I'll drive the f%$#ing wheels off this rental even with my wife, 3 kids, dog AND inlaws in the car. You just watch." It's really kind of stupid because as it was we weren't exactly riding at break-neck speeds anyway. But it still sucks to be stuck behind this guy. Why not just pull over and save yourself the stress? I don't get it. Now, I'm not one to tailgate, but once I realized he was content to make everyone in that car motion-sick before pulling aside for us I pushed this asshole to the point where if HE didn't want to pull aside then even the damn DOG would tell him to pull over!!! Sure enough, he did. Smooth sailing from there on out.

Came up on a few stops and took some pictures:








On our way to Cambria we had wanted to stop at a place to eat called "Nepenthe" to have lunch. We had heard of it a few times from different people but when we passed it on the way to Cambria it seemed REALLY crowded and the seemed as though the lot isn't visible from where you eat. not being within sight of the bikes, to me, is always a problem. I don't like to have to take the bags off the bikes and although I always take my camera out of the tank bag and bring it in with me, I still rather be able to see the bikes. (looking into it when we got home it seems there might be an area where we could park and see the bikes…next time I guess). The Big Sur river Inn the previous day was perfect so again, if it aint broke…..why not go there again.

Riding around here is sometimes kind of surreal. All of this that we are doing….trips both long and short, are exactly what we had envisioned a few years back when we were thinking of moving out this way. I used to imagine being able to ride along roads like HWY-1 pretty much whenever we wanted. And even though today is a bit overcast, it still beats the hell out of the riding we used to have back home. These parts provide what is in essence, epic riding for most anyone. We both try not to take that for granted and trust me even though there's tons of places and rides we have yet to do, take a ride over the golden gate bridge, to Lake Tahoe or along places like Bixby Bridge in Big Sur or alongside a sunset like the one below and it's easy not to take it for granted:

(each pictured from previous trips)


Southbound view down HWY-1





Time for lunch……
The Big Sur River Inn was understandably a bit busier today on a Saturday than the previous day, but not too bad. We were still able to score the same good parking as yesterday and a table that overlooked those spots. I did a crappy job of taking pictures around here so here is a google street view:


When we walked in I saw the hispanic gentlemen that I was talking to the previous day and we spoke briefly. The waitress the previous day couldn't have been nicer. The waitress today, not so much. She took far too long to even come to the table initially and when she did she took her time with our drink order then also in coming back for our appetizer order. And no, it's not because they were busy. You ever find yourself looking at a server, trying to get their attention and KNOW they see you out of the corner of their eye, but don't look over because then they'll have to come over. That's wat was going on here. Each time she came to the table she was as unpleasant as the last. We decided on food and I waited for her to come back to take the order. I had had enough of her blank stare and seemingly indifferent attitude and told Stephanie to let me handle the order. It wasn't my problem if she didn't want to be there. Being nice wasn't working and, like the joker in the mini-van, I wasn't going to let this girl ruin the time we were having.
This seems to work every time…….She came back to the table with the same shit attitude and asked if we were ready to order. We had been all smiles up to now, but now with the smile completely gone from my face, looking right at her I slowly told her what we wanted and nothing else. I wasn't rude, but it was pretty obvious I was telling her "I tried to be nice". Sure enough, from there on out she was all smiles. And the food was very good again, so no complaints there.

it's interesting when you can watch the bikes from a distance. So many different people walk up to the bikes to take a look. Some Harley guys, some regular travelers, young, old, but inevitably someone walks over to ask about them. After answering some questions from some very nice people, we geared up and rode south again towards Monterey. The weather was holding up and most importantly, no fog. Up to that point it had cooperated and when we got closer to Monterey we actually got some sun peaking through.

In Monterey and especially Carmel it's never a surprise to see nice cars. It's one of the places that reminds me of Miami in that regard. Sure enough just as we pass Ocean Ave, the road that leads to downtown Carmel, we sail pass one of these (one of the nicest I've seen to date). Absolutely beautiful car:


We pulled into the Hotel Abrego in Monterey right around 4:30 or so. Seems that no matter if we have 150 miles or 250 miles to get to where we're going, we always tend to get into town around the same time. I must have a good travel "clock". Oh right, the hotel….A few days before I had checked the Best Western that we stayed at the last time we were here in Monterey. When I checked this place out though (which is right next to it) and saw that the prices were exactly the same, it was a no-brainer. I checked in and was able to get a room that had parking right in front of it (no need to ask for an upgrade here. That WAS the upgrade today).

(that's our door to the left)


For the money this place was great. The room was big, had a fireplace and the aforementioned good parking. And since we've been in the area before we knew good food wasn't far away.

We wound down a bit in the room then got ready for dinner. Stephanie found a japanese place that was a bit out of walking distance and called a cab. In talking to the cab driver along the way he told us things had been a bit quiet around town but that he was gearing up for the following week when the AT&T tournament at Pebble beach took place. This is a big event down there and apparently guys like our cab driver take full advantage not only this one, but also since this is the home to Laguna Seca, Nascar and MotoGP races to name a few.

It took less than 10 minutes to get to the restaurant. Walking in it seemed almost as though they had just opened it. It was a big room with a bunch of tables in it. I know that sounds simplistic. I mean, every restaurant is a big room with tables in it. But this place was almost like a ballroom in that the room wasn't separated into any different sections. The tables are just…there. With that being said the food was really good. And for the record, the food was cheaper (and a lot better) here in Monterey than it was at the japanese place we went to in HOLLISTER (which by the way, cost us more than our room did that night). In hindsight it really was pretty ridiculous. Whatever, we're on vacation. Our waitress, who was more like a robo-waitress, was great. She recommended some good items and was just "on it".
There was a pretty good mix of people in here. There were older people, younger people and even some kids that looked to be dressed for a prom or homecoming (neither Stephanie or I thought it was that time of year, but we couldn't come up with any other explanation). Next to us was a father with his teenage daughter that were trying to video chat with a family member or friend. Good times for everyone it seemed
After eating way too much food, it was time to get back to the hotel. The cab driver had left us his card and told us he'd come get us when we were ready if we'd like. Works for me. We called and he was there in about 15 minutes. Off to the hotel and some much needed rest. Tomorrow we head towards home…….

I hadn't addressed the problem with the headlight and updated the post to read:

(also of note, we (or Stephanie) researched the headlight problem a bit and found that others with the same problem had checked the 15 amp fuse under the seat instead of the 5 amp fuse that was marked as "light". That one we had checked the previous day and it was fine. Sure enough, we pulled it out while waiting at Corbin and it was burnt out. I installed the replacement fuse that was in there and all was good)


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Gus, esta muy nice el tank bag que estas usando en tu motocicleta que marca es...? esas maletas de viaje son un solo kit ?

Gracias Richer. el tank-bag esta buenisimo. No hay ninguna jodienda con los straps. La marca es Bags-connection. Las bolsas de atras son Kriega US-20.


For my non-spanish speaking friends....Richer is asking about the Tank-bag and tailbag (make/model, impressions, etc)
My answer (in english): Love the tank-bag, especially since there's no fiddling with straps. Bag is a bags-connection Evo Engage tank-bag. Tail bag is a Kriega US-20 tail bag.


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Make it home ok?

We did. Thanks for asking. Just haven't had a chance to update the ride home....

Looking forward to the ride home update!!! Man, you rock!!

Love the ongoing ride report, helps me make it through the freezing rain and snow flurries of a N. Michigan April! So I'm going to have to ask (on behalf of the forum of course) for a picture of the Raptor!

And naturally, the Raptor garage stall customized in SVT carbon and red. Hehe. Out of curiosity, does your truck fit in the garage? As sexy as it is, it seems sized more for Mini/FJ/Audi sized vehicles...

I hope spring isn't too rainy and you both get to take another weekend trip soon! Hey, random question for Stephanie... does she take the "Rumble Bee" 848 to work or drive a more traditional vehicle? I've tried to get "my personal nurse" to commute on the SV650, but she doesn't like to show up at work all disheveled and parking a bike deep in the employee parking garage isn't her favorite thing on those late 12H shifts.

Keep it rubber side down and ride safe!

Guess they deleted the guys post (and actually banned him ).
I really wouldn't have cared if they left it. I think you guys would have been harder on the guy than I would have been (which btw I appreciate you guys chiming in there).

Funny, for someone who has a motorcycle, computer and even electricity (which I'm sure even HE would agree is considered a "luxury" to the people he seemed to be championing for in the post) this guy was awfully critical. I saw some of his previous posts (search username "notrivia") and saw he talked about jackets, boots, etc, etc. Is any of that a "necessity"?? Couldn't he make a jacket out of tree-bark and maybe ride in home-made sandals? I don't think he NEEDS any of what he's spent his money on to survive and has it because he WANTS it and has the means?
Everyone has their own idea of what "lavish" is. To me, a Fairfield-Inn is not lavish. We're not rich. We work hard for what we have and spend it however we choose. If he wants to save $3 (at the Laundromat) and go thru the trouble of washing his clothes by hand, that's his problem. To me, that's ridiculous. He can sit around the campfire and wait for that to dry. We'll be off and on our way to the next great place.

Probably the dumbest thing he said was that I was somehow insensitive because of my "sleepless in seattle" pictures. All I have to say is that the only thing funnier would have been a guy in a tux that was passed out like these people were, with a half-gallon of milk about to pour out as they started leaning more and more to the side....at 1:00 in the afternoon!!! In other words, it had nothing to do with how much or how little they had. It was just funny!!

Anyway...we've had a good year so this years trip will be even better and more "lavish"!!! Which btw, as OPENROAD98 mentioned and requested pics of, we got our transporter (more on this a bit later). And to this guy, notrivia......I hope you drive a prius. I'm gonna need the gas!!!

Thank you sir. Will update a bit later. Sorry I haven't gotten around to it. We've been busy doing some of this too:

It's black epoxy paint on the floor with a polyurethane finish over that. I ultimately ended up putting Race-Deck flooring over that. Awesome stuff. I wanted to leave it the way it was, with just the paint, but the paint is a bit more delicate. I now have a race-deck pad which stretches across the entire garage.

I think you need to know these guys. Their FB page is regularly updated with Raptor goings on, too. And, they own this website. Have fun blowing even more of your time.

It takes a lot of balls to attack someone when they can't respond

Good job!

Miguel

Aww jeez.

I'm done with the whole thing. He said his peace, I said mine.
Others felt it warranted reporting him and did.
I didn't care if it stayed either way. His rebuttal would have been more than welcomed.

Thanks Ducnut. Haven't gone to the FB page, but I've lurked around that forum for a while now. Trying to stay away for the exact reason you mention....time!!!