the darth peach rides on .....and then some......

I've yet to find an explanation for why we all fell in love with the motorcycle.
For some it's an identity.
For some it's a means of transportation.
But for all, it is a source of joy and great contentment.
A chance, for those moments inside the helmet when nothing else matters, to think of nothing else but what lay ahead.....and sometimes, directly ahead............


With that, I invite you on my latest journey. Kind of an unplanned, head clearing one.
San Francisco to Hwy 1 up towards Eureka. to Petaluma (home for a few days to work) Up to N. Lake Tahoe over to Yosemite and Mammoth and home, solo over the Sonora Pass 108. (that was one of my favorite parts)





I'LL BE ADDING PICS AND STORIES REGULARLY TO THIS THREAD, AS I'M ALWAYS FINDING ANOTHER COOL ROAD TO RIDE ON!!!


So. Cal trip starts post #406 (page 28 for some)

7/25/2010 BRITISH COLUMBIA, HYDER-ALASKA, VANCOUVER ISLAND #7102 (page 474 for some)











It started with a small dinner set for ghostryder, aka Jay, who rode his 1200gs from Atlanta, Ga to Ca.
Just Sean, best known in some social circles as, well, 'Sean', got a few ADV riders together to welcome Jay.
His ride report http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=380898

As usual, I was late having come from HERE

(Got on 880 instead of 680) and ended up sitting all the way at the other end of the table from Jay. Didn't really get much of a chance to chat.








Close to the end of the meal I asked him where he was headed next....




'North' he replied.




Well, I live north so I offered to ride with him as far as my town or a little farther if need be. I tossed out the idea to stop in San Francisco first and see the city at night and cross over the Golden Gate bridge when the towers are lit up....
Jay, game.
As I quickly learn, is pretty much his MO.

Here we go.........The first portion of the pics are not so great.....bear with me......





At the top of Lombard saying 'hello' to everyone







Must sacrifice the body for the art.
(you'll see plenty of this on the jaunt north and east......)








Of course had to show him Broadway.....
Kid in a candy store?







Lets get out of here!!







Heading north over the GGB.......

So Jay decides to grab a hotel in Petaluma and we agree to meet for breakfast in the AM. I take him out to Pt Reyes to eat at my beloved Pine Cone diner via the D st extention from Petaluma aka the Pt Reyes-Petaluma Rd.

We stop at the Nicasio Resevoir for some pics...........













The most interesting thing as I came to learn,
was to see all of this through someones eyes that hasn't seen it before.....

Up to the Tahoe part, a lot of the coast in the next series of pics is something I see almost every day.
I was inspired to look closely at the things I take for granted.even on a muggy day.......


Happy to have Wi-Fi and food...




So at breakfast he asks how far north am I going to ride?
I shrugged my shoulders and said, Tomales, I guess......about 30 min north of here on 1.


Onward............






Tomales Bay






GENUINE EXCITEMENT !!
Very catchy........













Heading north past Bodega Bay..









Stopping to see if another rider needs help........







Turns out he's just another FF.....






Onward.........
Nobody is safe from the squish....







Jay coming around the bend.........

So by now as you can tell I pitched the idea of stopping at Tomales........
Still was unsure how far I was going to go..........
But was having fun, so.........................

Some harley riders from Colorado.....first time (day) seeing the pacific ocean........





Le Tigre.......






Not Le Tigre

Ghostryder posing for the 'I was here' shot.....






More sacrificing the body......








THe CHEESY 'must do' ride through the tree.......







Ya, well, we're both guilty............








And this is where I had to split and go home and take care of business........






GR continued on to the lost coast and then Tahoe where I met up with him and his buddies a few day later to ride to Yosemite.....

B-lining back down 101.
Better camera to follow.........

I had been up working since 4am and it was now 6:30 pm. Still had about 90 minutes to go and needed a push.....
I had no idea how long it would take to really get there and when I asked the gas station attendant who's first language was not that of the english one, about how far was it to N LT he said 'yes, tahoe that way'.....
Figured I'd grab a snack.........
Dinner of champions.....







This, a great dinner and 4 of the funniest guys you've ever met were waiting for me when I finally arrived........













Tristan, my new best friend.........








Silent Greg, who is anything but..........







Brian, always conducting business......








OK. So on to the next day.........
Nick, Jay and I decide to take a morning loop around the lake.........
It is breathtaking when you see how blue the water is....almost like the Carribean.............






Another rider we met when we stopped..........







The Bikes........






The trio du jour






THE bike............







Onward around the lake.......











Just before the back of his pants got wet...........







Hate it when that happens!









The macro works on the new camera......the knees of my suit..........

OK! 2 nights in Tahoe.....
sharing sleeping space with 4 men who all snore and make a series of other noises.....
IT'S TIME TO ROLL!!!!

Get up. We've got tracks to make..........












Now officially on our way.........








Here's where it gets really good..........





















Blue skies.....




































































Found this cool little spot to shed some layers.
It was getting warmer by the minute.......























































Above Mono lake...........




























This fellow was from Switzerland....
'Renzo' was his name...
He took a few pictures for us and hung out when a stranded motorist came to us to ask for a cell phone.........










He took this one.......












I had an extra ADV sticker in my bag soooooooooo..............




























Here's Ghostryder helping the stranded motorists....
2 flat tires and questionable whether AAA was going to show for a while..........
He had a compressor on the bike, but nothing was working on the tires........
Oh well, he gave it a go........



































Whew! Getting HOT now...........Let's go eat!!!
120/395 Mobil station.........here we come!!!

Subscribed!

Looks like a lot of fun!

Very nice.

Mark H.

The lovely Mono Lake.......
(last pic before lunch.we were on a mission.......)













So we stop at the famed Mobil station on 120 before you head in to the park and the first thing we see is this guy.
All I can say is if you're going to commit, might as well go all the way......












This is by far, the most expensive ceasar salad I've ever had!!
Shy of the dressing not being made fresh in front of me, it was perfect, though.
















This little guy seemed to think so as well......
N/C for the extra protien .......





















The travel genious hard at work.......













This is where I made a phone call to figure out some cool routes, but managed to toss my notes with the dishes and promptly lost cell service.....

Big deal.........we're winging it anyway!!

This is a side road we launched down off of 395...........































There.........ish..........












For the really good ones go here...... http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=7852650&postcount=66

One of several of the back of GR's bike..
But I kept at it because the scenery was so beautiful and he was in the way
Actually, it was a great pleasure to have such a cool person to travel with.
I usually ride solo a lot, so this was a new adventure indeed!!


















More beauty.....


























We stopped a lot for pictures!!
After a few days I could anticipate the stop, but usually it came when I was in 3rd gear and had just pulled my camera out and turned it on!
I got good at pulling the clutch in with my pinky while holding the camera!!
I just had to laugh..........

Everything was so picture worthy I wondered when I was going to run out of space on my card............














GR showing me some tricks.......












Taking 3 ...........













Around June Lake......














Lots of these little flowers everywhere..........



















Bye June Lake!.......short but scenic loop......

















OK, lets go in to the park and see what all the fuss is about....
Shall we??!!

This is where bigfoot lives.........
















NIce quiet little pond.....


















Park residant....
















And then we show up...........












Sometimes you just have to look up......

















Just as I, GR was constantly amazed at what we were seeing.......

















Tuolome Meadows.. ..






















































Just mucking around in the water looking for more cool shots.........












At tenaya lake....



















The bounty hunters finally caught up to GR!!

Nah..just giving these guys a route/hotel suggestion!


















It's that commitment thing again..........










I'll just stick to white OR black !!!!!

Thanks! Guess where that sticker came from !

Wow Nice report!

Self with the scenic back drop....
GR kind enough top point out what we're looking at......








Demonstrating, once again, how hard it is to find sleves that fit!







GR doing the 'meh'........










Couldn't resist......








The trees are all so amazing..........
The one incredible thing I remember the most is the clean air and the smell of trees........

Wow! Great stuff. It looks like I need to try a lot harder to ride down to Petaluma to visit my sister's family.

Very nice DP. It is incredible that this scenery is only a few hours away huh? I am even closer and do not get up there nearly enough (with a sister that lives in Tahoe I have no excuse.)

Great RR .

The worlds tiniest pinecone





Sasquatch........


The colors of nature.....




Constantly fighting for the shot




Ok...Let's hit it!!!
Thanks for your patience!

I second that!!!

That was another part about how amazing this little trip was!! It's right here!!! Wait till you see the Sonora pass pics!!!!!
I hadn't been back to Yosemite in 23 years!!! WOW!

I'm going back as often as I can.........