Well, I made it. The final day of my travels. This was the longest of all the days of riding (possilbly equal to my jaunt over to Vegas in terms of mileage), but it was going to be hot and I didn't want to go over 20 miles out of my way to stay in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. I was ready to be home.
Today was my last day on the coast before I made my way inland. I traveled 283 miles from San Simeon to Palmdale, California, with a little backtracking to check out the Elephant Seals I had passed up the day before.
Today I traveled through San Francisco and down Highway 1 for 240 miles to San Simeon. I started the day early so I could avoid San Francisco traffic and was able to get some great early morning shots of the Golden Gate Bridge before crossing and having a light breakfast and coffee in Montara.
Today was one of my longer days of riding. I started the morning in Eureka, California and wound down the Pacific Coast Highway (with a slight detour onto the Avenue of Giants) 246 miles to Novato, California - a north Bay area town slightly further than my original planned stop in Petaluma.
The next leg of this trek winds 216 miles down Highway 101 to Eureka, California. Checking the route, it looks fairly tame except for a couple twisty spots. What I wasn't expecting was the pea-soup thick fog of southern Oregon.
Luck was with me and the wildfires in northern California didn't force me to reroute. Today, I traveled 231 miles from Astoria to Coos Bay, Oregon along Highway 101. From here, I start the long ride down the coast from Astoria to Santa Barbara, picking up Highway 1 after I cross the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. But we'll talk more about that later.
Today I started the return trip south, making my way over to the Pacific Coast Highway starting point in Astoria, OR, about 170 south and west of my hotel in Seattle. It was an easy trip and I finally had to break out the rain gear I'd been sure to buy.
I spent the next several days checking out Seattle - everything from the Waterfront to Bainbridge Island and even a ghost tour. I located some great breakfast places and over the weekend I recuperate, sampling some Seattle brews from Airways Brewing Company.
I started the day off with breakfast at the hotel in The Dalles. I walked out of my room and across the courtyard to the restaurant and had to stop for this shot. I wish I'd had my good camera, but I didn't realize what I was about to run into.
Day five took me across the entire state of Oregon, starting in Klamath Falls and ending up in The Dalles, with a slight detour around Crater Lake. I must have traveled through nearly every environment imaginable, but the the roads were cake compared to the last several days.
Day four took me from Lake Tahoe, CA to Klamath Falls Oregon, a total of almost 300 miles. It was a whole lot easier than the previous three days, but the scenery was no less spectacular. It was interesting to watch the mountains change from the solid, steep granite mountains of the Sierra Nevadas to the black, cratered, volcanic remnants of the lower Cascades.
Day three had me completing the first crossing of the Sierra Nevadas, then looping back across the same mountain range for a second time through the Sonora Pass. Tioga was relatively consistent in how steep and windy it was (which was both), but Sonora was a much more gentle climb which finished off with a very steep and challenging ascent and descent. In retrospect, I probably should have found another way around rather than crossing these two high, challenging passes.
After getting my first motorcycle, I knew it would only be a matter of time before I decided to road trip more. I started with some day rides on the weekends and it's culminated in what I have come to refer to as “Epic Road Trip 2015”. Probably not as epic as it could be, but its 99% back-roads, 1% freeway/Interstate travel, and absolutely and entirely fun.
