Highway 1 ('Nuff Said!)

You cannot complete traveling California without taking Scenic Highway 1. We left quite early to beat traffic, as this road is quite popular with the locals, too.

Not much going on at Alice's Restaurant at that time of the day or so it seems. We were curious about this gathering spot for motorcyclists. The place is a Mecca for burgers, but if you are looking for good coffee, you better find a Starbucks.

We spotted a lot more two-wheelers in this part of the country than elsewhere. And for the first time around, a maxi scooter. We followed the Burgman for a while, and the spousal unit was seriously considering an upgrade...

Crossing Golden Gate Bridge is mandatory. It cost a fee to get into San Francisco, however we didn't have to pay going North.

A forest fire obstructed the view of the otherwise clear day. We have seen this architectural beauty often enough, have crossed it on foot,  by bicycle and by car, so we were not too disappointed that we didn't get a perfect photo op.

North of San Francisco the real beauty of Highway 1 begins. The roads are as twisty as hell, and my motorcycle heart was beating fast with desire to ride those turns.

Oops! Trouble? We didn't too anything wrong... We? Speeding? I am sure we didn't do anything unlawful, Officer.

The patrol car was actually holding up traffic for a complete different reason. Here's the scenery:

A film crew was on location to shoot a commercial for a new Porsche. Unfortunately they had it covered and hidden from curious onlookers before opening up the road again. Hence we didn't even get a glimpse of the car. We will have to look out for the commercial though.

The North stretch of California Highway one is SCENIC in capital letters. Much better than the Southern part and less crowded.

The vistas were spectacular, and we were glad that the fog hadn't kicked in yet.

We shouldn't have mention the word 'fog'. Because there it was.

And kept crawling over the hills like a predatory beast.

At the end of our day we were blessed with a pristine sunset in Mendocino.

The misty air made the evening light special. We went to a little food joint in Mendocino, got stuffed, and called it a day. Forgot the name of the place. It wasn't worth mentioning.

Worth noticing however is the breakfast place Eggheads in Fort Bragg. It had a Wizard of Oz themed menu (such as Dorothy's Revenge, Red Shoes Scramble or Lions Mighty), and was probably the best breakfast (crepes and heavenly waffles with fresh hand-cut fruit) we had on our whole trip through six states.

Stripped to the Bone

It was well about time to uncage Rover. Any concerns about the bike not firing up after being parked for more than four weeks were unfounded. One push and Rover welcomed me with his deep grumble.

As I don't intend to go on major road trips in the next few months I stripped the bike off the sissy bar, tank bag and the windshield, and swapped back to the solo seat.

I like the unobstructed view over the handle bar

and find that a Sportster looks best raw and bare.

The temperatures were in in the low 10C (50F), there was a chill in the air.

Fall, my favourite season.

Although not as spectacular as the Fall foliage in the East, we will get our share of changing colours.

Maybe our Autumn will be reasonably dry and offer some more outings before having to wrap up the Sportster season for this year (not the Vespa season though... Paolo will go all year round.)

Fire and Water

We entered the land of the giants: Sequoia National Park, the often neglected neighbor of Yosemite. It was nice and wonderfully... void of people.

 

How can you not become a tree-hugger in front of such beauty? Over 800 year old and going (standing) strong.

Suddenly there was the smell of fire in the air, and we were surrounded by smoke. Not a comfortable feeling I can tell you.

And here are the culprits: Firemen as fire-starters. They use the fire to clear the ground which helps the new vegetation grow.

As the smoke pollutes the air, and air quality is regularly watched, managed wildfires cannot be conducted at all times, but they are important for the health and growth of the forest.

The twisties in the area were fantastic, and would have been perfect for motorcycle riding. Maybe another time. Back down in the valley we chose the slab to cross quickly central California. There wasn't much of interest, except for the prevalent alarming water shortage. The land looked in parts like a dust bowl.

Finally we made to to the westernmost point of our journey. The Pacific Ocean.

Some lazy beach bums

The long way to the water

I could watch them all day, they are so funny.

Our day ended in Morro Bay, a small seaside town.

The most interesting feature here is Morrow Rock, an almost 600ft high volcanic plug (like the Lion Rock at Piha Beach in New Zealand, or Devil's Tower in Wyoming).

We were in the mood for seafood and followed the recommendation of a local.

The Outrigger is a reasonably priced fish restaurant where we were seated at a table with an ocean view. I had some awesome clam chowder (no pic as I was too hungry), and giant shrimps with a Mexican twist: drowned in Tequila.

Yum!