ROAD CLOSED - Land slide on HWY 1 near Big Sur.

Out of the way today and see what he ride has for us. We expected to ride down the coast this morning to Hunter Liggett and camp. We will have to ride down Carmel Valley Road instead. They say it's also a nice ride and we will pick up the PCH near Pismo Beach. 

Sunny and 60deg. 

For those of you reading from work...go get a spoon and start digging just above the collar bone on the left side until you see bright red gushing blood on your desk. LOL!

What a blessing to get this trip. we are having a blast.

Day 5 Visually the most stunning day of my life...really!

 Departed Union City about 8am under clear skies and 55deg. Headed SW to Santiago and joined HWY 9. This goes over a mountain range and dumped us out in Santa Cruz on the water. The drive was about 60 miles of twisty mountain road and it was a blast. Sorry no pics but we did run both video cams all the way over. 

Stopped at the beach and discussed Religion with a couple surf guys that seemed to know which way was up most of the time. The guy on the right taking a picture of the two younger guys is 88 and still surfs.

 Stopped in at a marina to have lunch with the Queen.

 Monteray Bay and my girl in the rear view.

We did Fisherman's Wharf, 17 mile drive. Did I say the weather was nice?

Dinner in Carmel and a sunset walk on the beach...Please. 

Big Sur tomorrow!!!

Day 4.1 I-FLY CALIFORNIA!!!

 Day 4 was AMAIZING! 140 miles

Santa Rosa to San Fran. 65 deg and clear sunny weather.

 Ready to hit the 101 and find some things to see and do. I am so proud of her for living like it's hers.

 GG Bridge around noon. Not very crowded and the weather was, well, what can I say?

 That's my girl.

 I guess she's his too?? This guy was a hoot.

Thanks for the great time Ben.

 What a great finish to an awesome day.

Tomorrow starts at 8am with a ride from Fremont to Carmel by the sea via the back roads.

There we are!

Day 4.0 HWY101, GG Bridge, M-5

What an amazing place! Napa, Peteluma, Santa Rosa...WOW! Rode a short 50 miles down HWY 101 and we will ride this, off and on, all the way to San Diego before we head east.

Sunny and 55 when we started out. Had no idea we were surrounded by such a beautiful place last night during the rain.

Rode across the GG Bridge and stopped in for some pix and a walk around. Add another sticker to the box!

We continued south and rode through San Fran in route to the Myth Busters office, M5. I expected camera men, sandwiches and a meet and great with the stars of the show. I was very disappointed to find a shop door and no stars. I did get a nice walk and a pic of the M5 sign for proof "I was there".

Back to 101 and over the "Bay Bridge" to Fremont. Showers and a change of clothes. We are going "Indoor Sky Diving" at 4:30 in Union City. www.iflycalifornia.com

That's all for now...

Day 3 - nasty nasty weather! Best ride ever!

 What a refief to get the bike off the trailer. We had a noce time with the Browns and even spent some time with the Russell Family. Church in the morning then a 140 mile ride to Santa Rosa (wine Country).

We thought the weather in Shasta was nasty but had no idea what we were in for here. 50 deg. 30 MPG winds and rain for about half the trip. The worst ride of my life and it was AWESOME!

What a gift to start the trip under sure crapy conditions.

Day 2, Like the night before Christmas and you have to stay up all night and look at the clock.

Day 2 still pulling the bikes. Troutdale to Marysville a little over 550 miles. As expected snow and ice but not where we thought it would be. Grants pass was dry and clear. As we entered Ashland it got nasty and stayed that way all the way into Redding, Ca. Glad we didn't ride this section!

 
 Arrived in Marysville about 9:30pm. Long, Long day!

Day 1

 Day 1 and our adventure is under way.

 After work the drive to Troutdale was awesome and sunny. Bikes pulled well and the truck only gave us some minor troubles with false shifting. 

Stopped and had some coffies with my Sister and brother-n-law then arrived at the Pipers about 4pm. Scored some dinner at Claim Jumper and enjoyed hanging out with the kids. I don't even going to bed. 

Today we plan to get on the road about 10 and will have the bikes unloaded tonight for the real start to the trip.   

Can you beleive how some people park?

"T" Minus WHAT!?!

Our Little honey's

Holy Crap! I can't believe it's only 3 days til we leave. Not much sleeping going on, as you might imagine. Bikes loaded on the trailer and the truck is tuned and ready for the trip to Northern cali. My buddy in Marysville, ca says it's still cold with snow in the foot hills east of them and the rain is still falling. We will unload there and start the ride Sunday afternoon.

Her's

The preload disaster area. We are unpacking today in an effort to lighten the load. Little things like filling the fuel bottles, shampoo, bodywash, folding paper towels, splitting up the "WhooAaaa's".

His

WABDR Film Premiere

Washington Backcountry Discovery Route (WABDR) film premiere @ the shop in Fife. 7pm
This is a trip we might try later this summer if I can get the time off.

Next week is a prep and pack lecture from the same group.

The week after that is a lecture from Lois Pryce (Female adventure rider). 20,000 miles alone and she also rode through africa. 2 or 3 books out and she has a video series for women riders.

Prep Update

Today we are 23 days to departure. Shopping almost complete. We will stop in at Touratech tomorrow and exchange our new dry bags (WAY TO BIG) for some smaller bags, straps, and gloves. One more GoPro HD cam to order.

Checking weather and it looks like we will be riding in some cool wet weather for the first week or so.

This Saturday we will be at the BMW shop in Fife to watch a movie on the Washington Back Country Discovery Route. This should give us some good info on packing and loading.

Enjoy the new maps on the right side of the page.

Can't wait to hit the road!!!