California
Dreamin'
July
2005
I smiled as Sawtooth
lit up, the morning sun casting its premier rays of the day on that sharp,
faraway summit. The Pinnacle Rocks lit up next, their rugged faces shining
to my delight. The sun finally made its appearance between
Alta
Peak
and Elizabethon. The former, being the highest point in Sequoia
National Park, was still covered in snow. I have
never considered myself a morning person and I was surprised by my enthusiasm in
watching the sunrise. I enjoyed it immensely and decided that I would do it
again before the trip was over. It was an incredible way to start my day of
exploration within the park and it had a positive effect on my attitude as well.
For a scant twelve hours earlier, I was in a funk, wishing I had cancelled the
entire trip. The motorcycle ride thru the still, predawn darkness, the
sequential illumination of distant mountains and the casual breakfast in the
soft, early morning light, all combined to brighten my outlook.
Cliché to say, but it really was the start of a great day and a
wonderful trip....
************************
My plane landed
on a Friday morning, the 1st of July. I
gathered my luggage, made my way to the train stop and headed to San Leandro
to collect my rented mule, a bright, yellow
BMW R1150GS. At about
2pm
, after all of the formalities were completed
and the bike was loaded, I purchased a map and pointed her south on the 880
freeway. After a couple of hours, the roads became smaller, the traffic
slower and my wits duller. By early evening, I realized the folly of flying in
from the east coast, picking up a rental bike and expecting to ride a few
hundred miles that same day. I was up at
5:45am EST
to get to the
airport for my
eight o'clock
flight. It was now about 8p EST, five
local, and I was ready to call it a day before having gotten anywhere. My
goal was to ride the
thru Big Sur
and
to land somewhere near San Luis Obisbo, finding a place to stay before dark.
But at this point, I was still on CA68, making my way to the coast. I
hadn't bitten off more than I could chew, but it was gonna take some Red Bull to
wash it down. Not a good start to the trip.
After a short break near
Monterey
,
I decided that there was too much distance between me and my goal and too much
daylight left to stop, so I continued to the coast and started down CA1.
The beautiful curves, the white beaches, the water-breaking rocks... it was all
quite beautiful. The chilling, coastal weather was a relief, in stark
contrast to the sweltering heat of
Georgia
.
There was too much traffic to allow me to arc freely thru the bends, so when
progress was impeded by an autotrain, I often took the opportunity to pull over
for photographs.
Eventually, I made it to San Simeon
and sought lodging. This is where my deliberate lack of planning, which
usually allows for flexibility, landed me in a quandary. The Friday of a
three-day weekend is obviously not a good time to search for a motel room.
I’ve only been on the road during a holiday once before and on that occasion I
stayed with a relative. So I was unprepared for the difficulty I
encountered in finding a room for a reasonable rate.
I became extremely annoyed with myself, as I had not even considered the
possibility of this predicament.
I decided to head inland in search of a
room I could afford and was directed to a Motel 6 in Paso Robles.
Along the way, I was treated to the sun
setting in my mirrors, casting long shadows over the beautiful, golden
hills.
I didn’t know what was going on in Paso
Robles and I was too tired to care, but the town was hopping.
People everywhere, gas stations and restaurants were jammed with vehicles and
humans. It was quite the scene for
what seemed to be a backwater town. After
some searching, I located the Motel 6, but the rates were still expensive and
the service was quite rude. I
elected to pay more at a Best Western for service with a smile.
But I was chafed that I had to come off of so much money for lodging.
The next morning, I couldn’t get out of that town fast enough.
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