It was easy to get ready and get going this morning. There was a
Denny's nearby so I got a good breakfast and got on the road.
It was very foggy and cold. I didn't put on my electric jacket but it
would have been welcomed. I do have heated grips on the bike and I
turned those on full blast.
The fog made it difficult to see anything along the coastline. I
could see the road ok (but the road was so twisty that you can't see
very far anyway) and there was almost no other traffic. I cruised
along following the speed limit. There were plenty of 15 and 20 mph
switchbacks. A California Quail ran across the road in front of me.
The weather would then clear up within a matter of minutes. I'd ride
out of the fog and into bright blue skies. The coastline was rugged
and gorgeous. I know its getting redundant saying its beautiful but
it is. Everywhere I turned I saw another rocky outcropping with waves
beating it. There were cliffs and some long stretches of shoreline.
Periodically, the road moved more inland and I could see (and smell)
dairy cows. I got to thinking about a commercial I saw with cows
playing "Marco Polo" in the fog. It was exactly like in that
commercial (except the cows didn't talk to me).
The road then straightened out and traffic picked up as I neared San
Francisco. I saw a sign for the Golden Gate Bridge and headed that
direction. On the north side of the bridge is the GG National
Recreation Area where I could get a NPS stamp and at the vc, I
actually got three (or maybe it was four). From there, I returned to
a vantage point where I could barely see part of the bridge. This was
only because of the heavy fog. It literally poured off the mountains
into the bay.
I crossed the bridge and on the other side paid the $5 toll for
crossing. The operator told me where the official viewing site was
and I went there for a AMA TomTom site and a photo. The fog was too
heavy to see much but I did get something.
The next stop was another TomTom site in San Jose. The GPS took me
down Hwy 1 in town and eventually onto an interstate. I traveled the
40+ miles and went to the intersection of Olsen and Winchester. There
was a cinema there, shopping, and some other building. The other
building was the Winchester Mystery House, a CA State landmark. I'll
have to check it out on the 'net and see what it was about. The
parking lot was full so its a popular spot for some reason.
I should also mention that San Jose is MUCH hotter than San Francisco
was. I'd moved inland and the temperature must have risen by 20
degrees into the 90's.
I now pointed my bike toward Monterey for an AMA Everywhere city.
This is based upon Johnny Cash's "I've been everywhere" song.
Monterey has lots of streets and all angles and I tried to get a
picture at the post office but it didn't say Monterey. The Police
Dept and Fire Dept did but I couldn't park anywhere there but there
was a library across from the Fire Dept that I could get a photo at.
Now I pointed south toward Bakersfield. That was also in Johnny
Cash's song but as I neared the turnoff, I saw how far it would be to
get there so I continued south.
It was already time for me to stop but I wasn't finding any
campgrounds. There was a KOA in Bakersfield but that was too far
away. I thought I'd find one near the coast and followed 101 to where
it merged with 1 at San Luis Obispo. They had a fair of some type
going on so no rooms/campgrounds there. It was now dark and I was
still searching. In Pismo Beach, all the motels had no vacancy signs
so I ended up in Santa Maria at a local motel. I went to a nearby
restaurant where I saw the Giants playing and they told me Barry Bonds
tied Henry Aaron's record. I then went back to the motel for the
night.
--
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Todd Ryan; Hudson, MA
Westborough HS Science Teacher
MSF RiderCoach
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