Cal Triple Crown - So Cal

 So here it is March and I'm finally getting my first ride of the new year. 

MARCH!?!? Egad!

Oh well, at least I'm getting out now but even waiting this long it started out a very cold ride. 

The two day ride across Nevada and over Donner Pass was mostly in the mid 30s. Brrrrr! Once again, thank you Mr. Gerbing!

A little bit of snow on Donners Pass

But, once over the Sierras and westward  to San Francisco the temps became very pleasant.

Last year I earned the SCMA (Southern California Motorcycle Association) premier Triple Crown by riding the 4 corners of the US, the 15 best US roads, and the California 15 best.

So this year, I'm going to try and get the California Triple Crown by riding the Cal 15 best roads, visiting 24 of the National or State parks in Cal, and also visiting the 21 Missions they have in the State. That should keep me busy for a while. Last year I put 37,264 miles on my Tenere...it was a great year and I hope to do that many again!

Here are some missions

Mission San Francisco Solano 

San Francisco de Asis

And some parks;

Fort Point National HS.....

 .....I met this guy, Mike. He and I had a lengthy and very pleasant conversation. I'm pretty certain we solved most of the world's problems...at least we could have if anyone would listen to us!! ;)

I then rode up to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and was able to check that park off.

I had stopped a moment trying to decide what to do next when these guys stopped and we had a nice, conversation after a few minutes they asked if I was Christian I replied yes and they asked if they could give me a blessing to help me out on my trip. Of course I accepted their offer and asked them to additionally give my bike a blessing which they did. 

Tony, the man on the left is the one who gave the blessing and it was a beautiful and thoughtful invocation.

I very much appreciate it that they took their time to give both me and my bike a blessing and ask for safety and no problems on this trip. 

Thank you Bob and Tony

And lastly for today was the San Francisco de Asis..

The building next door was also impressive.

The next day (Thursday) I ride down Ca 1 to Point Reyes National Scenic area. 

I got the stamp

and as I talked to the lady behind the counter she told me there was a beached whale on one of their beaches. It's not everyday you see a beached whale so I rode down to the beach and got some pictures. (I have more pics but they are a bit gross)

So that's it for the first part of my California Triple Crown Journey I'll post part 2 as soon as I get it done. This is going slower than I had anticipated when I was making my plans. That's ok, I'll just adjust as necessary.

Thanks for visiting and thanks for coming along on this quest with me.

So Cal

 I'm Finally going on a ride! 

My bike has been sitting for 2 1/2 months, the longest time one of my bikes has sat unridden...unless I was deployed that is. This 'sabbatical' was entirely self inflicted.

But then we had this ride planned for the week before Christmas and the time has at at long last arrived.

So Sunday (with plenty of snow on the ground) Will and I loaded our bikes on the trailer and headed south.

We will stay in Indio, California. With us is Beverly and Will's youngest daughter Addi.

For our first ride we buzz over to Salvation Mt. Sad to say two things, 1 - my cell camera was on a wrong setting...and I didn't notice it until later. 2 - The Salvation Mt attraction has changed, and not for the better IMHO...  Maybe the next time I go I'll see it differently but there was more commercialization there than the last time I visited. 

Leaving Salvation Mt we rode around the south end of the Salton Sea and....

Came upon this numerous sculptures outside

Bev and Addi

Bev, Will, and Addi

Will and Bev at our lodging

Amboy, Ca

One of two lions....alone and miles away from anything else.

Will and I also took a ride through Joshua Tree NP.

Plenty of cacti!

It was great fun to travel with these two!

And all to soon our time is up. We load the bikes on the trailer again and make the ten hour drive home - the next morning we have our annual Christmas Eve day breakfast at our house. 20 family members were able to come and enjoy some food and good times together.

Life is good, families are good, motorcycles are also good!

RC track I (no bike content)

Our youngest son, Theron, bought an RC car.....pretty soon everyone in the family was buying them. 

We bought two and then I decided I needed to make a track at our house.

 

We have a wall in the basement that is just begging for some attention...so I start the project, not really knowing what I'm doing.

I watched some online videos about RC tracks, but didn't see anything like what I had in mind. 

The one thing they all emphasized was they made their track on a budget.

Challenge accepted, and I started gathering all my scrap wood and parts.

I install the cleats to give me an idea of what it will look like.

Then I start adding the shelf material. I bought the composite flooring at a thrift store for $10 for a package. I was able to buy a 4'X8' 1/4" underlayment at a big box for $5.00 as a corner has a small amount of damage. Then I cut the sheet to 4 lengths of 11" 'shelving'.  And the 12" x 8' length of shelving I actually found on the side of the road... no really! So far so good on the budget!

I have some hinges in my hardware bin, so I design the track so I can change the layout as wanted.

The cars need to get from one level to the next so I make an 'elevator'... it works pretty darn good. I had hoped to power it with the car and pulleys, but the little RC cars just didn't have the traction to turn the pulley.

I continue to add obstacles...watch out for the Killer dog!!

A suspension bridge is in order...several twigs off a tree in the back yard, add some twine and wood glue and you have a very nice bridge!

The track still isn't done....and it probably will never be 'done' as I keep seeing new things to do. 

This is a video on Rumble of the track.

I hope you enjoy it!

https://rumble.com/vo68xi-rc-indoor-crawler-track.html

Or the youtube link

(available on 29 Oct)

https://youtu.be/tFaALrqcrTE

Haulin to and home from Oregon

Middle son, Fenton has landed a new job for the Oregon Air National Guard. So he and his family are making the move to Seaside. 

Despite the fact that I'm not happy they are going so far away  I offer to help with the move.

So we toss my bike into the U-Haul truck for the trek to Oregon. I'll drive one of their cars to the new house, then when we get the truck unloaded in Seaside I'll ride the bike home.

The sunset on the way to Oregon, taken through a bug spattered windshield.

We stop at Camp 18 a few miles outside of Seaside for some leg stretching.. Its a pretty cool place.

Apparently more counter weight was needed on this truck. They welded extra frame on the front, stuck a Caddy motor on it, and ran a drive shaft back through the original engine and on to the tranny and pto.

The bike (and household goods) transport.

We stayed here while waiting for the laborious process of the closing..

Its a nice place to stay, but the waiting and waiting drove us nuts!

Still waiting....so we go to lunch.

Clam "chadA"

It's a good plan and when the house FINALLY closes, we unload the truck. Kudos to his new co-workers several of whom showed up to help! They tore into that truck and it was soon empty...lucky for me... I as I was quickly running out of gas! 

And the new house!

So in two days I depart for home.

Obligatory pic with bike...

Cool covered bridge

I stop in Bend for a couple of days. 

Looking off the deck.

The weather has cooled a bit and I really didn't pack for the cooler temps....that's ok, at least I packed my 'lectric vest and I wore my raingear....so I survived...

I drew a smiley in the frost....

Another stop in Ontario and then I made it home.

Cold weather be darned, I'm very glad I was able to go over and help with the move. I'm excited to go back and see the house when it is all moved in and arranged!