Great trip! Perfect weather. We left at 07:00 10/2 from Ceres, Ca. and met my sister, brother in law and uncle, who came from Sonora, in Santa Nella for breakfast. Not trying to bore with too many details but I'm sure there are people like me out there that like to google map locations.
We went over Pacheco pass (Ca 152) and over to Monterey to hit CA 1...got our first fuel in Sand City. Continued on down the 1 and stopped a few times for pictures and to stretch our legs. My uncle has been riding basically his whole life and was actually an Anaheim PD motorcycle officer had a rough time the 1st day. He hasn't ridden regularly for a while and bought his bike about 3 months before our trip. He rode almost every day to get ready but he is now 74 and that bike is loud, heavy and with little wind protection. He was ready to turn back about 200 miles into the 1st day.
We convinced him to at least make it to San Luis Obispo (where we spent our 1st night) and see how he felt in the morning. As many of you know, the stretch of CA1 from Monterey south, although spectacular, is very twisty and even on the Goldwing it can get tiring. He was worn out after that stretch of road.
Our next day took us to Solvang where we spent the night. My uncle won $800.00 at the casino just down the road so that pepped him up some.
Tuesday we took CA 154 down to Santa Barbara and stayed 2 nights...our hotel was steps from the beach. On Wednesday we rode down to the Reagan Museum in Simi Valley...got a little scare when we got there and the lot said it was full but.....they had motorcycle parking so it all worked out. The museum is really nice and we spent about 3 hours there but could have spent more.
Thursday morning, we headed down the 101 south to the 126 east to I-5 south to 14 north to 395 north. Took 395 all the way to Bishop and stayed the night there. Friday morning, we headed north to CA 108 west (Sonora Pass).
I forgot to mention on the way up 395 we stopped at Manzanar...a WWII Japanese internment facility...very interesting and also took the June Lake Loop.
Got home Friday 10/7 at 17:00.
A couple of caveats from the trip...my uncle at first said he was staying at all the same hotels as us except Bishop. Turns out...he was at NONE of the same hotels and sometimes not even in the same city. This was complicated by the fact that he forgot his phone and it kind of made a mess of logistics. Also...somewhere in the middle of nowhere on CA 395...his bike quit. Luckily it was just a wire that had come loose which we figured out in about 10 minutes and rigged it up with electrical tape. It didn't give us another problem the rest of the way.
The wives were badasses as usual and they got to do some shopping along the way. My brother in law has a Unigo trailer which made it nice for him to wheel it right into his hotel room...until they got a 2nd story room in Bishop. Still, he managed to do it.
Gas was stupidly priced as it is California but that didn't deter us at all.
If anyone is interested in the info for our hotels...here it is. All of them were very clean and comfortable and within walking distance of food, shopping or whatever.
Vagabond Inn 210 Madonna Rd San Luis Obispo....this had a Cycle Gear across the street (which we went to).
Hamlet Inn 1532 Mission Dr Solvang
Castillo Inn 22 Castillo ST Santa Barbara
Vagabond Inn 1030 N. Main St Bishop
Looking forward to the next one and pictures to follow.
