Splintered Zen

We took a light day and explored the whole park.  We rode in from the south side, on the road less traveled.  The map said it might be rough and that vehicles over 22 feet were prohibited.  I thought, “No campers! Perfect!”. I can’t wait to post the pictures.  This was a Google Maps listed road.

Further into Death Valley, we found all but the main roads are pretty tough.  Maybe they were trying to keep up with the “death” mystique.

We dropped the Beast into “off road” and moved on.  

In contrast to the Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks, this one is pretty barren.  It is beautiful though.

We took a side trip up to the Mosaic Canyon, Locked our gear on the bike and hiked up the it a bit.  Not too far mind you, it was 104 degrees.

I don’t know where the name came from. It wasn’t very colorful.  Maybe I got the wrong impression from it.  It was incredible.  

The marble walls and floor have eroded smooth, just short of the river rocks you can buy in stores.  The layers of sediment not marble were fascinating in the remarkable variance of their content.

Again, I can’t wait to post the pictures!

We rode down, literally, to Badwater Basin, lowest point in the US at -258 Sea Level.  It was paved all the way and we finally found other bikers, they’d been absent from our other off road tours.  I’m really liking the Beast is a GS!

While all together unimpressive, the view over it was awesome!

We got up fairly early, after an excellent night in the 869 Park.

Great bed, WiFi, quiet and green, maybe LEEDs certified, I haven’t been able to confirm, what more could we ask for?

We started from South Tahoe to ride around the lake.  This is off season, so we ran into very little traffic.  The road was smooth, it was cool and clear, we couldn’t have purposefully chosen a better time to ride.

We saw bear crossing signs but no bear.  Eventually, I’ll get to see one.

We got a fairly late start in Monterey, hitting the road about 10.

We stayed in the Monterey Hotel. It’s an older place with crooked hallways, crown molding and no elevator. We enjoyed the evening in a nice bed clean room and and incredibly powerful shower.

Disappointed that we’d missed so much of the Pacific Coast highway on film, we were sure to get it set in the morning and filmed across the Golden Gate into Sausalito.

We started the day at 59 degrees at sea level. We climbed as high as 7,300 feet above sea level at 43 degrees.

Coming over the mountain, we ran out of sunlight. It got dark fast, turns out to be a bad thing out here. Think Donner Party. We hit a rain storm that turned to hail. We were literally riding along in two inches of ice.

I’d like to credit my superior riding skills; however, I had no idea what to do. I credit the Beast. She held on well and I just let her do her thing. Thankfully, it was short lived.

Why didn’t we just stop? Two lanes, night time pouring rain with hail and huge lightning, we didn’t find that a possibility. Again, think Donner Party.

Once we got out of the ice, into the rainy darkness, we had to dodge around several rock slides. This is highway 50. A fairly major thoroughfare from Sacramento to Lake Tahoe. I wasn’t expecting such hazards. Again, the Beast did her thing and I’m thankful.

We arrived in Lake Tahoe about 8:30. Just about everything was closed. We had to eat dinner in the casino Hard Rock.

Our first day on the road was a success. After picking up the bike, we went back to the hotel to pack and hit the road. We quickly realized we didn’t have enough room! So a quick trip to Fedex and $32 later we were ready to hit the road.

The first part of the day took us through farm land. The strawberry fields smelled incredible! We were behind a truck full of strawberries and I almost hated passing it. We moved into wine country after that and spent the next couple of hours looking at grapes. We also managed to take one of our little detours which looped around and brought us back where we had started earlier.

We finally made it to the Pacific Coast Hwy mid afternoon and it was beautiful! It was also incredibly windy. I swore we were going to be blown off the road a few times. The temp also dropped from 86 to 64. We got to see elephant seals this afternoon so that was really cool. I’ll post some pictures later.

We finally made it to the hotel in Monterey about 730pm. After settling in we got some dinner and are now charging all the gear and ready for bed. Sandy is much better a blogging than I am so sorry if this is long!

Today, so soon after we began our journey together, we begin our cross country ride. Two cross country trips actually, We flew thru Phoenix to San Jose, CA where it’ll begin.

The time difference has us up early and ready. We should be able to pick up the Beast shortly. Not too much packing to do then, we’re Kickstands Up!

Ah, more maps! We’ve really run into time constraints at this point.

View Grand Canyon 2 in a larger map
This should take us to the Hoover Dam, over the new bridge. We’ll then head north thru the Valley of Fire.

We’ll have a good bit of things to see and miles to cover so we’re planning to take the long road and hit the base of Zion National Park and head towards the North Rim. I reckon we’ll stop for the night somewhere along the way.

Early morning we’ll head into the North Rim then ride around to the South Rim. We’ll let the sites determine where we’ll stay.

View Grand Canyon – Four Corners – Telluride – Roswell in a larger map

Out of the Grand Canyon and thru Four Corners! We’ll take the San Juan Parkway up around Telluride and thru some Rocky Mountain vistas!

From there, straight to Roswell. Yep, that one. 😉 At this point, we’re out of time. We’ll head straight to I-20 and roll on the throttle for the last 1,700 miles.

The first six days have us in Las Vegas.  Ten more days and too many states!

As our route takes shape, the realization that we have so little time is sinking in.  This doesn’t really take from our excitement, just seems to create a sense of urgency.  How much can we fit in?  When will we just jump on 40 or 10 and hit a couple 600 mile days?

Here’s the first six days.  Let us know what you think!

View Pacific Coast Highway – 1 in a larger map
South out of San Juan, we’ll hook out to the coast and ride up the Pacific Coast Highway. 

View Day 2 from Monterey in a larger map
A night in Monterey to more Pacific Coast Highway across the Golden Gate Bridge.  Then we’ll hightail it out thru Sacramento to Lake Tahoe. 

View Tahoe / Tioga Day 3 in a larger map
A night in Tahoe and then around the Lake.  Early morning should be stunning.  I’ve got all kinds of fantastic smokey water images in my mind.  We’ll keep this a short day as we expect to take lots of pics. 

View Tioga to Fresno Day 4 in a larger map
From Mono Lake, we’ll ride the Tioga Pass into Yosemite.  The Tioga Pass is a seasonal road and should be incredible.  We’re cutting thru and will stay somewhere north of Fresno.  Another short day due to the stops. 

View Fresno to Kernville – Day 5 in a larger map
Drifting along Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Forest.  We need more time! 

View Vegas Night Day 6 in a larger map
Thru Death Valley into Las Vegas.

We’ll obviously gas up often.  I suspect I’ll have stacks of $4.50 gas receipts.  While we’re avoiding dirt roads, some of these are little better.

Ah, yes, the Honeymoon.  Yes, this means I am approaching the alter again.

Vix and I will Marry on September 10th around noon, 9/10/11 12:00.  Will that help us remember?

We considered many paths to the Ceremony.  Some big hullabaloo in the yard.  A quiet trip to a mountain resort. Banquet halls.  All just seem so complicated.  We’ve each been married before.  Why put ourselves in as contenders for Bridezilla and Groomangtan?

Now, when the time arrives, our friend Bela will officiate for us, in our yard in front of a few family members.  This let’s us share it with our kids but not demand someone where a planner hat.

Side benefit: More to put towards the Honeymoon!