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Awesome OM.... I can only hope to be able to take such a trip like this someday!!!

Great pics... we expect nothing less from you now...... ;>

B.

 
Thanks for the great pics, reminds me of my trip down the coast in 05. I am trying to get the wife to come out to California this August and do the same ride with me. I will have to show her these pics.

 
WOW...

...my biggest problem is trying to determine which photo to use as a background. Great piccies...thanks for taking us along. :yahoo:

 
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OM - WOW! U did see me at the beach Cool! I didn't know that was you. Thanks for capturing my better side, U photoshop phool. :yahoo:

 
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After an exciting evening in my motel room, entertaining myself, -

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(I am NOT a dork), I turned in and slept like a corpse.

This having fun stuff is damn hard work. :lol:

Saturday morning, I got up well after sunrise, and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast

at the hotel restaurant, overlooking the marina next door. Sorry. No pics.

The waitress was very, ...well, it doesn't matter, because I didn't get photos,

and ya'll know what they say.

Loaded my stuff back on the blue thunder, and continued south on the PCH.

Beach after beach. Lovely communities.

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Huntington (Hi Silver Penguin), Newport (Maserati and Bentley and yacht dealers!!)

and Laguna Beaches(my goodness the foot traffic was interesting) were soon behind me.

I ended up pulling into a little park overlooking the harbor at Dana Point.

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A magnificent view. This lousy photo doesn't begin to capture how lovely it looked.

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I scanned the harbor and finally picked out a boat that would fit my budget.

Can you see it there? The fast yellow one.

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Well, this was as far south as I was going on this trip.

The PCH ends here, and Interstate 5 takes over for the run down to the border.

I hope to get back down this way in the fall perhaps,

and look around San Diego, and then run out to Arizona, and then turn

north and ....well, that's something to plan later.

I sighed as I turned north on 5, leaving the coast highway,

but I was looking forward to riding the Ortega Hwy. (74) out to Elsinore.

It's a nice road, twisty for good stretches, with an excellent surface.

Lots of sportbikes, highway patrol cars, and a whole bunch o' traffic.

I'm sure this road would be much more fun on a weekday early morning maybe.

And because it's only about a 30 mile stretch, you'd not really make a day out of it.

Of course, there was a motorcycle hangout in the middle of one of the twisty sections.

Fun looking at the wide variety of bikes.

I only got a few photos, and it being midday,

the light sort of bleached all of the drama out of the scenery.

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In no time, I was rolling down into Lake Elsinore,

behind a group of cruisers that had to be doing 15 mph -----tops.

But I'm sure it was fast enough for them, and they were enjoying their day.

I might have been feeling a bit grumpy. Snap out of it O'Keeffe!

Lake Elsinore. (Anyone remember Honda's Elsinores? Didn't they own MX racing in the 70's?)

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Okay. Not too much more. Ya still with me?

Now I jumped on "the 15" and headed north, alternating between

lane-splitting stop-and-go traffic, and 90 mph cruising with my iPod

blasting old man rock'n'roll into my skull.

Be right back.

 
After an exciting evening in my motel room, entertaining myself, -
IMG_0310-1.jpg


(I am NOT a dork), I turned in and slept like a corpse.

This having fun stuff is damn hard work. :lol:

Yep! yer right! you're being to hard on yerself ... Yer not a dork, yer a geek!

Nice stuff ol' boy.

Sylvia

 
Up 15 past San Bernardino, and a turn northwest on 138, which would bring me to Hwy. 2 -the Los Angeles Crest Highway.

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I'd hoped to take it to all the way up and through the mountains,

but a few miles in, when I stopped at an info station to get my National Parks Pass,

I was told that it WASN'T OPEN yet. Dammit!

I should have quizzed my south state forum brothers for info. I blew it.

So, instead I took some other roads heading more north and up and back to 138.

I'm not sure where the hell I was, but it was some really nice motoring,

with very little traffic, cool air, and turn after turn. It looked like this.

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This road looked great,...

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...but took me to this. (I can think of a couple of you bastards who'd have

gone around the gate to see where it led. :D )

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Well, I finally ended up back on 138 in Little Rock(?) I believe.

Really.

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Grabbed a snack...

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topped off the feej, and headed to 14 to Mojave!

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Hey!

I was down here last year with a forum group to do the Streetmasters thing.

Our entire group did well, with the exception of JB. He struggles but never gives up.

I'd almost forgotten that I was a Master of the Street!

"Late apex! No,..... LATER!"

Through Mojave and west on 58 through the Tehachapi hills Mountains.

Beautiful and green in the afternoon sun.

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Moon colony?

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Almost sadly, I found myself back on 99, with just the straight run up the valley ahead of me.

Sacramento, I'm comin' home.

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Past stockyards and the sweet aroma of .......livestock.

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A quick burger stop near Fresno, ...

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...and near sunset,...

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and back on my Yamaha for a few miles in the dark. Home in time for the late news.

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Thanks for reading and looking. (Geez, I gotta make the next one a lot shorter.)

Take care all. And thanks too, for all the kind comments.

Good night Gracie.

 
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Great ride report Michael!

Two shots of my daily commute.

The cement plant at Tehachapi

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Hwy 58 at Bena Road/Arvin turnoff

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Next time, stay and visit.

 
From Sacramento all the way down to Elsinore, and you couldn't do the short hop and visit us hicks in San Diego? I'm deeply, deeply hurt. The Ortega highway is quite a ride, isn't it? Great pictures as always, Michael.

 
I have to agree with JB ......ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz.

Just when you think all the wierdos live in San Fransicko I'm brought back to reality by pictures of Venice Beach and Hollywood. You captured it perfectly.

Nice job, again.

 
OM real good stuff, I'm jealous I went out to my car this morning (4:30) to go to work and there was snow on it for crips sake this April 3 it's suppose to be the wet side of Washington not the white side!

 
Holy smokes!!! That's all I can say Michael. That was one great trip and ride report with tons-O-pix. AWESOME!! I know you had a great time and if you stopped to see us it would have ruined it. ;)

You need to rename this thread, Old Michaels most excellent adventure! :yahoo:

Ride safe my friend. :)

 
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Good job ol man! I've never liked the city, so your pix were interesting. Now I've seen them, I don't have to go.... And nice beach pix too, I like semi and naked wimmens! :yahoo:

 
Thanks for the pics, makes me want to go back to the left coast. Probably make Santa Barbara in June, until then I can always come back to your pics.

 
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