semi-packed
packed
I left after work on Wednesday so I made it to the coast pretty late. The full moon made setting up camp much easier.
The surrounding hills were a surprise to wake up to since I had entered into them at night. I tried getting into a campsite, but it was 1am and they didn't allow anyone in after hours. So I traveled along the coast until I found some obscure road where I could find a spot to "stealth camp." Best camping spot I've had.
I took roads like this the majority of the day towards San Francisco.
Not a bad sight to wake up to.
Leaving it as I found it.
A great place to stop at along the coast for some food. A lot of bikes usually gather around, but it was Thanksgiving and it was closed.
The coastal roads along Monterey Bay had the best sights and sharpest curves. They are mutually exclusive, but nice to have both.
Just south of San Jose, and frost has built up on my seat. That'll wake you up in the morning!
The hotel manager that I argued with over the broken shower.
I visited Google's headquarters.
It was there the day after Thanksgiving and I saw about five people the whole time. I naively day dreamed about overhearing future projects. "Hey Craig, are you going to be in that meeting to go over the acquisitions of MySpace so that we can turn around that piece of crap?" "Sarah, have You seen my GPhone?" "What we need is a software engineer that can promote our products to the motorcycle community by touring by example using our technology." *head explodes*
Google bikes.
Google volley ball.
Google garden.
Google...Google. What's with the white? That's eerie.
Googlesaur.
Google flamingo.
I took I-5 from San Francisco towards Death Valley.
A group of other riders warmed up at a gas station on this cold night. We swapped stories of our rides and an older rider suggested an alternate route that I should take to Death Valley. He told me of a mountain road that doesn't go "too high" up. I thanked him for his advice and stuck to the main roads. With a temperature of 20, and a wind chill of who knows how low at 80MPH, I didn't want to get lost.
I stopped along the road in the desert to do some star gazing and to warm up. I had been jumping up an down while riding for a minute every five minutes to get the blood pumping, but after a while it wasn't working. It sounds like a terrible ride, but it was actually very fun.
Death Valley was surprisingly cool while riding.
I tried riding up this path on my bike, but a stupid park ranger yelled at me.
A truck had caught fire and was in flames for about 10 minutes before the fire was completely extinguished. The ambulance too 20 minutes to arrive. Lots of space out here.
This is the scene where I talked my way out of a ticket. Speed limit was 45, then changed to 35 when passing through this town. Four cars were staggered and going the limit as I zig zagged through them at 40-45. A cop up ahead saw this and pulled me over immediately. I tried to convince the cop that I thought the limit was 45 and that's why I passed the cars since they were going so slow. He asks me, "Why is it that every time I see one of you guys on these things you are zipping around like hell?" I replied, "Sir, I understand that sport bike riders have a stigma attached to them, but I would like to try and convince you that it does not apply to me. I am a long distance rider who has traveled 1500 miles over the past 3 days from Phoenix, to LA, to San Francisco and now here. I tour across the country for the sights, not the speed." He took a long look at my license, and parted while telling me to "watch myself."
Rita Rudner!
Power stations at the Hoover Dam.
Would have been cooler if my finger wasn't in the way, but I had to use my right hand for this one. I'm a righty but I've gotten used to taking pictures with my left since my right hand typically is needed to control the throttle.
These pillars stretched upward at an unnatural distance. The look like they were ready to snap at the slightest gust of wind.
It all went downhill for Lou after he cut the budget in the marketing department.
Hey horsie!
