These past two days have been brutal. The first day started off well enough, with breakfast at Whole Foods. Last night Greasy suggested I drive Sunset Blvd down to the Pacific Ocean to start my journey towards the north. It was a spectacular ride though many posh parts of LA, fragrant and scenic. It dumped me right on to Hwy 1 at the ocean. A pretty windy day, sort of overcast. As soon as I turned north, the road had been scraped prepping for re-paving. The next 12 miles were torture with the front wheel tracking in whatever pattern the asphalt scraping machine divined. It should have been a sign.
My replacement American Express card was going to meet me at Thousand Oaks Vespa, courtesy of Kevyn who needed some maintenance on his GTS. Colin suggested taking a spin to Zuma Beach, made famous in numerous movies, most notably the final scene in 'Planet of the Apes' with the Statue of Liberty buried in the sand. I made a wrong turn, came up behind it, going the wrong way, and never figured out how to get over to the other side.
David and Linda of Thousand Oaks Vespa run a great shop. David picked hp his phone right away to call Vespa to look into my temp gauge oddness. I don't think its a problem, but it nags me. Thanks David for the tee-shirt.
The Santa Aunta Maria Antoinette Hundred Year Wicked Winds have been just miserable these last two days. I am physically and mentally exhausted fighting the stiff headwinds, gusts, and crosswinds. This is supposed to the be the fun part. There were a few high points, however.
I did stop to watch the sunset over San Simeon, there's been some fires too, and the view is hazy and misty from the wind. Twilight driving along the Pacific Coast Highway was fun until I passed the sign after dark: 'Pavement Ends' WTF? That was the first time I dropped the scooter that night. I came to a stop on the sandy loose gravel, didn't realize there was a drop off, put my foot down, the ground was not there. The second time was at the camp ground after I put it on the stand, it shifted away from me, I tried to stop it but it just went on over. I've cracked the floor board, oh well....
My trial run of assembling my tent in the dark was a useful exercise. Mercifully the campgrounds were far enough inland to not have to contend with the winds whipping in from the north. It was blissful not to be fighting the wind, sand, dark, gravel, and mist.I woke up in a grove of Redwoods, took a short scenic hike up to Pheiffer Falls and a short loop trail along the Big Sur Valley view. Normally one would be able to see all the way to the ocean, but the fire's hazy glaze obscure the view.
More brutal crosswinds taunted me on my way to Sacramento. Lucky Bastard has offered to be my social director for the next couple of days. I made it just in time for their chapter meeting of The Royal Bastards Scooter Club. Dinner and ride around the Capital and Old Town Sacramento was a blast. Thanks Lucky for dinner.
We stopped at Rick's for some coffee and decadent dessert, then off to another oddity known as Winkos Acoustic Sanctuary. It's a rolling one man band, piano bar, improv, and story telling, in a converted bread truck. There's four bar stools around the piano and room for maybe another four if you squeeze in. He asks you for any random topic and he hauls off on a tune, sometimes the real thing sometimes a brilliant improvisation.
We ran into Pope, of the Burgundy Topz, one of the oldest scooter clubs around. He had loads of useful info and tips on things to see and do for my the next few days here and the rest of my journey.
One last short ride around Sutter's Fort, smack in the middle of town made for an incredibly fun night. A nice change. Thanks all you Bastards.
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