The First Harley Trip, 2014.Part 2 Heading Out

The First Harley Trip, 2014

                            Part 2: Heading Out                          

(From the coolest sister-in-law ever, JodiRod)

“The coolest people I've ever met have the most colorful past. They’ve lived lives of risk, bad choices, learned lessons, explored, and they're not afraid of being real. Tattered tapestries woven of similar threads, you're my kind of people. My favorite shades of crazy. “ …. Steven L. Lizotto  

With Dorothy packed the night before, actually over-packed, I was ready to head north up the coast first thing in the morning. From the start, my plan was to avoid the interstate highways as much as possible and make sure that if I accidentally took a wrong turn, to just go with it and see where it takes me. By avoiding the interstates, I figured I could really see the true heart and soul of America and her people. Since this was my first real long distance motorcycle road trip, I was a bit unsure about what to expect. How far could I ride each day before my back was too trashed to go any farther? I had no clue if 200 or 300 or possibly 400 miles a day was reasonable. Plus, I didn’t want to end up without a safe place to pitch my newly purchased super-deluxe micro-backpacker’s tent for the night. Prior to my departure, I reserved a motel in San Simeon for my first night on the road and campsites in various coastal state parks for the next three following nights. After that, I would figure it out as I went.

At 6 AM on day one, Liz and I met for coffee at our local Starbucks in Sierra Madre. After finishing my venti drip coffee, I gave Liz a big kiss goodbye, fired up Dorothy, and headed north towards Ojai and Santa Barbara, via the back roads.  My first stop was at a small local bakery in Montecito, Ca. just south of Santa Barbara. After eating a delicious freshly baked Danish of some sort and drinking a Diet Coke, I was back on the road.

In truth, the first day was, for the most part, uneventful and provided a sense of relief knowing that the Los Angeles/ SoCal traffic was behind me. Even though I stayed on the back roads, traffic was still somewhat congested. I felt a sense of relief knowing that the nervousness and mild anxiety of navigating L.A. traffic was over; made that my little bitch!  

I made my way up Hwy. 101, over San Marcos pass through Solvang, and then on to Hwy 1 through Lompoc finding my way back to the coast. Eventually, after a 3 hour delay in Cambria due to Hwy. 1 being shut down because of some major bicycle race, I made the first day’s destination to my reserved motel a few miles north in San Simeon, which is, in reality, Cambria on a budget.

My modestly overpriced yet adequate motel shared a parking lot with a restaurant that advertised nightly karaoke and special Wednesday night shows by an Elvis impersonator. I can only guess it was geared towards the Japanese tourists that packed tour buses and made their way up the California coast being promised rare glimpses of how us Californians really live; because nothing screams West Coast lifestyle like karaoke and Elvis. Regardless, it wasn’t Wednesday and my ears are incapable of tolerating the cacophony of karaoke singers so I grabbed a bag of chocolate-chip cookies and a one-liter Diet Coke at the local liquor store and planted myself on my bed for a night of fine dining and HBO.