deastwood357
Moped
Well, a few weeks ago I decided on taking so me time and took off for an extended trip north while the weather was still good. So I aimed my Connie north from Southern California to Nevada and made my first stop in St George Utah for the night. I am never disappointed with Utah sites because they are all so beautiful, I can never get enough of the many shades of deep browns and reds in the surrounding hills. Woke up the next morning to 30 degree weather, clear and calm and as usual my TPS batteries were reading they were not working due to the cold but after a few miles they warmed up and fixed themselves, a common issue it seems. Traveled up to Riverton Utah to see the kids and the grand kids for 2 days then off to Idaho. Keep in mind that this route is nice if you like desert, desert and oh wait desert. The Utah landscape is a welcome change though. Well back onto Idaho, this part of the trip was a mix of desert, hills and mountains which broke up the views a bit with a stop in Boise Idaho.
After lunch there I traveled onto a town called Baker City which is really in the middle of nowhere. The only odd thing I saw there was at the small hotel I stayed at there were 8 Tesla charging stations all lined up in their parking lot, very odd so far away from a large town. Anyway I guess they know what they are doing. the next day I rode into Oregon and traveled up to the Columbia River and followed it all the way to Portland where I headed north again into Washington and did so me site seeing for a few miles before turning back south to Oregon again for the trip south. Oregon and what I saw of Washington has some really beautiful landscape I must say, well worth going to see. After my time in Portland I stopped at a hotel along the Oregon coast for the night called Newport and found it to be a very nice place to stay over night.
That evening I had my first bowl of clam chowder and found it to be odd in texture but overall a nice meal. From there the next day I set my sites on Crater Lake looking forward to some more mountain roads since this bike performs so well in those conditions. But as luck would have it I saw a report that a lightning storm was headed for that mountain range and the chance of getting caught up in a hail storm was not appealing to me so I diverted due south for the California border. The trip from Newport to this point was especially nice since the roads I was on were mountainous and well maintained which made for a most enjoyable ride. It seemed that the majority of the roads I took were through forested areas where the road was covered in a canopy of trees much of the way. It was like being in a tree lined tunnel which was a nice experience given I was raised in So. Cal. where everything is open with very few tree lined roads.
Anyway upon my approach to the Shasta Mountains I ran smack into the storm that was hitting Crater Lake and rode through about 15 miles of rain with only a little lightning off to my left in the distance. Aside from this weather the entire trip was clear and mild. I must also say that the only malfunction I had with anything was the camera system on my bike where the power converter died but to this point I had over 2000 miles of video so far which was nice. Anyway back to the ride, from there I rode to Red Bluff where I stopped for the night and from there I traveled to Yosemite which was a real treat seeing those sites again after not being there for 15 years. I am always in awe when I visit Half Dome and El Capitan as well as seeing the waterfalls there. After a day of gawking at the sites there, (and I must say visiting this place on a bike is a dream compared to being in a car because you always have a place to stop and enjoy the sites where as you are limited in a car to available spaces which can be hard to find) I went back down the hill to Visalia and slept there.
After eating breakfast that morning I traveled to Sequoia National Park to see the giant trees there and was not disappointed. Those monster trees are incredible both in size and in age given some have been there 500 years or more. It is always nice being in this part of the country where you feel like you are breathing special cool air, it only feels like that there and nowhere else. So I spent the day visiting the entire park which again was great seeing it from a bike and not the confines of a car. So at the end of the day I reluctantly headed west out of the park and rode the remaining miles home to Rancho Cucamonga. It was a very nice road trip and when the weather stabilizes in the spring I plan to do the trip to Yellowstone next year.
After lunch there I traveled onto a town called Baker City which is really in the middle of nowhere. The only odd thing I saw there was at the small hotel I stayed at there were 8 Tesla charging stations all lined up in their parking lot, very odd so far away from a large town. Anyway I guess they know what they are doing. the next day I rode into Oregon and traveled up to the Columbia River and followed it all the way to Portland where I headed north again into Washington and did so me site seeing for a few miles before turning back south to Oregon again for the trip south. Oregon and what I saw of Washington has some really beautiful landscape I must say, well worth going to see. After my time in Portland I stopped at a hotel along the Oregon coast for the night called Newport and found it to be a very nice place to stay over night.
That evening I had my first bowl of clam chowder and found it to be odd in texture but overall a nice meal. From there the next day I set my sites on Crater Lake looking forward to some more mountain roads since this bike performs so well in those conditions. But as luck would have it I saw a report that a lightning storm was headed for that mountain range and the chance of getting caught up in a hail storm was not appealing to me so I diverted due south for the California border. The trip from Newport to this point was especially nice since the roads I was on were mountainous and well maintained which made for a most enjoyable ride. It seemed that the majority of the roads I took were through forested areas where the road was covered in a canopy of trees much of the way. It was like being in a tree lined tunnel which was a nice experience given I was raised in So. Cal. where everything is open with very few tree lined roads.
Anyway upon my approach to the Shasta Mountains I ran smack into the storm that was hitting Crater Lake and rode through about 15 miles of rain with only a little lightning off to my left in the distance. Aside from this weather the entire trip was clear and mild. I must also say that the only malfunction I had with anything was the camera system on my bike where the power converter died but to this point I had over 2000 miles of video so far which was nice. Anyway back to the ride, from there I rode to Red Bluff where I stopped for the night and from there I traveled to Yosemite which was a real treat seeing those sites again after not being there for 15 years. I am always in awe when I visit Half Dome and El Capitan as well as seeing the waterfalls there. After a day of gawking at the sites there, (and I must say visiting this place on a bike is a dream compared to being in a car because you always have a place to stop and enjoy the sites where as you are limited in a car to available spaces which can be hard to find) I went back down the hill to Visalia and slept there.
After eating breakfast that morning I traveled to Sequoia National Park to see the giant trees there and was not disappointed. Those monster trees are incredible both in size and in age given some have been there 500 years or more. It is always nice being in this part of the country where you feel like you are breathing special cool air, it only feels like that there and nowhere else. So I spent the day visiting the entire park which again was great seeing it from a bike and not the confines of a car. So at the end of the day I reluctantly headed west out of the park and rode the remaining miles home to Rancho Cucamonga. It was a very nice road trip and when the weather stabilizes in the spring I plan to do the trip to Yellowstone next year.
