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My Easter Weekend Ride!

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This was today's Ride. Google Link Tomorrow I will run up to Yosemite!

The video in the first post is coming down the hill near Google Map point "B" in the above link. It is the Nacimiento - Fergusson Road. By far the most spectacular road I have ever ridden. I don't know why I have waited 20 years to finally ride it!

I have a boat load of more pictures that I will be loading up to my smuggy account. Full ride report to follow when I get back to Texas. It should be neat up at the big park tomorrow.
 
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that is AWESOME, thanks for sharing

my little sister just moved to San Francisco, hmmmm, I neeed to visit
 
These single guy's with all this free time make me sick...:giveup:
JK.....Duke good stuff, sure beats the scenery around here.
 
Look at all the curves on the maps!!! :drool:

Anyone know where to get foot pegs for a GL1800? :trust:

Flew back home this morning after having a very good weekend out with my close friends in California. Marion was generous enough to let me ride his bike this weekend and I can't thank him enough. His family has always been generous towards me since I was just a Nineteen yearold know-it-all at my first real duty station not far from his home. Anyways. I am uploading too many pictures to count right now to Smugmug. I will put my report together over the next day or so.

Perfect Weather all weekend, not a cloud in the sky, 923 miles ridden. Enough consecative curvy/twisty road miles to make me break a sweat in 40 degree temps. It actually becomes a chore to flip a GL1800 side to side mile on end. But ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh :drool: what a chore to have to deal with!
 
Well my Easter Weekend Ride actually started when I had to fly out to my California office for an audit. Since I was going to be there anyway I called my close friend Marion up and asked if I can ride one of the multiple bikes in his stable. His Dad (90+ Years old and still rides) and he have always told me that one of their bikes was mine anyway, so I called to see which one was mine for this trip. So for this trip I got to ride Marion’s daily ride :clap: , a 2005 GL1800 its the 30th Anniversary model for those that care.

Anyway, I am out their way on business for most of the week, Monday – Thursday. I fly to Bakersfield Monday afternoon and while in the parking lot of the restaurant where I take a couple of staff to dinner to, I see this contraption:

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It looks like alot of fun. Anyone know what it is?

Tuesday we leave for Ventura where we have operations and we go audit one of the rigs. We head back to the Hotel around 4pm or so to get checked in before we head back out again to audit the night shift. While out on the hotel balcony taking a picture of the Venture hill side, I made a new friend.:-P

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Tuesday night we go back out to the rigs and then call it quits.

Wednesday morning we get up and drive to the town of Brawley, CA. This is way down near El Centro, in the Imperial Valley south of the Salton Sea. I learned a very importantant life lesson here. I AM VERY ALLERGIC TO THE AIR DOWN HERE! I hope that you all bought Benadryl stock last week. Because I sure took enough to make their asking price go up.

Oh Well... The drive down to Brawley from Ventura was as eventfull as one could expect on a California freeway.

I did see this unique motorcycle being driven by a woman west of Palm Springs though:

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As well as some very impressive wind mill farms:

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Oh.. and I can't let you all not see what Brawley looks like :thumb: I know this is where I am looking for a vacation home!

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Leaving the rig Wednesday night I thought this was a cool photo op. The color of the sky with the moon on the rise as a back drop to one of our older rigs.

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Thurday morning we wake up and hit the rig one more time (just to let them know were there :trust: then beat feet back up to Bakersfield. Gary had to stop and buy fuel around Tehachapi and I could not let this photo op get by:

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Well by Thrusday night I am at my friends house outside of Visalia and am pretty much in VEG mode. Friday is a down time day where I catch up on emails from being on the road for a couple of days. I like to think that I helped around Marions house a little with errands that he had to run. And performed an oil change on his GL1800. After several good conversations and multiple beers later we call it a night.

Saturday morning my ride starts:

Sunrise in the orange grove, the sun is coming up over Seqouia / Kings Canyon park although my cheap camera is washing out the magnificant colors of the mountains and sky!

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And my therapy provider for this weekend!

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It was quite cool departing their home that Saturday morning!

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I leave thier home and make my way due west on highway 198 towards Coalinga, Ca. That is where I will hit my first curves. But along the way I drive by this place where it all started between Marion and I.

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They have a new main gate from when I was stationed there........................... wait for it.... wait for it.... 18 YEARS AGO! And can you believe that they would not let me just ride around base? :doh: I rode up to the main gate and asked for permission and all, even said that I was station here the year that he was born.... Can you believe that he still would not let me pass????:giveup:

So after not getting my way I leave the base (believe the above if you want too... :trust:) and resume my travel on 198

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Miles and miles of this:

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Until I get to the intersection of 198 and I-5, where I stop for breakfast. :eat:

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Until I get to the intersection of 198 and I-5, where I stop for breakfast. :eat:

18 years ago would only be 1990, whippersnapper. I made quite a few trips out there in support of A-7E trainers at FASOTRAGRUPAC in the flight operations area from 1980-1990. I remember the HUGE jackrabbits that would come out at night.

One of those trainers (or part of it) is now on board the USS Lexington. I intend to check it out this Friday for the Pie Run...
 
Great pics. We vacationed out that way (Monterrey, Visalia, King's Canyon, Sequoia, San Francisco) a few years back. After driving into King's Canyon, my wife let it be known that she was not going over that road anymore than she had to, so we spent two days in King's Canyon. LOTS of tight curves. I loved it.

By the way, the strange bike in the parking lot looks like a Can-Am Spyder.
 
Great ride report and have to say I have dreamed of doing something like that myself. Please tell us how you liked the Goldwing after your Bemmer. I just sold an 07 GW and would love to have the GS like yours but at 5'8'' just to short. I think there are others on here that would love to here your take on these 2 bikes.

Again, Thanks Terry:clap:
 
I will finish this ride report one day soon...

As for the comparison (my take anyway) between the Gold Wing and the GS. I will put something together from my perspective and start another thread for it.

But I have been on Honda since 1984. Graduated to my first GL1500 in 1999 and it was an 1986 model with 90,000 miles on it, this 2005 GL1800 is the newest Gold Wing I have ridden. But long story short, 24 years of riding and the only time I have ever been stranded on the side of the road has been on my 2006 BMW GS Adventure, and it has done it again to me this weekend.
 
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