HER MAJESTY RIDES AGAIN

January Riding - Halcyon to Avila Beach

2010-01-06T15:51:00.000-08:00

Hello? Hello is anyone there... testing, TESTING... tick, tick, tick.... is this thing on?

Wow, that's really up close huh? That's what I get for thinking my camera was taking a 10 sec. timed photo.

I just got back from a scooter ride. Gonna post the beginning mileage and see just how many miles I end up going this year. My hubby says he'd like to take a 2 week bike vacation and ride some of Route 66. That sounds like fun... AND a bunch of miles.

So here's where I'm going to say the year began, 3, 426 miles on the bike. Yes, we have done a bit of riding already this year, maybe about 75 miles more... lets' see how many more we can add to that this year.

As I was saying, took a ride on Hwy. 1 from Halcyon to Avila Beach and back. We are having THE BEST weather right now. My bike said it was 75! Here is a picture of my baby in Halcyon....

And here is at Port San Luis...

My Majesty is such a pretty bike and keeps a nice shine most of the time. Oh, and me you ask? Ear to ear smiles, man..... ear to ear smiles!

I'm a lucky girl to be able to ride ANY TIME OF THE DAY OR NIGHT!

Ride to Atascadero

2009-11-29T19:29:00.001-08:00

We took a quick little ride up to Atascadero today. My son and his wife just bought a home there near the Lake and we went up to have lunch with them. Even though it is the last day of a Holiday weekend, traffic was moving right along and it was a GREAT ride. I looked up the mileage and HERE is says it is only 23 miles / 46 round trip. The photo above is actually on Hwy. 58 East, but if you have ever driven through Santa Margarita on your way to Atascadero, it looks something like this; lots of pastureland with California Oaks here and there.

I also realized as I opened the blog that I never completed posting our vacation pictures. I'm hoping to finish that up by the end of the year. It really was the highlight of our Fall! When I came home from our trip I wanted to ride every day, just like we had on our vacation, but with babysitting my grandsons and the hecticness of the season, that hasn't been the case. I'm going to make a resolution to do it more in the new year though for sure!!

Lone Pine to Lee Vining - 122 Miles

2009-09-21T08:36:00.001-07:00

After having breakfast of blueberry muffins and tea at the Espresso Parlor, we packed up and were on the road again. Today was going to be a relatively short trip from Lone Pine to Lee Vining, home to Mono Lake. We made a short rest stop in Bishop at the Bank of America to replenish our money AND ourselves around 11 am. Then it was more riding. You cannot believe how many bikes we saw on the road during this trip. Most of them waved and in Bishop, I even saw another person on a Majesty 400, unfortunately, going the opposite direction. We probably should have turned around and had a chat. All along the way we saw pretty Fall colors even though it wasn't leaves. I was told this is Rabbit Brush.

Fall colors of Owens Valley, in this case flowers rather than leaves.

We arrived in Lee Vining right around noon and checked into Murphy's Motel. This is what worked for us nearly every day. We would check in around noon if we could, then have lunch, leave a bike in a parking spot right outside the door and double up on the other bike for sightseeing. Today it was the June Lake loop and Mono Lake.

June Lake Overlook

Wes & I At June Lake Overlook

Beautiful June Lake

One of my hobbies, taking pictures of Graffiti. I know, graffiti is bad, but it is there none the less.

Around the Lake temperatures were quite a bit cooler making the perfect condition for conifers.

Tufa at Mono Lake

The Eastern Sierras lakes are down a bit as is most of California with the lake of rain we've been having. Even so, there were many people out fishing and playing on the lake. The trees were just beginning to change colors in the cooler areas to a beautiful golden color. In another few weeks, its going to be just beautiful.

Mono Lake was really pretty. Is so interesting that the whole area is a volcanic caldera.
From June Lake, you could look across the freeway and see a line of other volcanic craters. These below are Deadman Creek Dome, Glass Creek Dome, Obsidian Dome, and Wilson Butte. We met a couple on BMW's that were making the reverse of our trip that let us know what to expect in the way of weather. Shopped a bit in the local Trading Post for vacation souvenirs, had some dinner at Nicely's and enjoyed a quiet evening.

Barstow to Lone Pine - 147 Mile Day

2009-09-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

The ride from Barstow to Lone Pine was pretty uneventful. We left town around 9 in the morning headed for Kramer Junction. The traffic was light on both 58 and 395 so riding was pretty easy. We had a rest break just outside of China Lake area.

Rest Stop Near China Lake

The people in this area were so friendly. One guy in a truck even stopped briefly to be sure we weren't having any problems.

This is such a pretty time of year on this road. We haven't seen much in the way of Fall colors, but the air is so fresh and pure and the the rugged granite mountain range we are following is impressive.

The Sierra Nevada Mountain Range

We arrived in Lone Pine shortly after noon and got a room at the Dow Villa Motel. The Dow was built in the 1920's by Mr. Walter Dow as a home away from home for the "on location" actors and actresses that starred in the early Westerns. Originally the Dow had 55 rooms and 1 for the manager. The front porch gave a magnificient view of the Sierra with Mt. Whitney as the central attraction. The Dow hotel hosted countless producers, directors and stars. These are just a few of the stars that stayed there; John Wayne, William Boyd, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Pat Butrum, Stewart Granger, Errol Flynn, Robert Mitchum and Clayton Moore.

Dow Villa Motel

After doing a bit of unloading, we left one bike in a parking spot and took the other one on a trip up to the Mt. Whitney Portal, a beginning place for hikers making a climb to the top of Mt. Whitney. This was a really steep climb. First you ride through a portion of the Alabama Hills, the site for many of the old western movies. Next, the road climbs ever higher, offering outstanding views of the valley floor. At the top of the road are several camping areas, a lovely little meandering stream, a General Store and even a bonafide fishing hole stocked with trout.

View of Mt. Whitney

General Store Mt. Whitney Portal

Fish in the Fishing Hole

We hiked a bit and sat in the sun by the fishing hole and took a bunch of pictures. After, we proceeded down the winding road to the Alabama Hills again.

Alabama Hills

Now can't you just imagine a Wild West cowboy or Native American on horseback coming riding down those rocks??

Then we made a late afternoon trip over to the Beverly & Jim Rogers Museum of Film History. This is the location of the annual Lone Pine Film Festival every October. We watched a documentary movie about the making of some of the old Westerns filmed in the Alabama Hills then strolled through the museum that featured clothes, saddles, guns and cars as well as old movie marquees. It was just fascinating the movies that were made there. Even Gunga Din and Iron Man!

Had a great day! Ate at Bonanza, one of the best Mexican food places in town. We are having the BEST time on our vacation.
Us Little Happy Campers at June Lake

267 Miles East To Barstow

2009-09-14T19:26:00.000-07:00

We had set 10 AM as the time we were going to take off today.... but, it took us nearly an hour to get the bags securely on the bikes. Tomorrow will be much faster. Today started out beautifully. The sky was full of fluffy white clouds, the hills were covered in red and orange finery and it smelled like it had just rained.

After passing through Cuyama, we found out why when we caught up to the shower. It was right before the grade going into Maricopa. First a few drops, then more of a little rain shower. We didn't need to change into rain gear thankfully. We hit a couple of little showers then we were through most of the rain. Next up was wind.

We bumped into the windy storm front near the top of Tehachapi.We thought we were entirely through that when we hit Mojave. Ok, this was probably the most difficult riding of the entire day. The wind blew steady at about 25 miles per hour and it was coming from the south nearly pushing us into the lane dividers it was so strong. IT WAS AN ARM WORKOUT keeping it between the lines. And last but not least, as the wind spit us out, we went through a pretty large devil duster.

Can I say it??? IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!!!! Our bikes did really well loaded, we were never really cold or wet, traffic was light and we got pretty good gas mileage. It was good to get off and let our bodies rest for a bit. Staying with my sister tonight in Barstow and having some of that good Del Taco for dinner.

Tomorrow we will be turning back West and heading to the 395 again near Mojave (please no more wind!!) and should be staying in Lone Pine tomorrow night. Its going to be quite a bit shorter drive tomorrow and I KNOW it will take us less time to get going in the morning. We got some pictures today of us leaving that I will try to get up in the next couple of days. Happy Trails.......

Day Before the Ride - First Leg Tomorrow ..... Barstow

2009-09-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

We are making final preparations for our trip. The morning was spent trying to decide what to take, what we would REALLY need and leaving room for things we may find on the ride.

So today, it was finally time to buy a REAL jacket. I know, I should have had one all along for safety reasons, but we mostly ride around town and what I had was enough. I've looked at several jackets over the last couple of weeks and I have a BIG problem... or maybe two. The available selection here is for either teeny tiny ladies or men's jackets. When buying a man's jacket, you have to get one that will accomodate the "girlfriends" properly... which means going up in size a bit. So today I got lucky and found a Tourmaster JJET Series 2 jacket that I LOVE. No, it's not a ladies jacket and somewhere down the line, I'm sure I'm going to want one of those, but at least it fit without being TOO huge.

We also picked up a couple of Cramp Busters for the ride. My husband put his on immediately and said with a few minor adjustments, it worked great. I've decided to wait until tomorrow to try mine out. Our first day out we will be going 254 miles to Barstow to visit with my sister and her family, which I'm REALLY looking forward to. The Cramp Busters should really come in handy for the full day of riding.

We are hoping to be able to post daily, but that will mostly depend on the internet service we get along the way. We've checked the weather and it looks like it is going to cooperate with very little extremely cold temperatures and rain, YAHOO!! I'm sure there will be stories, so if you found this post by accident, bookmark it and come back to enjoy the "ride". I'd love to hear your scooter travel stories as well, so please leave a comment/link to your blog or website.

Happy Trails!!

Weekend Warm-Up 273 Miles

2009-09-02T08:20:00.000-07:00

Grover Beach

This is our plan for this weekend. Call it a Weekend Warm-up. We are leaving from Grover Beach and heading South to Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara

Lots of freeway miles, some extra busy, extra lanes kind of riding.

Next we will be going East towards Ojai; some climbing and winding roads, stop and go town traffic and a gas stop. (THIS is a beautiful location and will probably be lunch....YUMMY!)

Ojai

Then we will descend on Hwy. 33 towards the Cuyama Valley; descending the mountain and some more two way roads. This will more than likely be the hottest part of our ride too. So we may get the opportunity to change what we are wearing a bit.

Cuyama Valley

And finally from Cuyama on Hwy. 166 to Santa Maria. Another long stretch of two way traffic. This part of the ride is one of the most dangerous. The speed limit has been decreased from 65 to 55 with small areas for passing. There have been many accidents out here so we will be on our most alert status.

Santa Maria

And finally the home stretch between Santa Maria and Grover Beach. Back to the cool ocean breezes, home, rest and the feeling of exhilaration that comes from making a 273 mile drive in a day.

Grover Beach

I'll let you know how it goes and share some photos when we get back. We are really looking forward to it.

View Larger Map

Logging "F" Miles

2009-08-23T15:43:00.000-07:00

September is coming fast and we are trying to get up to speed on our bikes. Today we decided to log some Freeway miles ("F" miles). After filling up the tanks, we made Avila Beach our first destination. Heading out to Avila Beach, we ran into a scooter group meeting at Fat Cat's restaurant. Most of them were Vespa's with a Piaggio BV 500 and a Piaggio 400. We thought about asking to join their group but they were up to their napkins in food, so maybe we will just hook up with them in the future sometime.

Then we took the 101 up to Atascadero, exited Curbaril and made our way to Atascadero Lake. Its not a large lake but we drove around it and then decided on some lunch. And where else do you go when you go to Atascadero???

"A&W Root Beer's got that frosty mug taste!" That's right, you can't beat their Chili Cheese Dogs and ice cold Root Beer floats!

Then it was time to turn around and come back. We went through town and took El Camino Real though Santa Margarita and eventually caught the 101 South, once again taking the road over Cuesta Grade.

And you can't call it a ride unless you make the trip through Pismo Beach on a lovely Sunday afternoon. So many people in town enjoying the weather and the last weekend before school. Splash cafe had it's usual crowd of people waiting for Clam Chowder and the beach was full.

All in all, we went about 75 miles. We won't be going more than about 200 a day so it will be quite a bit more than we did today, but it's all good, right???

Nipomo

2009-08-02T18:37:00.000-07:00

Today, hubby and I went to Nipomo, mostly to make a battery disconnect for our motorhome, but we also had a delicious lunch out at Pi-Hole pizza.

This is quickly becoming one of our favorite hangouts for pizza and sandwiches. Today I had the Mt. Shasta pizza; white sauce, red pepper, olives, pepperoncini, and shrimp, and my hubby had the meatball sandwich bomb, both really good! On the way home, we discussed our September ride. We've been talking about doing Hwy. 1 up the coast to Monterey, but I think we are going to ride to Yosemite, continue through on Hwy. 120 to Owen's Valley. From there we will head down the 395 through Mammoth, Bishop and back on the 58 and 166 to our area. So we will begin planning our route and figure out what we will need to carry with us. We may not be able to carry much 'cause that little Zuma 125 will be struggling already to make it up the hills. My husband loaded up the Zuma today for pictures.

Then he proceeded to demonstrate ways to decrease the drag of the wind on his body.

I mean, can you see it? Sheer determination!!

But after you go up...you come back down and then you get to be..... ahhhhhh, EASY RIDER.

Thanks for the demo Scooter Man! Now for the confession. No, we aren't taking that little Zuma anywhere except for around town. These are the two bikes we will be riding. My husband's is the 650 Burgman and mine is that beautiful little Majesty. And those wonderful, fabulous bags from above, yup, mine.

It was October 2007 the last time we went through Yosemite to Owens Valley in a car and it was FREEZING! But a full month sooner, we may have better luck. Owens Valley is so pretty in the fall with loads of color around June Lake. I'm really looking forward to our first "long" trip!

Riding With My Son

2009-07-29T08:13:00.000-07:00

My son and I took a trip down the 101 yesterday from Grover Beach to Santa Maria and back. My expecting daughter and her husband were given a Baby Luncheon by his co-workers. It was a beautiful ride down, that is until I found myself on newly scraped asphalt. It's probably more in my head than actual, but I felt like I was riding on glass! And, wouldn't you know, getting to the decent side of the road meant going up about a 1 1/2 to 2 inch lip. As traffic started to pile up behind us, I decided I would have to cross over to get out of their way. Expecting the worst, I aimed my bike towards the lane and the next thing I knew, I was there without really feeling anything at all. My son eventually came over too and we stayed in that lane for the next 8 to 10 miles. It put us closer to the side of the road, and when we passed the strawberry fields, you could really smell their sweetness. That is one of my favorite things about riding a bike... all the smells. The ocean, eucalyptus trees, alfalfa hay, that's right, even the dead skunk on the way home....kinda coffee scented! On the way home, we decided to take the 166 exit and ride Thompson/Los Berros Rd. for the rest of the way home. My son rides a Suzuki SV650S and took his test yesterday to upgrade from a permit to a license and passed. This is his lovely wife, Kristen on his bike. Everyone needs a picture like this right??

However, THIS is the bike he took his test on. My husbands Dual Sport. I don't know about your motorcycle test, but here in California, you have to make this little tiny circle without putting your feet down as well as weaving through cones and other skills. Its just easier on a smaller bike that is more manueverable.
In our family, 4 out of 6 ride bikes. Not a bad average. My youngest daughter wants to learn and my oldest has no desire.....YET! Maybe she will be a riding granny like me one day.

The Intro For All My Scootin' Videos To Come

2009-07-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

Riding Thoughts

2009-07-18T21:57:00.000-07:00

I love YouTube videos. One of my favorite Maxi-Scooter vloggers is theSMYRNAcowboy. He is driving around chatting about events in his life and it is very hypnotic. I rode with my husband on his Burgman 650 for about a year and it is kind of like riding along with him. While my husband drove around, I could let my mind go and just think of whatever. Now that I'm driving my own bike, I still let my mind wander occasionally.

What do you think about when you ride your bike? Are you focused on the drive? Do you "zone out" and just experience the ride? Are you planning vacations, solving the world's problems or praying?

I think I've done all of those things at one time or other. When I first started riding, it almost felt like I left my body and someone else came in and took a ride. It was so peaceful and fulfilling. For me, riding was almost a physical meditation. Most times though, I am very conscious, scanning traffic and planning my "ways out" in case of emergency.

Emergencies, yeah, we want to avoid those like the plague! Today, I had the opportunity to just lay down on a lush green strip of grass and stare at the sky. It's beautiful up there. That's one of the things I've focused on while I drive too. DEATH. Riding a "murder"cycle, you can't help but wonder if you will become a statistic. I hope not. But if it ever does happen, I'd like to have the chance to look up at a sky like today's sky.

That and a great rescue team!

Freeway Riding

2009-07-16T08:41:00.000-07:00

It was such a beautiful evening last night we decided to ride the scooters to Nipomo for my Djembe lesson. I've been mostly a passenger on the back of my husband's Burgman for the last 2 to 3 years. So you can imagine how my heart was beating when I caught the freeway last night! The top speeds I've done around town were 35 to 45 and I KNEW I'd have to get up to at least 60 or 65 to flow with the traffic. The fear didn't last for long though. Traffic was light and before I knew it, I was up to, and probably EXCEEDING, the speed limit a bit. The Majesty has plenty of power on the freeway and is just darn fun to ride!

After my lesson, we had pizza at the nearby Pi-Whole Pizzeria in the same shopping center. Ok, this pizza is the BEST. We had the Nero on their zesty red sauce. This pizza features sausage, pepperoni, bacon bits, red onion and mushrooms. We also tasted their toasted ravioli bites for an appetizer.... Y U M M Y!!

That left us to ride home after dark. We are always cautious riders, expecting the unexpected, and unfortunately, it always seems to be necessary. While driving North on Thompson Ave., I spied a truck to my left waiting at a stop sign and something just told me it was going to pull out on me. As I watched, the truck continued to wait, that is until I was amost to where it was. Then the truck pulled out and the car behind them almost pulled out in front of my husband! And where were they coming from that they couldn't have waited a bit longer.... The Nipomo Community Presbyterian CHURCH!

The rest of the ride was without incident and absolutely beautiful. We are planning a scooter vacation in September and riding comfortably on the freeway was one of the skills I definitely needed.

New Bike, New Blog

2009-07-02T16:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my husband went to pick up my "new to me" Majesty scooter. It was a great buy and came with loads of xtras; helmets, bags, bluetooth, visors, etc. I've ridden motorcycles before but I'm waiting impatiently for this weekend when my husband can take me out and "school" me on the differences. We have vacation coming in September and hope to plan an expedition on scooters.