June 28, 2015

Chapter 3, Day 1

As anyone knows, the first day of any long trip can be a chore, two people on a motorcycle is an ordeal:

First, trying to just fit it all in and then arguing about what goes and what doesn't go, hair dryers, hair curling iron, hair straightening irons, face lotion, body lotion, more hair stuff.... guess who won those arguments... 

We bid our farewells to Cathy and Bart, we will certainly miss the awesome meals and hospitality, (octopus, clams, calamari and  shrimp omelets for breakfast!) 

Anyway, once everything is packed, of course you have no idea where anything is and you just hit the road. Of course the mirrors have to be re-adjusted, and 10 minutes after you leave clothing has to be added or taken off, oh yeah and we need gas. Off again but now the map and the GPS don't agree and we turn around several times.

Getting out of the San Diego area I thought should be easy on a Sunday, nope. Lots of traffic, stop light after stop light, after stop light, and the temperature is a balmy 95. The city seems to go on forever, and the temp keeps rising, it's hazy, humid and now 110 as we pass through Temecula. Finally a bit of relief as we head into the hills towards Big Bear Lake, but alas, the GPS leads us astray and down into Redlands and San Bernadino. 4 hours and only 120 miles, ugh..

Out of San Bernadino we head up, and I mean up, 4000 feet in 14 miles of super twisty road, yeah baby! The temperature drops to 70 and we head to Arrowhead Lake. A typical little tourist town, but pretty nice and quiet, the weekenders have departed. We get one of those little cabins for the night, picked up a few beers and a bottle of wine, and life is good.