I’ve up loaded all of our pictures on Webshots http://community.webshots.com/album/574988603hGDABO

The main focus of this trip was to try out camping, and finish riding the west coast. Since we had ridden the coast as far as Monterey last year, the plan was to get back to Monterey in a hurry, and take it easy from there.

We left home around 3:30 pm on Friday Sep 18.We rode 161 miles to my cousin’s place on Bay Lake, which is on the Key Peninsula, across the narrows from Tacoma. We spent two nights there in the tent and enjoyed the family reunion on Saturday.

We left there at 9:00 am on Sunday with the plan of getting at least 600 miles behind us before we stopped. We rode through Shelton, hit I-5 at Olympia and rode the slab to Redding. We arrived there around 9:00 pm, where we stayed in a Best Western. 595 miles for the day.

We left Redding the next morning, and rode the freeways until we got to Monterey, where we got on Highway 1 and rode to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park where we stayed for one night. Temps in the 70’s when we arrived around 5:00. 352 miles for the day.

We left there the next day and rode the coast to El Capitan State Beach, which is just north of Santa Barbara. Arrived about 4:00. 235 miles for the day. We stayed there three nights. Temps in the high 70’s

I had a 300 mile route planned through the Santa Barbara mountains so we started that route early on the next day. We rode to Santa Barbara, then turned up into the mountains where the temperature quickly rose to the 90’s. We decided it was too hot to continue that route. We spent a few hours in the air conditioned shops of the Danish themed tourist town of Solvang. I then tried out my new cooling vest and found they really do work. It kept me comfortable. We rode back to Santa Barbara and looked around some more before returning to camp and enjoyed a simple dinner and a very nice sunset. 161 miles for the day

The next day, the plan was to ride to look around at Malibu. I put on the cooling vest We rode 101 to Malibu Canyon, then to Malibu. By the time we reached Malibu Canyon it was 102,but cooled back down to the high 70’s when we got back to the water. The vest worked very well. Gen still wore her leather jacket, but with only a tank top underneath, and used a spray mister when it was above 90. We rode around looking at some very nice houses.

I had a kid working for me during the summer that lived near Malibu who told me one day” Dude, you gotta ride Latigo Canyon”, so I planned my route through there. It turns out Latigo Canyon was very hot, and also tons of really tight hairpin turns, and lots of road with no guard rails. It was very scenic, but I didn’t have much time to look at the scenery. It wasn’t a road that I would recommend. Here’s a screen shot of the route. Note how twisty the first half is!

We got back to camp and enjoyed another sunset and sat around the campfire.231 miles for the day.

Friday, the 25^th, we got up packed up and headed south to finish riding the west coast. We stayed on 101 and 1 until we got into Los Angeles, where it was all stop and go traffic, so we got on the freeways. Eventually I-5 follows the coast to San Diego. We rode until we came to the last exit before entering Mexico. We can now say we have ridden the entire west coast of the US on a Goldwing!

We turned around and headed back north as far as Riverside, CA where we stayed in a motel. 369 miles for the day.

Next day we headed north. It was 91* when we left Riverside at around 9:30 am, and steadily got warmer all day. We rode north on Highway 215 to 395 then 58 to Bakersfield, then north on 99 to Fresno, then 41 towards Yosemite. By the time we got to Oakhurst, just outside of Yosemite National Park, it was 104,and we opted for an air conditioned motel rather than a hot stuffy tent! 323 miles for the day. Dinner in a nice little Mom & Pop type Chinese restaurant.

In the morning we headed into Yosemite National Park. What a beautiful place! Great roads, great scenery, and the temperatures are in the 70’s! We are already thinking that maybe this might be one of our destinations next year.

We rode on through Yosemite and on to 395 north, then around the west side of Lake Tahoe. This may be another destination next year. Lots of nice looking campgrounds, and promises of lots to do. We rode on to Reno. We checked out one campground, but no showers. The KOA we were headed to had only paved RV sites, no tent sites, so we opted for yet another Best Western in Reno.

Monday, we headed up long straight 395 to 299 then 139 to Klamath Falls. It got very windy as we neared Klamath Falls. It was a stiff wind from the left hand side. Often oncoming trucks caused a lot of turbulence. Got to Klamath Falls around 5:00 where it was 79 and windy. We set up camp at the KOA there. 269 miles for the day

When we woke up it was 40 degrees and windy again. Cold! We weren’t ready for that! Cooked a quick breakfast ,donned the Gerbing’s, and hit the road again.

From Klamath Falls we rode 97 all the way to Union Gap. It was very windy again almost the whole way. There were times I had to slow way down because we were getting blown all over. A few rain showers along the way. By the time we got to Yakima about 6:30, I was beat, and we again opted for a motel. 350 miles for the day.

The manager insisted that we park under the awning by the front entrance!

Wednesday, the last day of our trip we headed home over White Pass, and also caught Chinook Pass to get our last two passes to complete the WA-H 7 Pass Photo Tour.

A chilly 34 at Chinook Pass. Yea Gerbing’s

As we were coming down highway 410 from Chinook Pass, it dawned on me that we were traveling on one of the nicest roads we had been on during the entire trip, right here in our own back yard. It felt good to be home!!

Arrived home around 4:00,with the temps in the 60’s 274 miles for the day

Total GPS miles 3527. 7 nights in the tent 5 nights in the motel. Learned a lot to make our next trip even better.