Now that Carol has retired and the kids are grown, she decided to accompany me. When we were both (much) younger Carol and I rode together all the time, including a couple of cross-country trips, but until a month ago she hadn't ridden on the back of the bike for any distance in over 30 years. After a weekend ride to a motorcycle show in Auburn, CA she declared that she thought she could tackle a longer ride. That's good because the route I've planned will take us through the southwest, over the Rockies, across the Great Plains, and on to Ohio to visit my sister and her family before we get to the Pig - about 3000 miles. Carol will fly home from Chicago while I continue on my travels alone.
Today was a short day, and since we weren't going far we didn't leave until noon. We rode across the central valley from Tracy to Sonora and then took CA 108 over Sonora Pass (9600 feet) to US 395 and then south to Bridgeport, where we are spending the night at the Redwood Motel. It was hot from Livermore to Sonora and the traffic was light going east across the valley and all the way to 395. At the higher elevations it cooled off and began to rain slightly, and then heavier as we descended the eastern slope of the Sierra. I finally stopped to put on rain pants and gloves, and we both closed our jacket vents, but the rain stopped by the time we got to 395.
As you can see in the picture below, the bike is loaded down with about as much as it can hold. Carol and I used to camp when we traveled across the country on my old R75/5 - I can't imagine how we did that.
 |
| Carol poses in front of our house (and Nikki and Walter) and behind Victor |
No comments:
Post a Comment