Calli Baby

[jrobinson]

Well I'm 1 day away from having this one in the books.

Leg 1 - Alabama to Long Beach
I left Scottsboro on June 17 with Wing-man Extraordinaire in tow. Chuck on his trusty Goldwing and trailer, me on my new-to-me 2015 Harley Limited. Old man Adversity reared his ugly head several times on the trip...more on that later.

We rode to Memphis on Hwy 72 with only showers in Memphis as we crossed the river. Once on I40 the clouds seemed to part and cleared a way for us. In Texas it was hot, then Arizona and Mojave showed us what hot was. WE arrived in Long Beach on Saturday afternoon.

We made several stops on Leg 1.

Route 66 Midway Point


Sticker Placement


We stayed in Seligman at a decent motel.


Oatman next.....

[jrobinson]

Wow! What a trip and weeks since.

We left Seligman we saw a 25 min backup on I40, we decided to ride about 100 miles to bypass the slowdown.

Oatman is about 25 miles off I40. Burros run loose on the street of Oatman. We stopped at a little shop that had some nice merch.








Chuck smoking the curves




Burro on side of road, never flinched as bikes went by.




more pics coming....

[jrobinson]

.....still on the road to Oatman.

[jrobinson]

We didn't stop in Oatman. There were 20-30 burros roaming the streets and looking in the stores. The town was straight out of a old western.

Back on I40 heading west and stopped in Barstow for the night. The next morning I couldn't find my jacket and realized I left it on the bike overnight. Somebody needed it worse than I did. This was the first of many setbacks.

I put on my "rain" jacket and bought a cheap pair of cotton gloves to protect my hands that were blistered. This got us through the Mojave and closer to the west coast. 

I set a heading to Newport Beach, south of LA. It was Saturday and I wanted to avoid LA due to possible riots. We rolled into Newport Beach and took a right on Hwy 1. We headed north to Long Beach.

We found my hotel and unloaded my luggage from Chuck's trailer and sent him on his way to Pasadena. More on that later.....

Hyatt of Long Beach

[jrobinson]

While in Long Beach, we Uber'd over to Dodger Stadium and took in a ball game.

[jrobinson]

Sights in the Harbor and the Queen Mary

[jrobinson]

Heading Home - I decided to meet Chuck Thursday morning and I didn't see a need for him to ride across LA to pickup my luggage. I strapped 4 bags to the bike, 2 in back seat and 2 on rack above the tour pack. I left the hotel for the 20 min ride to meet Chuck. 5 minutes in I glance over my shoulder and one of the bags is gone. After 10 minutes of getting back on the road I was on, I back tracked to find the bag. No Luck. Bag had shoes, clothes, keys and several blank SD cards. Another setback.
As I continue to meet Chuck, I notice my clutch isn't working. Setback.  Met Chuck at Santa Monica Pier and they informed him no trailers allowed. After explaining he took up less with a trailer than a regular vehicle, they took his 15 bucks. LOL
We spent about an hour on the pier, then headed north.

Bike loaded and ready for the short trip to Santa Monica Pier....so I thought. The black bag on top jumped ship 5 minutes from the hotel.

[jrobinson]

Heading north in California -  From Santa Monica we headed north on Hwy 1. after about 6 hours we stopped at San Luis Obispo Bay.  Took a few pics from Nobi Point on Avila Beach Drive.

I noticed I had a text from my wife to call her.  She informed me that my Mom was hurting and she called an ambulance to take her to the Hospital.  I asked if I needed to head home. She said her and my sister had it handled and to enjoy my trip.

Went a little farther north to San Lucas and headed east. The next planned stop was the Sequoia National Forest.  We went through Visalia.  We stopped at a Sinclair Gas Station with the green dinosaurs. We fill up and move on.

As we arrived to Isabella Lake, we noticed smoke on the mountains. As we rounded the next curve, traffic was backed up and the road was blocked.

I hear a noise and see a Chinook helo coming in low toward the water. I grab my camera and they drop a hose into the water, fill their tank , then head back toward the mountain. We didn't have time to wait, so headed toward Las Vegas.

[jrobinson]

We bypassed downtown Vegas and headed toward Monument Valley.
My wife told me Mom was septic and couldn't have surgery. My sister and her informed the doctors to keep her comfortable.  Again, I asked if I needed to head home. Again, the answer was no, we have it handled. Enjoy your trip.
We toured Monument Valley, stopped at the Forrest Gump Point where he stopped running in the movie and saw the Mexican Hat.

[jrobinson]

On Saturday night we stayed in ALBUQUERQUE NM. There we bleed the hydraulic clutch and got it working again. No more pumping when trying to stop.

I planned to ride up the Sandia Crest, Well-known 10,678-ft. peak with a long forested ridge, plus a hiking trail & aerial tramway. I wasn't sure about the road going up and Chuck had concerns about his knee. So he road ahead and waited while I went up the mountain.

I stopped to fill up and started talking to a guy at the pumps that rode and he invited us out to his house for the day. After a 2 hour story telling session, I told him I had to go and headed out.

I started up the mountain, into Cibola National Forest and ended at the Sandia Crest. The views from the mountain were unbelievable.  after about an hour, I headed back down the mountain and to our meet up station.

We headed east in I40, stopped at the Cadillac Ranch, then at the Big Texan for a steak. We only covered about 300 miles for the day and decided to stay at the motel beside the Big Texan Steakhouse.

I called to check in with Sandy and she said Mom had passed away about an hour earlier. My brother Jason was with her as she went peacefully to her Heavenly Mansion.