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Shame! Just for that you have to ride over to Vegas on Friday the 28th and have lunch with me and the Vegas boys.

Sorry - on the 28th I'm headed for parts eastern....as in eastern AZ - Alpine - fall colors run - as in trees turning!!!
Otherwise I would take you up on that. Vegas is only 200 miles or so from me! Except for getting across the dang dam, its an easy day ride!!!!
If you were going to be in SoCal longer I'd meet you in San Diego around the 17th of October!!! I'll be there that week.
B

Likely story...

JOHN!!!! Guess what?! I just remembered to check and see when the annual El Camino Classic Motorcycle Show and Swap Meet is....and it's that saturday Sept22!!!

This sucker is very cool! A terrific number of classic bikes to drool over. And it's basically right across the street from my house here!!!

And so...I THINK we may be getting a little later start that day than what we're thinkin'!!!! If we hit the show first thing saturday morning about 9, we should still have plenty of day left to hit the road by around noon.

Excellent!

One last bump! I'm leaving tomorrow at noon for my little Great Falls-Missoula warm up ride. I'm on my way from Missoula Sunday morning. I'm seriously tweakin', man...

Say FJ, where are you staying at, in the Yosemite area, for Tuesday night. Just in case we miss each other on the road and the phones don't work. Have fun and keep the rubber side down.
Bob

I'm planning on stopping somewhere like North Fork. If there's nothing there it's on to Fresno. As always I'm open to suggestions.

Made it to Boise and Reno on schedule. Now I'm in Chowchilla, CA, staying with Bob and Amy Lee. Made it around Lake Tahoe and through Yosemite today. Spec-freakin-stacular ride. Stupid cager tourists, though. Shouldn't have any trouble making it to pop's place tomorrow in the I.E. Haven't taken a ton of pics but I got a few doozies. I'll upload later from my dad's place.

John, you are one of the best guests Hotel Acree has ever had. Glad you were able to stay here. Enjoyed the visit, immensely. Hope you made it to your dad's place in one piece (no saddle bags draggin). Will PM you our address so you can send the post cards (I will expect at least two). Enjoy the pics:



Outside the south gate entrance of Yosemite.



So many roads, so little time.



Packed up and ready to head south.

Ride safe, have fun!!!

AmyLee

I made it to my Pop's place around 5pm. The desert winds tried to blow me off 58 and 395, and the traffic on 15 tried to push me off that road, but I persevered. Then I was promptly whisked away by my family to Pachenga (sp?) for dinner. I've got one day of down time where I get to veg in front of the computer (hopefully I can upload MY photos) then it's off to Dwight's followed by a quick run to San Diego.

I'm having the time of my life (that is, if I can survive my family).

I hate be the bearer of...........but it lightly snowed in the Mission mountains yesterday. Fortunately civilized people & motorbikers don't live in the mountains

Ride on.....................

jh

FJ, you need more stuff on your bike...

Yeah, no kidding. It's all CPAP. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. It's one of those turn-of-the-(previous)-century steam-powered models.

I've got maps up on my site. I'm updating them to reflect the diversion to Bob and Amy's. I've gone over 1700 miles so far.

Here's my gallery so far:
http://picasaweb.google.com/friarjohn/California2007

I'll steal Bob and Amy's from this thread later and add them to the gallery.

Cool pics!

Did you see anyone camped on the side of El Capitan (they tie themselves off and sleep for the night as it's a two day ascent)??

Those people are nuts!

No but I got to ride through a fire in the valley, just before I laid down on the ground to take the artsy fartsy shot.

Awesome photos, John! Stay safe!!

Tell that Californadian "hi" for us all.

Soren

Ya know, I had an opportunity to pick up one of those gigantic Kuryakyn sissybar bags used and passed. After those crosswinds in the desert I'm glad I did. That thing is just one big sail for crosswinds. I think the only difference between that load and mine is that I'm not camping.

Well, tomorrow I get to pack significantly less for my 2 day mini-roadtrip to Dwight's and San Diego. Also, I stole a medium-size box from my Dad and I'm filling it with stuff I don't need for the trip home. I'll ship it out from Vegas before I leave.

John,
Judie and I were glad you were able to make this side trip our way. Enjoyed hosting ya and finally getting to converse with ya without having to do this ol' "keyboard boogie" around here.

Hope you had a good time, even though the rain made this unusual appearance during your stay here. Hey, at least we got that Spyder ride in, and were able to hit a little dry spell during the El Camino M/C show, huh?!

Have a great(and safe) ride the rest of your trip, Dude!



(hopefully we'll see ya again next May in Prescott!!!)

In light of your latest news, I figured it was appropriate.

Soren

Well, after generous amounts of hospitality I left Dwight's for San Diego about 3PM on Saturday, a little later than I had planned but I had a full belly, the storm had cleared out and the streets had dried. I wanted to go down PCH but at Dwight's suggestion I skipped Long Beach and the harbor, mostly because of the late start. I got off the 405 at 7th street and hit PCH from there all the way south to Dana Point. Seeing the ocean again after 12 years was amazing and my only regret is I didn't stop to take a picture with my bike and the ocean. The "scenery" in these little yuppie beach communities was also impressive (and I'm not talking about the Lamborghini Diablos and Bentley Continental GTs).

After a pleasant visit with my friend Brianne and her FWB Rich, I rode up the 15 back to Riverside -- a pretty ride even if it was the superslab. Spent the afternoon and evening with my family at a BBQ at my cousin's house. The "downer" family members weren't there and I had a lot of catching up to do with the cool cousins. Time with the "difficult" family members starts Thursday. Until then I'm just taking it easy. Might go visit SoCal Triumph in Brea. Dwight took me to South Bay Triumph in the spyder which was a pretty cool place. They have some nice go-fast toys.

Next up on the BA.COM docket is a lunchtime ride up in the mountains above Vegas with BigBill and Mike (EADGBE).

Oh yeah, pictures do not do Doug's (soulsurvivor) bike justice. What a sweet friggin bike. The level of detail is amazing. Still, I'll post my pictures soon.

So the rip in the space/time continuum I witnessed flashing across the western sky earlier this past weekend was of no concern and was only a meeting of either end of the cosmos??

The universe survived the encounter. But if Kevin and I met face to face it would surely implode.

I've uploaded my photos from the bike show and swap meet and started a thread here.

I also added photos to the main gallery, including pictures of Doug, Dwight, and Dwight's saint of a wife.

That is definitely one heck of a very nice bike!!

Soren

Nice toys all the way around. Doug's bike is very nicely done and Dwight's tracker is way cool. Spyder speaks for itself...

I still can't believe I got my fat ****** wedged in that little car. It is VERY small.

Well folks, he DID kind'a fit in it anyway, but I'm tellin' ya...the right side shocks on my little baby will never be the same, Boy!!!

("Captain! If you haven't noticed, we're listing to the starboard, and I think the ship might be in serious trouble here!")

Your driving reminded me of that old SNL skit:

"Hard to starboard!"
"Hard to port!"
"Hard to starboard!"
"Hard to port!"
"Frankly Captain, I'm exhausted."

I'm on my way back and staying over in Richfield, UT. Zion National Park was outstanding. Skipped Bryce Canyon due to the late start this morning.

I heard it snowed 3-4" in SLC today. Greeeeeeeeeeat. No, it didn't stick. Doesn't make me feel any better about it, though. It got COLD through Zion and never really warmed up. Looks like it's long johns the rest of the way home.

Pics will have to wait until Wednesday.

Home safe and sound. Pulled in the driveway about 5:30 this afternoon. Froze my butt off today, but the rest of the trip was awesome. It was a real pleasure to meet Amy Lee, Bob (Habuba - never did ask what that means), Dwight and Judie (and Moose), Doug (Soul Survivor), Bigbill and Mike (EAGBE). I think that's everybody. As you can see the universe did not implode when Dwight and I met in person.

I don't have a huge trip report. Probably won't write one. Yosemite and Zion National Parks were spectacular. Vegas doesn't disappoint. I can't believe how much it has changed in 12 years. I'll have more pictures uploaded tomorrow.

Ya know, I tried looking up that effects guy we met at the bike show (Tim Paul wasn't it?) on imdb and came up with nothing. Maybe they don't track effects people (but I did see a sound guy).