Let there be .. A Ride Report.

Let there be .. a ride report! Yes, finally and long overdue! :) 

A few months ago I had predicted, if not promised that it would be 2015 before any motorcycle content may show up on this blog. At that time I was expecting that I may actually not have any time to ride till the new year rolls around. I was only partly correct, and the report which follows is of a ride in December of 2014. It's just that I have only now found the time to write about it. :)

It was not a foray into uncharted and unknown territories, I was re-discovering some familiar grounds, which I had not stomped on in quite a while, while hoping to rejuvenate some friendships along the way, which had also laid dormant for quite some time. It was to be an oft piloted route to San Diego, with some beloved stops along the way - including the Big Sur coastline. The weather gods, however, had a different plan. The California coast and the rest of the state, had just a day ago, been hit by what some were calling the "Storm of the Century", the Pacific Highway had predictably experienced landslides and was closed in several locations, it was going to be a pre-dominantly uneventful and very fast in-land route for me, until I could mosey over to the coast just past Paso Robles on Hwy 46 to meet the coastline just south of Cambria. 

It had been a while, since a ride of a longer duration, and I wasn't quite in the mood to stop to take pictures along the way. In fact, I didn't take any pictures along the ride on this day, till I reached my destination. I had a feeling this first day had actually set the trend for this trip. No pictures, till I was stopped for the day, so that's what this ride report will present, for the most part. 

My stop of the day was beloved Morro Bay. I was meeting my friends Tim and Mary for dinner here, before dinner, however, I was going to catch the show .. the light show. :)

Let there be .. Light! 

The show was only just beginning. Here is the first view, looking at the Morro Bay Docks as the sky was just beginning to turn.

Recollections of February.

February was a Big Money month. Big Money Rally that is, maybe it's called that because it causes you to spend Big Money on tires, maintenance, fuel and lodging as you crisscross the countryside on a scavenger hunt for points, scored by finding and photo-documenting certain bonus locations, which fall into several themes, different each year it has been run. This year's themes include libraries, Whole Foods stores, post offices, certain monuments and a 'Been Everywhere' theme which takes inspiration from and creatively interprets the Johnny Cash song into bonuses scattered across the country. Since the rally is mainly structured as a touring rally and the bonuses more often than not lead you off the beaten path, the Big Money Rally also brings big rewards, in the form of big fun and big smiles and discovering new roads and new places, one may not visit otherwise.

Points fever started the very first day of February. A zigzag trip down central California, visiting the heart of the farm lands of California (which feeds the rest of the state, yet is largely ignored and forgotten in the cesspool of the State Capitol), ending up in Bakersfield by sun down - for the last bonus of the day.