Monday, November 10, 2008

Ride to San Simeon Nov 2008

Steve and the raven.

Steve's bike & trailer at San Simeon

Chuck's bike at sunset on Hwy 1

Goldwing's parked at Hearst Castle

Sunset on Highway 1

Four Clear Lake Road Riders and the Burchers rode to San Simeon on November 7th and returned home November 9th.

The weather cooperated for a awesome ride south that included a stop for lunch at Phil's Fish Market and Eatery in Moss Landing.

We rode on Hwy 1 from north to south this time. I managed to miss a turn but it wasn't a big deal...a little u-turn and I was set to go!

We made a stop at a vista point 47 miles north of San Simeon, so it made for a nice break in the ride.

A couple miles north of Lucia we experienced our first "active" rock slide during a ride. It was like riding into a sudden dust storm. Fortunately the road was clear enough to pick our way through without damage.

We arrived at the Courtesy Motel around 6 p.m. In the past we had always stayed at the Quality Inn using a package deal. We were all in agreement that this motel was nicer (and the hot tub worked) and over all the weekend was less expensive.

We went to Hearst Castle Saturday morning. When we went on our tour the weather was still awesome. The weather turned chilly and cloudy by the time we were finished with the tour so we lunched at the Cavalier restaurant across from the motel and then rode to Cambria for an ice cream dessert. Brrrrr!

Sunday morning the weather was clear....and chilly. We had intended to participate in a Patriot Guard Riders mission to welcome home 100 Marines as they were bused from Oceanside to Alameda but when we arrived in Kettleman City it was only 10:30...making for a very long wait.

We opted to ride straight home with a stop from dinner at Granzella's in Williams.

Over all it was another nice ride with good company.