Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve

Whew! It was a very cold day out today - maybe 60 degrees out... and with the wind and traveling on motorcycle, it was very cold, perhaps in the 40's.  We started out at our regular meet up spot in Long Beach then headed north on I-405. And AGAIN, a very dangerous interstate lately. There were 16 of us heading north when all of a sudden I heard a largest bang and crack sound. I instantly thought one of use got hit but when I looked around I didn't see anything. A few of the women were not riding but driving in a trail vehicle and later told us a bathtub came out of nowhere and was bouncing across the interstate. Whew! Good thing we were missed or it couldn't done quite a bit of damage to any of us and our bikes! A bathtub?!?! Wow.

 We met up with another portion of our group, adding 3 more women and the actual person that created this ride. We went out to Lake Hughs and the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve. I had never seen a poppy reserve before and this was my chance. There were quite a few people out in fields of poppies - I was a bit surprised since it's Easter.

We stopped for lunch at the Rock Inn, which was built in the late 1920's as a getaway retreat for movie celebrities. It was an inn, trading post and post office back in the day. This area was built way before I-5 and had a lot of curves and twisties that could make driving a long chore getting from Southern to Northern California. After Interstate 5 was built, the local economy went downhill since people preferred the fast straight away of the interstate versus the country back hills.

Rock Inn - kind of a biker bar, but many passersby stop for a nice hot meal.

On the way back, we preferred the less cold route home... and even that was cold. The wind was extremely cold. We passed by Vasquez Rocks, named after Tiburcio Vasquez, who still remains controversial to this day. Some people see him as a defender of Mexico trying to restore California to Mexico and others view him as an outlaw who frequently hid in this rocky area from the law. Over 100 movies, television shows and music videos have used this area as a backdrop. We didn't stop at this location but only rode by.

These images of Vasquez Rocks were taken from the internet.

Then for more excitement, there was a 6.9 earthquake from Baja California. Luckily, we were all on the road and didn't feel a thing. From the reports, there was a 5.1 aftershock and people felt the earthquake all the way north to Santa Barbara and as far east as Phoenix, Arizona and as far south as Tijuana, Mexico.

Driving

Whew! Driving can be hazardous down here in SoCal. The past few nights I've been working graveyard shift and it's been quite difficult coming out of being sick and able to sleep all day to working a 12 hour shift! The second day is always difficult and I was really tired. I usually drive in the fast lane - regardless of the time of day. It's just easier and there are less road hazards - since most of the slower folks drive in the right lanes, more debris is also on that side.

Since I was so tired and getting off work at 430AM, I decided to drive in the slow lane - the right lane... and of course, I was distracted by police lights on the off ramp and the next thing I knew I had run something over. I didn't think it was that bad but after a few seconds I knew I had a flat. I didn't want to pull over since the first thing that came to mind was it's very dark, there are trees on the side of the highway and back in the late 90's, the comedian Bill Cosby had a son that was shot to death as he pulled over on that very interstate for a flat tire. Hell no, I wasn't going to get out of the car and began cheering my little car on to make it home... 5 more miles to go.

Unfortunately, the car kept slowing down and pretty soon I was only able to go 40mph... I saw an emergency call box on the side of the road and finally had gotten out of the bad neighborhood area of that interstate and pulled over. You'll see my tire and be amazed the rim wasn't ruined! I know how to change a tire but as I pulled onto the shoulder I noticed many vehicles change lanes and swerve towards me, pass me by and return to their original left lanes. I don't understand why people would swerve except that my hazard lights drew them in. And I could feel the wind of their vehicles - cars, trucks, semi trailers - rock my car as they sped past. Nervous that I was going to get hit from behind or hit if I changed the tire, I made a phone call. Thankfully, AAA service tow truck came out 20 minutes later and the guy changed my flat in 5 minutes. And thankful the AAA representative remained on the phone line until the tow truck arrived. Strange though that the number I dialed was routed to Austin, Texas and not some Southern California tow service.

Then yesterday, I woke up early and went tire shopping. I was a bit lucky that I did get that flat... I checked all my tires and the tread was missing on two of them! That 3rd tire was just replaced a few years ago when I first moved here - again, I had run something over and got a flat. Since I've been forgetting to rotate my tires, the tire center person said that tire would probably last 6 more months... so, 4 new tires later I left the store and went to work graveyard shift.

Which reminds me... I-405 is quite dangerous... about a year ago I was driving around with a friend of mine after work, around midnight. There was a huge roll of carpet right in the middle of the road! I saw the car ahead of me swerve but didn't know what they swerved around until I had run it over and was pivoting on it. Someone must have called it in since only a few minutes after that the California Highway Patrol (CHP) was on scene trying to get my car off the carpet... and up the road from that was a mattress and a dresser.

Yup, so the spare tire is on the car and the flat tire is really a missing tire! I still have no idea what I ran over. But whatever it was after 2 miles of driving, the tire just shredded off.

Ride the new year

Feb 1, 2010

Falling behind already in the new year. I haven't had much of a chance to get out and ride. It's been very busy at work and the weather hadn't been cooperating very well. We had rain storms for almost 2 weeks. It flooded a couple interstates and cities. There were a few tornados as well. Yeah! Tornados in SoCal... who would have thought? They flipped some vehicles and boats over but I'm not sure about people damage.


And now it's already February! And this is my first ride of the New Year. Went up to Malibu with a friend of mine. Last minute planning and I was glad for the company. Rode up Pacific Coast Highway and nice cool weather, not too much traffic - course it was a Monday afternoon and we stopped at a biker hangout called Neptune's Net, which had pretty good food.

New Year

Running late as always, lately... but  Happy New Year!

Looking back, 2009 sure went fast. Day by day, it seems like time passes so slow but weeks and months just flew by extremely quickly this year. Quite the roller coaster ride, there were ups and downs throughout the year like the excitement of a possible new business and opening a restaraunt, to selling out my portion of of the restaurant, to leaving the restaurant industry completely for a total career change, going on my first Iron Butt mini ride of 1,000 miles in 18 hours and last minute mini vacations. 

There will be some definate long rides planned out for 2010. I'm quite looking forward to them!

I hope everyone has a great 2010. Best wishes to you all.

Oceanside

Dec 20, 2009

Last minute getaway with a friend of mine. I didn't want to drive too far but wanted to get out of town for the weekend. We decided to go to Oceanside... only a few hours away and about a half hour north of San Diego. The weather was abit overcast but still nice enough for shorts and a t-shirt, well maybe a sweatshirt.

Oceanside pier was right in front of our hotel room. Very nice view!

Kind of overcast all weekend but it still made a nice relaxing weekend that totally went too fast.

View from the pier.

On the pier some pelicans decided to hangout by the bait shop. Amazingly, there were a lot fo fishermen and women out fishing for sardines. We watched a few and as soon as they dropped the hook they would catch a fish. You could see the fish too jumping in the water just waiting to be caught.

Different day but probably the same pelicans.

Me at the beach.

We wanted to go snorkeling and had heard there was a great place in San Diego but the day was very windy. We ended up just walking around and spotted several baby seals still with fur resting on the beach.

San Diego is home to Camp Pendleton, a Marine base so there were all sorts of planes and helicopters out.

Sunset in San Diego.

Vegas

Dec 11, 2009


Had a few days off and decided to go to Las Vegas with a friend of mine. December was quite a busy month and am just now updating my blog.

Before we left, I received a crash course from the guys at work on how to play roulette. So that was my new goal on arrival. There were a lot of things we wanted to do and see but our list was too long and our days too few. We almost walked the entire strip and went inside a few of the shopping centers. Went up the Eiffel tower in Paris and on a gondola ride in Venetian, watched the water show at the Bellagio and gambled...lots. Luckily, even though we lost alot, we also won and came out even.

It sure seems like the days off pass way too quickly.

New York

Harley-Davidson Cafe... we didn't get a chance to go inside. There were so many great restaurants and buffets everywhere that our bellies were too full the entire weekend!

The water area behind me was full of cranberries. Everything in almost every casino was decorated for the holiday season.

A look down from the Eiffel Tower.

We saw the water show at the Bellagio twice - once up close and the second time quite by accident when we went up the Eiffel Tower.

San Simeon

Had the chance to go camping with some friends. I'd never been to San Simeon before... actually, I didn't know where it was but I've driven past it several times traveling up Highway 1, Pacific Coast Highway. As a matter of fact, when a friend and I went to Monterey last summer we stopped not too far from San Simeon to check out all the elephant seals on the beach.

One this trip, there were 9 of us... some of them camped at this location last Spring so they were regulars. A friend of mine had amazingly never been camping before. And was so excited to sleep in a tent and sleeping bag. Whew! It sure was cold with temperatures in the high 40's and the coastal breeze. I was glad we cheated and brought a propane heater! We cranked that sucker on and stayed nice and toasty at night. In the day time, it was in the high 50's and what a difference the sun makes - shorts, t-shirt and flip-flop weather!

One of the evenings, we went up to Hearst Castle for a tour. Wow! What an amazing place! Just the kitchen alone would be such an awesome place to hangout and cook all day long. The architecture was incredible! A majority of it like the ceilings, a few doors and some wall panels were hand-carved. The swimming pools were fantastic - there were 3 of them. One was lined with gold. Quite extravagant! I wish I could have taken more pictures but flashes were not allowed and each picture turned out too dark.


A friend of mine had a very nice zoom on her camera. This is Hearst Castle.

We went for a short hike (yes, in flip-flops!) and open land is so nice to see compared to city life!

We camped not too far from the ocean.

On Hearst Castle property, I think the plan was for a zoo many years ago. It didn't quite happen but there were zebras on property.

Stopped over at Pismo Beach on the way home for a few scenic snapshots.

Pismo Beach pier...

The 9 of us - Lek, Heather, Stacy, Kate, Boo, Wendy, Kat, Deb and me.

Elephant seals along the beach. Most of these were still young.

Oh! On our way to the beach we came across a bobcat. It was just sitting there on the path, at least 100 feet away... I didn't see it since it was in the shadows and of course, I was without my glasses. One of my friends yelled out for everyone to stop walking... then zoomed in on her camera.

Copper Keister 2

I'm not exactly sure what copper keister means but this is the second time the bike club has gone this route. I think the first time it was called the 70's route. Also, the first time we went one of the girls got heat exhaustion and we cut the ride short. This is quite the ride! In all, if everything went to plan this ride would only take 6 hours round trip. But of course, whatever can go wrong well, sometimes does. I was abit excited because I knew this would be another 12 hour day.

The ride organizer decided that we'd hit up a new breakfast location. I had heard some really good reviews but when we got there, I guess it really is a good place because the line to get a seat was out the door and into the parking lot. With 11 starving women, we decided to go elsewhere - across the street. The parking was empty and they served breakfast, lunch and dinner. But once we got inside I found out it was a bar. They were open and we were the only ones in there besides the server. Something was wrong with the cook and in hindsight, I should have asked if I could make breakfast. It would have been alot quicker and much tastier! We were all busy talking but about an hour went by when all of a sudden we realized it's been along time and we're still hungry! It took 1 1/2 hours to get our breakfast after the server took our order. But we were flexible on time so we ate very quickly and everyone was still hungry. The food was just awful and we were joking around we should have ordered drinks... they probably never made food before.

Two hours after we arrived at the bar, we were ready to go. Next stop was a historical town called Julian. It was an old mining town but is now famous for pies. The route we took were all 70's... Highway 76, highway 79, highway 78. Very scenic and lots of space! It's mostly farmland, wineries and just hills. We definately took the "scenic" route for sure! But all was good because the scenery was so nice and I didn't even notice we were going the wrong way... about 60 miles the wrong way. No one else noticed either.

We finally made it to Julian. The whole town closes at 5PM. Luckily, it was 4:50 and everyone was starving and we stopped for pie and ice cream. It really was good. But honestly, I think my mom's pies are better. What can I say, I'm biased!

Out of all the riders, I live the farthest. I got home around 1030PM... so 14 1/2 hours. We took a few extra hours on this trip. I think last time, it was almost a 12 hour day. We had a lot of new riders and about half the group had never ridden in the dark before. They nervous and were not prepared. I didn't realize it until later but I think there were only a few that had eye protection for night driving. I was wondering why some were riding so slow but they had sunglasses on! Whew, very dangerous. A long day but it was just a nice time riding around, socializing with new friends, etc. I definately think this ride is a keeper. I know we'll be doing this ride alot since the organizer wants to perfect this ride in 6 hours.

So this is what most of the scenery looked like. Quite a nice area.

There were 11 of us total. One rider lives in San Diego so she met up with us once we got closer to her location. I wished I could have taken more photos but I just didn't want to pull off the side of the road into gravel.

Labor Day Weekend

It happened to be one of the best Labor Day weekends I’ve had in a long time. Yet, we were struck with a few obstacles that kinda just made the adventure quite a good story.

Okay, so I’ve been in this biker club for over a year now. I joined a few months after moving here last year and it fulfilled two of my requests – to be able to ride my bike more often and to make new friends. It’s just amazing that this group is getting larger and larger. So much in fact, that there are some folks I have not even met yet!

While making some new friends with this group, we’ve all decided that not only do we want to ride but also to socialize. Riding can be very difficult on the social aspect except when we stop for fuel breaks or a meal – it’s the only time we are able to chat since we’re riding our bikes all over. Then the hikes began, then dinner parties, poker parties, playing pool and even having a beach picnic. It’s really a great group of people. I’m just so amazed that everyone is so friendly, inviting and seeking new friends.

When I was in Texas a few years ago it was very very difficult to make friends and even trying to find decent biker buddies. It was very clique-ish and I was very surprised since it changed so much from the great Texas experience I had while in the military. Then I realized a majority of my friends were no longer in Texas and perhaps that was why it wasn’t the same. Maybe that was why it was so easy to pick up and leave when I found out I was accepted into sushi school and moved to Los Angeles.

I think its people that are changing my perspective on SoCal. I still don’t understand why so many people live here. Sure the weather is great for most of the year but it’s really over populated, there are lots of rude superficial people, traffic is horrid, pollution is just crazy and there’s just no sense of space and definitely nothing serene! I’ve been ready to pick up and leave for the past 6 months or so but then I think of this group and the new friends I’ve made… and want to stay. Yeah, it surprises me too!

So back to this past weekend. One of my new biker friends invited us to the lake for the weekend. There were only a couple of us that had the time off and wanted to go. We left early Saturday and as we were about to leave, she asked if I liked to drive fast. Of course! But then common sense made me ask what do you mean by fast? 80-85mph… Oh, sure no problem. I usually travel 80mph on the highway by car anyway. Originally we were all going to ride together – there were only 4 of us. But I had to return a day early to return to work so I drove my vehicle. And one of the girls was nice enough to ride with me. And Rookie did not go 85… she has this huge monster truck and from what I was informed, the bigger the tires the lower the speedometer reads. So according to her speedometer, she was going 85 yet I was going 95 to catch up. (Yes, mom… I was speeding. Sorry.) And I still couldn’t catch up so I just slowed down to 80 and thankfully, Jayna knew how to get there.

It was so hot out; we unpacked as fast as we could, made a picnic lunch to take with and high tailed it to the lake. Lake Mead is huge! Rookie was driving us to all these coves and we’d swim a bit then move on. Time flew fast and the wind picked up. We moved once more to another cove and when we decided we were hungry and should get back for dinner. We were not able to cross the lake! The winds were so strong the swells were over 2 feet tall! Rookie was worried the boat would capsize although she tried twice to get us home. Several other boaters also tried and had to return to the safety of the cove to wait out the winds as well. The only ones that made it out were the ocean cabin cruisers and even they were knocked around by the wind and waves.

Luckily, we were stranded next to a huge houseboat. We were thinking of the worst and we could perhaps ask them if they could let us sleep over. But 3 hours later, we thought the winds died down enough to try returning to the boat slip. And no, we only were able to cross the lake into another cove. There was a boat there but no one was around. So yes, we ended up waiting and waiting and waiting and the wind never died. There was a lightning storm in the distance and we were worried it would rain (which was in the forecast for the evening). Luckily, it didn’t rain but we did end up sleeping on the boat overnight. Now that was quite uncomfortable! Not the worst situation I’ve been in but just uncomfortable yet we managed to find humor in our delirium… a lot of humor.

The sun rose yet the wind never stopped. It was not as strong at 5AM and Rookie decided to give it one last try. We made it. The waves were crazy huge and it took about 45 minutes to cross the lake and the safety of our boat slip. We were exhausted and ended up taking a nap. We awoke to a very hot RV. What happened?

The air conditioner was on full blast the whole night we were gone and froze the compressor and line. Several hours later and way into the evening, we figured that out and defrosted the line. The A/C was ready to go. We finally made our first meal since that picnic lunch the previous day. Whew! We were starving! With a great dinner in our bellies, we ended up checking out Hoover Dam and just hanging out.

By this time, it was already Monday and we all wanted to go for a little boat ride before I left. I ended up leaving later than planned although nothing else went wrong the remaining time of the trip. The other girls left Tuesday and everyone was wishing for a longer weekend.


This is the arch portion of the new bridge. The road across Hoover Dam will be closed off in a few years due to Homeland Security. People will have to travel across this bridge instead. The arch itself is the largest concrete arch in North America.

This is also part of the dam. You can see the water level of the lake. It is very very low - the top of the white portion is where the lake level usually is.

The new bridge from the road on Hoover Dam.

Guardian angel statues sit near the Hoover Dam tourist building.

As with a climber statue.

Lake Mead - low lake level... as you can see the white portion on the hill is where the lake water usually is.

Lake Mead close to the park entrance.

Paddleboat rides were also available on the lake.

The four of us - Carrie, Jayna, Eli, Rookie

Sunset on Lake Mead as we were stranded in a cove overnight.