Hello all, I've been on vacation for the past 2 weeks. The first week we went to Vancouver/Whistler, B.C. It was gourgeous there and the whole time I was wishing I had my bike. The roads from Vancouver to Whistler were awesome. Most of the roads there are beautiful and windy; a rider's paradise. We took the Ski tram to the top of Whistler (7000 ft). That was an experience in itself. There was still snow at the top and the scenery was breathtaking. We came back home to Texas and flew out again after 2 days to Palm Springs, California. Our original plan was Ft. Lauderdale, Florida but it was supposed to rain & thunderstorm the whole week we were to be there so I changed plane the day before we were leaving.

The second weekin Palm springs was an experience. The travel agent told us that it would be 75-85 degrees so we packed clothes accordingly. When we get there it show 114 on thecar thermometer! Needless to say, we didn't spend too much time in Palm Springs. Went to a desert oasis, and drove around a bit. Too hot for any hiking especially with 2 kids. We drove to Long Beach but it was much cooler than I expected (69 degrees) so we just walked along the beach, got our feet (and kids)wet and went back to the desert heat. Some nice roads/ Hwys (60 and 79 I think). The next day we drove up to Big Bear Lake (Hwy 38) and back down. Awesome motorcycle road! Anyone who lives near there should ride up there! We got up to 8000 ft elevation and the scenery was outstanding.

On Thursday we drove to (stopped off at the Ghost Town) Death Valley! There a reason it's called that! It was 122 degrees there and no a single tree for shade. Badwater, which is the lowest point in North America, is 282 ft below sea level. I was surprised as to how nice the roads were there. A lot of windey roads and a lot of straight wide open roads too. Got the rental car (Chevy Cobalt)up to 100 mph. LOL. We tasted the salt off the lake bed anddrove back to Cooler Palm Springs (101 degrees). Took the kids to LegoLand onThursday but returned rally late.I tried to hook up with Evil but ran out of time as we left on Friday for Oakland.The weather here is great in the Bay Area. I'm visiting my dad & sister in Ricmond right now and will be back in Texas on Monday. All in all, it' been a nice vacation. On Friday, my older son & I will be going to the USGP at Laguna Seca in Monterey. Busy couple of weeks.

 

Sounds like you've had a great time.

 

lol, sounds like vacationing is more work than work itself!
Nice vacation write up speed!

 

Looks like speed is livin' large and in charge!....[sm=icon_cheers.gif]...cheers!

 

Sounds like a good vacation. Vancouver, B.C. and that area's really beautiful but then so is most of the Pacific Northwest to the west of the mountains. The east side's a different story, that same kind of flat, dry anddusty climateof Nevada. Haven't been there since the late 80s.

Never been to Palm Springs but I thought Death Valley was kind of cool with those mountains off in the not-too-far distance at the lowest point on the continent. Drove downthere in themid- to late-90s from Oaklandto get a breather from everything for a few days. Used to live in Oakland so I know Richmond. I'd take my dogs to the dog-park that's right on the S.F. Bay. in Richmond. Nice place for them to run around and meet some of their own kind. Only problem is they'd have a bad reaction to the water in the Bay if it was low tide and all that goop from the refineries and other stuff in the water got in their systems. They'd be making a bee-line for the nearest porta-potty and not be making it in time. The water was fine if the tide was high and they could swim out into the Bay after sticks and tennis ***** and have a good time. But if you ever have some boots on and go walking through the marsh grass at low tide its like quick-sand and plenty of oil right under the surface of the sand and marsh and reeds.

Glad youhad a good time. Have fun at Laguna Seca.

 

and i just came back from monterey today

 

Monterey, with one r instead of two(theMonterrey with 2 "r"s is south of the border) is nice too. I lived in Pacific Grove, the next town over from Monterey in the late summer and fall of '92 fora little while. Hope you had a good time.

 

To bad I didn't know you were in this area I could have meet up with you. Stockton is about 30-40 min away from me.

 

Yeah, my bay area trip was short and hectic. I saw my dad, sister and a couple of best friends there. I wish I had more time so we could have met somewhere.Got a call that afternoonfrom my brother-in-law that the fridge took a dump and it was going to cost $1600 to $3000 for a new one, so I had to take the RedEye back home from SFOlast night. They already ordered one but ended up cancelling it this morning. Turns out it just needed defrosting. That would have been an expensive unforseen cost.

Next time I come up, I'll post my plans so maybe us forum members could hook-up.

 

why so much for a reefer ?