The weather started warm and humid and progressed to hot and humid by the end of the day and we progressed from gold coast glitz complete with carnival rides to rolling fields of corn, mostly browned off, peanuts, melons and cotton.

We’re riding on mainly highways since we are on a bit of a mission to get to Louisiana to catch up with our nephew and don’t really have the time to explore many country roads where photo opportunities are more readily available but we got in early enough today to explore surrounding historic areas of Weldon and Halifax which was interesting and to again see how the rural areas are really struggling.

The highlight of the ride was travelling on the Chesapeake Bridge and Tunnel complex which was the purpose of us coming so far east. For Bransgrove family members, the 3 bridges and 2 tunnels (under the shipping channels) is 20 miles long which is the same distance from the farm in Neerim North to Warragul, 20miles! It was a shame the fishing pier and café’s were closed for work, we would have enjoyed the photo opportunities and had planned to have lunch there.

A sample of the historic buildings in Historic Halifax.

A specie house on the outskirts of Halifax.

Roanoke Rapids, yes only about 25m above sea level so things cannot fall too far … I guess.

Staying tonight at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites.

Today!

1.     We nearly walked our legs off over the weekend and were a bit weary … felt like we’d been chasing a long-legged young thing around the city all weekend … oh hang on that’s what we were doing.

2.     We wanted to avoid tolls if possible as we are still having some toll transponder issues.

3.     There was heaps of traffic to deal with on the way out of NYC as well as many detours around roadworks so tested the sense of humour and concentration levels.

4.     We also had a ferry crossing on the Cape May – Lewes Ferry 54kms before our destination which ate up time waiting to get on the 1.5-hour trip on the crossing.

5.     Had a couple of shots to navigate to our hotel with a weird traffic treatment here. Bizarre!

Ocean City is a sort of Gold Coast type area chock full of holiday accommodation but for a limited season about to come to a halt next weekend (Labour Day weekend) when ‘the season’ ends and only the die-hards visit then as the weather gets rougher and less summer like.

And that bridge in the distance is the one we were supposed to be on coming out of NYC, the Skyway but we got there anyway in the long run in spite of roadworks / bridgeworks and detours.

Great morning coffee spot and a very American Diner.

More great infrastructure in another bridge, soooo much water in the waterways so if you can’t build bridges people can’t get anywhere. Necessity leads to great engineering obviously.

Outlying area of Atlantic City streetscape

And a very cute house in the suburbs.

Heading towards the first tunnel section of the Chesapeake Bridge Tunnel complex. Awe inspiring. No photo can do it justice ... where is a good drone when you need one?

Waiting for the ferry crossing and that is a 1965 Airstream caravan and a 3-wheel Ural motorbike – can engage both rear wheels, made in Russia, originally for WWII but now manufactured in cute colours and selling well apparently.

All aboard the ferry ... serous tie down procedures there are not.

And we are staying tonight at La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham.

For our final day in the big apple we started earlier than yesterday and took the subway to the Port to check out the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum Complex which was awesome and even if we had been there all day we still wouldn’t have seen it all and even Ashley found that there were different things to see than he had previously seen. We toured the Grumbler Submarine used as a launch pad for nuclear missiles as part of the deterrent program in the cold war. Then we toured the Intrepid Aircraft carrier which was used in WWII as well as Vietnam and now houses all sorts of historic planes, helicopters and all sorts of displays in the hangar not to mention heaps of others on the deck including a Space Shuttle in a massive shed!. We nearly walked our legs off then headed back to the subway and a cab to get to the Highline Walk which was once elevated railway lines and after public intervention stopped the wrecking of it and it is now a huge walkway and garden.

We headed back to the subway and Ashley got off to make sure the old people were pointed in the right direction so we wouldn’t get lost on the way to our hotel, we said our farewells and headed back to the hotel to freshen up then had a quiet dinner before turning in. It was a treat to be able to catch up and spend so much time with him.

Intrepid shots, this one of the deck from the Flag Room.

And this on the deck itself.

And the Space Shuttle Enterprise, impossible to fit it all in!

Then to the Highline Walk which was all kinds of wonderful. The raile lines have been left and are an integral part of the garden. Feel a bit sorry for some who have had their privacy impacted, but at least they no longer have a railway outside their windows ... and there is some quirky architecture in buildings along the way.

See what I mean?

Again.

And it continues.

And yes that really is a helipdad up the top!

And back to a view on our way back to the hotel, a very New York water tower for fire fighting following the great fire of New York.

We continued our orientation of New York City and the Subway and headed with Ashley to the American Museum of Natural History which was wonderful. This is the building used in the movie ‘A Night at the Museum’ which must have been a logistical nightmare. We just loved the building which was immense and all kinds of wonderful as well as the exhibitions. Could spend all day. We enjoyed the Planetarium also which gave us things to tease out with Ashley … and probably drive him nuts as well. Ah well, you get that.

We explored a bit of Central Park and again were amazed at what a short distance you need to head into it to lose the sounds of the city. Such a lovely place to walk and just relax. We had another enjoyable meal together albeit a very noisy one in a bar on our way back to the hotel.

I’ll let the pictures tell the story again.

American Museum of Natural History building entry.

The foyer and the display begins.

T Rex.

Grand Central Park view.

And those guys again Norm and Ashley.

Brownstone apartments on the way back to the hotel.

An empty block now a Community Garden.

And some apartment gardening.

Was a much more comfortable temperature for riding today through some rugged hills and mountains and tried to find local roads to ride into New York with little success but overall managed to find a few. It would appear that the Interstate highways and freeways are funded and maintained by the Federal / State Governments and anything else is taken care of (or not) by the Counties and OMG when we pulled off to get a coffee at a quirky little spot we found holes between the road edge and servo where you could have buried a cow or two but we were not to be deterred because we were on our way to catch up with our grandson Ashley who is doing a PhD in Astro Physics at Columbia University and thankfully we made our way quite comfortably into NYC, found our hotel, checked in and deposited our bikes about a  block away at a garage for the duration of our stay.

Once we freshened up Ashley came around and we had a brief tour of some of the Columbia Campus where he works and has been teaching which was great. We visited his apartment in a lovely Art Deco building (owned by the University) and then had a yummy dinner across the street from his apartment.

Where are we supposed to be?????

Country roads find interesting things.

Speccie Columbia Building. 

Two of my favourite men, Norm undergoing his subway induction.

Dinner with Ashley.

Staying next three nights at the Belnord Hotel.

Another hot and humid day. Early in the day we went past a sign to the Kinzua area and were reminded of a trip we had done to previously to see the Kinzua Bridge which was awesome. Search Kinzua on the blog and you will find it. Well worth the look.

We rode through lots of rolling forested hills throughout the day as well as farmland with crops as well as some cattle. Our coffee spot was in the little village of Angelica which was a treat. All kinds of pretty but again struggling. We were blown away by a little circle park as we entered town which had 5 Churches around it, a couple of houses and a Post Office. Very quirky.

Binghamton a bit larger town than some we’ve seen and some affluent areas but again some very tired areas with many challenges.

Jamestown view.

Jamestown view.

Angelica, all kinds of pretty.

Angelica, welcoming.

Angelica, around the circle, 2 of the 5 churches.

This is the seecnd of a series of signs before a Text / Rest stop. The first sign says "It can wait Text / Rest area 5 miles ahead' then this one is 1 mile before the stop.

And this one as you leave. They are sponsored by various businesses. Great idea.

And the Holiday Inn we stayed at.

It was a challenge getting things almost dry overnight before we headed off, but the temperature remained hot and humid, so they sort of dried out over time. We rode through a lot of farming country and skated along the edge of Lake Erie which was rarely far away as well as forest areas and I was delighted to spot heaps of eagles soaring on thermals today which was a treat.

Norms quote for the day when we were having a coffee “Well Missy the clouds are ‘a building and the clocks ‘a ticking, let’s make a mile”.

Jamestown appears a tired little town and I don’t think I have ever seen so many people on the streets on wheelie walkers, motorised and not as well as on crutches. Turns out they have some serious rehab going on for drug and alcohol as well as physical and again the County is doing some serious refurbishing work but boy they have their work cut out for them. I wish them we

Also discovered that Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez came from here and there is a Museum for them here as well as a Comedy theatre.

Typical farm image.

From our window, the diamond is covered in plastic protecting it from the rain.

Toledo streetscape.

Work shot.

 Staying tonight at La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham.

After enjoying the wonderful soft mattress for two nights we woke to hear there had been 4inches of rain to our south west overnight and there was a severe storm cell heading our way with severe wind, rain, hail and potentially tornado activity, the whole shebang.

The weather was hot and humid all day as we rode through lots of rolling fields of corn and potatoes, at least I think that’s what they were, the leaves looked a bit different to what we’re used to.

We saw very few bikes on the road, and we were pretty much the only ones in anything resembling protective safety gear … apart from those wearing a safety bandana, we can only assume the outsides are Teflon coated and the inside Kevlar lined … or not!

The weather predictions came true 35kms out of Toledo when the rain hit and we were on the turnpike so by the time we could stop (amongst roadworks behind barriers) we were soaked and figured it was too late to be of any great use to saturate our wet weather gear inside and out so headed off again. We had about 5km of nearly dry roads and thought ‘well that wasn’t too bad’ which was a mistake because the skies opened up 25km out with incredible rain accompanied by lightning and strong winds and a lot of hail for good measure. Apparently a lot of cars didn’t consider they could see well enough and pulled over and we were amazed we could see given we had water inside and outside the visors, perhaps that’s why they didn’t fog up, so we kept travelling. The water was pouring across the road and in one place was flooded across a dip around 4 – 6 inches deep. By the time we got in we couldn’t have been any more wet than we would have been if we had jumped into a swimming pool! We felt really bad dripping all over the hotel floor at the desk and on our way to the room.

It was a lovely old Art Deco Hotel which was looked after well but Toledo looked very tired and there is an obvious effort to revive the old industrial area. It looked rather nice and would be good to check it out later perhaps.

Services Plaza straddles the freeway so accessible from both sides. Very clever.

The first coffee for the riding trip in the services plaza.

A partial work shot with trucks in the background and some police very interested in our bikes, again at the services plaza.

The things you find on country roads ... when you can find them that is ...

A work shot.

Staying tonight at Park Inn by Radisson Hotel, the lovely Art Deco foyer.

Well here we are in the good old USA for another adventure!

We flew with Air New Zealand Via Auckland direct into Chicago which was great being able to totally miss LAX where I don’t think we have ever had a plane leave or arrive on time not to mention very long hikes to everywhere.

We still had some long walks at O’Hare Airport, but it was the end of the trip, so Immigration and Border Control was also at the end of the trip not to mention some of the quickest we have been through.

The Chicago - Carol Stream area is a predominantly industrial / commercial area but is only a short hotel shuttle ride away from the bike shop.

We sank into our mattress last night and woke at 10am this morning. Aaaahhhh. Then off to collect the bikes. It was great to catch up with Mike and the team at Du Page Honda who we dealt with on our previous trips. They were ‘can do’ people then and continued to be now. Thanks guys. I’ll add a link to their website.

From there it was a quick bite of lunch and back to the hotel to get the toll transponders registered, bike panniers packed and sort the luggage for travelling.

Bikes collected and there we are about to head off. Yippee!

 https://www.dupagehonda.com/And there we are outside Du Page Honda about to head off. Yippee!

Staying next two nights at Holiday Inn Hotel Chicago-Carol Stream.

Well we achieved what we wanted to today in spite of the smog. California apparently has the most stringent air quality rules in the country and it would seem they need it. We checked out Chaparral Motor Sports in San Bernardino then came back into Griffith Park to catch a glimpse of the 'HOLLYWOOD' sign then onto Bert's Mega Mall to sell our bikes so we're ready to depart tomorrow. Job done. Bert's Mega Mall, 1151 N Azusa Avenue, Covina, CA 91722 are the largest dealers in the world and it is massive with motorbikes, ATV's, jet skis and all sizes of motorboats not to mention a huge apparel and parts range, café and lounges. Very impressive and all the staff we came in contact with (many) were all friendly and helpful. They are clearly serious about how they do business. You can find them here

http://www.bertsmegamall.com/

A miserly selection of pics tell the story below:

We thankfully managed to be heading in the right direction while we were on a variety of freeways today which was good but the 90 kms from San Bernardino to Griffiths Park made me pine for my foot pegs given we had removed them for me to bring home. This is a shot of one of the spaghetti (cloverleaf) type intersections of a number of freeways from many directions. Signage has been good so not as daunting as it looks.

And an interesting wide trailer we followed for a bit before heading off the freeway this morning.

Check out the Police Bikes parked up at Chaparrel in particular the guns, radar guns etc. All ready to go. BMW bikes you'll note, not Harley's.

And the 'HOLLYWOOD' sign from the LA Observatory approach road.

And a second shot to prove it was us there, bottom right hand corner you can just see the bikes (well more Norm's being blue). Glad we could see it from here. It was too hot to hike to it!

The LA Observatory we couldn't go through since it had been closed. This queue is to the restrooms. As we were leaving three coaches arrived so perhaps they had tickets, who knows. We had bikes to sell!

And a miserable shot of the LA skyline, at least what I could see of it and it was worse on the other side of the observatory so I didn't bother taking a shot.

We decided to stay on Hwy # 1 rather than 101 again in the hope we would be closer to the coast and we were for the most part until we headed east to our hotel. We left Santa Barbara in good time and called in to Oxnard right on the beach to catch up with Gina Yates (from the Portland area) who we  met many years ago when she did a stint as an exchange student with Norm's sister and family. We caught up with her briefly in Portland in 1998 so it was good to see her again and it was a bonus to also meet her young man and her Mum. Cannot believe we left without taking a photo. DOH! Even worse than that we forgot to wish her Happy Birthday!!

From there we headed for Malibu and had a great time dipping in and out of the great folded up sandstone cliffs / mountains  with sand dunes thrown into the mix with great curving corners sweeping back and forth, a lovely ride. We headed up one canyon to try and explore without success but finally found the Malibu Canyon with a great sealed road and had an awesome ride. It was spectacular and after we found the end of Route 66 on the Santa Monica Pier we were heading east on multi lane freeways to our hotel. It was flat out and full on concentration and boy were my knees ready to get off by the end of that. For the most part the traffic was pretty good but some were oblivious to indicators which aggravated me somewhat. Anyway, at the end of the day we got to where we needed to go safely.

The photos tell the story below:

Beautiful cliffs accompany us on our ride.

It's official, these are the Santa Monica Mountains not just sand dunes.

Back to the highway when the canyon trail ended in dirt and a closed gate ... just as well there was also a warning sign about mountain lions in the area.

Malibu housing literally hanging on the edge, wouldn't like it for me.

Lunch at Neptunes Net which was an experience with lots of other bikers and a lot of 'wanna be's' (my uncharitable title).

And across the road there were surfers of all ages, a lot even older than us, who were bobbing about like corks on the surface waiting for a wave.

And one finally up.

And miles later it's officially Malibu according to a sign which said 'Malibu - 27 miles of Scenic Beauty'.

And we discover Malibu Cayon and this is a massive cross in the grounds of the Pepperdeine University at the start of the trek up the canyon. We followed the route through magnificent rugged cliff faces until we returned to ranching country then returned to the coast. Lots of great shots we didn't get but these two below we were able to stop for. Not as impressive as many we coudn't get.

And into Santa Monica to visit the pier and the end of Route 66 and with parking places all full desparate times required desparate measures. Worked well.

The official end of the trail. Always a problem getting strangers to take a pic, just checked our faces and sign were in view, didn't notice the missing feet. Ah well.

Lots at the beach which had a massive stretch of sand so by the time you get to the water you would deserve a swim. The crosses were part of some sort of protest about troops being killed overseas. Interesting that with all the people on the beach these weren't disturbed.

And the lovely old Carousel now inside a building so it is protected from the weather.

And finally a look to the end of the Pier ... oh and we saw another Bubba Gump Shrimp Company building with diners lined up outside the door and heaps of apparel for sale. What a crack up, actually over my right shoulder in the Route 66 sign.

Bits and Bobs:

The sign at the front of our lunch spot. Worked well though a little unsettling with people hovering around as we ate.

And look what we had in our room last night. Thought we had the genuine article but it was push button and not rotary dial. Ah well.

Last Night's Accommodation:

The Wayfarer, 12 East Montecito Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101

This is an upmarket hostel. Nice room though tiny also a tiny shower room but as the room it is all functional, nice and comfortable. Good storage space but no hanging space. Included WiFi, continental breakfast, parking and use of full kitchen as well as lounge space.

We decided to follow Highway # 1 (the original highway) rather than Highway 101 wherever we could today to get closer to the coast and while that entailed a bit of frustration it overall led to a great day. We traveled through great California Ranch Country and Coastal areas looking more like Australia than anywhere else with all the eucalypts and had barely started out when we came across a 4th July Parade. Yay. After our experience in Cody Wyoming last year we had hoped we would find one.This year it was in Cayucos where the theme was 'Home of the free next to the sea' and we enjoyed it. We ended up today in Santa Barbara and looking at the tall palms in front of the hills all that is missing is the Hollywood sign, albeit a bit too far north for that. Had a nice dinner and enjoyed the fireworks display which was supposed to start at 9.30pm and ended up being 9.05pm. Was very pretty. Happy Birthday everyone in the USA!!!

The wharf in Cayucos being rebuilt with people gathering in front and left over from the sand castle efforts. Note the gum leaves on the tree above. Travelled through heaps of them today including really dense roadside plantings and it smelt great.

And the 4th of July Parade for real above and then below.

Morro Bay StatePark (on the old highway) and this is the Marina.

And the Golf Course.

And along the Los Osos Valley to the beach, like in the Australian high country amongst the eucalypts!

And then at the beach. There were so many cars coming back we assumed a through road (and no signs said otherwise) but not so.

Proof we got to Pismo Beach, just too much cloud to see a beach! ....and this was followed by over an hour in a frustratingly inch by inch traffic jam only to find the traffic jam was turning into a state park and choking up the road we were on as well. DOH!

We travelled through lots of California Ranch Country reminiscent of cattle country around Cooma in NSW...

...and then into Market Garden Central (my title) literally hundreds if not thousands of acres of intensive market garden agriculture. Interesting to see where they use plastic it is white instead of black like at home.

Guadalupe,  tired little town in the middle of the market gardens.

After winding through the Californian Hills / Sand dunes / folded up bedrock mountains of California and riding over awesome winding roads we came across the Vandenberg Airforce Base before we headed for Lompoc. We didn't hang around to see the penitentiary entrance further down the hill.

And to the coast...

Rail and old road bridge. There is apparently an exciting conservation project under the road bridge to get some sort of creature to move from one area to another. I read the board and it made no sense to me so I hope whatever is supposed to migrate has figured it out.

And more beautiful birds taking to flight. Truly soul restoring ... especially when our trip is about to come to an end. Boo hoo.

Bits and Bobs:

Stella (youngest grandchild calls Norm Haddad / Hagdad...in any case this was near enough to make us miss her and the rest of them.

Last two Night's Accommodation:

Cambria Landing Inn & Suites, 6530 Moonstone Beach Drive, Moonstone Beach, Cambria, CA 93428

Lovely comfortable space with included breakfast (in our room), parking and wine reception yesterday evening. Seemed expensive for what it was, but reasonable compared to others in vicinity.

We had barely started out and started stopping to take photos as we did for the rest of the day and the other thing which didn't stop for the rest of the day was the sea mist / fog / great rolling bank of cloud which moved in and out to and from the coast. We loved the ride winding in and out of the great sandy dunes / cliff faces which were incredibly well covered with succulents, shrubs, pampas grass, remnants of redwood forests and eucalypts depending on how far from the coast we were and later in the day around the Hearst Castle open grassland even with a mob (?) of zebras we didnt get a shot of. Mind you, we only had to be one sand dune away from the coast to be immersed in the cool dampness of the forest. Awesome.

Barely started our ride and this is the first stop amongst spectacular real estate.

Secluded inlet on Wildcat Creek.

Heading out from Carmel proper.

More rocks.

Above Rocky Creek Bridge and below the Bixby Bridge, both built in 1932.

A lighthouse on a quirky little promontory with locked gate and no way to get there.

The McWay Falls, very nice.

Yet another beach and fog.

Apparently a known area for rock slides so a more serious treatment than some mesh.

Yet another bridge.

And another bridge.

And a bank of cloud rolling in. In places we were above this bank and it looked like we were in an aircraft with the cloud billowing below us. Bizarre.

A beach full of elephant seals relaxing and flicking the sand over themselves.

And two at play / being amarous with possible other suitors waiting in the wings.

We went to see the Hearst Castle but being the 4th of Juy holiday weekend all slots were taken today and nothing available until late tomorrow so instead we watched the video about the building of the castle and that was enough for Norm.

And down to Simeon Beach and there were huge numbers of birds just having fun climbing on the thermals.

Last two Night's Accommodation:

Best Western Carmel'sTown House Lodge, Corner of San Carlos Street and Fifth Aveue, Csrmel, CA 93921

Lovely little town / village to be in. Pulled up and wondered if this was a bit of a scary place to be, it looked very 'old and dated' though clean and tidy from outside and inside thankfuly beautifully refurbished so a delight. Comfortable space, roomy bathroom (disabled friendly so a shower, yay, even with a fold down seat so friendly for old weary campers, ha ha). Delicious bed, included WiFi,  parking and continental breakfast and a short walk to lots of restaurant choices and all sorts of shopping choices as well.....shame about hearing every footstep from the room above, their creaking wardrobe door and every time they flush the loo. Well I guess that's what you get with older properties. The value was good though compared to others available.

We had planned to do the 17 mile ride through the Pebble Beach area (a private road) today to be turned away as they have decided motorbikes aren't welcome, so stuff them we just enjoyed our own ride anyway without seeing their snobby little enclave.

This is the most deliberately un-service station looking service station we have ever seen even down to a dark green shell with pale yellow writing, on the opposite corner to our motel in Carmel.

And a particularly quirky shop with a really cute shingled roof. I have to stop with this one because if I start with more I won't stop.

On the beach at Carmel. Beautiful pacific ocean white sand we are familiar with at home.

Point Pinos Lighthouse, the oldest operating lighthouse on the west coast of the USA. First lit in February 1855.

Pretty beach not far from the lighthouse. There were a number of attractive golf courses in the area as well with literally the 10th hole for one of them on the other side of the lighthouse car park.

And a very nice house literally across the road from the beach at Lovers Point. Stunning view.

Harbour Seal hang out at Lovers Point. They can dive up to 1,500 feet for around 30minutes but usually only dive for about 5 minutes and obviously not as deeply as that.

And  a Mum and Pup as well as another adult. They vary in colour from mottled grey to brown to black and to read the official description are described as 'sausage shaped'.

Seven Gables Inn one of many sweet accommodation options at Lovers Point.

Sheltered little beach which also has a volleyball court and a pool one as well.

Main Street Lovers Point where we had lunch. Considering the number of people all through the street in Carmel the streets here were surprisingly quiet. There were alternate street plantings here of orange and red flowering gums.

And a beach as we head south to get back on the road to Carmel around Pebble Beach. Oooh aaah.

Slept in again this morning and me with a GPS on low vision followed Norm all over town (as in San Fran) looking for Highway # 1 so we could follow the coast and finally found it. Passed lots of 'boxes made of ticky tacky' on our way out of town and dipped in and out of mist covered  terrain throughout the day. We encountered overall very little traffic interspersed with heaps of stop start traffic for short , bizarre, and finally after riding through heaps of and dunes and beach areas and pockets of intense market gardens with dry hills behind ended up in Carmel which is a treat for the senses with delightful restaurants  shops and galleries with all sorts of beautiful things to look at and buy. What a contrast!

In the lobby at the Hilton, Dame Edna eat your hear out at these gladdies.

And a celebratory dinner at an Irish Pub last night. Norm quite likes a guinnes.

And some 'little boxes made of ticky tacky' as we head out of San Francisco this morning. We had passed many beautiful homes around the park but couldn't stop to take the shot. DOH!

It's official, we are out to the Pacific Ocean again.

And a great shot of the Pacific.

What is that thing on the bluff?....apart from a bizzare shape that is.

Ah hah, a military battery from the second world war, incredible erosion since then!

Looking back to where we had come from, and the original Highway #1 went to the left of the tunnels and we had hoped to follow it back but it was listed as no motorised vehicles allowed, only pedestrians and cycles. Damn.

And a close up. It was an impressive tunnel which was longer than it looked but we could see light at the other end for the whole lot of it so was deciving.

And beaches ahead beyond the battery.

Lovely beaches.

Cute lighthouse even though tiny.

A rugged coastal cliff (check out the tree at the top).

Yep, the wind has moulded it to exactly the shape of the cliff. How's that for a stiff westerly breeze!

Smart birds, out of reach of people.

Beautiful sights in passing. Birds taking to flight.

Pigeon Point lighthouse (looks better from the distance, looks very tired close up) and shows the intensive market gardening going on right up to the cliff face.

Robert Louis Stevenson's home at Monterey. Unsure how long it was his home, we saw a home of Mary Queen of Scotts in Scotland where she stayed for 3 months too ill to travel further, but now billed as her home, so who knows?

The Custom House at Cannery Row Monterey. This is at the start of a six block Harbour front street which was once the site of 720 fish packing plants that procesed sardines. In 1945 the sardines disappeared and the buildings now house restaurants and shops. It's a bit like a permanat fair site. Didn't know much about sustainable fishing in those days we have to assume.

The Marina.

Part of Cannery Row where I had a delicious hot chocolate (Norm a coffee) and I checked out some beautiful sculptures. Sometimes it's a bugger to be on a bike!

Surviving fishing industy.

And a couple of the survivors.

Last two Night's Accommodation:

Hilton San Francisco Union Square, 333 O'Farrell Street, San Francisco, CA 94102.

Nice hotel (huge) and room (reasonably small but nicely decorated and comfortable). Handy to the trolley cars and shopping. Staff friendly and helpful. Bed nice and comfortable. I personally didn't enjoy the hotel, seemed way to big and noisy in public spaces and limited eating options with only one restaurant and a Starbucks which was always bulging with customers. There is another coffee area being developed which is way overdue in my opinion. Surprisingly, Norm thought it was okay. Go figure, we are so different!

After a nice sleep in we headed out for a late breakfast and some exploring including a trolley car ride which didn't quite work out as planned as the trolley cars were broken down, DOH, so nearly walked our legs off. You can see a tiny bit of what we saw below:

Before the breakdown.

And believe it or not each trolley has 4 of these timber brakes which is what stops them. Yep, the same as when we were here in 1998.

An intriguing rego plate on a motorcycle, would have liked to see who came to get on it!

Union Square known for it's shopping and here is the Westin Hotel complete with Victoria Secrets....

...and a real reason to go retail, Saks Fifth Avenue and Tiffany's. Now you're talking. Nah, didn't happen.

A recognisable speccie skyline.

An awesome fire truck with a rear steering axle complete with a driver in the rear cab as well as the front.

Hotel Fairmont. Beautiful building and interior space where we went to use an ATM.

The Grace Cathedral.

Cute neighbourhood.

Tangles of cables are everywhere.

And a Church on Washington Square.

Heading up Lombard street before the interesting stuff starts.

The Crookedest Street - Lombard Street.

On the way up.

From the top down. This looks much more speccie than it did in 1998.

And finally heading down Powell Street. We walked over 11,000 steps today and Norm says the degree of difficulty our knees and hips can testify to at least doubled the effort involved to walk those steps....and he is absolutely right!

We headed off in surprisingly cool temperatures and headed for San Francisco and after having a coffee at a quirky spot on the harbour in Sausalito we headed for the Golden Gate Bridge and made our way to the foot of it and checked our Fort Barry, then with a tip from a local there who took our photo headed for Malin Head so we could get an ariel type view of both the bridge and the city which was fun. We also got to Fort Cronkhite and a number of others spread amongst the hills as well as the Lighthouse at Point Bonita then it was headlong across the bridge and into the city. Pics below tell the story:

Oh and as a PS to the bite on my leg, it is starting to subside so hoping nothing more needs to be done other than continue the antibiotics. Hoping the itch will dissipate as well!

An interesting view this morning past the grape vines to the hills where the sea mist has rolled in from the ocean and starting to fall down to the valley here, looked like a grey wreath draped over the top of the hills. I've smelt a delicious sage fragrance early in the day today, like I did last year when we were amongst the sage brush. I havent seen it, but something around obviously smells similar.

A view from a hill in Sausalito back up Highway 101 where we had come from.

And across to the harbour where we are about to head for a coffee.

And a quirky coffee spot. We were the first customers.

Some interesting floating caravans / houses / houseboats moored in the harbour.

Heading for Fort Barry and this is a shot across the harbour to Alcatraz.

And one of the San Francisco Skyline.

And to the Golden Gate Bridge with a couple of happy campers.

And with many boats moored in the harbour.

Some of the very pretty buildings in Fort Barry which are being used as accomodation which meant they were in pretty good shape where the ones on Malin Head where we went to from here the buildings are visibly deteriorating. Note the massive eucalypt tree trunks in the shot. Feels very familiar all through the hills with huge numbers of eucalypt trees complete with delicious eucalyptus fragrance.

Heading to Malin Head here is a look to the Golden Gate Bridge and the city. We climbed even higher than this but figured we had our shot and kept moving.

Heading down the 18% grade from the overlook sights.

Point Bonita lighthouse.

And the actual light which is the original where the current lighthouse isn't the original one. The light can be seen from 23 miles away.

And we head onto the Golden Gate Bridge and I'm sticking to Norm like glue because my GPS has decided to run on emergency lighting so Ican't see it unless I almost have my face on it so not a good way to watch the road and traffic.

Over the bridge and into the city on the way to the hotel. We crossed lots of steep streets which would make for good movie car chase scenes. Ha ha.

And another one.

Phew, ready to book in.

Last Night's Accommodation:

El Pueblo Inn, 896 W Napa Street, Sonoma, CA 95476

Clean, comfortable refurbished room. Nicely furnished but dark given the veranda and garden plantings, probably something to be grateful for in the heat. Included parking, continental breakfast and wiFi as well as pool but doesnt seem all that great a value ... until compared with some of the other prices. Over a mile to dinner options so a bit of a bummer.

We already had a big trip lined up but added to the time greatly by following the recommendation of a local to strike off Hwy 101 to # 1 and travel through Leggett to the Chandelier Tree and experience the Avenue of the Giants, basically the original highway #1 with giant redwood trees and it was awesome. The trees were spectacular and the road incredible! Very few services but also very little traffic and looked surprisingly isolated even though it is only over the hills from mainstream civilisation, Bizarre. The ride was one of intense concentration moving from counter steering in one direction to another without time to stand the bike up in between time after time often and the gradient and camber were delicious. Waaaay better than we anticipated. We moved from chilly weather and sea mist / fog for most of the day to quite hot  this afternoon as we came into Sonoma where we felt right at home amongst many eucalypts and the countryside looked surprisingly familiar like around the Yea area with yellow dry grassed hills with luscious green vineyards spreading along the flats and up into the hills. A bit scary really since this is early in the summer here. The California hills are brutally dry. Enjoy the pics:

The Avenue of the Giants.

Some houses being refurbished at Westport. This is close to Abalone Point and if it is aptly named it would explain the huge numbers of caravans and divers we passed.

Delicious roads up and down.

And the mist moves out enough to get a shot of some rocks on the shore.

Coming into Fort Bragg, an awesome old railway bridge now a footbridge.

And a Guest House Museum which was just lovely.

Heading south out of Fort Bragg. An awesome bridge we actually crossed over on # 1.

And a shot through Anderson Valley as we headed from the coast towards our hotel in Sonoma.

Almost into Sonoma.

A Sonoma street view. Some of many attractive buildings. A lovely comfortable feel here.

The Town Hall.

Last Night's Accommodation:

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Eureka, 815 West Wabash Avenue (the opposite direction to all the GPS maps) Eureka, CA 95501.

Another nice comfortable space. Walking distance to dinner, included breakfast, parking and Wi-Fi.

The morning dawned with us lost in sea mist / fog which drifted into fine drizzle so although there were lots of great craggy rocky shapes off the shore they were lost in all that and apart from that a bite I got on my leg while I was riding about a month ago decided to come to life yesterday afternoon and increased in size, redness heat and itch through the night so headed to the Urgent care Clinic (like an A&E department with some clinics in a stand alone facility) at Brookings to see what was the go. Have come away with doxycycline which covers me for diseases which could be passed on by biting insects including  lymes disease in case it was from a tick bite and looking it up on the internet tonight that is likely what bit me though the red swollen bit doesnt look so much like a bulls eye which in theory it's supposed to (one can hope). Mmm. The symptoms are all things I wouldn't likely recognise chills and fever - hot flushes / freezing airconditioning through the US, swollen aching knees - have them anyway, stiff neck - always as a result of whiplash, fatigue - well I'm riding my butt off, memory loss / what was that?  and so it goes on. Fingers crossed the antibiotics kick in and the redness doesn't extend past my texta line (or the white halo line beyond). Moving on from that, after losing a good few hours at Brookings we headed off, still in the fog, but as we got into the Redwood Forest we came into sunshine and what a glorious experience that was. It was like riding through a massive great cathedral with towering giants all around us and the sun and dappled shade like stained glass windows. We stopped and walked for a bit and just experienced it then headed off to get to our hotel. Oh and the road all day made for a glorious ride with twists and turns and ups and downs. Ahhh! Pictures tell the story below:

A view to the beach last night.

A close encounter of the deer kind. Norm was taking a pic of the fog and mumma deer struck out across in front of him. I slowed down thinking the kids mustn't be far behind and last years child crossed then this years hesitated at the road verge as I rode past. Phew.

Craggy rocks off shore.

Not clearing yet.

After Brookings and hospital and still fog!

A bonus find, birds and seals.

Gradually clearing.

Many views of the redwoods. Ahhhh.

Some eucalypts on the way into Eureka this evening.

And an impressive building.

Last Night's Accommodation:

Pacific Reef Resort, 29362 Ellenburg Avenue Gold Beach, OR 97444.

Lovely room, not quite as roomy as some but a good sense of and disabled friendly bahroom. Only oe suit case holder big oversight. Meals a few  steps away so a spot to drop assuming you can drag yoursellf away from the view! Felt nice.

We've had a lovely day starting with a beautiful winding ride through incredibly lush mountain with massive tall fir / pine trees and shady glades with large amounts of water through the mountains to the west coast and the ride has continued with lots of twists and turns with more of the trees right down to the water which seems bizarre to me as well as charming little seaside villages and rugged coastlines. Wow. record high temperatures to the east of the mountains but happily a comfortable / cool temperature to the west where we are. One of the constant companions to the ride has been a roadside flower which looks like a prolific flowering sweet pea. It is more sturdy in growth and has fewer tendrils and little to no perfume to what I'm used to and varies from pale pink to a deep cyclamen (predominantly) in colour. Beautiful. Pictures tell the story:

First view of the Pacific water on the inlet in Florence (albeit it in a bit of sea mist).

Lake Woahanik.

Water all round.

Siuslaw River Bridge, a drawbridge.

Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area in the sea mist / fog.

Street scene in Banton.

A coast shot in the sea mist.

And one when it has partially cleared. with a bonus shot of an eagle.

The second of many great bridges we have seen today from underneath.

And a lighthouse (not issuing a fog horn warning as one on the break water which was shrouded in sea mist / fog we saw was).

Small village having a serious go at attracting the tourist hordes.

Umpqua  National Park Dunes - a designated ATV area and some sort of ATV rally happening today with ATV's and  all sorts of RV's parked up everywhere. Bizarre seeing the ATV's zooming everywhere on the dunes!.

And another.

Heading into Gold Beach.

Bits and Bobs:

Coffee spot wisdom above and a beautiful coffee below.

Last Night's Accommodation:

Phoenix Inn Suites, 850 Franklin Boulevard, Eugene, Oregon 97403

Large comfortable room to spread out and relax, comfortable bed. Included WiFi (which won't let me load photos), included continental breakfast and parking. Short walk to multiple eating options. Quiet neighbourhood.