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Saturday, September 18th, 2010 Friday's Mileage ended up being approx 590 Miles... Loads of fun riding up the PCH & visiting San Francisco... Waking up Saturday morning wasn't too bad. A little stiff & sore but nothing that would keep me from riding in and around Yosemite National Park. Before hitting the road, I decided to run across the road to grab the morning grease from Mickey D's. Once getting a Coke and some grub into my system I was ready to pack up and hit the road. The Day's Inn that I stayed at in Chowchilla had a decent location. Even though the Motel was right next to Hwy 99, it was quite quiet. It was next to a Gas Station and across the street from McDonalds making it convenient to get going once I was ready to roll. After gassing up it was time to get going. Leaving Chowchilla, I took Greenhills Blvd east toward Yosemite. I'm glad that I decided to stop in Chowchilla for the night instead of trying to get closer to the park the night before. Greenhills Blvd was a very straight and boring road... until you get to the one sharp right 90 degree turn then another left 90 degree turn to get on Daulton Rd. If I would have came this was the night before, I would have gone off the road because there wasn't much warning about the turns and I would have ended in the pasture with the Cows, must likely face down in a cow patty. Once I got to Raymond Rd things start to pick up a bit. The next few roads that I went over were a Blast. Here are a few pic's while riding along Raymond Rd and Rd 600 on my way to Oakhurst. I bet the locals had a Great time on these roads. I did get to wonder if they had an issue with folks speeding in the area for I came across a few of these:    A little bit down the road I'd noticed that my left hand was a bit cooler then my right hand... couldn't figure it until I took a look at my glove. Still no clue how it happened....  Before I knew it I was in Oakhurst and came across the 1st LEO of the Day... although he had no interest in me, I'd decided to be on my best behavior. While preparing for this trip, I'd noticed that there were 3 different roads in and out of Yosemite National Park, Hwy 41, Hwy 140 and Hwy 120. Knowing that my goal for the day was to cross Tioga Pass (Hwy 120 East) just before sunset that I should have time to be able to explore all 3 roads as well as possibly a few of the surrounding roads. I'd designed my route for the day to take advantage of the time that I would have on my hand. The game plan was to enter Yosemite via Hwy 41 and explore the park. After riding around a bit, I would exit the park via Hwy 120 West and connect up with Hwy 49. I would take Hwy 49 over to Hwy 140 where I would re-enter the park for another go around and then exit again via Hwy 120 this time heading over Tioga Pass. It was a magnificent day for a ride... the Sun was out, temperatures were cool, just me and the bike cruising through the wooded area along Hwy 41... could I actually be leaning off the bike? nah, I haven't gotten to that point in my riding... yet...   Before I knew it I was at the South Entrance to Yosemite. Time sure flies when you are enjoying yourself.  I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t a "Welcome To" sign at this entrance. Maybe there was one and I did not see it due to the shear pleasure I was having today. The following few shots are as I'm zipping through the park on my 1st pass through...   Traffic was light, not much to deal with, easy to maneuver around everyone.... Part's of Hwy 41 were being resurfaced throughout the park which made it a bit of a pain to truly enjoy the road. However I knew I would survive. The sections of the road that was already resurfaced were magnificent.  As I exit out of the tunnel at the "Tunnel View" lookout, I knew I would have to make my way back here later for a few additional photo's... The last time I visited Yosemite was back in '72 on a family vacation. That was too long ago for me to remember how beautiful the park was. I have been eager for a while to get up to the park to check it out again. I was not disappointed with the scenery as I rode through the park. Although I'm having a great time zipping along, I'd decided it might be wise to pull over for a few pictures. Who knows what the GoPro's are picking up.     One of these days I will update my little Sony Point & Shot camera with a model that I can connect to a mobile tripod. My current camera is so old that it does not have the capability to screw it to a tripod... yea, I know, time to upgrade. Upgrading the technical equipment means less dinero for gas. Anyway, the main reason I should upgrade is because it never fails, when some kind stranger stops & offers to take my picture for me, they always place their finger over the lens on my camera. If it's not their finger, they do not line the shot up as I point out losing most the background that I want to capture. As much as I appreciate it, it just never works out. I believe I have nearly a dozen pic's from this trip that others try to take for me where all you see is their thumb or finger. Since there is little to no traffic, I'd felt comfortable taking the camera out of my jacket pocket to capture a few images of the park as I'm driving around:     After spending a few hours making laps around Yosemite, I decide its time to head out of the park for a bit to check out the Hwy 120 West/ Hwy 49/ Hwy 140 loop that I'd figured I would have plenty of time to ride along to enjoy some additional roads and still make my goal of getting across Tioga Pass before Sunset. As I exit the park via Hwy 120 something told me to turn around. As I did, I'd noticed the following park sign. I'd finally found a decent sign to take a picture of the bike with:  Traffic wasn't too great heading out Hwy 120. However must folks were turning to head across Tioga Pass. Not me, not yet... Cruising along Hwy120 West from the park exit was pretty much uneventful until I'd approached Big Oak Flat. This tiny community was having some sort of town event where traffic was a pain. It didn't help that I was pushing the limit of my fuel range and I was following one of the local LEO's. Every small gas station the GPS pointed out had been abandoned and I was stressing just a bit not knowing where I would be able to get fuel. I was lucky to find a small station just outside of town. As I'm sitting there pumping the fuel, I'd noticed that the friendly LEO that I was following had circle back toward town. What the heck, let's go grab a soda and candy bar just so I could hang out & count how many times the same officer would drive by. I swear he drove back by another 3 times while I was enjoying my lunch. I know it was a really small community and one might miss it if they were to blink twice... however I was sure this officer was bound to try and catch me being a hooligan. Shortly after I left town I came across the following stretch of road:  Now if you take a good look at the road, mainly the nice curve that is almost dead center in the picture, you will see a few curves that creped up out of no where as I was zipping along day dreaming about the beautiful surrounding area. I'd caught myself a few times not paying attention to the road which almost cost me dearly. I couldn't help it I was seeing color's that I wasn't use to seeing in Phoenix. In Phoenix, all we have are multiple shades of Brown. Here in North-Eastern California I was seeing some actual Fall Foliage. Granted it is not the same as the Fall Foliage of the Midwest or New England area, however it was more color then I'm use to witnessing. I love this little stretch of Hwy 120 just before it meets Hwy 49. A lot of twisty little turns right along the edge of the hill side... noting once again, one needs to pay attention to the road so it doesn't bite you in the bum. A quick left onto Hwy 49 for a nice area of opening the bike up a bit. I think once I was on Hwy 49, I'd maybe passed 2 - 3 cars, one of them a few times as I would pass them & then pull over for a picture or two.     Hwy 49 had several areas to open the throttle just a little and before I knew it, it was time to turn onto Hwy 140. While going through my photo's I didn't see too many along Hwy 140 that I wanted to upload... I don't even remember if the GoPro's were still taking pictures or not. Riding along Hwy 140 was a nice littler treat for it followed a small river for a majority of the road. Why I didn't pull over for pictures is beyond me, other then the fact that I was having a great time. Those that ride with me know that I'm not really one to pull over, especially if I'm in that "Zone" while riding. One of the reason I love using the GoPro camera on the bike is you never know what you will end up with for a picture. I really like the "Warp Speed" pictures that it captures while entering/going through tunnels:  This time while I was riding along Hwy 120 leaving the park, I decided to stop for a soda break and to check the GoPro's. It was time to transfer some files off of the SD cards onto the netbook that I had with me as well as to capture a couple more pic's:   Out of the 3 roads that led into and out of Yosemite National Park, it is my opinion that Hwy 120 offers the best views of the park while entering the park. When I bring friends up on future rides, I will be sure that one of our routes enter via Hwy 120. Time was approaching 4:00 PM and I knew sunset would be here soon. Time to leave the park & head across Tiago Pass. As I'm zipping across the pass, something catches my attention out of the corner of my eye...  Could it be the group of Harley riders that I ran into the day before in San Luis Obispo? At this point I am going to fast to slow down enough to make the turn into the parking area safely so I head down the road a bit to find a safe spot to turn around. Sure enough it's the HOG's...  It was quite amusing to see them trying to steady their cameras on the back of their bikes trying to capture a Group photo. As soon as I pull up you could hear them in unison yell "Marty!"... for some odd reason they were happy to see me. Maybe because they were surprised that some fool would ride a Daytona as far as I am… maybe because they need some assistance with their camera's. One of the first questions was whether I made it up to San Fran before sunset. I'd smiled and said "Of Course I'd made it"... then proceed to show them the pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge and my bike. I didn't stay long for I knew I had a destination to get to for the evening. These guy's planned on stopping off in Mammoth Lakes for the evening. My plan was to get down to Bishop for the evening. After chatting for a few minutes, it was time to re-saddle and get moving. I still can't get over the scenery. What a lovely day for a ride:     I've encountered more Park Rangers along Tioga Pass that anywhere else in the park combine... this particular Ranger and I were playing Leap Frog while heading East across the pass.   As the sun gets ready to set for the evening, I approach the Eastern Tioga Pass Exit/Entrance to Yosemite...  Time to exit the park one last time during this Trip. However the beauty of the landscape does not end here.... Just before I jump onto Hwy 395, I stop off at the Chevron to fuel up the Daytona. As I'm pumping the fuel I hear a small rumble of bikes going by. By the sound, you could tell that it was not just one or two Harley’s going by. Could it be the HOGs catching up? I did stop a few times for pictures after leaving them. Eventually I leave the gas station and catch up with the guy's along Hwy 395 as they head to Mammoth Lakes. Since I had the GoPro's mounted on the bike, I'd pulled up next to each one in an attempt to capture them on their bikes. As they pulled off to Mammoth Lakes I decide to follow to see if I could get one of their email addresses so I could forward the pictures to them. As we were chatting, they had invited me to stick around and have dinner with them before heading down the hill for the evening. I'd figured why not, I need to eat dinner sometime. Their place of choice was Gomez's Mexican Restaurant. Although I was having a great time riding solo on this trip, I had a great time at dinner with these guy's talking about the area's that we had all visited during our ride. The one painful item about dinner was watching all of these guys enjoy some Adult Beverages while I sipped hot tea. I knew it was going to be awful chilly heading down the hill toward Bishop and thought it would be best to get some hot fluids into my system. During dinner, one of the guys asked where I played on stopping for the night. As I mentioned Bishop, he asked if I had already had a room or was I playing it by ear and seeing what was available when I got there. I didn't think anything about it at the moment, but it would cost me later not planning ahead. After dinner we said our goodbye's and I hit the road. It was dark and a bit chilly for this Phoenix boy. I was warned to keep an eye out for Deer as I head down Hwy 395. I soon arrive in Bishop and no rooms were to be found. I continue on going through Independence, Lone Pine and every other small town along the way. Still no rooms available. What the heck is going on? Am I going to have to go all the way to Barstow to get a room. Out of nowhere just past Olancha appears a road side Motel called the "Ranch Motel". I'd pulled in hoping they had a room. It was close to midnight and I had no desire to continue riding tonight. As I pulled into their parking lot, there were a few choppers parked there. What did I get myself in to. I'd pulled up to the office and a lady walked out asking how she can help. I said I would be forever grateful if she had a room available. She said yes we do and that I was very lucky because normally they are booked up on the weekends. I'd didn't care how much the room was, I just wanted a clean bed to sleep in. It turned out to be the cheapest room I had during this ride. By no means was this a 5 star motel... is there such a thing? However it was more then what I needed. The couple that ran this place was some of the nicest folks I’d met along the trip. I'd unloaded the bike and was soon fast asleep. The next morning would come way too soon which meant this trip would be coming to an end. Up next will be my first trip to Death Valley and then a quick jaunt back to my own Death Valley (Phoenix)... >>Sunday, September 19th, 2010
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