I wave goodbye to Mary-Ellen and head off in near perfect conditions.  I am making my way out and come up to my first stop sign.  You guessed it I turned a long right instead of a sharp right which meant I was on the wrong side of the road.  Luckily I picked up on it and immediately did a u-turn to go the right way.

My stay with Mary-Ellen was an absolute hoot and if I am able to have half the fun that these guys do in their community when I am their age I will be more than happy.  Great host and sharp as a tack.

I make my way heading west towards the coast;

I ride through the last of the Mojave Desert before I get back on the 101 and its busy.  After a while I get on Highway 1 which is less hectic and far more interesting;

I stop at Starbucks in Fillmore and have a much needed coffee.  Whilst I am stuffing around on the laptop a guy pulls up in this;

I get talking to him and he tells me its a ’66 corvette that he has completely rebuilt from the ground up – current value is over $80K USD.  

I remount and get going.  I make my way back on the 101 and it is actually slightly cool;

The ride becomes even better;

I pull up in Lompoc and swing by the local PD to see what they recommend re camp site – the reviews that I had read made me a bit cautious as there had been a lot of complaints about theft and a bit unsafe due to high homeless numbers.

My fears are confirmed by the front office staff who recommend a town that is now over 30 miles behind me.  I head off with no idea of where I should stay but thought I would have a look at last minute deals while I had lunch.

In the end I am lucky and get a budget hotel room for only $50 (total) which is down from $160.  I book it on line and then go straight around to check it out.  Fortunately the room is decent and I throw all of my gear in.

Once sorted I head over to Walmart to try and find a 12 volt charger that would plug into the socket in Stan’s dash – I though it might be the easiest work-a-round to keep the GPS going even if the battery was stuffed.

I find a sales rep in the electronics section and describe what I need – he selects the ‘right’ one and assures me that it will work with a look that I must be stupid.  The charger is the Rolls Royce model and is $25 USD.

I don’t like his smartarse attitude but I don’t have my glasses with me and take him at his word.  I grab a few other things and then head back out to Stan and try the new charger. 

Well no surprises and it is the wrong one.  I go back into Walmart to get a refund and join a que that was right up with the ECTESA internet cards in Cuba.  After 30 mins I get my card reimbursed and head back to the electronics section.  On the way back I run into my mate (on his way to a break)  who looks surprised and asks me if it works?  I tell him I returned it but not to worry as the colour did not suit the bike and I am after a pink one.  I now have my glasses and find the right one and it costs me a grand total of $3.  

I love Walmart as you can buy anything and everything – where else can you find ammunition next to nappies?  I get a frozen dinner and heat it up in the microwave back at the hotel. 

Next morning I am up early at 6:30 am and I in the groove now for packing all of the gear on Stan.  I take off at 8 and just go around the corner to Vons Petrol – the travel card works fine and I have now established that I have to enter NO when it asks if its a debit card.  The only issue I seem to have is petrol stations that want a zip code – easiest solution to this is just go in and see the cashier and prepay.  When you prepay with the card and don’t reach the limit it is reimbursed automatically.

Instead of getting on the main highway I take the 135 and have a half hour ride through some ‘twisties’.  Stan loves it when we see a sign like this;

Breakfast stop is at Starbucks in Santa Maria – so much for trying to eat healthy as I had a bacon/egg roll.  In my defence it was right next to the freeway entrance to Highway 101 so I grabbed something to eat while I could.  I seem to be spending a lot of time in Starbucks but that will change down the track.

My aim is to take Highway 101 but get on Highway 1 – it is known as the Pacific Coast Highway and the section from Morro Bay to Carmel (Big Sur section) is rated at the top end of the best motorcycle rides in the US.

On the 101 the traffic is heavy but the good thing is that having Stan I can comfortably cruise at 125 kph.  I get on Highway 1 and I am riding right beside the coast line having the time of my life.  Although there is a bit of haze the conditions are great as the temp stays around 19 – 21’c;

I finally found evidence that not many people live in Harmony;

I pull into a view point and get a guy (Dan) to take my photo.  He tells me to watch out for the squirrels as they are so tame from everyone feeding them that they are very aggressive in trying to  get food.  In a about 5 mins I have 10 of them surrounding Stan;

Only a bit further along I stop at another viewing area which is swarming with tourists – everyone is checking out the elephant seals who are on the beach and in the water;

I continue on Highway 1 and the road is absolutely awesome.  It slowly becomes even more tight and twisty.  There are road works which cause some delays but it was well worth it;

Back in Australia we talk a lot about the Great Ocean Road and I have been on it a number of times but I would have to admit that Highway 1 was a better ride and much longer (kills me to say it).

The ride is so much fun that I that I must have been distracted as I looked down at Stan’s dash and the petrol warning light is flashing – god knows when that started.  I search the GPS for petrol stations and find that the nearest is 4.6 miles straight ahead.  

I try and nurse Stan to get there and was in a cold sweat given the situation I would be in if he ran out – heaps of traffic and no where to pull off.  Fortunately I made it and when I filled him up I could hear the petrol splashing on the bottom of the tank.

10 miles further on I pull up in Monterey.  I try and find Mike’s address on the GPS but it wont come up.  I put in the zip code and then the street and it works – the problem was that it recognised his area as Salinas and not Prunedale.  I finally make it to their home right on 5 pm which is at least 2.5 hrs longer than what I expected.  

It was great to catch up with Mike and Edie again after 2 years.  I had stayed with them when their son Aaron was running an Airbnb from their home.  Edie had cooked dinner for me which was a bonus after such a big day.  After dinner I collapsed in bed.  I even had a welcome sign in my bedroom;

Next morning I work for a few hours on charging my 500 devices and emails.  Mike and I take off around 9 and he takes me down to the Monterey wharf area;

Mike points out Edward ‘Doc’ Ricketts home/work laboratory that is still original.  Ricketts is a legend locally as he was great mates with accomplished author John Steinbeck (Grapes of wrath);

Ricketts was killed in 1948 when his car was hit by a train only 10 blocks from home.  Across the street is the site of a notorious brothel (long since closed) and the building has maintained the original sign;

We continue along the coastline and arrive in Pacific Grove – magnificent old houses with even more magnificent values.  Further along is Pebble Beach;

Pebble Beach is a gated community with its own security and you can’t just drive in.  It has a least 3 armed posted guards at each of the 3 entrance gates.  You can drive a 17 mile stretch through it but there is a stiff charge (to discourage tourists). 

Next we had a look at Carmel – famous for having Clint Eastwood as a Mayor and resident.  Clint shot ‘Play Misty for Me’ in his home town so he didn’t have to travel and it was great seeing the main streets / buildings that are in the movie.

The scenery around Ocean Ave and Scenic Drive was sensational;

The next photo is of a house built by Frank Loyld Wright – one of the great American architects.  It is open to the public one day in June each year;

There were many other mansions;

We called into Mission Ranch which is the resort/retreat owned by Clint;

A short drive along Highway 1 which I had come down the day before but only as far as the Bixby Bridge (recently made even more famous by the television series Big Little Lies);

Highway 68 then took us past the gated community of Monterey where Clint Eastwood now lives – not much point in taking a picture of a wall we did not bother to stop.  

The John Steinbeck Centre is located in downtown Salinas.  We pay the entrance fee and go in and have a look and it was well worth it as I found it really interesting.  I knew he was the author of ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ as I had it in high school but his life story was far more interesting – particularly how some of the locals did not appreciate his view of them.  Hitler even decreed that anyone in possession of his book would be executed.  Mike then swung by his home which has been preserved;

My next local experience was lunch at ‘In-N-Out’;

 Mike tells me that In-N-Out is an American institution that started in California 1948 – it is privately held and it is not a franchise business but just a (very wealthy) family owned business.  The present owner is Lynsi Snyder-Ellingson 37yrs who is the only grandchild of the original owners.  Her net worth is over 3 Billion dollars and she has been married 3 times – makes me think of the divorce settlement!

It is still the same hamburger and fries (made/produced) exactly the same way as in 1948.  Nothing at all is sourced as they even have their own butcher / baker etc.  I order a burger with the least amount of cheese on the menu – I must admit it was pretty dam good.  We head back to the house and have a quiet evening.

Another early morning and I get a fair bit done on the blog.  Mike and I head off and make our way towards Santa Cruz.  Mike has been given a list by Edie of all of the Police Departments along the way so we can call in – Edie has bought into the whole patch thing and wants to make sure I get plenty.  

Our first stop is at the local California Highway Patrol office;

Mike waits (very patiently) in the car while I go in and meet ‘Rio’ who is a keen motorcycle enthusiast.  We get chatting and he tells me that it is on his bucket list to come down to Australia to see the MotoGP at Phillip Island – he is also trying to organise a group of officers to go to the Isle of Man TT next year. 

Rio tells me that the Highway Patrol is going back to BMW motorcycles  given the Harley Davidson’s have been below par – it is a pity because I have seen the Harley’s in full kit and they do look pretty cool.

Next stop was the Santa Cruz Sheriffs Office and I go in and meet a young lad who tells me that his favourite band is the Hilltop Hoods (Adelaide Australia) which made me laugh.  He gives me a patch and I am on my way.

Just around the corner is the Santa Cruz Police Department.  I take a photo to capture the colour as it is right out of a movie scene;

Mike then drives around to the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum which is a small building but really interesting.  It is perched beside the cliff face which makes for great viewing of the surfers;

What was great to see was how the surfers get into the water – they jump from the rocks;

We drive around the coastline and past the famous Santa Cruz boardwalk;

As you would expect there are a lot of surfers and tourists around.  I found it to be a great location and it would be fun to stay for a few days another time.

Mike takes me to Gayle’s bakery which is another local icon (Mike is not game enough to go home without a treat for Edie).  We go inside and the amount of customers is insane.  I get a ticket (39) and wait to get served as they are only up to No.13.  It was worth the wait as my Tri-tip sambo was tasty.

Our final stop was the Capitola Police Department where again I was able to swap a patch.  I am glad we have finished the list as I am worn out from repeating my story each time.  We make our way home and chill out.

Tomorrow is the first day of the World Superbikes and I can’t wait to get back to Laguna Seca.  In 2017 I nearly cooked due to the excessive heat but hopefully it is not as bad this time.

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