A Little About Us

A Little About Us
INTRODUCTION: First, allow me to introduce the members of this group...I'm Mike riding my 2003 Heritage Softail Springer...my wife Juju is on her 2015 Freewheeler...and Ed and Nancy are on their 2009 Heritage Softail. For the purposes of this trip we are referring to ourselves as H.A.R.P. HARP is a made-up name and it simply stands for Hogs And Retired People...and all that means is that we are members of HOG (Harley Owners Group) and we are...you guessed it...retired! The name came about when seven of us made a trip out west, but just the four of us this time. I've done blogs before, and this one will be for the same reason...to refresh our memories in our "Golden Years" (they say the memory is the second thing to go...and I can't remember what the first thing was). What is different this time is the blog is being shared by THUNDER ROADS PENNSYLVANIA MAGAZINE...Truly, an honor. This journey will be a round trip from, and to our home town of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The plan is to travel to the Atlantic coast at Ocean City, Maryland for the "Official" start on U.S. Route 50. We will follow U.S. 50 west for over 3,000 miles to its terminus in Sacramento, California. From Sacramento, we will head a bit further west to the Pacific Ocean before we begin to travel south. California Highway 1 and U.S. Route 101, better known as the Pacific Coast Highway, will be the route for about 500 miles to Santa Monica. At the world famous Santa Monica Pier, we hop on Route 66...The "Mother Road". Travelling about 2,500 miles to the north east, we'll arrive at the end of 66 in Chicago, Illinois. The "Official" end of our journey. From Chicago, it's just another 450 miles and we're back in Pittsburgh. We've made very few lodging reservations, thus eliminating the pressure of trying to get somewhere by some deadline. The whole purpose of this ride to see this country and whatever piques our interest along the way...and we will be looking for that giant ball of yarn! So we invite you to ride along with us. We hope you will find it both entertaining and informative. Please feel free to leave your comments and share this with anyone you feel would have an interest.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Day 21 Friday August 14, 2015

Days without an incident - 0
Days without rain gear - 7

We finished the second leg of our trip this morning by continuing down the Pacific Coast Highway to the Santa Monica Pier.  Along the way, we passed the Naval facilities in Ventura County which include the Naval Air Station at Point Mugu and the home of the Seabees.

Just a short way down the road we crossed into Los Angeles County and the 27-mile long city of Malibu.  Home to movie stars and million-dollar mansions.

It's almost easy to understand the insane price tags on
properties along this stretch of the Pacific Ocean.  The views alone are worth the money.

We got up on the Santa Monica Pier for our official start of the ride home.  From this point forward, our general direction will be east.

The pier is a lively place even at 10 o'clock in the morning.  Tourists milling about checking out the souvenir stands and local vendors.  Locals fishing while surfers and sunbathers filled the beach below.

After posing for a photo at the Route 66 sign (It should say "Beginning of the trail" on the opposite
side), we dove into the Los Angeles traffic trying to thread our way down the now poorly marked Route 66.

We stopped at Philippe's for an "Original French Dip" sandwich before continuing on our way.  Los Angeles is not tourist-friendly when it comes to roads or drivers.  On a motorcycle, you are truly taking your life in your hands.

We were able to find our way to Pasadena and Colorado Boulevard continuing eastward.  As we proceeded, the temperature continued to rise.  Our hope was to make it to Barstow.  When 66 merged with I-15 we weren't sure we would get there.  In fact, we weren't sure we would get anywhere!

Traffic was moving at the blistering pace of about 5 mph.  With the heat from the sun, combined with the heat from the traffic, the bike's engines, and the reflection off the road surface, we all started to show signs of heat exhaustion, bordering on heatstroke.

We finally found the only shade by getting off the interstate and hiding under the
Guess who doesn't seem to be bothered by the heat?
bridge that carried the road above us.  One of us, completely drained, laid against a fence as we poured water on their head and torso. While there, several people stopped to give us more water.

A short distance up the road was a service plaza...those "Golden Arches" never looked so good.  Even the clean-up girl saw the distress on our faces and began to offer assistance.

An hour or later, after we had cooled and refreshed sufficiently, we got back on the road.  The traffic lightened and it was a clear, but incredibly hot ride to our destination for the night.  At 106°, cold showers and time in the pool were immediately on the agenda.


3 comments:

  1. Here's hoping yinz get out of California in one piece . The last time we were all there it was a crap shoot. Seemed everyone was aiming at anyone on two wheels.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Here's hoping yinz get out of California in one piece . The last time we were all there it was a crap shoot. Seemed everyone was aiming at anyone on two wheels.

    ReplyDelete