Day 3

Knowing that we were going to make this a late morning, I had set my alarm for 7 AM instead of 6 AM. I got to bed at 11:00 PM last night and at 5:26 AM, my eyes opened and I couldn't get back to sleep. I stayed in bed until 6:45 AM and couldn't take it any longer. I got up and started to get dressed. At about 7:10 AM, Bruce, my room mate, woke up and looked outside and said, "Oh shit!" He called me over to the window and told me to look outside. I did and said, "Oh shit!" When I looked outside, it was overcast, there was about two inched of snow on the hood of the truck which was parked in front of our window. It was snowing and the room of the motel was white with snow! Last night, Chuck had asked me to call him in the morning for coffee. I called him and he told me that he was getting dressed. I told him to look outside. By this time, I was already outside and I saw him peeking out of his window with a very surprised expression. I was outside and took a few pictures of our motors. I then went to the breakfast room and had coffee and something to eat. It was very cold outside!

As time went on, the guys started to trickle into the breakfast room. We commented on the weather, snow, cold and a lot of other things. We made comment that with this being our third annual ride, we have never encountered snow. We decided to stay put until it warmed up and the snow melted. As we were waiting, we were running out of coffee and the hostesses were coming in and refilling the milk carafe, making fresh coffee and bringing in more waffle batter. It got to the point that we put Ken in charge of making the fresh coffee. When Ken was still on the Department, he worked in the Pawn Shop Detail and was very well versed in making coffee in the office. I think that we will keep him with us for a while!

The breakfast room closed at 9:00 AM and we had to leave. We decided to pack up our Motors and brave the elements and head westbound. We looked at the map and watched the weather channel and saw that the high temperature for Sequoia National Park was supposed to be 34 degrees. We decided to go on to Bakersfield. Also, Jan had told us that he was experiencing some problems with his Harley. He had called his mechanic and the mechanic told him to try a couple of things to solve the problem. Since we were going to Bakersfield, we decided to go to, you guessed it, Bakersfield Harley Davidson. We left Tehachapi at 10:55 AM and it was 34 degrees. We had bundled ourselves up with our winter gear to try to stay warm. Bakersfield was approximately 40 miles away.

Chuck was in the lead and as we rode, it started to warm up. After riding for about 15 minutes, it warmed up by 20 degrees. With the cold weather, C.E. and I,both, enjoyed the seat and grip warmers on our Motors.

Chuck got us to Bakersfield Harley Davidson at 11:43 AM after riding 49 miles. We all went into the store and Jan bought a quart of Harley oil. While there, we spoke with a female employee of the dealership who told us about Highway 58 going toward Morro Bay. She told us that it was a good road and that we would like this ride. We left the store at 12:07 PM and headed down the street to get some gas. After getting gas, we rode across the street to a Subway and had lunch. We arrived at Subway at 12:17 PM. It was now 67 degrees. After eating lunch, Jan went to his Motor and had to tighten the linkage to his shifter. (Motorcycle talk)

We left Subway at 12:55 PM with Jan now in the lead. Jan led us to Highway 58 and we headed westbound for Morro Bay and the Pacific Coast Highway. We had driven past the little towns and were out in the countryside and the road got better. It was a two laned road and Jan was looking for a place to stop and take a break. It is customary for us to stop after 20 to 30 minutes after lunch to take a needed break to wake or make a pit stop. We rode on a street that had a lot of dips, curves, downgrades...It was awesome. We were dipping our Motors to make the turn and just having the time of our lives. We would highly recommend this Highway to anyone! It was one of the better roads that we have travelled so far. As we were turning, dipping, going uphill and going downhill, I was taking pictures. DON'T WORRY! I did it safely. After Jan couldn't find a place to stop, such as a gas station or Circle K, he pulled over by the side of the road about 79 miles from Morro Bay. Everyone was relieved that Jan stopped. Everyone got off of their Motors and scattered to find a place to "do their business!" After the pit stop, we all chewed on Jan's ear for taking so long to stop. We all knew, however, that there really wasn't any place for Jan to stop. After laughing about this incident, we took several pictures. We got back onto our Motors and left at 2:28 PM. This was 67 miles after lunch.

As we continued westbound, we saw several ranches with cattle, horses and even buffalo. We travelled long, straight stretches of two laned roads. At one point, we could see for several miles and the road was straight. I was at the rear of the group and seizing the opportunity, I set my camera on video and started to accelerate, passing the guys on the left and taking a video of them as we rode. I got to the leader, Jan, and then I backed off. I let the others pass me and I returned to the rear. We were going over large dips on the road so I set my camera to record and made another video the these dips. It was fun to watch the guys on the Motors in the camera and then they would disappear over the hump.

We drove into San Luis Obispo, CA at 3:41 PM after going 67 miles. We stopped at a gas station for a needed pit stop. We had some drinks (water, not alcohol) and some snacks (healthy). We left at 4:06 PM and headed westbound past three lights and turned right onto Pacific Coast Highway 1 and headed northbound. We arrived in Morro Bay, CA. at 4:26 PM after 15 miles and tried to check into a Best Western, however, they couldn't accommodate all of us. They suggested a nearby motel named, "La Serena Inn." It was a nice motel and Jan secured us a good rate. Chucks room assignment for tonight is: Chuck and Jan, Bruce and Ken, and the third room is C.E. and me. We had only travelled 191 miles today, but they were very fun miles! We parked our Motors in the garage, took our bags and tucked them in for the night. We later walked a few blocks to a restaurant called "The Whale's Tail" and we all had fish and chips, in honor of Jim Morrison, who couldn't come on the ride with us. This was our day. We continue the Pacific Coast Highway tomorrow. Until then...