peterbrown2025roadtrip.blogspot.com
Monday 22nd September 5 week american road trip
It’s just ended up to be a relaxing day I had planned a couple of attractions the 1st one was a nice ride to Emerald Bay via a mountain pass which all went well then it was onto take a gondola ride part way up heavenly mountain then transfer to a cable car to the summit. I found the location with ease and paid the $11 dollar parking fee only to find it was closed along with several other disappointed tourists. So it was back to the Condo to enjoy its facilities
I’ve also been busy changing some of my plans
1/ We don’t fancy 2 nights at Los Angeles especially having been twice before so may ride through or just stop over one night
2/ We also don’t fancy 2 nights in Las Vegas at the end of the trip so I have extended the bike hire and plan is to drop it back at eagle rider on the 16th then check in at Treasure island and fly home the day after
3/ This now frees up some time so I’m now considering my options
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| On route to Emerald Bay |
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| Overlook above a Emerald Bay |
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| Pam’s going looking for the manager |
Tuesday 23rd September 5 week american road trip
Oh how you appreciate the finer things in life like a pair of fresh sink washed undies and socks, Pam treated herself to some new knickers yesterday and she’s on cloud 9. Having said that they wasn’t that fresh by the time we got to San Francisco it’s been a long hard day on the bike. We left at 9.15am and checked in at the hotel in San Francisco at 4.20pm the ride was great early on then the scenery started to change from mountains to vast 6 lane freeways the last 2 1/2 hours the temperature rose to 40degrees and it wasn’t pleasant on the bike especially with all the biking gear and neck buff to keep the sun off my face. However it was worth it, the suite and its location looks fabulous and reckon the bike will be left in the garage for the next few days
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| You’d think I was dressed for winter |
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| Golden Gate Bridge |
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| San Francisco |
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| Suite at the Hollow cow inn |
Wednesday 24th September 5 week american road
The weather has been great for sightseeing and being here mid week has made it a lot easier for queuing, we bought a day pass for the cable cars which was a fantastic experience and the 1st stop was the cable car museum via the Powel Main Line. Then it was off to pier 33 to catch our pre booked ferry and tour of the of Alcatraz, which again was very good. On the way back to our hotel we had to visit the sea lions on pier 39. I must say we are both impressed with San Francisco and looking forward to tomorrow. I also wanted to say that San Francisco is full of driverless cars just going around the busy streets with no one in them how weird is that.
Thursday 25th September 5 week american road trip
Lovely weather again for sightseeing on the hop on hop off bus which is excellent value. You also get a full audio describing the land marks and history of San Francisco including about the massive earthquake in 1903 which destroyed the city. We tried out the famous Clam Chowder at fisherman’s wharf but both agreed it wasn’t for us. However the highlight of the whole time in San Francisco was a taxi ride! Yes honestly actually I did a few taxi rides. Technology is mind boggling to us oldies and found out that the driverless cars driving around the streets are actual taxis developed and owned by Google so we had to do it. I downloaded the App and gave it a try and it was absolutely mind blowing I’ll put a video at the end of the week on the YouTube clip. You can set the air temperature and choice of music in the app, it then arrives within minutes flashing with your initials on top, and doors unlock only for you when you approach the vehicle. It was totally mind blowing and thought we would have never experienced it in our lifetime.
The Waymo taxi deserves its own link on YouTube so please click the link below to view our ride in one of over 300 driverless taxis in San Francisco
Friday 26th September 5 week american road trip
Just incase you haven’t noticed I’ve added a quick video of one of our driverless taxi rides at the end of yesterday’s post.
We have now left San Francisco and checked into a hotel just outside Monterey. But before checking in we headed straight for Cannery Row in the centre of town for lunch and a mooch around the shops the ride down was nice and cool and once we left San Francisco city traffic the roads were great and soon had the pacific coast on our right hand side.
Monterey Key facts
It was the Sardine canning capital during the 1930s and 40s but now converted to shops and restaurants. It also has a world renowned aquarium and to be quite honest it’s a lovely little town.
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| Big blue whale skeleton at Santa Cruz |
Saturday 27thSeptember 5 week american road trip
Whoopee it’s fresh undies and knickers today and with staying here for 2 nights I’ve washed yesterday’s and left them drying on the balcony so it will be fresh underwear for 2 days on the trot! oh how I spoil Pam. I’ve also had a breakthrough with the map down loading issue. I purchased a memory stick a few days ago with the small usb connection to match the bikes and logged onto my account with the hotel’s computer and downloaded remaining rides which seem to have loaded but will try out tomorrow.
Today has been a great day riding the pacific coast highway right up to the road closure and then back again to the hotel. The scenery was stunning and can see how areas suffer from land slides as the roads in some places are cut into the cliff edge. I had wanted to ride a 17 mile scenic road near Monterey but on arrival the Ranger said motorbikes weren’t allowed, so decided to have a couple of hours round the hotel swimming pool.
I’ve got a twitchy bum over part of tomorrows route to get to the other end of the road closure as it takes you over a mountain pass down to the pacific coast and judging by the amount of squiggly lines on the map I think it’s going to be a challenging day
Sunday 28th September 5 week american road trip
I’ve slept on my route and had second thoughts yesterday, we had no option but to turn back at the road closure, but drivers coming up the other way to the road block have the option to take my route over the mountain pass rather than turning round. This would mean possibly facing oncoming cars or bike's on some tight hairpin bends on what looks like some sections of single track road which wouldn’t be wise considering I will be fully loaded. I’ve also had my fix on mountain passes so I took the 230 mile ride up to the other end of the road closure and then backdown 40miles to our very posh sea facing suite. It’s been a long day but it’s been worth it for the scenery. It was breathtaking but just a shame that it’s been hazy most of the day. We’ve just supped a bottle of complimentary Californian sparkling wine and ordered room service, fish and chips and beef burger ( talk about bringing the tone down )
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| Elephant Seals on pacific highway coast |
That’s it for this week but before you go to week 3 please check out my short video for week 2 and don’t forget to hold on landscape
T
T
Very interesting blog I think san Francisco is my favourite up to now.keep them coming
ReplyDeletethat taxi ride looked incredible. wonder what it would be like on the m60 round here
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