I took the week of June 1 - 4 off from work to add to the Memorial day weekend. Monday and Tuesday I spent up at Thunderhill on my 2004 R6, took care of some chores on Wednesday, the set off for a four day trip on Thursday. I wanted to ride some of my favorite roads, including hwy 190 from Springville to Kernville, Angeles Crest Hwy, and Hwy 33 north from Ojai. I also wanted to see Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks.

I got a bit of a late start, not leaving until about 10AM on Thursday. So I took a bit of freeway over to the central valley and headed into Kings Canyon National Park. Route 180 is a wonderful road into the park, but the speed limit in the park itself is a little low. But the scenery is stunning! The Generals Highway connects Kings Canyon with Sequoia National Park, and is a fun road even at the speed limit, which is an unposted 55 most of the way. At the south end of the park there was road construction which had traffic stopped for about 30 minutes at a time, so this ruined my plans to make Kernville by the end of the day. So I decided to spend the night in Three Rivers. Ate at a good Mexican restaurant just across the street from the Best Western.

Friday morning I ate breakfast at another little Mexican cafe up the road a bit, but it sucked. Won't eat there again. Continued out 190 to Yokohl Valley road, a cool, roller-coaster back road the connects Visalia to Springville. At Springville, I turned left on to Hwy 190. Hwy 190 is tight and twisty all the way up to 7000 feet elevation, where most maps show this road just ends, but it actually connects to the Great Western Divide Highway, a forest road in the Sequoia National Forest which consists of wonderful sweepers all the way down to Kernville. These are some fine motorcycling roads!

Gassed up in Kernville and continued out to Hwy 178, where I headed east. You start to see Joshua Trees along the way, so you know you're getting closer to the desert. Headed south on Hwy 14 and blasted on down to Mojave (yep, this is the desert now!). Had lunch, and continued blasting down Hwy 14 to Hwy 138 in Palmdale. Headed east to find county road N4 (Big Pines Hwy). I connected to it via N6 (Longview Road) and started seeing more Joshua trees. This is a neat roller-coaster road too, and connects to Angeles Crest Hwy in Big Pines, just west of Wrightwood. Angeles Crest is then one of the best motorcycling roads in the state.

Stopped for some refreshment at the biker hangout (somebodies Ranch). A couple other riders were there, including another R6. He headed out westward with his buddy before me. I would catch up with them before the end of the road, as they had crashed and the CDF had closed the road while they cleaned up the mess. I don't know what happened, but it might have been a rider coming up the road the other direction that took them out. Crap.

An uneventful ride through helLA traffic on the freeways to Santa Monica, where I spent the night in a motel across from the pier. Pretty expensive, nothing to write home about. Had an OK dinner at the Mexican restaurant on the pier.

Saturday, I headed up Hwy 1 a little bit to Topanga Canyon, Mulholland Hwy and the Rock Store. Being Saturday morning, it was kind of quiet there. I hung out for a little bit, then continued on. Took Mulholland all the way back to Hwy 1. Continued up to 101 and Hwy 33 to Ojai. Had some lunch there (McDonalds, oh boy). Continued north on 33, which is some of the most prime twisties in the state! Just as the twisties end, make a right on Lockwood Valley Rd and the roller-coaster continues! Then a left on Cuddy Valley Rd and a right on Mil Potrero Hwy and the fun just never stops!

Make a left on to Hwy 166 westbound and cruise out to the coast, through Guadalupe and to the dunes. It was pretty foggy, couldn't see the ocean, but got some pictures of the dunes. Back to Hwy 1 and north to Pismo. Thought I'd spend the night there, but it's Saturday and I don't have reservations - not gonna happen! Instead, head up 101 to San Luis Obispo and stay the night at the Best Western. Have a really good dinner at Tahoe Joes!

Sunday I have breakfast at IHOP and head north on Hwy 1. I intend to take Nacimiento-Fergusson road over to G14, then come back across Carmel Valley road. I take a lot of pictures going up NF road (I really love it up there!), then down the other side to Fort Hunter Ligget. Unfortunately, my insurance card expired three days earlier, so they won't let me in the fort. I have to turn around and head back to Hwy 1 on NF road. Well, at least it's a beautiful day! Back up Hwy 1 and I stop for lunch at Nepenthe. I had the $12 grilled ham and cheese (damn good, but $12???). I figured it would be nice to get home a little early and unpack so I just continued up Hwy 1 to Hwy 17 and home.