My long planned and repeatedly delayed motorcycle trip, USA Midwest 2023, kicks off tomorrow morning.
Click on the photo below to follow along during the trip:
In this video I ride the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe and head back into California, and ride through Historic Downtown Truckee, California. I wrap up the video riding back to camp at Cottonwood Creek Campground.
This video also wraps up Day 7, seemed like a week worth’s of video LOL.
Lake Tahoe area is truly spectacular and worth a visit. I hope to return some day and maybe chill more near the lake (probably won’t be a motorcycle trip next time).
I roll through Carson City and Reno, Nevada because, well I had never been to either city and why not LOL, it’s what I do 🙂
I was surprised just how small of town Carson City was. Downtown Reno was done up very nice and it was very clean (downtown anyways).
I continue my scenic ride of Lake Tahoe in this video rolling down to the south end of the lake going though South Lake Tahoe, CA and into Nevada.
Some truly epic views of the lake and surrounding scenery from California Highway 89.
In this video, I take a scenic ride around a portion of Lake Tahoe from Kings Beach, CA to Emerald Bay State Park Lookout on the western side of the lake.
Lake Tahoe is such beautiful lake with crystal clear water. While the video and pictures are very nice, it still does not compare to how it looks in person.
In this video I go on a scenic ride within the Tahoe National Forest on California Highway 89 from Cottonwood Creek Campground to Truckee, California.
On this day, I rode a scenic ride from my camp at Cottonwood Creek Campground to Donner Pass and back while stopping in Truckee, CA to grab some groceries for the evenings meals, tacos!
Yet another day where my camera angle was less than desired, not a total waste but disappointing that much of the view was missed. If and whenever I return to the Lake Tahoe region, I will be sure to record better footage.
The ride up to Donner pass and the views from the pass were impressive….AND WINDY lol.
In this video, I rode from Redding, CA to Cottonwood Campground Creek Campground in the Tahoe National Forest, just south of Sierraville, CA. Following Google Maps like a lemming, I turned onto the wrong road, Verdi Grade Road which was a bumpy dirt road with numerous sizeable rocks and wash outs.
Once I decided that I was on the wrong road, I turned around and was headed back to the California Highway 89 where my forward progress was halted by a large rock and of course there was a deep washout where I went to put my left foot down.
Dexter’s curb weight is about 850 pounds, figure about 200 pounds of gear and add my weigh of around 265, total weight is in the neighborhood of 1,200 – 1,300 pounds. That is freaking heavy lol and near impossible to hold up once the bike tips past a certain point. So, Dexter took a dirt nap. I tried to pick Dexter while still loaded, yeah not gonna happen. So there on the dirt road / path I unloaded the heavy stuff and did manage to pick Dexter up, reloaded and turned into the Campground which was maybe 500 feet from where I turned onto this interesting road.
Dexter is a 2005 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic, this bike is very much designed for pavement or at least a groomed gravel road. I had no business being on this road…buy hey, now I have a story to tell 🙂
Today is one week until my USA Midwest 2023 trip begins. It has been three years since I have done a long distance trip. I did a regional trip from Atlanta (Douglasville, GA) to Charlotte of 685 miles and a regional from Atlanta (Douglasville, GA) to Myrtle Beach of 793 miles in 2021. I did not do any riding in 2022 at all due to working a second job that I quit in December 2022 (one year part time warehouse work) – have to pay for my toys (and never-ending home projects) somehow.
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In this video, I depart the Burlington Campground – Weott, CA and roll north first on Avenue of the Giants and then Hwy 101 to Eureka, CA where I turn east onto California Highway 299 to 11 miles west of Redding, California.
Avenue of the Giants and CA Highway 299 had some exceptional scenery and some nice sweeping curves on CA Highway 299. Also some very nice scenes along portions of the Trinity River.
Wanderlust Lyfe 