On a typical sunny Southern California day on Saturday July 25, 2020, I went on a day ride starting in Ramona, California, up the coast on Pacific Coast Highway in Orange County and then to Santa Monica and Los Angeles for a night time ride for a total of 337 miles.
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I woke up around 7 AM to the sound of the wind rustling through the tops of the nearby Redwoods, nice. I heated some breakfast (Mountain House Breakfast Skillet) and started to break down camp after eating, took some more photos of the area, finished breaking down camp, and packed up Dexter. It was now about 9:30 AM and good grief the sun was already hot and I was sweating heavily. So I mounted Dexter and rode briefly to seek cool refuge among the towering Redwoods within the State Park.
As stated in Day 1, I arrived at the hotel in Martinez, California at about 2 AM, it was about 4:30 AM by the time I actually wrapped with the nightly chores for preparation for the next day, ate a little bit, and just let the road adrenaline wear off enough where I actually could fall asleep. I forgot to mention that check in took a little bit longer than expected. My reservation I made with an online travel service somehow magically cancelled itself. Not a big deal, but the extra 15 minutes was grating on me after a long hard day / night.
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I had been planning for this motorcycle trip for just over a year (planning started before last years Nevada – Utah 2019 motorcycle trip, which I will be blogging about later. So much careful planning and preparation from how many miles I was planning for each day, the routes, how much fuel would need to be purchased, the campsites and the few motel stays. I created meal plans that determined how many Mountain House meals to purchase and pack, canned chili and spaghetti, Tabasco sauce, how may meals would be eating out and how many times would I actually cook. There was careful planning on what to pack for clothes and riding gear as I could experience extreme heat and cold, rain and maybe even a little snow all on the same trip. I had to plan how many days I could wear my motorcycle riding jeans before they would be too offensive even for me and thus determined how many riding jeans / pants I would pack. How many days of underwear, socks, and shirts would I need before I would do laundry on the road. And where would I do my laundry on the road, well this was planned out too. Every detail that I thought significant and not so significant was planned and re-planned before the trip was to start. This also of course included attention to my motorcycle, Dexter, as well.
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USA West 2020 was my 16 day, 6,011 mile motorcycle camping trip from May 23, 2020 to June 7, 2020.
I traveled through six states::
– California
– Oregon
– Washington
– Back to Oregon (Central to Eastern)
– Idaho
– Utah
– Colorado
– Kansas
– Oklahoma
– Texas
– New Mexico
– Arizona
– Back to Calfornia
Well it has been a bit since I posted anything on here…..2 years and 7 months if one is keeping score. I started setting up this blog and well, never really got past the setup and few entries. Busy with life, busy riding the motorcycle, moving, jobs, etc etc….and oh yeah, did I mention also just a bit lazy?)
So, since my last post on November 22, 2017 I have moved to Ramona, California from Lake Elsinore, California. Back then my son was less than a month old, now he will be turning 3 in November. I have gone on several multi day motorcycle trips to include Death Valley, Pacific Coast Highway, California Redwoods (twice) Lake Tahoe, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Oregon, Washington state, Utah (twice), Nevada (twice), Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas (just a corner in panhandle), New Mexico, and Arizona. Gosh if only I had a blog setup that I could have posted daily updates, pictures, and general thoughts and news during these trips, that would have been cool huh…..I am such a slacker lol. Well, no time like the present. One mustn’t grumble, now pip pip…..move along now.
I am healing up quite well. I can now walk nearly full stride unless I have been stuck driving in Southern California traffic for three hours, always fun. Then I have to limp a bit for a few blocks until my muscles and ligaments loosen up enough to walk near normal. I am still attending physical therapy a couple times a week and working my leg and knee when I can (that California commute thing again) at home.
Slow But Continued Progress
Slow progression continues. I am no longer using my crutches at all now and can walk pretty well with the assistance of a articulated knee brace. I find that walking after have been sitting for a bit (like at work) is a bit tough, but once I walk a bit everything loosens up. In preparing for yet another move (this time to in the Inland Empire south of Riverside California – now commutable to L.A. and San Diego). My leg and knee get pretty wiped out after moving boxes, climbing ladders, etc. But hey, at least I am now able to do these things and just in time as the big move day is just over a week away.
Orthopedic Visit
Been a little bit since I have posted anything, so here goes. Saw the orthopedic doctor (Soft tissue expertise) on 9/22/2017. I was given the OK to start putting weight on my leg / knee as tolerated. My Tibia fracture is healing well and no longer fractured. Granted, I will not be jumping for any rebounds soon (nor could I ever anyways). He was pleased that there was no excessive movement within my knee or tibia. Everything felt intact and where it should be. I begin physical therapy soon (soonest appointment available is 10/19/2017…so long). It is possible that I may not need knee surgery. My ACL is completely torn, my PCL is partially torn however there is evidence that my ACL tear in fact may be an old injury (I have messed up my leg / knee several times in the past pretty bad between playing football and in the military, oh an of course treating my body like an old rusted out pickup truck driven by 16 year old out in the country…..but I digress). After some PT and more time to heal, the assessment will be made as to whether or not my knee goes under the knife.
The Redwoods to Minnesota Motorcycle Trip
Before I decided that it would be fun to crash my bike and break my leg on August 5th, I was planning on taking a long motorcycle trip starting in Chula Vista, CA (San Diego) to Minneapolis, MN. The trip was to start on September 1st with the first camping spot south of San Jose, CA. Day 2 would have taken me into the Giant Redwoods near Weott, CA and camping overnight. Day 3 cut east across California camping not to far from Reno, NV. Day 4 was planned to be all slab (I-80) to Salt Lake City, UT with a stay in a motel (have to shower sometime).
Today would have been day 5.
Wanderlust Lyfe 