USA
29. September 2009 — To San Francisco and reunion with Otto
Got a fire going in the morning again and had what only Bridget knows the name off. Lets say it involved toast, eggs and it was really nice. We had coffee & tea and then set off. Not before noticing that my power socket for the GPS was not working. So was driving with no clue about the speed…
Early start because Otto & Lisa had a plane to catch. So I went to a Starbucks for coffee and discovered that they charge for Wifi. Bastards. I found a bike shop en route to Daniel’s place who I was meeting for lunch.
01. October 2009 — Alcatraz and San Francisco
Since the speedo would not arrive until the afternoon I headed into downtown to do some sightseeing. I went to Pier 39 and then took the Alcatraz tour. Very interesting and definitely not the place I want to be locked up.
02. October 2009 — bike maintenance and fitting new speedo
We called around this morning to find a right hand mirror. Went on the bikes with Daniel to a place called “Werkstatt” (run by a German girl). Bought a mirror, oil and some other bits and pieces.
03. October 2009 — Along the cost towards LA
Set off, got lost and then the speedo fell off. Grrrr. Back to the GPS back up. Went up a side road to link up 101 to 1. Nice drive and then had lunch at Alice’s restaurant (a biker hangout). The waitress asked were I was from so had to tell my story and a few minutes later she shows up with a license plate holder from the restaurant.
04. October 2009 — Made it to Los Angeles
Headed back 8 miles to Hearst Castle, a mansion that newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst build in 1920 - 30. Its this totally over the top “castle” stuffed with antiques. Took a tour for 1.5 hours and then really had to get going.
05. October 2009 — Sightseeing in LA
We went for breaky at a local dinner and then did a tour of LA. Went up the Hollywood hills to get a picture of the Hollywood sign, Hollywood Blwd, Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive.
Lounging around through the morning Surfed the web. Did not do much. In the evening met with Rob’s brother Bron at a bar in Venice Beach. Ended up being a heavy drinking session. Bridget and Rob went home and I stayed drinking with Bron and one of his girl friends. Crashed on Bron’s couch. Well liquered up.
06. October 2009 — Hung over in LA
Woke up and it took me a while to realize were I was. Oh yeah, Bron’s couch. Bob, Bron’s flat mate and me went to Starbucks for coffee. Sat there watching people go by and chatted about traveling.
07. October 2009 — Making plans of leaving together with Dave
Slept long and just pottered around. David came by and we arranged to leave LA together the next day. I had met David (UK guy) at the HU meeting. David had roughly done the same route thru Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Funnily enough he is also riding on the same bike as me. Nothing else exciting happened.
08. October 2009 — Left LA and heading south
Easy start of the day. I got my things packed up and then Rob and myself went to the local dinner for breakfast. David came by around 1pm and we set off down the coast. Drive on highway 101 was actually not that great. Nothing compared to the bit north of LA.
09. October 2009 — Getting treated in San Clemente
Had some porridge for breaky and then packed up. We drove back to San Clemente to meet Roger. David had met him somewhere in California and Roger said to drop in. So we did. We had to wait for Roger. When he arrived he showed us around his company and his two bikes (BMW R1200GS, BMW HP2).
10. October 2009 — Hanging out in San Clemente
Woke up and had a slow start. Roger came by at 10am and we went for breakfast. We decided to stay another night. So went to the post office to send a box with stuff home. Bought some food at a supermarket.
12. October 2009 — Another day in San Clemente
Again a slow start. Roger picked us up for breaky again and he hooked us up for Baja to stay with a friend of his for Monday. So guess we were staying another night.