Out and About - Scouring California

Lest anyone think I am lollygagging around, twiddling my thumbs, watching Oprah, and eating bon-bons, I have been scouring this beautiful state of ours... no "big" rides but lots of short-ish trips around the area... weather has been glorious and the roads have been in great condition... one of the things that I enjoy most about taking photographs is it reminds me of the "little" wonders in this world that we oft time are rushing through too quickly to notice... hope this inspires you all to slow down and smell the roses... figuratively and literally!! :)

First a ride down to Santa Barbara for a moto gathering... Pacific Coast Hwy...


McVey Falls at Julia Pfeiffer State Park... you can see it right from the road if you know where to stop...


Ragged Point...


A woman was eating lunch and pointed this out to me when she saw my camera... thank you, Lunch Lady!!


Elephant seals... luckily this is not a scratch & sniff report... cause they were stinky!!


Morro Bay...


Evening libations by the fire...


Foxen Canyon Rd...




Can you smell those roses?? They lined the road for a couple of miles...


Tepusquet Road... love the geographic patterns in the mowed fields...

The temperature hit 93 and it was only about 10:30 a.m. so a few of us diverted from the regularly scheduled route and headed for cooler climates by the coast...


The road to and from Jalama Beach...






Old barns are a favorite... this one had really cool coloration on it...




San Marcos Rd, aka Mr. Toad's Wild Ride!




Next morning it was time to head home... Cachuma Lake...


Again, it was going to be a hot one inland so I decided to take a chance with traffic up the coast... at least it would be cool! Just outside of Cambria there was a flurry of activity with cars pulling over to the shoulder, folks getting out to look at something unusual, so I did too... and this is what I saw... right there on the side of the road...


Wait... whut???? Are those what I think they are????


Yup... zebras doing a cattle impression... seems Mr. William Randolph Hearst had acquired a few of them on his property many years ago and they flourished...


I didn't think I'd stop for many pictures since I'd just been down the coast so it couldn't be much different, right? Everything looks different when you go a different direction...


Nuts? Why yes... yes I am...


Pacific Valley...


The fog bank - nature's air conditioning - kept things at a lovely, cool 68 degrees the whole way up...


And then I put the camera away because the road gods had smiled upon me and managed to find me in the middle of whole lot of nothing traffic-wise... I wasn't gonna take that for granted so enjoyed my personal romp past Big Sur before coming to the end of the string of cars making their way home as well... Hwy 17 was jam packed but luckily I know a few ways around that which I took advantage of and was home by a little after 4pm... not bad for 300+ miles... and it was good.

The next weekend was spent riding with friends in the Santa Cruz mountains one day and a memorial ride for a fallen rider the next...




Lobitos Creek Rd... loved the crazy shadow patterns...






Tunitas Creek Rd...






Got lost a little and stopped for a break... found a hitchhiker on my windshield... stayed there to have its photo taken (poser!!)... stayed when I got on the bike... stayed when I started the bike... gently brushed it away but it came back again... Adventure Butterfly!!


Backroads mailbox...


Pretty but prickly...


There was a balloon release in honor of our fallen rider, Gary Jaehne... Kawasaki green was his favorite colors so the balloons mirrored that...




I love the ocean...


And the redwoods...


Shadow play...


Alpine Rd...


Page Mill Rd...


Sunset off of Mountain Charlie Rd...

Over Memorial Day, we went up to my folks' place in Somerset (near Placerville) for our annual weekend of riding, eating, and lots of laughter...

Patterson Pass Rd...


Fiddletown...






Of course we can't pass up this road...


Squid alert!!


Bullfighting... 2-wheel style...


Stumpy Meadows...


I like the sticker on Marie's helmet...


Ice House Rd. needs some love...


Loon Lake for a picnic lunch...


There's a section of my folks' property that we call Indian Rock... you can find grinding holes from long ago in the long slab of rock along the hillside... the land has an incredible energy about it... hard to describe but everyone that goes there feels it... I can sit out there for hours and the world goes away... just communing with nature... :)






When I was a little girl, we would blow on these and make the "fairies" fly off into the sky carrying a wish with it...




Just a reminder...

A week or two after that, I led a group ride for an East Bay romp... haven't been over that way for awhile now so it was fun to revisit some favorite spots...




Mount Diablo in the distance...


Whatchoo lookin' at??


Roxanne got a new-to-her bike... which she really, really likes!!!


A stop at The Wall in Berkeley... on a clear day you can see forever...


You can just make out the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance...

And then finally, last weekend was a short, newbie-friendly ride ending at Filoli Gardens in Woodside deemed the Flora, Fauna, and Merry Weather ride... we had a huge turnout with just about every category of motobike in attendance... classic bikes, cruisers, dual sports, sport bikes, and even another Spyder!


Riders at the ready...




Off of Canada Rd. looking at the reservoir... we had just ridden through that fog a few minutes prior... it was cold!




We arrived at Filoli, de-geared, had a spot of lunch at the onsite cafe, and then headed into the gardens to enjoy the gorgeous landscaping and floral splendor...
























Kickin' back and enjoying the moment... it's been a great couple of weeks and I've got some more trips coming up... it's gonna be a busy summer!! Hope you all are out enjoying the world and remember to enjoy the wonders that are there just waiting for you to find them!

FIN

Nice Pics!!!

I been to most of the locations your photos shown. I don't remember it is so pretty. You really know how to angle those photos. Thanks for sharing.

You are one hell of a photographer!
Thank you for the great report and fantastic pictures.
Would you mind telling me what kind of camera and lenses you used for those shots?

Thank you kindly, folks!

Badger, I use a Nikon D5000 camera with an 18-200mm lens. Given I'm usually on the road, I don't want the hassle/worry of having to switch lenses. I've found the 18-200mm has just about everything I want/need.

P.S. I also have a small P&S for the on the go road shots from the bike - Powershot SD1400IS.

Thanks for the info. I have a D7000, and was thinking of switching to a Micro Four Thirds system to save weight and space, but after seeing the versatility of that lens, I may have to reconsider.
My apologies for mini hijacking your report.

No apologies necessary... while a good camera helps, it's all in noticing what's around you... sometimes I have no idea what I'm looking for until I slow down, look around, and see it! I keep the camera in my tank bag, stop and pull it out, take the shot, back on the bike and return the camera to the tank bag... makes it a lot easier to get to than stowing it somewhere else. :)

Really great photos!!! Love to see pictures from places I ride especially when they are captured as well as these are Next time you are by Lake Cachuma you should check out figueroa mountain especially round spring poppy bloom

Duly noted!!

Absolutely beautiful photographs, some of which I have ripped off for screen savers.

Have been to many of the locations you show. Next time you're at Ice House, look across Peavine Ridge Road just east of the Ice House store and you'll see a road which leads to the top of Big Hill. Big Hill is a fire observation tower facility and helitack base and it offers 360 degree views, including all the way over to Mt Diablo on a clear day to the west and the Crystal Range to the east. Well worth the little side trip.

Thanks for sharing these. Your photos skills, particularly your macro shots (butterfly, flowers, etc) and photo composition, are very impressive...you are a true ARTISTE and rider...

What a fantastic series of rides AND photos! Thanks for taking us along!!!

Thanks for that tip... I've seen photos from that location and wondered how to get up there so next time I'll be sure to check it out!!

You sir, know how to work a camera.

You and I have been on the same roads very recently....



however, while underway I'm terrible about stopping to take photos - I see a shot but I'd have to stop to get it and depending on the ride I might stop but I hate messing with the continuity or flow of a ride, every single time I get home I wish I had taken more pictures.....

and yes, you have a wonderful eye for beauty and even more rare is you posses the ability to capture it in a way that others dont see. It takes most people the course of their natural lives to look through the viewfinder and be able to create art - it appears you've already arrived there.

fixed it for ya