Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[JCZ]

Continuing......we rolled on in to Sequoia National Park.  Stopped at the gate long enough to get Steve a permanent handicapped park pass. 

By the way, Hunter is a service dog so he went in to all the restaurants with us.  I found two things to be very surprising.....Hunter is a very, very well behaved dog.  In every case, he just lays under the table (or next to it) beside Steve.  The other thing that I was surprised at is that nobody seemed to be surprised by it.....he was very well received in every restaurant by the patrons.

Of course, at the bike and in his trailer......well, suffice it to say that Hunter is used to all the paparazzi.  We couldn't even get parked and people would mob him until we pulled out.  Young and old alike.....made no difference.  Hunter takes it all in stride.







We saw more of these kinds of signs and these kinds of roads in the next twenty five miles than I've saw anywhere in my life!  If you have not rode the highway from Three Rivers to Kings Canyon before.....you owe it to yourself.





















Joanne's only been riding about a year but she's already got 20,000 miles on her CVO.  A really good rider considering her short riding experience....you have to be a good rider to ride these roads!  Terrie and I were both impressed with her riding.





It was here, on the side of the road where Steve, Joanne and I sing  to Terrie.  Yep, it was her birthday yesterday yesterday. 
I think Hunter was relieved that it wasn't about him, for a change.






As we continued to climb to the top....soon we were up in the snow.  Not fun, but we've been there before.  I just wish those tourists in those cars, SUVs and motorhomes would stay on their own side of the double yellow on the curves.  Joanne was a trooper....she pressed on with the rest of us.



Hunter is quite bored with all the paparazzi.  Poor dog, can't hardly go to the bathroom in peace.

[1sharprdkg]

I'll take eating in a restaurant with a dog like Hunter any day over some screaming, snot nosed, crying kids! You can't ride around with a cool dog in a trailer like that and not expect to draw a crowd!

[JCZ]

I have heard of "Ice Road Truckers" but what none of us was expecting or ready for was "ICE ROAD BIKERS"!  I'm sure that some of you have had to ride on ice before and it would have been bad enough but on very narrow roads, up hill, down hill, sharpe curves......was very unnerving.  

Steve is a seasoned rider but I was really impressed with Terrie and Joanne.  They hung right with us and kept pushing on.....no whinning, no complaining .....it is what it is, just deal with it.  I was really proud of both of them!







Oh.....there's the sign  







and to add to that challenge.....I was riding with one hand while taking pictures with the other.  Had to, cuz without pictures I knew nobody was going to believe this.

This sign should have been twenty miles back.....might have been a clue for us....



A break and FOOD! After what we just went through, we needed both.



Hunter and I were really started to develop a relationship.  He had his head laid in my lap last night......just a big ol' puppy lap dog.









I had the best (flakey and not oily or greasy) fish and chips I believe I've ever had and big ol' steak fries....



Steve had a cheese burger w/sweet potatoe fries...





Full stomach, relaxed a bit from our ice road biker experience, nervous laughs about it all.....we press on.

[JCZ]

stop for more one lane roads traffic light (due to construction)...















The evening fog is starting to roll up the hills....





Hunter workin the crowd again....







Oh......and they have some really big, I mean BIG trees up here in these parks.  This is just a stump of one....



This one is still growing...









Believe it or not.....we never saw one drop of rain!  And although it got pretty cold.....we had our Gerbing gear....we were fine.



More fog rolling in and fast.











We finally roll in to our home for last night, Best Western Way Station, Mariposa, Ca.....









We walked to dinner last night....







It was a great day...some awsome experiences....nice weather....great riding....good dinner and time to lay it down for the evening.

[JCZ]

We stayed in Mariposa last night.  And even though we slept in a couple extra hours, we decided to take the long way home....through Yosemite and some other, less traveled back roads.

The view across the street from our hotel room this morning....a chapel.



and a view back at the hotel from the store across the street.

























NO GAS IN YOSEMITE!

[JCZ]

Frost on the fields in Yosemite....









and frost on the roads....































I have to say, the great thing about going to Yosemite on Thanksgiving weekend is the lack of traffic!  Today the traffic was the lightest I've seen in Yosemite in twenty five years.  It was very nice!






























Gonna take a break for tonight.  The crows are up next......

[JCZ]

While stopped at the Crane Flat gas station, these crows became very friendly.  Bold is more like it.....or was that "starving".  They literally came right up to our feet.  I was eating peanuts and quickly became friends with them while Terrie was gone to the restroom.







Snow plows and sand trucks were headed up Tioga Pass.  Surprisingly, these crows stayed even as the trucks went rolling by and as Terrie walked up.  Even when we got ready to leave and I fired my bike up....they stayed right there beside us.





This guy had his craw stuffed full of peanuts.....eventually dumping them all back out on the ground and then eating them one at a time.

















I guess Santa needs to go once in awhile, too......

[JCZ]

Priest Station actually has a couple of cabins for rent, behind the restaurant.  $85 a night with million dollar views....



Views from the balcony of the cabin....

[JCZ]

We took a break in Copperopolis, Ca.....  They have a little town square like some of the little towns back east.....that's only four years old.











































































It was a great four days on the road.  Weather was great....got to ride and experience with friends.....met Hunter, Jenny and her puppys.....road the ice roads......it was all a great time and we're ready to go again.

[Midnight Rider]

Great pics, JC.  I am totally impressed with that setup your friend has for his dog, and the dog too.  It's awesome that he gets to take his best friend and helper with him!!

Question for you:  How the heck do you shoot the pics with your D60?  I know you have it around your neck, but do you momentarily put the bike on cruise to operate the camera with your right hand?  Have you just done it so much you don't really have to frame the shot...you just shoot?  I can't do this with my D300 (too big and heavy), but could with my Canon G10.  We need a left handed camera...LOL!

[JCZ]

Great pics, JC.  I am totally impressed with that setup your friend has for his dog, and the dog too.  It's awesome that he gets to take his best friend and helper with him!!

Question for you:  How the heck do you shoot the pics with your D60?  I know you have it around your neck, but do you momentarily put the bike on cruise to operate the camera with your right hand?  Have you just done it so much you don't really have to frame the shot...you just shoot?  I can't do this with my D300 (too big and heavy), but could with my Canon G10.  We need a left handed camera...LOL!

It's a combination Terry.  Yes, I have it around my neck.  Sometimes I just hold it up and blast off four or five shots....just hoping that one frames right (that took a hell of a lot of practice and a lot of deleating ) and I do often ride with cruise on and use both hands....one to hold the camera, the other to focus.  I can ride without hands even in curves (that took a lot of practice, too) as long as they're sweepers.

I've got where I know most of the settings on top of my camera by feel.....so don't have to look.....just count the clicks.

You can probably tell by looking at my pics, which ones I had the setting right and which ones I was off a click or two.

One of the things that helps in keeping that heavy camera around my neck.....I have the typical Nikon camera strap but then I have one of those seat belt strap fake fur things velcroed around the strap.  That way, the camera doesn't rub my neck raw by the end of the day.  Not going to win any fashion award but I'm old enough now that all I have to worry about is function.   As far as function goes, it works well.

[Tannehill Kid]

Really enjoyed the pics and story line.  That was one awesome ride.

[JCZ]

I forgot to mention.....we clocked 773 miles on this ride.

[Fullsac Performance]

Awesome pics! Thanks JCZ!

SG

[Skillet]

Really enjoyed the pics. Those were some great roads to enjoy I see,especially liked the curves. Haven't tried the icy roads yet. Thanks for posting them.