This picture has nothing to do with our latest road trip, but it’s the first time I’ve had Bonderella and my chrome Sporty together for a picture! Kinda funny how the bike makes my truck look dull!
The photo op came about when we brought Sporty to the shop for a little pre-adventure lovin’ thanks to our pal Dave who sent me some very cool Burly Brand Moto-cross styled pegs (Thanks Dave!).
Since Brian planned to ride to Phoenix for his dealer meeting, I figured I’d tag along and stop off in Buckeye to visit my folks for a couple of days before joining up with him again for a “go-where-the-wind-blows-us” ride. Sunday, we hopped on the “Lil Hoss’s” (Brian’s name for the Sportys) and cruised toward Phoenix, stopping in Chiriaco Summit and Quartzite for gas, where we found this super cool trailer.
Since neither bike has a trailer hitch, we left it behind, and a few miles later, at the Buckeye turnoff, Brian and I parted ways. While I got fat on Daddy and Mommy’s good cookin’, played some pickleball, and entertained their critters, Brian did his Harley stuff. Tuesday night, we reconvened at the historic haunted Hotel San Carlos (he “forgot” to mention the ghost stuff… I’m not wild about ghost stuff, but I do love historic hotels, and they all claim to be haunted, so probably none of them are… right? {just lie to me}).
Thankfully, the young lady in white, Leone, didn’t come visit, nor did any the boys who allegedly drowned in the well… although we did have one incident. Sometime in the middle of the night, Brian bolted out of bed and flipped on the light, all the while reassuring me, don’t worry! It’s not a ghost! He’d been laying on top of the covers and felt something crawling up his leg. We never found a bug. I’m guessing it was the fingers of Leone. HEY! Keep your hands off my man, chickie! That’s right! I ain’t afraid of no ghosts!
Anyway, we’d planned to take a slow cruise home, drifting through Southern Arizona, but when Brian figured out squalls were approaching (and we didn’t have rain gear and were wearing lightweight jackets) we instead pointed the bikes toward home, and stayed the night at one of our favorite stops in the Mojave Desert: Joshua Tree.
After a fantastic night’s stay at the Joshua Tree Inn (and great food at Crossroads), Brian timed the storms, found a gap between systems, and we managed to make it home with only a few sprinkles and spray from the wet roads.
Not wanting to end the vacation yet, we stopped at home, swapped our bags into the pickup, and drove to the coast, figuring because of the cold weather and chance of rain–plus the time of year–we might get lucky and get a cottage at the Crystal Cove Historic Beach Cottages. Because you can’t just call to find out about day-of rentals, we made the trek down there. Mind you, this place books six months in advance. We’ve been trying for about five years, and always miss out. They didn’t have a cottage available, but they did have an ocean front room in the “dormitory,” no private bath, but a private room with a double bed and two singles.
Check this out?? Nice, eh?
I can’t even BEGIN to explain how excited I am about this. Even Brian, who isn’t a big beach guy, hasn’t left the balcony since we got here.
We enjoyed lovely views and a perfect dinner at The Beachcombers… and now I’m going to kick back, read a book, and enjoy the sound of the surf crashing into the beach.
By the way, Brian was WAY better about blogging this trip, so if you want to read more and see the great pictures he made with his new Leica X2, check out his blog!
Until next time!
Later Gators!