Colorado Cruiser: Pacific Coast Highway Days 1 and 2

Back in 2007, my wife and I were visiting friends and family in Arizona. One evening we were having dinner with friends and I made a comment that I'd love to ride my motorcycle up the Pacific Coast Highway. John, the guy that got me into riding replied, "Don't say that unless you mean it, because I want to do that too."

We chatted for a while about how and when we could do it. Both of us left probably thinking that the other one would back out and it would never happen. But after months of emails and planning, everything was in place, and we were off on one of the most fun vacations I've ever had.

Here are the trip reports and pictures from that trip. Most were written while we were still on the trip. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.

On Saturday July 5th, my daughter Koren, her friend Laura and I left my house at about 6:00am to drive to Cedar City Utah. Every year they have a great Shakespearean Festival, and we've learned to love going over to watch a play or two.

Laura flew up from Phoenix to drive over with us and drive back with Koren since I'll be taking my motorcycle on to California.

The drive over took nearly 11 hours because we were towing the motorcycle up some steep hills.

We pulled off the freeway into Cedar City right at 5:00pm, and within 100 yards, I was already pulled over for going 56 in a 45mph zone. The officer talked to us a bit, then went to his car and came back WITHOUT a clipboard. He warned me to slow down and wished us a good day. Whew.

We met a cousin and his wife for a quick dinner at Costa Vida, after another short detour 18 miles down the freeway. (Hint, if you miss the turn at the south end of town, you get forced onto the freeway and the first turnaround is 9 miles South).

We watched the play "2 Gentlemen of Verona" which was hilarious. The fool and his dog stole the show and got the biggest applause at the end. Laura hadn't ever seen a Shakespeare play but loved it and wants to come back.

We got back to the hotel and to sleep by 11:30, exhausted but happy.

At 4:50am the next morning, my alarm went off and I got up and packed everything on the motorcycle. I rolled out of Cedar City at 5:15 heading for Las Vegas. It was a cool morning with almost no traffic on the freeway. My biggest concern for the day was getting across the desert without dying from the heat. I stopped every hour to drink a bottle of gator aide, gas up, and go to he bathroom.

I was in Las Vegas by 8:00am. Barstow by 10:00am, and well into the LA area by noon for lunch. There's not much to say about that drive other than the short pretty section through the corner of Arizona. The rest is just long and flat and dusty and hot. But I was through before the real heat got going.

Once I made it down to I-10, the traffic had thickened and slowed to almost a crawl. The last 10 miles to the coast took me almost 45 minutes, and that was with the occasional shoot up between lanes. It's legal in California for Motorcycles to drive up the gap between lanes but I'm not as brave as most of the other motorcycles I saw. They would just drive 40+ right up through the gaps weaving back and forth. But I'd only go when traffic had come to a near stop with a fairly wide gap. I was amazed how many cars would nudge over to prevent me going through. But that never seemed to stop the other motorcycles.

Once on the PCH, the trouble became traffic lights, and lines of cars trying to turn into the beach parking lots. Again, I was able to zip through the gaps and made better time than the cars, and again I got dirty looks. The air was very dirty. I don't know whether it is just smog, or whether it was smoke from the nearby fires, I couldn't see very far out to see or up the coast.

Riding up through Malibu was crowded, slow, and kind of ugly. But once I got past Malibu it started to clear (traffic and air) and the ride became allot more fun. The rest of the ride was very pretty except for the occasional stretch where the PCH merged with the 101 freeway.

Just North of Oxnard I came across a section of PCH that was lined with Motor homes and trailers. They were parked right on the side of the road and setup for camping. I guess the parking is free, and since it's right on the ocean front, it's a free vacation. I saw people trying to hold empty spaces while a spouse ran to get an RV, and other people trying to force them out. Must be allot of competition to park there.

I arrived at the home of my friends Jim & Brenda in Beullton at 4pm (11 hours of driving). Nannette was there already. She flew out Saturday at noon to LAX, then rented a car and drove up.

Koren and I at the Shakespearean Festival