It’s easy to stay home is something our friend Byron said to us when we began talking about this journey and after only one week of being on the road I am finding out how true that is. So after months of planning, Milton and I, our friend Dennis who is taking this adventure with us, and another friend Eric, who ride down from Tacoma to ride to the border with us, finally pulled out of Redway, CA, a little past noon. We just had one final stop to make to pick up a handmade knitted cap for my husband that our friend Sarah made (he loves the hat, thank you Sarah).
Redway, CA
So here is a recap of our first week on the road:
Day 1-Tuesday, January 19, a little after noon. We jumped over to highway 1 at the Leggett cutoff right around the time it started raining. The ride over to the coast was beautiful with lots of twists and turns on the road and some mud from recent slides. Due to the road conditions, the gear on the bikes and the fact that it felt like forever since I road last the going was slow but we arrived safely and spent our first night in a motel right on the ocean in this little town called Gualala. We went to sleep and woke up with the sound of the waves crashing and a beautiful sunrise.
Day 2- Wednesday January 20, we continued down highway 1 with a stop for breakfast in a cute little town that I can’t remember the name of but while cooking breakfast at a local park, we met a woman from Tela, Honduras who brought her little girl over to see Jackie and we talked with her about the town she grew up in. We had some business to take care of at their local Wells Fargo and Dennis and Eric waited outside and found that Jackie and the bikes drew lots of attention and people wanted to know where we were headed.
Dennis and his new friend
Our next major stop of the day was in San Francisco where Milton wanted to pick up some new riding pants. After 8+ years of use he found his Aerostich pants had begun to leak. I recently went with a set of Klim riding gear for this trip and have been very happy with the gear so he decided to try to find some Klim riding pants in the city. After a long stop at Scuderia West on Duboce Ave, he found the pair he wanted but not in his size, so a quick phone call to the dealers along the way allowed him to order a pair that would be waiting for us at the BMW Motorcycle dealer in San Diego. I did pick up some new winter gloves and Eric got new tires so the trip was not spent in vain but it did put us leaving the city in more traffic than we wanted, oh well, I just kept looking at it as practice for when we ride in busy city traffic South of the border. Our next stop was a campground right around Half Moon Bay where were spent the night. Met a friendly camper next to us curious about our journey.
First Night camping
Day 3 -Thursday January 21, we woke up to a beautiful sunrise and continued down the coast until we stopped for coffee at a Starbucks for the WiFi in Santa Cruz. Discovered when crossing over the Golden Gate bridge that we no longer have to stop to pay but they snapped a picture as we went through which gave us 48 hours to pay the toll so first order of business after I got my coffee, pay the tolls. We were able to take care of some other business while stopped also so it was a productive for us. One of the pieces of business involved our Sena headsets and after a call to the company they offered to exchange the set we had but this required us to find a shop along the way that would give us a brand new set and do the actual exchange with the company themselves. After a few more phone calls, the only BMW dealer along the way that had two in their stock was in Long Beach, so a stop in Long Beach was added to our itinerary. We probably could have tried other places besides BMW dealers but we have always found that BMW dealers go out of there way to help so we try to stick to them when possible. That night we camped just a little above San Luis Obispo, CA.
Long Beach BMW, good donuts and coffee too
Day 4-Friday, January 22, was a day filled with riding as our main objective was to get to Long Beach by days end. This day was a blur to me but the highlight of the day was lane splitting, which is legal in California. At first I was scared to do it, convinced that my panniers were too wide for that little space but eventually I just followed the leader and did it. What a rush that was!! Our visit to Long Beach BMW met and exceeded our expectations with customer service and Dewey, who helped us specifically, was wonderful and got us all set up with the communicators.
Dennis with neighboring camper
That night we camped by Newport Beach in Crystal Cove campground. We found it amusing that when we were pulling in the park attendant was concerned about the noise of our bikes as we went through the campground and then got to our site we discovered that we were right in the midst of kid central with laughter and yelling all around us making as much noise as our bikes. It was good to hear little kids having fun even though it made me miss my grandson, Niko and we got a great night sleep. Right next to us was a group of families that had the cutest kids and in the morning they fed us a wonderful breakfast even and the kids all waved as we rode away, it warmed my heart.
Our gracious morning cooks
Day 5-Saturday January 23, onward to San Diego, where we picked up the new Klim pants but the trip into San Diego was not as fun for me today as I let my head tell me I didn’t have enough room to split lanes so I didn’t set myself up to make the transition smoothly and the bikes behind who were set to follow me had to slow suddenly. All I could see when I looked in my mirror was my water bottle that I had moved and to me it looked like it was hanging wider than my panniers were so I was afraid of it hitting cars as I passed. I did eventually split lanes for a little while but I was extremely frustrated with myself and the others, myself for letting my head stop me and frustrated with the others as I felt that if I didn’t feel comfortable I shouldn’t be pushed to do it or at least not be chastised for not doing it. Got to the point that for a day or so I only rode in the back, I was so frustrated with them. Later I realized that my water bottle was nowhere near where I thought it was.
After we finished with our business at the BMW shop and a quick trip to the REI store we headed out to Imperial Beach where Milton spent part of the high school years and he gave us a quick tour and we ate a late lunch. We were going to stay at the KOA in Chula Vista but decided to head further east before stopping for the night so we rode out Highway 8 and stayed in the Cleveland National Forest area. GPS led us astray for a little but we found our way to the last open campground somewhere out Highway 79.
Day 6-Sunday January 24, woke up to frost over everything and found that the mountain that we thought we could see in the light of the moon during the night was really just a big rock pile. Also found that my bike wouldn’t start so off the guys went to push start it and as we were just getting ready to pull out somehow Milton’s bike ended up on the ground.
Entering AZ
Decided to stop in Yuma, AZ to see friends of Dennis who used to live in Tacoma. The ride to Yuma was beautiful and the morning got warmer as we rode into the sun. Had a wonderful visit with Ruth and her husband Rich, a huge thank you to welcoming us and feeding us apple pie. Rich called ahead and found us a place to camp for the night in Gila Bend AZ where we could do laundry. 
Dennis and Rich
Thank you Rich for steering us in that direction, it was a great choice as we got there early enough to set up camp in the sun and dry our tents out.
Milton enjoying the sun in Gila Bend, AZ drying the gear out.
Day 7-Monday January 25, Eric left today to head back to the rainy Pacific Northwest. We were all sad to see him go but glad he got to come and spend some time with us on this journey. Milton and Eric often bump heads (as they are both STUBBORN) but they are good friends and I know that Milton misses his friend. We have one final great picture of all of us together before he rode off in the opposite direction but not sure whose phone it is on so I’ll download it later.
Stopped in Tucson to take care of more business and decided to change the oil in the bikes at the local Walmart. While the oil was being changed I took care of some other business which needed to be done before we cross the border. One thing we did was shut off the cell phones, we’ll buy sim cards to put in our phone when we get to Mexico but until then it feels strange to be disconnected except for when we find a place with free WiFi.
It was dark by the time we left Tucson, the moon was just hanging over the horizon off to our left and it was an amazing beautiful yellow color. With no cell phone GPS to follow, after awhile, I became convinced Milton had missed our exit so I pulled in front to signal him to stop at the next exit and then the fun really began. The battery died on Milton’s bike on the side of the road and as he and Dennis were attempting to jump the bike, in the dark, I hadn’t noticed that I had parked on uneven surface and while attempting to get off the bike me, Jackie, and the bike went over. Poor Jackie is hanging by her collar legs flailing as I try to hold her still to unhook her, and the guys pick my bike up. No damage done except the slight dent to my ego. For a minute, I wondered if this was a sign to cancel the trip but then I figured that this is just the universe’s way of giving us more opportunity for experience before we cross the border. As we continued on for the last 30 miles or so the moon was now higher in the sky and if it wasn’t full, it was close to full, and it felt like we were chasing it into the night. As we rode, with our final destination for the night being a Motel 6 in St. David the phrase “it’s easy to stay home” kept running through my head but then again, where is the adventure in that!!!