redtail
Well-known member
So, I hit the floor running when I got home! Thus the delay in posting, but here are some pics I got as we finished out our trip.
After staying 2 nights in San Simeon and riding/exploring that area, we picked up and moved to Big Sur. We then spent 2 nights in the Redwoods, in an old cabin on a friend of a friends land. Those pictures, however, have a different rating!
On friday we moved into a room at the Big Sur River Inn! I was looking to make this a nice trip for Laurie and didn't mind the splurge. Plus when I made these reservations we hadn't planned on staying in country for a whole week.
Now we had stayed in the area before, and the web site showed beautiful rooms and the river. What we found however was... well... the whole room including the bathroom, was smaller than the parking space! It wasn't a queen bed. but a full! Just one chair, no TV,no cell service, no coffee! Funky hard mattress, scratchy towels and instead of being on the river... it was 20 feet off the HWY! I didn't sleep at all!
I've been in worse, but for 175 bucks a night, they could have at least been polite to us!
When we tried to walk to the river we were met by signs warning us not to picnic! There was a deck full of chairs but the (empty)seating was only for the inn.
I didn't want to raise hell and rain on the parade but then the staff was really rude to us at lunch as well! I mean how dare we bring them a 1000 dollar lunch party! OK there's my rant and review of "The River Inn" in Big Sur!
All but two of the shops were abandoned, but one had some really cool stuff in it! There are some amazing artists in the area! I talked Laurie into a pendant of Big Sur Jade. We also managed a beautiful ride up to Carmel and Back!
Anybody remember the show called " The Ghost and Mrs. Muir "? I might have spelled it wrong but this was the Lighthouse!
As the lot filled with bikes, our energy over-rode any other and there was no stopping our good time! Great visit with Hans and his nephew Brandon over lunch, thanks again for your service son!
Here's a picture of my lovely wife at her first FJR RTE!
When the first riders started showing up, I knew we needed to check out and be ready to travel right after lunch. I wasn't staying for the second night and our lovely hosts at the Sea Breeze Inn in San Simeon were willing to find us a room for 69 a night, if we didn't mind that the room had a king and a queen bed!
Anyways, I loaded our stuff and pulled the truck over to a service area where I could back up to a slope. Mind you there's now half a dozen guys just across the street! My first try at loading got exciting as heck! It was just wet and muddy enough that when the rear tire started on the ramp, it spun and the rear started to step out! I quickly gathered myself up, realigned the bike, and when I looked up.. here comes all these guys running with they're cameras at the ready to watch me load the bike! :dribble:
Well, after lots of laughs and a deep breath, it rode right up like it was made to do. Thank you God! It then became the topic of more the one remark sitting in a sea of FJR's!
Leaving Big Sur and heading back south, my truck started surging really bad. Got a check engine light all. Not what you want to see on vacation but then there's never a good time is there?
I nursed it into San Simeon and parked it at the hotel! Unloaded the bike and went to dinner with the "gang" at Lin's. We were too late for the Nitt Witt Tour but we had a great time at dinner and the fire pit after! Great meeting new people and look forward to many more RTE's in the future!
The next day (Sunday) we found out that a mechanic would be around come Monday, so off we went on the FJR. I have been looking at Nacimiento Rd for a while and this was the perfect time! Usually I'm off on my own and wishing Laurie could see the country I was seeing. This trip was really cool for me to get to share the ride with her!
First stop was a waterfall that we had seen from the road!
With all the little showers we had, the falls were really going off!
Then it was up Nacimiento Rd! OMG the views from here were amazing!
One lane, two way traffic and no guard rails!
Up and Over!
The next section is more manageable but with Laurie on the back I opted for more focus on the road and less picture taking. On the back side you enter 165,000 acres of Army base. So it's a beautiful paved road through some relatively untouched central California country side. Oaks, streams and wildlife. Very highly recommended! Neither the entrance or exit guard shacks were manned, we just drove right through!
We'll except for a stop at the Mission. Neat building.
We rode all the way out to the 101 FWY, down to the 46 and back to Cambria for a wonderful dinner at a place called Robyn's. Our second stop here, mainly for the Salmon Bisque (which they're well known for). Got a fuzzy shot of the flat iron steak we split and then finished with a homemade strawberry creamsicle desert!
and then we even got back to the motel in time to walk on the beach and see the sunset!
Monday morning I drove the truck into Cambria where Dan, at the Chevron, found I had a missfire in the 8th cylinder! While he swapped out the plug, Laurie went shopping.
By the time he got me back on the road, it was too late! Laurie was on the hunt! I spent 6 hours that day following her around the antique shops in Cambria and Cayucos! I would have been miserable but she was just having too much fun!
The truck got us home and then I learned to change the rest of the plugs. I guess I've had cars under warranty for longer than I thought, I didn't know that they did away with spark plug wires!
I would have had a hell of a time doing it without a ford forum showing me the way, and wouldn't have even known to look there without this forum teaching me about forums! It was a really good day when I bought an FJR!
and now you've got my side of the story! Thanks again Sam for setting wheels in motion! Oh! and thanks DC for giving me a pass on the whole towing thing! We turned this trip into a really grand adventure!
After staying 2 nights in San Simeon and riding/exploring that area, we picked up and moved to Big Sur. We then spent 2 nights in the Redwoods, in an old cabin on a friend of a friends land. Those pictures, however, have a different rating!
On friday we moved into a room at the Big Sur River Inn! I was looking to make this a nice trip for Laurie and didn't mind the splurge. Plus when I made these reservations we hadn't planned on staying in country for a whole week.
Now we had stayed in the area before, and the web site showed beautiful rooms and the river. What we found however was... well... the whole room including the bathroom, was smaller than the parking space! It wasn't a queen bed. but a full! Just one chair, no TV,no cell service, no coffee! Funky hard mattress, scratchy towels and instead of being on the river... it was 20 feet off the HWY! I didn't sleep at all!
I've been in worse, but for 175 bucks a night, they could have at least been polite to us!
When we tried to walk to the river we were met by signs warning us not to picnic! There was a deck full of chairs but the (empty)seating was only for the inn.
I didn't want to raise hell and rain on the parade but then the staff was really rude to us at lunch as well! I mean how dare we bring them a 1000 dollar lunch party! OK there's my rant and review of "The River Inn" in Big Sur!
All but two of the shops were abandoned, but one had some really cool stuff in it! There are some amazing artists in the area! I talked Laurie into a pendant of Big Sur Jade. We also managed a beautiful ride up to Carmel and Back!
Anybody remember the show called " The Ghost and Mrs. Muir "? I might have spelled it wrong but this was the Lighthouse!
As the lot filled with bikes, our energy over-rode any other and there was no stopping our good time! Great visit with Hans and his nephew Brandon over lunch, thanks again for your service son!
Here's a picture of my lovely wife at her first FJR RTE!
When the first riders started showing up, I knew we needed to check out and be ready to travel right after lunch. I wasn't staying for the second night and our lovely hosts at the Sea Breeze Inn in San Simeon were willing to find us a room for 69 a night, if we didn't mind that the room had a king and a queen bed!
Anyways, I loaded our stuff and pulled the truck over to a service area where I could back up to a slope. Mind you there's now half a dozen guys just across the street!
My first try at loading got exciting as heck! It was just wet and muddy enough that when the rear tire started on the ramp, it spun and the rear started to step out! I quickly gathered myself up, realigned the bike, and when I looked up.. here comes all these guys running with they're cameras at the ready to watch me load the bike! :dribble: Well, after lots of laughs and a deep breath, it rode right up like it was made to do. Thank you God! It then became the topic of more the one remark sitting in a sea of FJR's!
Leaving Big Sur and heading back south, my truck started surging really bad. Got a check engine light all. Not what you want to see on vacation but then there's never a good time is there?
I nursed it into San Simeon and parked it at the hotel! Unloaded the bike and went to dinner with the "gang" at Lin's. We were too late for the Nitt Witt Tour but we had a great time at dinner and the fire pit after! Great meeting new people and look forward to many more RTE's in the future!
The next day (Sunday) we found out that a mechanic would be around come Monday, so off we went on the FJR. I have been looking at Nacimiento Rd for a while and this was the perfect time! Usually I'm off on my own and wishing Laurie could see the country I was seeing. This trip was really cool for me to get to share the ride with her!
First stop was a waterfall that we had seen from the road!
With all the little showers we had, the falls were really going off!
Then it was up Nacimiento Rd! OMG the views from here were amazing!
One lane, two way traffic and no guard rails!
Up and Over!
The next section is more manageable but with Laurie on the back I opted for more focus on the road and less picture taking. On the back side you enter 165,000 acres of Army base. So it's a beautiful paved road through some relatively untouched central California country side. Oaks, streams and wildlife. Very highly recommended! Neither the entrance or exit guard shacks were manned, we just drove right through!
We'll except for a stop at the Mission. Neat building.
We rode all the way out to the 101 FWY, down to the 46 and back to Cambria for a wonderful dinner at a place called Robyn's. Our second stop here, mainly for the Salmon Bisque (which they're well known for). Got a fuzzy shot of the flat iron steak we split and then finished with a homemade strawberry creamsicle desert!
and then we even got back to the motel in time to walk on the beach and see the sunset!
Monday morning I drove the truck into Cambria where Dan, at the Chevron, found I had a missfire in the 8th cylinder! While he swapped out the plug, Laurie went shopping.
By the time he got me back on the road, it was too late! Laurie was on the hunt! I spent 6 hours that day following her around the antique shops in Cambria and Cayucos! I would have been miserable but she was just having too much fun!
The truck got us home and then I learned to change the rest of the plugs. I guess I've had cars under warranty for longer than I thought, I didn't know that they did away with spark plug wires!
I would have had a hell of a time doing it without a ford forum showing me the way, and wouldn't have even known to look there without this forum teaching me about forums! It was a really good day when I bought an FJR!
and now you've got my side of the story! Thanks again Sam for setting wheels in motion! Oh! and thanks DC for giving me a pass on the whole towing thing! We turned this trip into a really grand adventure!
