The Redfishes ride to California

[Redfish Hunter]

Tuesday 5/30/17

A quick IHOP Breakfast, some route discussion, and we crossed the bridge into Laughlin Nevada and Hwy 163. Then we turned north on Hwy 95 toward Searchlight NV. Then a turn west on Hwy 164 which just happens to be The Joshua Tree Highway! As soon as I saw the sign I knew that hppants was going to be happy. And he was.







I am not as enamored with these very tough trees as my friend hppants but his happiness was a joy to see. I knew he had been bitterly disappointed that he did not have time to see Joshua Tree National Park. This was a surprise and a gift for us all. We wandered around and I tried to get him to saw one down so we could see how old it was. He wisely declined.

Soon after that we were in California. In that part of the world California is neither glamorous nor exciting. It's just dry. And brown.

hppants and I had decided (it was his idea!) that we would dip southward into the Mojave National Preserve. It is hard to describe this because it is so foreign to me, so different from anything that I had ever experienced. There were Joshua trees and there were mountains surrounding us but they did not look cool or inviting like the Rockies or the Smokies. We passed a sanctuary for the desert tortoise but it was closed. Pop and I wondered how they might taste and if they could really outrun a rabbit like that story said.

While I was riding through this strange landscape my mind was showing me flashes of old Louis L'amour novels. The Lonesome Gods became a reality for me, I finally saw what the author tried to show me in those long forgotten pages.

Then it hit me that I was in California. Really in California. A place so far away that it was not a reality for me. Against all odds I had ridden a motorcycle from the damp green swamps of Louisiana all the way to this strange and wonderful place. Not only had I done it, I had brought my father with me. There he was in my mirror, a constant shadow. I had really Accomplished Something. And I had my dear friend hppants along with me too. That was a special and emotional time for me. I was so proud of Pop for being the tough old man that he is. I was overwhelmed and it is possible that I shed a tear or two inside my Shoei.

Back to reality.

I could see the road making a turn and stretching out to infinity and I just had to stop for a picture.

This picture in fact:



If you look you can see the road going toward the top left side of the picture.

Of course it took a while for me to get the bike stopped, dig the camera out, get the picture, get the camera back in... 'Pants had to turn around to see what was wrong. Then, the most horrible thing happened. A whole crew of Harleys and Indians rumbled past. Over a dozen of them, a vast rolling road block that was sure to slow us down to a crawl and be virtually impossible to pass. I stared in amazement, then in horror. My friend hppants saw my expression (I am NOT a poker player!) and wondered what was wrong. I was too pissed with myself to answer him. I just waved him on. There was a small glimmer of hope when I saw that the last thing in line was a van with a Harley on a trailer. It also occurred to me that there were no loud pipes, only the deep factory rumble of the American V-Twins.

Wonder of wonders, it was a European tour group. They stayed plenty fast on the roller coaster roads of that desert area. We all stopped for a break at Kelso Depot. This was an oasis in the desert and had some interesting history. The museum was closed.

The Tour Group. There were 14 of them. They each paid $800 a day for two weeks to tour the American West.



I can just picture Pop's expression when I try to explain why he owes me a little more than expected for this trip. What's $11,200 when you're family? I may cut him a "family discount" and make it an even $10K.

We started north to join up with I-15 at Baker CA. Just as we were leaving a well dressed lady in a white Mercedes pulled up and started asking Pop for directions. hppants was already rolling, I was impatient... Turns out she was trying to tell Pop that I-15 was a 50 mile traffic jam and we needed to head south for I-40 instead. So we rode 30 miles North and immediately rode that same 30 miles back. We made a 60+ round trip to Baker CA to see an epic traffic jam.

We headed back south, me feeling stupid for not being more patient with Pop and his lady friend. It started getting warm.





It was somewhere at this point that I had to explain to my friend hppants why I was so pissed off when I stopped to take that picture. I knew that my slow, stupid camera work had caused us to get stuck behind all those slow bikes. 'pants was of course happy to know that I was not upset with him. He went to his bike and presented me with a neck tether. He showed me how to attach my camera to this and taught me how to take pics on the run. Of course it was FJR red and had ULL Ragin Cajun all over it but I was thrilled.

I did my best to take decent pics later to pay him back for that wonderful gift.

We tried to get on Rte 66 but that section was closed so we jumped on I-40. It wasn't that bad, it was pretty scenic. We got off and rejoined Rte. 66 and it was awful. The pavement was terrible. Worse than terrible. We got back on the interstate. It was 102 degrees.

We pulled off for gas and I had not one but two pumps that refused to cooperate. My temper was getting short, we finally got gas and then the HD and Indian mounted tour group exited the interstate and took Rte. 66 right in front of us. Hppants and I both wondered what the tour guide knew that we did not. We were both on the same page but neither one of us wanted to say anything. Fortunately hppants did voice he thought, we did communicate and by mutual consent we took Rte. 66 from there all the way to Barstow.

From Barstow we took Hwy 58 then 395 north to Ridgecrest. We found a mediocre chain motel in Ridgecrest and found a decent supper at Casey's. Our waitress Rachell was quite lovely but was apparently immune to my charms. The fact that we were right in front of the gate for the China Lake Naval Air Station probably meant that she got a lot of attention. She was a good waitress though.

At our hotel there was a gathering of Combat Veterans riding their motorcycles to San Diego for a meeting of some kind. The first one there was on a Triumph Rocket III Touring and had done a SS1K to get there. We would see him again much later in this trip.

We shared a couple beers and called it a night in boring Ridgecrest CA.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Wednesday 5/31/17 Only 186.6 miles for the day.

hppants got his cardio in by hiking to a convenience store and returning with coffee. We were grateful.

Breakfast in Ridgecrest required a 50 mile walk to Denny's. Or maybe it was a couple hundred yards, I get confused.

I started practicing with my camera tether as soon as we exited town. Try to ignore the Ugly Red FJR that keeps messing up the pics.



Almost immediately we got back into the Joshua Trees. When I said this to Pop he disagreed. Pop said that we had already met Joshua yesterday, they cannot all be Joshua. That one is named Bert. Bert the tree, not Joshua. Oh boy...

Of course the temp dropped and Pop and hppants had to add some layers. And of course since we were stopped hppants had to go look at the "Bert Trees". I did not bother explaining this to him.



He is saying, "That gray bike just looks better no matter what the lighting conditions are!"



We were on Hwy 178 easing toward Lake Isabella. I had deliberately NOT planned anything past Bullhead City AZ. I knew that hppants was going to do some things on the fly through here and that it would be awesome. There is a time for A Plan and then there is a time for Letting it Happen. hppants is a master at Letting it Happen. My Plan had put us into a good position and through some wonderful things but it was definitely time to turn the reigns over to hppants. He had the bit in his teeth and there was no holding him back.

We stopped at a little "park" on Hwy 178 and I will be eternally damned, it was named BERT'S PARK! Pop's voice in my helmet said, "I told you those weren't Joshua Trees they were really Bert Trees." I had no response.

Bert's Park, you can read the sign:





Pants explaining to me how much better looking my gray bike is than his pink '14:



We continued toward Lake Isabella:



In my swampy home we could NEVER park an RV that close to the water's edge:



Here the wind got irritating. It would blow me completely off my line in the turns and Pop was having the same issue. I think hppants was going too fast for the wind to catch him.

hppants had really been planning to ride Hwy 155 and a quick glance at it on the map will explain why. His attention was caught by a large sign at the intersection of Hwy 178 and Sierra Way. It promoted Kernville and The Trail of 100 Giants. We pulled off to discuss things. I knew about The Trail of 100 Giants but I also knew how my friend had been looking forward to Hwy 155. I tried not to push either way but when he asked me directly... I did not lie to him.

hppants is All About Scrapping A Plan.

We took Sierra Way north to Kernville then Hwy 99 alongside the Kern River.





The green coolness and beauty of this little canyon was a welcome change from the Hot Dry Brown of the past couple days.

The tranquility was shattered as were our nerves when some sort of Super Duper Ultra Baddass military fighter jet shrieked/roared/rumbled directly over us in that canyon.

We pulled over to look at this bridge and see the raging river below it.





Our friend was really Feeling It.



Next up, Some Big Trees.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Mountain Hwy 99 through the Kern River Canyon turned west and then turned into M50. These roads were Very Twisty and the scenery was fantastic. We turned north on M90 and soon there were some strangely large trees scattered in the forest beside the road.

We stopped at the Trail of 100 Giants. The guard only charged me for one vehicle since we all fit in one parking spot. I would gladly have paid more. Much more.

















I really don't think any of those pics needed a caption. You folks probably understood everything just fine.

Toward the end of our walk a light, cold, misty rain started falling on us. It seemed to be getting a bit harder when we got to the bikes. That began the debate that all motorcyclists eventually have. Do I or do I not put on the rain gear? We almost didn't. That would have been a Big Mistake.



The rain never got hard but it did intensify and the road got Very Twisty and the temp dropped to 50F. We rode through an active Forest Fire and I was mad that I could not get pics because the camera was put away from the rain.

Then the road got Crazy Twisty. In the rain. Pop actually touched a foot peg in the rain. Twice I blew a switchback and we both ran wide. I had my grip heaters on medium and we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves. For a while. Then I began to wonder just how far this crazy road was going to last.

Google maps lists that curvy section as 33 miles and 1 hour 8 minutes. We did this in the rain. After that one I have one message to all those Dragon Slayers back in the North Carolina/Tennessee border area with the "I Rode the Dragon, 318 Turns in 11 Miles" T shirts. You can all just kiss my ass. You ain't seen shit until you been to California.

And for the record, I have a few of those shirts myself.







M90 turned into Hwy 190 somewhere in those twists and turns and eventually led us to Springville. We had a Very Good hamburger and fries combo at the imaginatively named:



From there hppants led us North on a Goat Trail. It seemed to have several names and had some terrible pavement. Balch Park Road. Yokohl Road. M296. Springville/Milo Road.

hppants was concerned and stopped to ask us if we wanted to turn around. Turn Around? From This?





And what did Pop say?



We found a small pull off and stopped to Reflect.





This one got to me. My two friends sharing a moment... All the Dark Memories of February 12 swirled around in my heart and yet here we were. I will always know in my heart that Joey saved my father's life that day. I misread the situation but Joey did not. I owe my friend hppants a debt that can never be paid.



I know hppants was having a Great Day.



And me? Well I was my usual smiling self.



We were greatly entertained by these noisy but delicious looking fellows:



The road eventually got straighter as we approached Three Rivers CA:



My friend hppants had actually Made Reservations a few months in advance in Three Rivers. As much as he hates to plan, he did a little planning. I am glad he did. The hotel was nice, there was a local grocery store a couple hundred yards away that sold beer that satisfied my Beer Snob friend. Of course I was stupid enough to break a bottle in the store but they did let me help with the clean up.

hppants made friends with a couple from Germany, I will wait and let him tell the story of Alex and Tasha. It is his story after all.

At the hotel I found a water hose which I discreetly borrowed so we could wash the amazing amount of grime off our bikes.



Pants was not impressed with the gray bike even after he had washed it. Jealousy can be an ugly thing:



If you look in the pic above at the red Indian Scout, that little speedster will show up in tomorrow's story.

We rode about a mile to the Sequoia Cider Mill and we ate a decent supper on the patio. Our waitress Karina was almost too nice and was undeniably nice to look at. No pics of Karina.



I finished my evening washing our clothes at the hotel. Thus ended one of the Best Riding Days Ever.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Thursday 6/1/17. YFO starts tonight. Our Reason for Riding This Far. A chance to put faces and handshakes to the forum aliases that we have chatted with, argued with, and laughed with for years. What will these folks be like in person? Will they be what we want them to be?

Perhaps more importantly, will WE be what they want us to be?

A very good FCB with waffles, scrambled eggs and sausage at the hotel started the morning off well. A quick walk to the local grocery store where we had inexplicably forgotten picnic material the evening before and...it was not open yet. So much for that early bird worm getting thing.

We loaded the bikes and rode to the market as it opened. Hppants and I gathered our supplies and then I confused and angered the cashier. Pants had selected two nice oranges. Of course as she was ringing them up I said, "Those oranges are $10 a piece because they were imported from Florida!" She did not get my humor and she was not pleased with me.

The fact that I had not PLANNED this section of the ride did not mean I had not studied the maps. The night before I had gently asked Mr. Hppants if he was sure we had time to do all the riding and flower sniffing he wanted AND make it to YFO at a reasonable time. He was sure. I asked Mr. Hppants again that morning, I did not want to discourage him but my calculations were giving me numbers that I did not like. He assured me that we had plenty of time to stop often and enjoy our day. Since I did not want to discourage my friend I kept my thoughts to myself.

We took Hwy 198 into Sequoia National Park. The ride and the road were splendid, the scenery fantastic, but I did not see any Big Trees.

We found a rock:



hppants liked the rock a lot:



I had his phone to take his pic and of course it timed out and I needed his pass code to open the stupid thing. He shouted it to me from atop his rock and to my amused surprise a lovely brunette called the numbers back to me and told him that now we ALL had his password.

At this point I was having a Redfish moment and had to explain to hppants why I was so furious in this beautiful place. I had been trying for 3 straight days to arrange for a gift to be delivered to the Mariposa Lodge to the room of Tyler Risk. I knew there was only one florist in Mariposa. I had their phone number. I just could not get a Real Person to answer and with us being on motorcycles all the time I couldn't just leave a message and wait on a phone call. I HATE it when one of my Plans gets thwarted. hppants was laughing at my use of the word "thwarted". He suggested I call one more time just to see.

So when Miss Tyler arrived that evening there was in fact a bouquet of flowers in her room. With no card to explain who or why.

There were Yucca plants in bloom:



There was a raging river:



There were ugly people wandering around in the bushes:



There was a Very Twisty Road:









But there were no Giant Sequoia Trees.

Where were the Big Trees that gave this beautiful park its name?

Following the Resourceful Mr. Hppants almost always pays off eventually.











And again we were "off and running" as Pop would say.



The act of riding our motorcycles through and around these giant trees seemed almost wrong. It almost seemed like we should not be allowed to get this close with our machinery.





One of the most enchanting areas we visited was Parker Grove. This grove of trees was named for the family members of a General Parker. He was the first U.S. Army officer assigned to protect these priceless treasures.

hppants was drawn to this grove like a moth to a flame. And we were there with hppants, the three of us caught up in something special. And we had the good sense to know it.







And just what is so fascinating inside that tree?



I don't know but it sure is ugly!



I lack the vocabulary to express how special those few minutes were. I will say that I was definitely with the Right Friend. Hppants is a "tree hugger" and his joy and happiness was a Wonderful Thing. I hope I don't outlive the memory of my friend's happiness that day.

Then he wanted to ride through some stupid tunnel...



But if we back up a few feet...



I am pretty sure he was telling Pop how good my Gray FJR looked from that angle.

Now it's my turn. The wind was messing up my hair.







Of course we had to take the 40 mile hike to see the General Sherman.



That massive tree is (by volume) the largest living thing on this planet. Seeing it and knowing that is really a humbling experience.

Those blocks represent the footprint of the base of the General Sherman. And judging by this pic if I don't stop eating and start exercising, I will be rivaling the General Sherman girth very soon.



The walk to and from is not difficult but it is easy to forget that we are at a very high altitude. We watched a lot of folks really struggling with that hike.

We saw a silver '03 FJR in the parking lot but did not know who owned it. We found out later it was Brian/Festar but we did not see him there.

Next up: Lunch!

 

[SacramentoMike]

Karina. AND a "lovely brunette." Damn, man, you did it again.

How did that tree smell, Andrew? And ask Joey how tasted.
The other thing is, I looked and looked at that first pic in the last thread--in fact I went back and looked at all of your pics, and for the life of me, I never could find that "ugly red FJR" you mentioned. ALL of 'em.



Nice report, good story, well told. Don't stop.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

All that riding and walking and staring at trees had us hungry. We set off in search of a picnic table.

We followed some signs and found an almost empty parking lot but not much in the way of picnic tables. Then I noticed that the picnic tables were blocked from our sight by a snowdrift! I ran my bike up beside hppants and tried to explain what I had seen, my uncharacteristic enthusiasm seemed to surprise him. He quickly understood and we soon found ourselves having a wonderful lunch a few feet away from a huge pile of snow. This was so foreign to our warm swampy world that we had trouble expressing it to each other. I still cannot believe that there is snow on the ground in June. That is not something we ever see in South Louisiana.



This one is blurry enough that no one can prove I was actually smiling.



hppants telling Pop how good my Gray FJR looks against the snow.





It just did not seem real to me. It was as magical as a Walt Disney movie.



'Pants says "We ain't in Lafayette for sure!"



We walked over to a creek that looked like a postcard photo.



I was almost happy:



Something shiny in the water caught my attention:



It sure looked like gold to me...



God knows I have bought enough of it trying to keep my wife happy...

And... We are off and running



Hwy 198 ended and we turned right on Hwy 180 into King's Canyon National Park. That is a one way in, ride the same road back out route. I confess I knew very little about this beautiful place but it was well worth the ride.



At first you are up high looking down into the canyon.







The road gets kind of twisty:





And you start getting deeper into the canyon:



Somewhere on that canyon wall we were caught and passed by a young German tourist on a rented Indian Scout. The same bike we saw at our hotel the evening before. He smoked us so thoroughly it wasn't even funny. The fact that he did it on a rented cruiser on an unfamiliar road was really embarrassing. He told us that he was "taking it easy because the road and the bike I am not used to riding."

Eventually we reached the bottom and rode next to the river.



This looks nothing like the lazy bayous back home:





And finally we reached The End of King's Canyon:



Pop and I watched with amused concern as our friend hppants poked at his GPS. It was 4:28 pm. We watched as his expression changed from concentration, to disbelief, then to Very Worried. We already knew what he was just discovering.

Hppants: "Here is where you are going to get mad at me."
Me: "I bet I don't."
Hppants: "Oh you are. You are not going to believe how far..."
Me: "How far are we from Mariposa?"
Hppants: "At least 3 hours."
Me: "About what I had figured. Do you have a route?"
Hppants: "You knew? Why didn't you say something?"

Well my dear friend, I will tell you why right now. You really wanted to see it. You wanted to see all of it. Your expressions, your voice, your excitement and the fact that you were not able to see it the last time you were there (and that is your story) had convinced me that you needed to have your day. As your friend, your riding partner, your wingman, it was my duty to make certain that you had your day.

Pop and I had been discussing this since before lunch. He wanted to see it too. He told me, "You will probably have a chance to see this again in your lifetime. I probably never will. We'll stay with Joey to the end and we will ride until after dark if we have to. They do have lights on the front of these things you know."

So, we rolled out like our asses were on fire and our heads were catching.

Hppants led us through the twisty stuff and we were bitter that we were slowing him down. We did what we could.

My Garmin had a better route than hppants' TomTom so I led when things straightened out. The road had changed in Fresno and my GPS did not show it so I wasted some time on a turnaround. Pop and I wobbled all over the road like drunken cows but we did get pointed back in the proper direction.

Once we were pointed North 'pants pulled up next to me and pointed at his radar detector. Our hand signal communication worked this time and he poured the coals to Big Red with me and Pop following. We made it to Mariposa before dark.

 

[NorCal FJR]

It was great to meet all three of you at YFO and this was a fantastic ride report. You made my wife cry a few times and laugh at other times. Her comment was Pops is a true Badass!!! Thanks for taking us along on this trip.

 

[Bluesjammer]

What a fabulous trip and pictures. As all my friends have quit riding, I'm envious of your riding family and the respect and love you show each other on the road. Stay safe and keep on riding.

steve

 

[exskibum]

You're a born story teller RFH. Enjoying being along with you three as you tell the tale, even if I know something about the next day's adventure from the vantage point of between you three and Tyler.

 

[SacramentoMike]

I've really been enjoying your reactions to the California scenery, roads, snow and water, trees--and of course also to your reactions to Pants' reactions to all of the above. If I ever see your bayous, my eyes will be bugging out too. I only wish I could make the ride with as good friends as you did. One nice memory of my YFO was that first night as we were crossing the street back to the inn and noticed Tyler and some others had stopped to greet--very enthusiastically--another group also heading back. And it's Pants, RFH, and Pops! We all blocked that intersection for at least ten minutes!

BTW, that was gold you saw in the creek. A "certain kind" of gold.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

It was great to meet all three of you at YFO and this was a fantastic ride report. You made my wife cry a few times and laugh at other times. Her comment was Pops is a true Badass!!! Thanks for taking us along on this trip.

It was my pleasure. I enjoyed talking to a wife that did not hate me. Mine sure does!

What a fabulous trip and pictures. As all my friends have quit riding, I'm envious of your riding family and the respect and love you show each other on the road. Stay safe and keep on riding.
steve

Thanks. The reality is that there is a LOT of sarcasm at each stop. But there is a lot of trust there. Most differences can be smoothed out when you know that the other guy will be there no matter what.

You're a born story teller RFH. Enjoying being along with you three as you tell the tale, even if I know something about the next day's adventure from the vantage point of between you three and Tyler.

Thanks. I had a wonderful time with you and Terri(Terry?). Please tell me I got her name right. You have a role and some pics in this little story as well my friend.

I've really been enjoying your reactions to the California scenery, roads, snow and water, trees--and of course also to your reactions to Pants' reactions to all of the above. If I ever see your bayous, my eyes will be bugging out too. I only wish I could make the ride with as good friends as you did. One nice memory of my YFO was that first night as we were crossing the street back to the inn and noticed Tyler and some others had stopped to greet--very enthusiastically--another group also heading back. And it's Pants, RFH, and Pops! We all blocked that intersection for at least ten minutes!
BTW, that was gold you saw in the creek. A "certain kind" of gold.

California is beautiful on a whole other level. We were pretty certain that it had to be Fool's Gold. Pop said that if I found it that's what it had to be.

 

[Niehart]

I think this is the best picture so far.

 

[hppants]

That moment was real special, Neihart. I spend my whole life running. Hell, half the time I don't even know what the shit I'm running to or from.

It's so rewarding to be able to just sit down with a loved one and breathe and listen.

 

[exskibum]

That moment was real special, Neihart. I spend my whole life running. Hell, half the time I don't even know what the shit I'm running to or from.
It's so rewarding to be able to just sit down with a loved one and breathe and listen.

Yokohl Valley Road (or is that "Drive" now?). Special road, to me at least. As a kid, we used to camp in Balch Park. And before he died, I used to ride to my Dad's in soCal that way. A very contemplative stretch of roadway you found.

 

[FJRBandit]

Loving the RR RFH! Looking forward to the next segments. As RFH would say, what are you waiting on? Get busy!

 

[dcarver]

Pop and I watched with amused concern as our friend hppants poked at his GPS. It was 4:28 pm. We watched as his expression changed from concentration, to disbelief, then to Very Worried. We already knew what he was just discovering.
Hppants: "Here is where you are going to get mad at me."

Me: "I bet I don't."

Hppants: "Oh you are. You are not going to believe how far..."

Me: "How far are we from Mariposa?"

Hppants: "At least 3 hours."

Me: "About what I had figured. Do you have a route?"

Hppants: "You knew? Why didn't you say something?"

Well my dear friend, I will tell you why right now. You really wanted to see it. You wanted to see all of it. Your expressions, your voice, your excitement and the fact that you were not able to see it the last time you were there (and that is your story) had convinced me that you needed to have your day. As your friend, your riding partner, your wingman, it was my duty to make certain that you had your day.

Damn. That's good stuff. Life.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

There is no point in discussing the vehicles we passed or the sights we missed on that little ride. We had enjoyed one of the finest days any of us had ever experienced on a motorcycle and we had to play double up to catch up at the very end. Small price to pay honestly.

When we rolled into the Mariposa Lodge there were a few FJR folks outside. Pop and I had discussed this event a great deal but I admit to being somewhat nervous. I was going to be meeting a bunch of folks for the first time and for those of you who spoke to Pop, you know he is very quiet and is NOT a talker like me or hppants.

hppants and I went inside to secure Appartment D and left Pop outside. We knew he was truly Among Friends. We dealt with the extremely helpful (and pretty) Melissa, we got keys, directions to food, and a sincere welcome.

We walked outside and into an emotional overload. I still cannot recall all the folks and the faces. I remember Craig (NTXFJR), and Craig (CraigRegs), and a host of other folks I had wanted to meet for so long. I met Panman and it was good to shake his hand and try to make amends for some of the stupid things I typed on this forum. I had wanted to apologize to him in person for a long time and meeting him was wonderful. George with the awesomely beautiful 2015 FJR. I cannot name all of you now but that welcome committee was a High Point of a great trip.

But the one that made it difficult to talk, the one guy that has ALWAYS been a gentleman and a hero was the center of my attention. Niehart. Pops Niehart, was there in the flesh with the smile I had so hoped to see. This was the Man who sent me a gift when I crashed my '15 12 hours old. This was a big part of why I was willing to ride 3000 miles one way.

Niehart also had a gift, a bottle of some very good whiskey. How can you express that level of awesomeness?

No pics of this parking lot meeting but it was a joy and a pleasure to meet all of you. Every one of you.

So we discovered that our Appartment was not exactly part of the Lodge parking lot and it was DOWN a steep driveway. We had a bit of confusion and some concerns with getting our bikes tucked away and NOT falling over.

At least we got to meet the Very Lovely Wives of our FJR neighbors. Karen and Michelle were super nice, they offered and delivered us each a bottle of water, they offered to go fetch their husbands to help us get settled, and were just really nice. I was confused. I am not accustomed to having beautiful women be nice to me. I was informed that Gregory was a Newlywed. His wife was almost brand new. Lucky Dog.

The warranty has expired on mine. I am stuck with her.

Now, we must find food. It's late, we don't know if anything is going to be open, we have a rough idea of where to go. We are walking in the dark, discussing the events of the day, what we might eat, the folks we just met...

A woman's voice cuts through the night with only one shouted word. My name, "Andrew!"

I freeze midstride. My companions stop and ask "What the hell?" It's Tyler. It HAS to be Tyler. I have not had time to piss off any other women in this town yet.

"ANDREW!!!" she yells again but this time I have her located. Surrounded as always by her adoring entourage, there she was. The crowd seemed to melt out of the way as I homed in on her. We hugged, she took my face in her hands and I looked into those eyes and I was lost. Tyler was and is everything I ever hoped she would be. The reality was greater than the fantasy. I sure did not want to start crying like a child in front of all those people. I looked into those eyes, the eyes that had seen a pain greater than anyone should have to see, eyes that were still kind and sweet but belonged in the face of a woman much older than the angel in front of me and I knew that I had just lost a small part of my soul. Tyler stole a little piece of my heart and I don't want it back.

When Mrs. Redfish reads this I am gonna be in a 9 line bind...

I became vaguely aware that folks were happy and excited around us and soon I was face to face with another fellow I had long wanted to meet. Marty/0face was there, shaking my hand and smiling. What a wonderful gentleman, another internet alias come to life. Meeting 0Face and talking to him put a LOT of things into perspective for me. Marty, you already know this... You will always have a friend down in the Bayou Country. More than one in fact.

Dinner was a whirlwind. I saw Tony/101stPathfinder with his beautiful wife and pointed them out to hppants. 'Pants surprised "That's his WIFE?" had me laughing. Yeah folks, ugly men do occasionally get married to pretty ladies. Of course we had to stroll over and introduce ourselves.

What else? My mind had more things going on than it was capable of processing. I barely remember walking back to the lodge and it was just a few yards.

And Tomorrow? Yosemite with Tyler!

 

[escapefjrtist]

Good stuff RfH, great pics and story!

--G

 

[Redfish Hunter]

We walked to the Sugar Pine Café for breakfast and I think we took them by surprise. The place filled up quickly with FJR peeps from all over. Our lovely waitress Lisa was busier than a one legged man in a butt-kicking contest. Breakfast was good and simple.

While we were there I was able to shake hands with BigJohnSD and speak to him very briefly. Did I meet El Toro Joe there or was it the night before? So many forum friends, there was just no way for me to process all of it.

We got our stuff together and rode around to join the melee that was YFO. Pop and I told each other several times, Do NOT drop the bike in front of all these FJR people. Thankfully we didn't.

CraigRegs was front and center ready to roll. Exskibum and his lovely wife were off to the left with the very clean '05. I can just see FJRay behind Neal in the center there. I believe that is EkiM with his back to us but I am not sure. What you cannot see behind the green SUV to the right are myself and 0face removing the trailer and the ball mount for Lisa.



That is a LOT of Goodness right there. I still have trouble comprehending the fact that I finally got to meet those two.



The parking lot fills... The anticipation builds...





I think Mr. hppants is liking Mr. Petey's hyper BMW.



Most folks had their own plans and did their own thing. I had One Plan. Stick to Tyler like a bum on a baloney sandwich. That is exactly what I did too. I followed her around all day like an adoring puppy.

I had earned myself a few Tyler points by having a Thank You Gift of flowers delivered to her hotel room the day before so I figured she might be willing to tolerate me for a little while anyway.

Then she pissed me off when she told me that Sam would not be in the park. Yosemite Sam that is. I have always been such a fan of his too.

Pop and I do not like Group Rides. It is not our thing. This group is a bit different though. Most FJR folks can ride. Really Ride. FJR folks don't have a 10 year old bike with 3K miles and 10K coats of chrome polish. We knew we were going to be with folks we could trust. Of course that would expose us as the frauds that we are. We figured that Tyler would not be all that fast on that Can-Am Spyder anyway.

Wrong. For the first time ever, I wanted to ride one. Then I started wishing I had left my FJR at the lodge and I was just riding bitch behind Tyler.

I was following Exskibum and Miss Teri (hope I spelled that right) and the road was just lovely. Pop and I almost looked like we knew what we were doing. We stayed in our lane anyway.



The crew waiting our turn to cross the one lane bridges:



Here hppants is telling George, "Your bike looks great! It reminds me of Redfish's Awesome Ride!"



Exskibum through the rocks at the entrance. I had hell getting my camera out in time for that pic.





And we are off and running...



Tyler knew every place we needed to stop. Here I was able to chat with Rich and Teri, Exskibum. His '05 with the custom painted silver and galaxy blue top box and the 4 into one header looked fantastic that morning. He rode it so smoothly it was a joy to watch. Of course they had the Best riding gear I had ever seen and they really were The Total Package that morning.






And we are off again.



A water leak on top of a rock:





Along came a Spyder:





Another rock with another water leak:



I barely caught this funeral...I mean wedding taking place in front of the water leak:



Even with a college education and a job working at that University my friend had trouble reading and comprehending the signs:



It was about this time that I began stretching Miss Tyler's temper. At each stop she would look at me expectantly and I would keep my frown in place. I would say, "Yeah, yeah. Another rock. Another water leak. All you got is rocks with water dripping off of them. When are you gonna show us the Good Stuff?"

She got right in my face and just looked at me. I broke down, I was putty in her hands. Yosemite is spectacular it's true. But it's better when Tyler is your tour guide.

I saw my friend hppants was doing his best alligator imitation:



Pop saw it too:



Here he is telling Pop, "That waterfall is awesome but have you seen how good Redfish's Gray FJR looks today?"



It really was a spectacular sight. The waterfall I mean.



Now for some Real Beauty:



We knew that without her forcing us the 3 of us would never have ridden all the way to California from Louisiana. We owe her a lot.



No matter what the traffic was doing, no matter how crowded the parking lot, Tyler stayed In Control. She always found parking for the entire herd of cats and she always knew where we needed to stop. She made a Great Day a Perfect Day.



Part of the Cat Herd:



The Glacier Point parking area was full so we were going to get on a shuttle bus for that ride. We parked our bikes, hiked 13 miles across the largest parking lot in North America and waited for the bus. Before we got on it, they opened the parking lot again so we hiked back 13 miles uphill and remounted the bikes. That was a Good Thing.

Here on the far left you see the Lovely Miss Christy telling Jim/MoreCowBell, "You need a Gray FJR like Redfish. This one is nice but it is so yesterday..."



Is that snow beside the road?



It is! It is snow! I thought it was just white sand.



And why exactly did we ride all the way up here?



We did a little souvenir shopping up there, got a snack and visited for a while with Mr. Glen (senecahome) and his friend Ed. (Castle) They had ridden all the way from Virginia to make this event. Ed was not even a forum member at that time. And he rode all that way on a stock seat, no bar risers. Kinda put things into perspective for me.

Pop took a couple pics up there also:



I think he was getting hungry when he took this one:




I had asked Miss Tyler if I could buy her dinner as a Thank You and she graciously accepted. We ended up at Savoury's and had a delicious Chicken in Chimichuri Sauce. The owner took good care of us, there were I think 6 of us total. The food was great, the service acceptably good, the company was excellent.

I noticed that Miss Lisa, our waitress at the Sugar Pine that morning was waitressing here at night. I marveled at the work ethic (and the astonishing good looks) of that young woman. But I guess I have no idea how folks earn their money in Mariposa California.

When we got back to the lodge, hppants had a little surprise waiting for me. Our friend Josh, Cav47 who was NOT supposed to be there due to his new coaching job had snuck in. I confess that I had a moment and everyone saw it. Yeah, I got a little emotional.

Later, hppants and I had to replace both of his headlight bulbs. On the Gen3 this is not so easy. The left one can be done without disassembling the bike, the right one is Pure Hell. It would not have been so bad except that all of our friends were partying and socializing while we were working on a motorcycle. My friend was feeling a bit guilty I think so I stayed right there with him and we suffered together.

I did tell him that when one of my headlight bulbs burns out I am trading it in on a new one with LED lighting and 6 gears.

What a day that was. I met so many great folks that day. Don Carver did not ride with us but I did get to meet him and talk with him for a bit. SacramentoMike and I chatted a few times. I cannot name everyone we met but I can say that every single one of them was wonderful.

Tomorrow? More Goodness and More Tyler.

 

[Morecowbell]

What a fantastic story so far! So many great pics and an epic supporting narrative. As noted previously, you and 'Pants are born storytellers.

As SacMike said, it's fun to see your reactions to the stuff I've seen so many times that I guess I take it for granted. The Mojave National Preserve and Kelso Junction...been through there too many times to count. Good choice skipping 155 west of Kernville...last time I hit that road a year ago, it was pretty messy. Lots of curves, but dirt and gravel in every one of them. Heading north through the Trail of 100 Giants and downhill on 190 is way more scenic. When you guys were heading down 190 in the rain, I was 75 miles south heading through Tehachapi (in the rain) enroute to Kernville for the night. Kristi and I were on pretty much the same route out of Kernville but a day behind you. Yokohl Drive is rough going, but still scenic! I chuckled when I saw you had dinner at the Sequoia Cider Mill in Three Rivers...I had a very mediocre meal there on a tour last spring. And you're lucky to have ridden into King's Canyon...I have yet to hit that road. At Grant Grove Village around 4pm, I wanted to head to the end of 180...but Kristi vetoed that idea so that we could stay on the back roads and get into Mariposa before dark. She made a good choice.

It was really great to meet you gentlemen. I was in a scramble on Sunday morning to ride into the Park with 'Pants and Cav, and I didn't get to shake hands with you & Pop again before departing. Bad timing on my part. I'm looking forward to the rest of the story!