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September 23, 2016
SLO Town, SLO County
Day 1 - Thursday 9/22/2016 - Riverside, CA to San Luis Obispo (SLO).
Starting Odometer: 45,331
Ending Odometer: 45,612
Miles Traveled Today: 281
Total Miles Traveled: 281
Day 2 - Friday 9/23/2016 - San Luis Obispo (SLO) to Pismo and back.
Starting Odometer: 45,612
Ending Odometer: 45,650
Miles Traveled Today: 38
Total Miles Traveled: 319
Yesterday (Thursday), I leave work at about 2:30. My plan is to drive up the coast very slowly. Work in the SF Bay area next week, and then slowly drive back down the coast. I should have gotten away sooner. But at 2:30, I gas up, stick some Gatorade into my little bag and roll out of Riverside.
Now, the traffic is bad, so you just start lane-splitting. Like, life is short, and I don't feel like going 60 mph. So, pretty soon you're lane-splitting at triple digits thinking....well...whatever it is that people that drive like that think. You can rationalize it a lot of ways. But I'm not the only one doing it. I can tell you that.
60 West to 71 North to 210 West. I'm 60 miles east of Los Angeles. And today, it seems like I'll never make it to the coast. Finally, the 210 turns into the 101 and, at Ventura, finally the beach. I sort of accidentally follow the coast once I get to Santa Barbara County. And now, at some point, I stop for gas. While I'm filling up, I notice that somehow, my plastic gas can has slipped off the seat, was hanging on my muffler, and has melted the top open. So, I just hide it behind the gas station, gas up, and hit the road.
Now, I'd always thought that the oil rigs I saw were off the coast at Santa Barbara. But now, I'd have to say that they're not very close to Santa Barbara. They're in Santa Barbara County, but I'd say that they're closer to Gaviota that to Santa Barbara.
Now, I'm rolling up the coast and, this guy on a bike comes by and wants to race, or so it seems. So, we're like just tearing up the 101 following the coast to Gaviota, then turning north and going inland.
Like...I don't know what's wrong with my brain, but it never even occurs to me what the speed limit is. Like...all I'm thinking is that, technically, lane splitting is legal now, in California. (They just made it officially legal like...last month.)
Somehow, we roll north for a long way and don't get stopped. At some point, he exits. And I exit with him, but he just ignores me. Whatever.
My goal (if it can be said that I have one) is to get to SLO Town before it gets dark. I made a reservation at the Motel 6 (South) in SLO Town. I've stayed at the Motel 6 (North) also, but I prefer the South one, even though they're only 100 yards apart.
So, that's sort of the goal. And I'm burning daylight. I like going back to a town. Back to a place. Like, I love exploring, and that's great. But then going back to a place you've already explored to so cool. Like, even better than seeing it for the first time, in an odd sort of way. Because it's like confirming something that you'd long suspected, but couldn't prove beyond doubt.
Roll into SLO, check into the motel, and now I'm looking for the Farmer's Market in SLO. I always exit too soon when I'm going North. But I find the even about dusk-thirty. Park the bike the same place I did back in July. Now, I've gotten here soon enough that the lines aren't as crazy as they were last time.
Now, I'm walking up and down the main drag, and really loving SLO Town.
Friday - 9/23/2016
Now, I wake up in the Motel 6 - South SLO Town. I have a 10:00 a.m. teleconference with my boss (he's in Chicago). And a 2:00 teleconference with some people(they're in Dallas/ Oakland).
The trick to all of this is mainly to stay awake, of course.
I finish the teleconference with my boss, and head down to Pismo Beach for lunch. Somehow, I'd never noticed the large compass painted on the pier at Pismo Beach. At lunch, the girl tells me that people jump off the pier and try to swim to the beach, but that they seldom make it.
Then, after lunch, I return to SLO Town Motel 6 for the 2:00 teleconference. This is the deeply boring.
Like...they're talking about budgeting, and I'm listening to them, but just barely. They drone on and on for about an hour.
Finally, they shut up talking, and I just fall asleep instantly. When I wake up, the sun is setting, and I head back into SLO for the evening.
I take a different route into town, and find an old collapsing barn. Stop to shoot some photos, and a security guard is coming at me now, waving a little pencil and paper. Fuck you. I'm not stopping for this maggot. Ride into SLO town, and I discover that they have a little homeless creek behind the main drag.
Stop at a new place for dinner and drinks. It's called "Luna Red" on Chorro Street.
I'm surprised at how cool it is here in September. Like, the only other times I've been here, it's always been in the dead of summer for whatever reason. And now, it's downright cool. Like...you wouldn't be riding a motorcycle without a jacket on. It's much too cold for that.
Tomorrow, I'll drive up the coast...maybe to Carmel. Maybe to SF. I haven't decided yet.
Pandora's late-night lounge is the station.
weloveLunaRed
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 23, 2016 at 8:16 PM
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