Last weekend Alison and I went Moto Camping. Basically, we took the motorcycles out with camping gear and went for a ride along with finding a nice place to camp. Sunday evening we rode up to my Mom’s with all our stuff and had a nice evening. My bike is the pack horse of the two. Basically, we fit everything we needed for 4 days (with exception of food) on my bike and Alison’s tank bag. Tent, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, camp stove, books, small cooler, and various other sundry items. I had picked out this place called Silverwood Lake as it was up in the mountains and a lake. I assumed it would be like Lake Arrowhead or Big Bear Lake. Bad assumption. It was pretty much like being at the river. Hot. Our first stop after my Mom’s was to Bill Mayers Saddles. I bought a new 1200GS and wanted a good seat for it. The stock seat was nothing less than a medieval torture device and does not belong on a motorcycle. This time I went with Leather and boy does it make a difference. It takes more to care for the saddle, but its comfort level is far superior to vinyl. I’ll post some pictures up later.

Around 2 PM we wrapped up and went upon our merry way. It was pretty warm but as we went towards Valencia it became brutally hot. I would guess it was at least 105, then you combine the heat coming off the bikes it gets even hotter. Our original route would have taken us through some scenic mountain roads but due to the heat we figured we’d just take the shortest route across the 138 to the mountains. Our only point of relief from the heat was when we went through Wrightwood. It cooled down quite a bit but as soon as we came off the mountain it was hot again. We arrived before the sun went down so after setting up the tent, I left Alison to finish setting up camp and I shot into town on the BMW to get some food and campfire for the weekend. I followed the 138 up to Crestline from Silverwood Lake. If you follow the 138 out of Crestline heading north, you’ll see the super twisty road that I rode through. Very fun, very exciting after dark. One thing they always tell you, never go shopping hungry. I ended up with a full shopping cart, a bundle of firewood and a new small cooler. People in the parking lot were saying “Dude, there’s no way all that is going in your bike.” I proved them wrong. everything but the firewood and cooler fit in my bags, and I strapped the firewood and cooler onto the luggage rack on the back. And I was off and away!

We met some new people, Chris and Valerie. Very cool couple with their kids. They were up from Santee with some friends. Definitely great neighbors to have while camping. There was some small wildlife in the area. Frogs making noises in the trees at night, psychotic squirrels assaulting your campsite and making maniacal laughter in the night, and lots of small birds of many colors in the area. The next two days we hung out, kayaked, walked around, napped, and I read Call of the Wild by Jack London (In one sitting Tuesday afternoon). If you haven’t read that book, I highly recommend it. Its a classic, and a short read. Its about a dog, but really its about life and the challenges you go through. The biggest thing that hit me was Buck’s transformation from a house dog, to a truly living animal. Something to ponder about your own existance sometimes. You can choose to exist, or you can choose to live.

The ride home we went through Idyllwild for lunch. It was even hotter on Wednesday. Lunch was nice, we met a guy from Hawaii who was working out of La Quinta and figured it would be cooler up in the mountains rather than down in the desert. He was right. After a good lunch at the bbq place in the center of town we hit the road to home. I think it must have been 110 out there Wednesday. We cut the scenic route short and cut over to Temecula to take the 15 home. I think that both of us were starting to get heat exhaustion. I was still feeling off the next day.

Until my next adventure! CIAO!