Saturday, June 21, 2014

Big Bear Lake ride

We took off on the bike this morning about 9:00 AM and headed north for the Big Bear Lake area. The first 40 miles of the trip was on the interstate. The traffic was not to bad. The next 35 miles turned into one of our favorite rides of all time. Lots and lots of curves and great views. 


I was busy with the curves and Louise was busy with the camera. 



 We pulled over and parked to get this shot of the valley below.
Big Bear Lake


This store is operated by the daughter of one of my carving friends, Bill Strickler, my mentor at carving birds. Bill is one of the best bird carvers I have ever met.

We were hungry when we got there and decided on pizza for lunch after getting a recommendation from Bill's daughter.

 I took this pic looking down the street. This area full of little shops. It reminded us of a little Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. 

We made the loop back to the valley on Rte. 38. This route was curvy but not as curvy as it was on Rte. 18 on the way up. On the trip today we climbed to an elevation of 8455 feet above sea level from 1424 at the rv park.

The views just kept coming.

This was a great trip which took us from valley to mountain and back again. The trip back was great on the mountain but turned a little bad when we hit the valley. TRAFFIC!!!!! The rest of the trip, about 30 miles, was bumper to bumper and stop and go. California has a white line law that allows motorcycles to ride the white line between cars when traffic is slow. I do NOT have the guts to do that. It looks to me like there is way to many things that can go wrong with that. There were a number of bikes pass us but I just stayed in line and  tried to stay safe. We arrived back at the park about 5:30 PM.
We are winding down in our stay at Wilderness Lakes. Monday we will move up the coast to the Santa Barbara area for 2 weeks. While there we will visit Louise's brother Tim and his wife. My next post will be from there.
Till next time
Duane and Louise

1 comment:

Paul and Marsha Weaver OCT. 17, 2009 said...

Big Bear Lake area is gorgeous. We love visiting little towns like that one.

I hate when a motorcycle drives between traffic. It makes me so nervous to see them do that. I am with you, I would NEVER attempt that.