Your eyes do not deceive you! Â For the first time in four years (!), I took a solo overnight trip. Â I had very nearly forgotten how to pack for a bike trip, which is sad and tragic. Â I did wind up forgetting extra shoes; good thing the Daytona boots are comfy!
Anyway, my in-laws are in town for the week, so I took advantage of the offered grandparent babysitting and hit the road.
I didn’t take any photos of my first 60 miles down Highway 101 because it looks like an interstate that goes through a major metropolitan area. Â Feel free to visualize eight lanes of commuter traffic.
My first stop was for an early lunch just outside of Hollister. Â My original intent was to have brunch at Flapjacks in Tres Pinos, but I learned upon arrival that they’re closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Â Oops. Â Fortunately the little family-owned Mexican restaurant next door was open (the next town big enough for a restaurant after Tres Pinos is literally Paso Robles, which is 100 miles away, and I didn’t feel like backtracking to Hollister).
Beautiful downtown Tres Pinos:
I continued on Highway 25 down through the Central Valley. Â Â Hwy 25 runs parallel to the Diablo Range, upon which sits the San Andreas Fault, so the road is twisty and scenic despite going through farmland.
Always a good sign to see on a motorcycle ride:
Highway 25 is also known as Airline Road; I always wondered why that was because, to the best of my knowledge, there’s no airport anywhere along its length. Â Wikipedia opines: “One story of where the highway got its name is that before the advent of radio navigation, airline pilots flying north-south routes between San Francisco and Los Angeles would use this highway as a visual aid to confirm that they were on the correct route.”
At the intersection with Highway 198 in Monterey County, Highway 25 continues as a two-lane county road called Peach Tree Road (which itself becomes Indian Valley Road a little farther south).
From the southern terminus of Indian Valley, it’s just a short hop on Highway 101 into Paso Robles.
Day 1 stats:
I absolutely love riding to Paso Robles (as is evidenced by many prior ride reports) and a big reason why is the Paso Robles Inn. Â I like to splurge at the hotel and get a mineral springs hot tub room — when I’m with Peter, I get the outdoor balcony rooms, but since I was by myself, I settled for an in-room hot tub. Â 😉
I had a small adventure before dinner — upon arriving at the Inn, I realized that my Kindle battery was dead. Â One way you can tell a mom traveling alone: I was SO EXCITED to have a night to sit and read a book. Â Alone! Â With no crying! Â I grumped for a few minutes and then remembered that I had The Power Of The Internet and used Google to find a used bookstore only a couple of blocks from the hotel. Â I walked on over and listened to the proprietors gossip about their love lives while I perused the books; I wound up picking up a David Sedaris book for $2 and was instantly happier.
A great dinner, complete with Firestone beer on tap and David Sedaris:
Day 2 to be continued, hopefully later today or tomorrow…