Sunday, August 17, 2014

Fog City

The ride from King City to Fog City was an interesting one.  We wanted to get into SF early (and not Klinger Time early) to get in a day of sightseeing since we only had one night. 

However, King City is on US 101, inland from the coastal California Route 1.  We did this for reasons described below, and thus to this point we saw very little of the Pacific Coast Highway.  We made the decision to get up early and cross the mountains back to the PCH, and ride up the coast to Monterey.  However, (again) there are very few highways that cross this rugged terrain, and in fact not many roads of any kind.

Me being me, I found a nice squiggly line called Nacimiento Road from Jolon across to the sea.  We like squiggly lines.

However...

This squiggly line was barely wide enough for a car, was carved in many places from a sheer cliff, and when the asphalt was fairly well intact, it was strewn with rocks falling down the mountainside.  We've been up the highest paved road in the US at 14,000 feet, and up Mount Washington in New Hampshire, so I speak with some authority when I say this was a sphincter clincher of the highest order.  Once we crossed the highest point, you could not see the valley floor due to the fog off the ocean (wherever *that* was.)

Obviously, we made it, but it was never guaranteed.  From there, we had a very chilly ride up the coast, and saw a 5-mile traffic jam backed up the other way for a fancy-schmancy car show in Pebble Beach.  There about a million dollars worth of cars every 500 feet.  From there, it was freeway all the way to downtown San Fran, where we went out of our way to cross the Golden Gate Bridge - and back - and then checked into our swanky hotel on Fisherman's Wharf.  The hotel was a freebie from rewards points, but when I tell you we paid $52 to park 2 motorcycles for one night, you'll probably get an idea of what we're dealing with.

We (I) picked a *horrible* Italian restaurant on the waterfront, and then we spent 2 hours in a cold ass line to ride a cable car in the dark.  Then at the other end, it took us 3 tries to get a streetcar to take us back, and it was bedtime.  Whee!!

The next morning was sad...

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