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What a wonderful
weekend we had with the VRCC. Great ride and great friends. And we
meet some new friends as well.
We all met at the Denny's in
Mojave and had some breakfast. With full tanks of gas we headed out
to the 14 fwy to hwy 178. Beautiful weather followed us to Kernville
for our first gas stop. It got a little exciting for a moment when
this idiot cut around us on a right turn and almost hit Jimmy. We
had to stop for a big rig and I pulled up next to the guy and gave
him a few choice words. I hope he got the message. Once we got gas
it was on to Porterville via hwy 155. This was the first time I had
traveled this road and enjoyed it very much. Twisting through the
mountain roads built up some of an appetite. So the Black Bear
restaurant was our next stop for lunch. 2 new friends met us there.
Loner and Leatha joined us for lunch and rode with us to Three
Rivers. Loner had converted 2 Valks to trikes for him and his wife.
He did a nice job and we were all very impressed. I also want to
mention Dick and Margo from Red Bluff drove down and rode with us.
We met Dick at the Ihop last month when he joined us for breakfast.
Scott Haynes had moved to Texas and was out here visiting and joined
us with his brother Chris. They rented a couple of Harleys to ride
with us.
After lunch it was on to
Springville and over some great country roads to Three Rivers. Very
twisty and quite rough at times but we all handled it well. We got
into Three Rivers around 5:00am and got our rooms. Since we ate so
much for lunch most of us passed on dinner and just hung out and
relaxed.
When Wayne was on his way to
Mojave he met a fellow on a Valk in Kramer Junction. They rode
together and had lunch in Mojave. Bob was on his way to San
Francisco to pick up his wife Carrie. Then they came back and joined
us Saturday evening and rode with us on Sunday. They have a house in
Temecula and Lake Havasu. It was great to meet them and hope to see
them on future rides.
Sunday was the big ride day into
the park. The weather was cool in the upper elevations. Around the
mid 50's. There was snow on the ground and bears as well. We saw 4
bears in the meadows. We stopped at the General Sherman Tree for a
while and some walked down to take a look. Then it was off to Kings
Canyon. I think that was the best part of the trip. With so much
snow and rain this year the water falls and river were beautiful. We
rode all the way to the end and took a break and snacked on some
goodies we had brought with us. We were told there was no food or
gas in the park. After a bit we started back up the Canyon and
stopped at the visitor center to say goodbye to Dick and Margo who
were going on to Yosemite. It was great to meet them and we might
plan a ride up there way in the future.
The ride down we took hwy 180 to
hwy 245 then made a left turn on Dry Creek road. Very twisty and
narrow but lots of fun. Since there was no gas Wayne and Elmer
were getting a little nervous about running out. I assured them that
it would fine. Wayne went 184 miles and didn't hit reserve. It
figured out to 44 miles per gallon. He said that was the best he had
ever got. We got back to the motel at 6:00pm and were hungry so we
met at 7:00pm at a nice mexican place just down the street. The food
was good and you got allot of it for the price.
Monday it was time to hit the road
and head home. I must say this was one of the best rides I've been
on. Thanks to everyone that came along and hope to see you on the
next one in July. It was great to meet some new friends and
hopefully we will see them again in the ride to come.
Thanks to John and Elmer for the
great pictures. Click on links below to view.
Dave
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