Day 10 of ALAA-Mon, May 23rd, 2011. San Simeon to Half Moon Bay, CA

My Campsite at San Simeon State Park

Headed Back to the PCH After the Detour!

You Can See the Magnificent PCH as it Curves Along the Coast

The PCH in Big Sur looks like a postcard, doesn't it?

Looking to the South Along the PCH in Big Sur, CA

Here are some pics of today. The first is my campsite in San Simeon State Park and the rest are of the beautiful Big Sur Coast. The most beautiful scenery imaginable!


Today began at the SP in San Simeon and is ending in Half Moon Bay State Beach. I'm not sure but I think I'm about 30 miles South of San Francisco.


This is my 4th straight night in CA state parks and I'm starting to judge them more accurately. 3 of the four have had beach views so I shouldn't complain. But as much as I pay for these, I have the right to complain, doncha think? The one last night had NO showers and pit toilets and there was no electricity in the whole camp-charging your phone is a necessity in today's world. There's another thing.....I know California has a $20-30 billion budget shortfall but I think they are trying to recover all that from me riding through this fair state! Like all states, CA has its problems but it remains the most beautiful of the 43 states I've visited.
When I finish this trip, I'll hit five of the remaining seven states! Today I saw the magnificent beauty of Big Sur. Scenery-wise, I'm not sure that there is anyplace in America that compares to the Big Sur coast-at least in the places I've been! EVERY roadside pullout looks like a postcard! Lake Tahoe has always been one of my favorites but TODAY I'd pick Big Sur as my all-time most beautiful place. You know that the next time we go to Lake Tahoe, I'll be convinced that IT'S the most beautiful . . . . . but that's a story for another time!


We're going to Maui for our 40th anniversary in July so then I'll be able to compare Maui to the Big Sur coast. We went to Honolulu and circled Oahu on our 35th anniversary and, while beautiful, I think I still have to put the Big Sur coast ahead of Oahu.


Riding the PCH is SO much slower than riding through the desert from Texas to San Diego. Crossing the desert, 350-400 miles a day was easy because the roads are flat and there is nothing to see along the way. Riding 60-70 mph was taking it easy across the desert but the standard up the PCH is 30-40 mph. I have a feeling from here the rest of the way up the West Coast and then East to about Montana will be much slower going.


Carmel is quaint beyond belief, as always, and I even saw an otter today at a turnout on the PCH! Monterrey and Pacific Grove are cities with draw-dropping beauty. I bought two oranges at a roadside stand near Watsonville today and they were red on the inside-not orange but RED! I ate one of them and it was delicious! Tomorrow is the mother lode of the cereal state-San Francisco. The Golden Gate Bridge is a given since it's the major route North up the coast. It probably will just be a quick stop at Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39, a ride through Chinatown, and another In 'n Out Burger! Wahooooooo!

Day 9 of ALAA-Sun, May 22nd, 2011. Malibu to San Simeon, CA

A View of the MASH Site From the Chopper Pad at Malibu Creek State Park

My Campsite at Malibu Creek State Park

These two pictures are in the Malibu Creek SP. The first one is the MASH site from the helicopter pad looking down at the camp. Yes, the camp looks smaller than it does on the TV series. This is because the site has been overgrown in the 27 years since the series ended and the TV crews used different camera angles to make the camp look bigger. The only artifacts left there are a rusted out ambulance and a rusted out jeep. The location of the tents and OR are outlined in strings on the site of the camp. Looking at the mountain peaks around the MASH site brings back all those MASH TV episodes! The second picture is of my campsite there at the state park.

This post is a day late because there wasn't any service last night in the campground. Yesterday saw me riding about 200 miles North on the Pacific Coast Highway from the MASH state park above Pepperdine to San Simeon near the Hearst Castle. Somehow I neglected to mention Pepperdine U and the most beautiful college campus in America-if you haven't been to the Pepperdine Malibu campus, just Google-image it! I was riding with Ron and Betty and we were enjoying the scenery UNTIL we saw the sign about a section of the PCH being washed out and closed. Ron, Betty, and I rode up to the Hearst Castle. Ron and Betty scheduled a tour and I headed off to find a campground. Seeing the Hearst Castle again didn't appeal to me but the extra rest did! So we won't be able to ride ALL of the PCH through Big Sur but still most of it.

I ended up at San Simeon State Park. There were a couple of guys riding the Western US from Ontario camping just down from me in the state park. I walked down to the campsite where these two guys were and noticed their bikes-this is gonna BLOW YOU ALWAY but the same two bikes and riders were about two campsites down from me when I camped at Big Bend NP. I noticed their bikes in BBNP but didn't meet them there. I asked them and we had a good laugh that we were in the same two campgrounds, oh about a thousand miles apart, at he same time. Humpf, now that I've finished this post, I'll look for a place to camp, call my Bride, and then post about today. And,yes, it's been downright cold today. it was 50 degrees when I left!

Day 8 of ALAA-Sat, May 21st, 2011. San Clemente to Malibu, CA

Today was mainly following the Pacific Coast Highway from the South suburbs of LA (San Clemente) to the North (West?) suburbs of LA (Malibu). Even though I only went about 125 miles today, I'm going to blame it on LA! There was a LOT of traffic (what a shock!) but it still was a nice day riding. I ran into a nice couple, Ron and Betty Dixon, from Naples, FL that are following roughly the same route I am around the US. We rode together for a couple of hours, introduced them to In 'n Out Burgers on Wilshire Blvd. in LA (the picture of them is above), and will try to hook up again as we head North toward Washington.

Tonight I'm camping at Malibu Creek State Park about 10 miles above Pepperdine U. I chose this state park because this used to be owned by Fox TV studios when it was called Fox Ranch. The reason I chose this state park is because the outdoor scenes in the MASH TV series were filmed here. Okay, I have a confession to make (as if you didn't know this already): I'm a 100% MASHophile! There, I said it and I guess I'll get in a 12 step program to recover from it :-) It was a 2.3 mile hike to back in the woods to the site (and the same out!) but was worth it. Had a nice long conversation with the love of my life-we haven't been able to talk as much as I'd like because the phone is off when on the road to preserve the battery and the two hour time difference. I miss her terribly and can't wait to get home so we can celebrate our 40 years of marital bliss in MAUI! More of the real Pacific Coast Highway tomorrow-the PCH is nice from San Diego through LA but the best is yet to come-BIG SUR!!

Day 7 of ALAA-Fri, May 20th, 2011. Yuma, AZ to San Clemente, CA

FINALLY Reached San Diego!

Here is a picture of the desert I left with "The Wall" dividing the U. S. and Mexico in the background. Every quarter mile or so, there are these flags sticking up out of the sand with a bucket of water below them. I guess we're humane enough to provide water for those illegals crossing into the U. S. The other picture is the beach in San Diego. Yes, there is a LITTLE contrast between these two pictures!

Well, it has been an interesting 250 mile day! It was a shame to have to leave lush, green, and beautiful Yuma and ride to desolate, brown, and dirty San Diego :-). I actually have PROOF that California is the cereal state-full of fruits, nuts, and flakes. Anyway, I was at a Chevron station in Campo, CA that stocks crickets and larvae-the crickets, of course, were sour cream and onion flavored and the larvae, of course, were jalapeño flavored. Only in CA!

I've decided that La Jolla is the quintessential beach town-beautiful, eclectic, and expensive! I'm in a state park near San Clemente. The campsite I'm in tonight looks out over the Pacific so I'm expecting the waves to put me to sleep. This state park is about halfway between SD and LA so tomorrow afternoon will be spent at Malibu Creek State Park. It used to be the Fox Ranch where the outdoor scenes for the MASH TV series was filmed. I'm going to hike to where the set was located. More about that mañana. Considering that today is my seventh day on the road, it's taken me a week to reach San Diego! Now the Pacific Coast Highway or Highway 1 for the next, oh, 14 to 16 hundred miles!

Day 6 of ALAA-Thurs, May 19th, 2011. Douglas to Yuma, AZ

Well, you have to realize that this blog is being written by the winner of the DUMBA$$ of the week award! Why, you ask? I stopped on the side of I-8 in Yuma, AZ and took my sunglasses off to find a campground in the Yuma area. Found a campground-GOOD NEWS! Rode off with my sunglasses sitting on the back of the bike-BAD NEWS! On the optimistic side, losing your prescription shades isn't as bad as some things but on the pessimistic side-CRAPOLA! CRAPOLA! CRAPOLA! Okay, quit the whining!

Other than that, it WAS a good 350 mile day! Here are some of the interesting takes on today: Bisbee, AZ is an interesting small town! It was a copper mining town that has preserved its interesting buildings as it converts to an economy based on tourism-beautiful old buildings. Tombstone, AZ is WAY too touristy for me but still a unique place. I saw a guy at least 80 years old standing on the side of the Interstate taking a whiz. I saw 3 Great Danes at a rest area-the owner told me they weighed 153, 172, and 185 pounds. These were really big dogs!

Why is it that anyone who owns land in West Texas, Southern NM, and Southern AZ think they can subdivide it and sell it? They put up signs that declares their property to be "Desert Breeze," "Mountain View," "Twin Buttes" or any other ridiculous name to sell their scrub brush, utterly worthless, and butt ugly piece of land.  Advertising the "Last few lots available! 10 acres for only 29,900!," who would want to live out there in the middle of B#E? In 'n Out Burger today in Tucson! You can tell I'm getting closer to the Cereal State when you get to eat an In 'n Out Burger! They are the best!

Day 5 of ALAA-Wed, May 18th, 2011. El Paso, TX to Douglas, AZ



The thriving metropolis of Columbus, NM

 Today led me from El Paso, TX about 250 miles to near Douglas, AZ. It took 4 days to get out of Texas and today took me from Texas through Southern New Mexico and into Arizona. I went through some interesting small towns today: Columbus, NM which Pancho Villa attacked in 1916; Hachita, NM with 8 houses, a community center, and no businesses; Rodeo, NM where the only paved street is the highway; and Apache, AZ where there is a monument where it says "Gerinomo surrounded here." (No historical markers-just that sign!). The section of road from Santa Teresa to Columbus, NM must rank near the top of the most desolate roads in the USA. It's only 52 miles but there is NOTHING there! Nothing-no cross roads, no businesses, no signs, nothing except cactus, scrub brush, and the inevitable Border Patrol! There was a brush fire near San Simon but I avoided it by turning South toward Douglas and the Mexican border. Tomorrow will bring other new experiences as I head for Yuma while trying to avoid the dreaded Interstate I-10!

I met a guy at the campground here who was somewhat interesting. His name is Wayne and he originally retired from Pennsylvania to Florida but couldn't stand the heat and humidity. He was on his way through AZ and met the people that own this campground. They asked him to move here as a manager so he "went into town and spent $600 on a 1955 mobile home" where he currently lives here at the campground. He told me he's been here since last October and he hasn't seen rain here yet! WHOA-Now THAT'S the desert!

Day 5a of ALAA-Wed, May 18th, 2011

Everyday brings some excitement when you're on the road. Sometimes it's good excitement and sometimes it's bad excitement- today it was BAD! I stayed in a Motel6 in El Paso and paid for it with a debit card. Right after that, charges totaling $60 to the local gas utility company appeared on our account. I immediately cancelled the card but how did someone get the number? I scanned the card, put it immediately back in my wallet, and the receipt they gave me only shows the last four digits. Most of you reading this are smarter than I am so someone please explain how some miscreant got the number! Thank the Bride for catching it and doing most of the research into it! Is it called skimming when crooks get your account information by recording your credit/debit card data when you use it?