20 September 2009
A Most Memorable ride!
Dick Zunkel
Fall is Northern California’s summer. Our midweek ride of September 30 could not have been better. Chris Weld, Bill Grass, Bob Burns, Dave Gallegos, and Dick Zunkel enjoyed coffee and conversation over breakfast at Bobbie’s Cafe in Cupertino. We discussed various routes and decided on a back road journey with the ultimate destination, Big Sur.
Weather could not have been better with 60’s and 70’s and a promise of a fog free coast. We did the freeway thing through San Jose and exited at Bailey Road. The route south included a pit stop and photo op at Uvas Reservoir, now somewhat filled with water. From there we worked our way through Watsonville, a fine decision as all enjoyed viewing a most alluring lady crossing the Pajaro Bridge. No one stopped to ask if she needed assistance.
We stopped at the Elkhorn Slough for another photo and enjoyed flying birds and a swimming harbor seal. On the way we saw the sign for Hudson’s Landing, so we decided to “wende” and have a look. I thought we were in the land of Deliverance. I didn’t see the toothless boy with the banjo, but the rest of landing looked like rural Georgia. We got back on the road. “Just follow this road to Moss Landing,” said Chris. We got there eventually.
The riders stopped for coffee, chowder, and necessary phone calls at Phil’s Famous Seafood Emporium at Moss Landing. From there we made a straight shot to Big Sur, except for a brief fuel stop in Carmel. Chris’s beemer apparently gets 100+ mpg so he watched as the rest of us filled up on gold plated gas as normally sold only to tourists from back east. We stopped along the way for photos, though a fraulein tourist did not appreciate my remark about the possibility that Dave might steal her camera. We stopped again at the Bixby Bridge, though by this time the ever-anxious Bob pulled out saying he would meet us at Cafe Nepenthe. When we arrived, he was still removing his earplugs.
We had a classic Nepethe lunch… delicious, overpriced, and well worth it, if nothing else for the panoramic view of a fog free Pacific. We turned back north through Monterey. When the group came upon a most unfortunate auto accident, Dave and I split right and took a most expeditious shortcut to Hwy. 129 to 101. At this writing, I assume all made it home safely. Dear God, whoever, or whatever you are, thank you for this day.
Dick’s pictures
group
elkhorn
why we live here
then came bronson
relaxing
henry ford
a fine plant
Pictures from Chris Weld
