Stop - National City, CA
Today's miles - 451
Total - 10,738
There really isn't a whole lot to say about today. I will say that I was surprised to see that I had ridden 451 miles today, it felt much shorter. And since I got to San Ysidro early, and thus to the motel early, I was able to look back over the chicken scratch records I have been keeping and I've discovered another math mistake on Day Ten. So the mileage total for the whole trip is a little bit more today compared to yesterday.
Today's ride went fast because the whole thing was in traffic. 4th of July holiday trippers all around me all day. I left early to avoid at least some of the heat and because I wanted to stop in Las Vegas. Today was my 4th trip there and my most unwilling. I considered blowing right by but I had a plan that needed to be tended to, if not agreed to. So I got a picture of the bike in front of the original location of "Pawn Stars". The sun wasn't in the right location so it isn't a good picture but I was there. And yes, TV makes everything look bigger and better. (And there isn't a thing that is real about any reality television - it is just much cheaper to make and they can still sell commercials if it gets popular.) It really was a dump.
My second Las Vegas goal was to gamble $20. I changed my mind on that one. Decided to save my money for breakfast later in the day. Which I had at Denny's. Make that one stop at Denny's for this trip and NO stops at Waffle House. Unheard of for a bike trip but I've been preferring gas station food the whole time.
The weather got hot quickly on I-15 and the traffic never let up. It flowed well but there were always lots of vehicles around.
There were three great things about today's ride.
1) When you ride a motorcycle you are much more connected to the environment than in a car. Obviously. So it was pretty cool to leave Barstow, CA, and notice that the temperature was starting to cool down, even just a little.
2) The drop down into San Bernardino is spectacular. I wasn't expecting that and it was marvelous. I took I-215 to avoid some of the LA traffic which then brought me back to I-15 and then I-805 to the east side of San Ysidro. I don't know if that was better than going all the way to I-5 but it worked well for me. Again, the traffic was heavy all day but flowed well. I can't imagine the traffic here if the freeways didn't have multiple lanes.
3) Not long before I got to the San Ysidro exit, I got my first view of the ocean over off to the right. The temperature actually felt cool on that last drop into the valley. Beautiful really. It was 82 degrees in San Ysidro. This time I got my picture AND my gas receipt as I had no distractions.
Then off to the motel to check in, swung by the Harley dealer but they really want me to bring my bike to my scheduled appointment tomorrow morning. (Thank you Kelley for making arrangements for me.) Back to the motel for a dip in the pool and a nap. Now I'm up and considering a meal in the restaurant next to the place.
Tomorrow I have no plans other than bringing my bike in for service and lounging around for the rest of the day. I have 4,655 miles on my oil and a whole lot more than that since the last full service before I left. I'm hearing sounds I haven't heard before which isn't surprising given the abuse I've been handing the bike the past week. High temperatures sustained for a long time isn't good for anything, especially air cooled motorcycles that depend on their oil. So I hope I don't get any bad surprises.
San Diego, at least as much as I have seen from the motel pool, has incredible weather. You can't beat sunny and 82. I'll enjoy it tomorrow and check back in with the blog on my way back home. I still need to complete the Six Corners Tour with a stop at the post office in Brownsville, TX.
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