Heading Home (Finally!)

Well, on my way home finally. I took some leave and rode my motorcycle up the coast to get it home. Three days, 1,500 miles and lots of head clearing later, I arrived in my driveway after nearly two years being gone. It felt great!

I could not have asked for better weather for my trip home. I left San Diego on Monday evening and stopped in LA for dinner with Beth. No traffic - really? On Monday evening? When I left SD I thought my timing was horrible and that I would run into massive traffic in LA. Good news for me. I kept going after dinner to Camarillo for the night. It was far enough above LA that I felt like my travels wouldn't be slowed by traffic the next morning.

I spent most of Tuesday traveling up the CA coast using HWY 1. Occasional stops for pictures and to stretch the legs helped break up the scenery and slow drivers. Hwy 1 is not the road you take if you are in a hurry. Patience and concentration are the keys to success on that highway. I travelled up through San Francisco - again arriving around rush hour to find that no traffic was waiting for me. I made my way north through Marin county without delay and pulled in for night two in Ukiah at a reasonable hour. This was my longest day at almost 525 miles. Unlike a car, 525 miles on a bike is about as much as you would want to do in comfort, even on my baby BMW.

On day three, I had a choice to make. Go north through Grant's Pass to Crater Lake, or continue up the coast and head towards home. I have been to Crater Lake before, and would not pass up a chance to see it again, but the pull of home and the kids gets stronger the closer you get to the prize, so I continued up the coast and skipped Crater Lake. I will make that trip with Jeannette sometime soon. So, up the coast on US 101 I went. I chose the coast because it was much cooler than heading inland to I-5. And more scenic. The following pictures were just a sample of what you get to see on the California and Oregon coasts. My travels took me up through Eureka, Crescent City, Florence, and finally Newport, OR for the night.

My bike along the Oregon coast on the way home.

Looking south along the Oregon coast in the afternoon - beautiful!

Day four, and the final day, found me in familiar territory as I made my way up through Astoria, southwest Washington and along the Puget Sound into Silverdale. Again, some awesome weather and great roads for riding. It was a great trip and I am happy I did it instead of trailering my bike and driving home without riding it.

I will be home for a week or so and then back to San Diego to turn over to my relief and get ready to drive my truck and trailer home for the final time. The two years have flown by pretty quickly, but it has come at a great cost. I don't regret my decision to stay Navy, but I will not do this again.