The Summer Road Trip...

A little background on my life first.  I'm in a relationship with an amazing woman, and we live together  along with my son, age 12, and her two twin 9 year old boys.  We have 2 full time careers, 3 kids half time, 2 dogs, 5 chickens, a social circle of friends, and everything else that goes along with a busy life these days.  My significant other has had at least 3 vacations away from home in the last 12 months.  Me, nothing.  It just worked out that way.  Needless to say, by August, I was burned out.  

So I decided to take a week off work, pack up the scoot, and head down to So Cal from Reno where we live.  I moved up to the Tahoe/Reno area from Ventura, Cali, where I had lived for 20 years- 4 years ago.  And I hadn't been back since.  I felt like I needed to check in with my mates, and visit the old stomping grounds...  Thus the destination to my road trip.  I was excited to be away from the grind for 9 days, get some saddle time in, and basically be on my own.  Yeah baby!

After contacting lots of friends and family along the way, the route started to take shape- leave on a Saturday and head to Napa Valley, then Carmel, on to Pismo Beach, down to Santa Barbara, then Ojai and into Ventura.  Taking my time doing 5-6 hours in the saddle would get me into Ventura on Tuesday.  An excellent plan... 


Leaving Reno about noon on Saturday:

Next installment- Day 1 on the road...