Rabbits On Tour: Pacific Coast - ter hoogte van Big Sur

RABBITS ON TOUR

We gaan zoonlief in Santa Barbara opzoeken. En dan wil je ook wat van de omgeving zien nietwaar?
Californië...dat is Flower Power, Power Wines, muziek van The Beach Boys, The Eagles, Chet Baker; Hollywood, The Lakers, Yosemite Valley, enzovoort. En toevallig ook het eindpunt van Route 66. Yeah! "Get your kicks...", een jeugddroom moet maar eens werkelijkheid worden....
Anja en ik gaan het Californische deel van Route 66 rijden, daarna naar Vegas en dan naar San Francisco waar we de brommer moeten inleveren en waar we Matthijs weer ontmoeten. Met z'n drieën hebben we dan een weekend om SF te verkennen. Daarna met de auto naar Santa Barbara via Highway #1 langs de kust.

donderdag 2 juni 2011

Pacific Coast - ter hoogte van Big Sur

Nog een plaatje van de rit van San Francisco naar Santa Barbara op maandag.
Wat een kustlijn! Nooit eerder zoiets gezien. Giga vergezichten. Vlak voor de kust zwemmen walvissen en dolfijnen die zich regelmatig laten zien. Highway 1 slingert zich een weg over de rotsen. Beneden ons witte zandstranden met een wilde branding. Boven ons een wolkenloze staalblauwe hemel. Maar het blijft frisjes. Alle 3 genieten we van de rit die 12 uur duurt.

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De Route

DAY 1. Los Angeles - Palm Springs 306 km.This morning we pick up our bike at EagleRider’s Los Angeles store and head south through the winding mountain road down to Lake Elsinore. Soar like an eagle through the roads of San Bernardino National Forest and further into Palm Springs, where we spend the night.
DAY 2. Palm Springs - Laughlin 374 km. Taking a loop through Joshua Tree National Park, and enjoying the amazing colors and fantastic rock formations! At Twentynine Palms the trip gets legendary appeal, as we enter Historic Route 66 in Amboy, the road all the way up towards Laughlin. Cross the state line into Nevada and arrive in Laughlin.
DAY 3. Laughlin - Williams 298 km. Our ride continues on legendary Route 66 into Arizona, stop for wild animals in Oatman and ride further on to Kingman, which is considered to be “The heart of Historic Route 66”, as it’s situated in the middle of the longest remaining stretch of the old “Mother Road”. From Kingman we'll head for Seligman, another one of those longest surviving stretches of Route 66, which heads off in a northern loop through the Hualapai Indian Reservation. Make a stop at the famous “Snowcap” in Seligman and continue to Williams.
DAY 4. Willams - Monument Valley / Mexican Hat 435 km. This morning we should rise very early as we are in for the majestic Grand Canyon! Spend the morning at the Grand Canyon to get some fantastic views and perhaps catch one of the first helicopter flights over the Canyon. Cruise along the South Rim for a few miles and leave Grand Canyon National Park at the East entrance. Now it’s off to the incredible Monument Valley. Travelling through Navajo Country here. The classic Wild West landscape of stark sandstone buttes and forbidding pinnacles of rock, poking from an endless expanse of drifting red sands, has an archetypal image.

DAY 5 Monument Valley - Bryce Canyon 483 km. From sleepy Mexican Hat, briefly a frenzied gold-mining camp, continue to the Valley of the Gods, where much of the movie “Thelma and Louise” was filmed, and cross the Colorado River where it pours into Lake Powell. Lake Powell has 1960 miles of shoreline, which is more than the entire Pacific Coast and 96 water-filled side canyons. Ride along the southern tip of Capitol Reef National Park, on to Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and roar on up to the Devil’s Backbone through the Escalante Wilderness en route to Bryce Canyon.

Day 6. Bryce Canyon - Las Vegas 403 km. This morning we will take time to visit the amazing Bryce Canyon before we continue to Zion National Park. Besides seeing the most beautiful rock formations found anywhere on earth, we are in for a most challenging ride here – the switchbacks of Zion! Compared to Yosemite and the Grand Canyon, Zion exudes a stronger sense of nature. From Zion it is only a short ride into the neon and gambling oasis of Las Vegas....
Day 7. Las Vegas. 0 km. This day is for relaxing, shopping, gambling, exploring or whatever our heart desires. We need to keep in mind we will have an early start on the following day!

Day 8. Las Vegas - Mammoth Lakes. 507 km. We will be leaving Las Vegas and head west - across Death Valley – the hottest place on earth! It’s almost entirely devoid of shade and its sculpted rock layers form deeply shadowed, eroded crevices at the foot of sharply silhouetted hills, their exotic mineral content turning ancient mudflats into rainbows of sunlit iridescence. After riding a series of mountain curves, we will have fallen hundreds of feet below sea level and find ourselves right in the basin of Death Valley. Continue west and ride along Sequoia National Park up to Mammoth Lakes.

Day 9. Mammoth Lakes - Yosemite. 258 km. Leaving Mammoth Lakes continue a little further north and then enter the infamous Tioga Pass (if open!!!) to cross Yosemite National Park. We push our Harley through the winding granite canyons…muscle flexing turns are rampant for the first several miles, and the road demands attention as we'll enter the mother of the mother of all National Parks. Yosemite conjures up thousands of images and raises expectations to dizzying heights...

Day 10. Yosemite - Napa Valley 350 km The morning sun’s rays cast a golden shimmer on the meadows and we ride along Yosemite National Park for a while and then head west towards San Francisco. But we plan a little detour to visit California's most famous vineyards in Napa Valley...

Day 11. Napa Valley - Sonoma County 200 km Driving through the majestic scenery of Napa and Sonoma. Easy going, making regular stops at winegrowers with final destination Seghesio Winery in Healdsburg - Russian River Valley for tastings and dinner.

Day 12.Healdsburg - San Francisco 120 km.

The morning sun’s rays cast a golden shimmer on vineyards when we will head south towards San Francisco. Cross the Golden Gate Bridge and arrive in San Francisco, end of the ride. Drop off the Harley and start of a splendid weekend in SF with Matthijs.