Lazy start… nice to be clean in an air conditioned room. Less pleasant when you finally do walk out into the heat. Rather warm in Maricopa.

Chatted with a trucker who had a 98 Softail Classic in his garage. His baby, but can’t ride anymore due to arthritis. Another reminder that motorcycles might be an instant club, but probably won’t last forever.

Looping out to 33 towards Santa Barbara, I did manage to find the National Monument I was looking for… and BLM lands too – camping would have been free!

The road wasn’t the best… might have been risky in the dark. Couldn’t be worse than the dirt stuff…

The signs to go to Ventura made it seem really close – as if I should have made a run for the coast last night. But it’s a good thing I didn’t – the road picked up soon enough. Twisties!

If I had known the road was like this, I would have had breakfast and coffee before heading out. 33 was great, 150 wasn’t bad – much better if it weren’t for being stuck behind a white Altima…

Things were less rosy once back on the 101. Traffic is taking some getting used to… after days of riding virtually alone, now I have to deal with cagers again. The bikes lane splitting are new to me as well. At least their loud pipes are doing something for me.

Eventually made it to Carpinteria in the Cali June Gloom. Swung past the State Park/beach, but with the grey skies, didn’t feel like paying for parking and stopped for lunch instead. Things did clear up after and I went out to Stearns Wharf for some classic tourist activities. Was entertaining overhearing a conversation about travel books and how cliche the big sites are.

View from Stearns Wharf – Blue skies and water, just like the TV commercials!