Fall 2012 Ride - Day 1

September 9, 2012.  Final packing and moving things around to where they fit took longer than I intended. I need more packing space and will have to look for more later...

Sunday morning was gorgeous. Sherry was off to church and I said good bye to the dogs. Marsh Creek Road & CA-4 had a little traffic as I headed into the Sierra foothills. At Copperopolis I turned right onto Obyrnes Ferry Road. Then CA-108 over Sonora Pass.

 I stopped at the top of Sonora Pass for a break and to introduce a friend to another.

 On the back of the old Sonora Pass sign ...

Ben Java, I would like you to meet Dread Pirate Kermit (Ken Morton). You two may or may not have ridden together previously, but I'm sure you will enjoy each others company now!

The east side of the pass was clear of traffic and quite fun. One of my favorite roads anywhere. On to US-395 South and I stopped in Lee Vining for gasoline.  OUCH, the Chevron station wanted $5.45/gallon of regular! South a little further and then east again on CA-120 to Benton Hot Springs. This is a fun, FAST road also. Shame there was too much side wind for some Zero-G maneuvers over the giant hills! ;-)

The weather forecast for Nevada & parts east was not looking very good. The second of 2 hurricanes was slowing down and waiting for me to catch it. As I looked east into Nevada, this is what I saw.

The closer I got to the dark clouds, the more lightning I saw over the mountains. This continued all the way to Tonopah for the evening. Got a little rain on the way, but the lightning storms over the mountains were impressive & scary. I was glad to see the lightning near Tonopah didn't actually reach town.

The lights dimmed many times that night, but never lost power.

Stayed at the old Clown Motel. WOW, look at the new signs & the clear sky the next morning!