Great weekend on the road. 3 of us left , CA at 7am  and hooked up with one more in Newhall @ 8:00. Then it was off to Bakersfield HD and beyond.

Great weather early on Saturday.

Dealer reviews:

Bakersfield HD. 2nd time there. BIG dealership with lot's of bikes, tons of gear and really great employees.

Visalia HD: Newer dealership. Medium size. Only dealership I've ever been to that actually sold/charged for the little rubber keychains with their name printed on the back. $3.95? Crazy. Not my favorite stop.

Matthews HD in Fresno: Little tiny place. Same space since 1961. Had a couple of old HD's setup with the chains on the back and no brakes for ice racing. Very cool. Original owners still there. 4 generations of the family work there. Great to see a Mom and Pop dealership for a difference vs. big box corporate dealership. Favorite stop.

HD of Fresno: Another newer medium size store. Nice people and good selection of bikes, parts and clothing.

Yosemite HD, Merced: Older shop. Small. Friendly and attractive clothing girls.

Golden Valley HD, Los Banos: Newer, small sized store. Friendly folks.

Saturday the weather was great most of the day up the 99.

Had lunch at Bravo Cheese Farm. Somewhere between Visalia and Fresno on the 99. Picture a pint sized equivalent to Tom's Farms. Shops, diner and sort of an outside covered roadhouse. Ate the BEST patty melt I may have ever had outside in the roadhouse. Other guys had cheeseburgers that they liked as well.

Last stretch on Saturday from Merced to Santa Nella on the 140 then 33 was great. About a mile of residential then 40 miles of one lane farm roads. Some new operations and some very old family type farms. A few really old places that looked like some giant leaned on them and they just collapsed sideways.

Cool to watch the unobstructed sunset to our right. No buildings , no mountains, nothing just flat farmland all the way to the horizon and the setting sun. Definite highlight. Did pickup several thousand tiny bugs on the front of the bike though. Mostly on this stretch.

Got to the hotel next to Andersen's Split Pea Soup a little after 5. Checked in. 3 of us locked our bikes together while Rob, the only one NOT on a touring rig simply wheeled his bike directly into his room with a little extra push from Andy.

Freshened up quickly and then we all walked over to Andersen's for some chow. Great pea soup as always and my New York strip was done to perfection.

After picking up a few things for the kids in the gift shop we walked back across the lot to our hotel then to the courtyard for some poolside cigars. Enjoyable once we fought the wind and a 3 cent disposable lighter to get them lit.

Back to our individual rooms to chill. About 9:30 the munchies kicked in so I walked around the corner to Wendy's for a Jr Cheeseburger and a small frosty. Found out the next morning David had hoofed it back to Andersen's for a bag of their killer caramel popcorn.

Body clock woke me up Sunday morning about 5:45. Peeked out to see the wind howling. Back to bed with the hope it would die down by 10 and our departure time.

Ran into 2 of the other 3 in the lobby for the free continental breakfast. Packed up, checked out and got ready for the Los Banos dealer stop then on to home. Cleaned some bugs off our windshields then found Rob's Night Train to be spotless. Not only did it get to share his room but he woke up bored and proceeded to detail it back to showroom condition.

After taking one exit too soon and doubling back we visited the dealer in Los Banos then headed south on the 5. The winds had died down but we still hit the occasional wind gust or rather the wind hit us. Still we were able to maintain an 80 mph clip most of the way.

Thought it would get warmer as we headed south but it actually got colder. Stopped in Lost Hills at a Denny's for lunch and a warm up. While there Rob checked the weather for the Grapevine only to find it to be 37 mofo cold degrees in Lebec with showers!

Stopped right before the Grapevine and Tejon Pass run so yours truly could buy something wamer to wear. I had packed thermals originally only to take them out of my T-Bag based on predicted warmer weather. I'll never do that again.

After picking up some sweat pants and a sweat shirt and donning them under my jeans and jacket and after Andy put on his rain pants we hit the Tejon Pass.

Cold doesn't describe it. Might have been 37 earlier but it felt much colder. At the top we actually rode through low lying clouds. No rain though luckily.

Once down the other side into the SC valley things got slightly warmer.

We stopped at the Chevron station next to Magic Mtn for our last gas stop, munch some mini donuts and to say our goodbyes.

Got home right at 6. Very happy. Cold but glad we went. Can't wait to hit the road again. Day rides are great but overnighters are a whole other experience.

Just remember to pack clothes for ALL weather conditions and you'll be a happier rider.

Hopefully the rest of you can make an overnight trip sometime if you haven't already. It's more than just a ride it's an experience.

Primo