The Two Wheels Are Rolling

Up at 5:00 am, we crossed the border into the US of A @ 6:30 am, arrived at the Bellingham, WA airport at 7:00 am....and then the waiting in long lines began.  The airport is going through a major renovation and expansion.  The present situation leads to a very long wait to get boarding clearance then another long line to get through security.  It took 1 hr. 50 minutes to accomplish that. By 9:10 am, the on time Allegiant flight left the runway and headed for Palm Springs.

The weather back home was 30 degrees Celsius.  In Palm Springs, @ noon, it was 17 degrees Celsius....cool.....and wet from sporadic rains.  Hmmmmm!

The Public Storage facility near the Palm Springs airport.  The only sun we saw before the rains.

Following a quick lunch at the airport, we boarded a cab for the short ride to our storage facility.

We moved the Ultra Classic out of its hold and dusted it off.

The bike started well and, before long, we had it well packed before heading east on  Highway 111, from Palm Springs to Palm Desert, then south on Highway 74, over the San Jacinto Mountains and into Temecula, CA.   

We could see the rain clouds all around us.

We both knew we would not get through today without getting wet so, before climbing into the San Jacinto Mountains, we geared up.  Good thing too!  It poured and poured and poured.  The weather reminded us of a late November day back home in the Pacific Northwest.

Getting ready to gear up for rain.

Hmmmm, the highway is wet.  That's a sign of things to come.

Sure enough!  Before long, we were in a steady downpour.  The temperature dropped considerably and it felt like mid-winter weather.

Riding through heavy downpour.

When we approached Aguanga, the clouds gave way to a tiny bit of sun and the rain stopped.  The ride from there to Temecula was dry.  We spotted a sign noting it was 63 degrees Fahrenheit in the city.  That is certainly not common for this time of the year.

Arriving in Temecula, CA.

During our last visit here - only five weeks ago - we had seen a funky little motor inn in Old Town Temecula.  I went online, from home, to check it out and it seemed like a fine place to overnight.  The Harley Davidson motorcycle shop is mere minutes from us and tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, the Ultra Classic goes in for servicing. We booked that service when we were through here five weeks back.

Once settled in, we changed our riding gear for street clothes and walked into Old Town.  It's always a treat to walk through this historic place.  It is quiet in town....very quiet.  The winter snowbird tourists have clearly left the area.

A lovely newer building.

A mural that depicts the town of old.

It was nearing 6:00 pm when Jeanette and I settled for the lovely Texas style restaurant in the photo below.  We were thrilled with the food.  It was really good.  We'll be back here....guaranteed.

Heading for the entrance to Texas Lil's restaurant.

Following dinner, I had a few small tasks to work on.  Before leaving home, I removed our heated gear 12 Volt plugs from the Nomad to install on the Harley.  That meant removing the seat (carefully, I might add), remove some other connectors and battery protector cover, then removing the negative and positive screws to accept the heat plugs for our riding vests. Not having worked on a Harley before, I was careful to remember what went where.  After all was hooked up again, all electrical systems were back to normal.  The motorcycle started.....so....that is a good thing, right?  The motorcycle alarm functioned well too!

While I was working on the Harley, Jeanette continued on her own, touring Old Town, and gathering a few more photos.

Once the service is completed, we will ride north on I-15, then west again on Highway 74 to San Juan Capistrano.  Highway 1 is our route back for home - following the ocean side as much as possible. Having ridden this route before, I know that highway 1 has many stop  lights.  It is a virtual stop, start, stop, start, till one gets well past Santa Monica and Malibu.  It is still pleasurable enough and we'll enjoy the benefit from riding the ocean side route.

So that's the plan.  We hope the weather proves nicer tomorrow.  We'll take it as it comes though!

Thanks for dropping by.