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Because this report covers so much territory, you’ll be getting it over the course of the next few days… a motorcycle soap opera of sorts!! DAY THREE When I originally wrote this day’s ride report, Patrick pointed out to me that I had our route in the wrong order and, if we had followed the route I wrote about, we’d probably still be out on the road. But that’s the kind of trip it was – so many roads, so many things to see, it all became just a blur of memories. This particular morning we were gently lulled awake at 5:30 a.m. by the VERY loud rumbling of a particular brand of motorcycle which shall remain nameless (but the company was formed in 1903 by 2 brothers and a friend - I think it was two Davidson brothers or something like that! J) I turned to my comrades and said, “Camping isn’t a sleeping in kind of thing, is it?” We again packed everything up and then headed off for breakfast at Jack’s Bakery & Restaurant - great breakfast place. A guy came up to me and said, “Hey, aren’t you one of those girls that got in really late last night?” Great… just the kind of notoriety you want… sigh. The route provided had a lot of side road loops and we decided, that after the previous day’s mis-adventures, to opt out for something a little more demure in route. We spread out our route and maps, forming our journey for the day. Destination: South Lake Tahoe! Todd, Wendy, Mike and Julie all came in for breakfast as we were leaving so we figured they'd catch up to us along the way and headed off. The group that comprised the brave dirt riders for the day were Rob, Chuck, Jürg, Dave, and Ray? Raymond? Rick? Randall? Something with an 'R' is all I could find out. Rob eagerly headed off with great anticipation for the GS route. We wondered if we’d ever see him again. The morning was cool and lovely with a bright blue sky holding court. From Bishop, we zipped down 395 and then out along Benton Crossing Rd. (an easy turn off to miss but a kind soul coming the other way who had missed it as well was waving his arm madly to get us to turn around and go back) and into Benton Hot Springs – great stretch of road!! There were beautiful sections of streams running along side the road as well as rolling valleys stretching for miles. We stopped off in Benton to gas up and ran into (not literally) Vic, Bert, Jim M., Leah, Pamela, Debra and Kate as they also gassed up and also shot the breeze with two guys who were on their way to Utah. They asked us who the heck all the bikes were with since evidently they'd been coming across the ROL bunch all morning so we edumacated them. We had wanted to stop and soak in the hot springs but were a wee bit wary of spending too much time there and getting into camp too late again, so on we went, vowing one day to return and soak. Heard that Stevie and Patrick got a chance to experience the hot springs though… one of the small advantages to being the chase vehicle. From there, we zoomed along 120 and over a section of dips that was like a roller coaster ride… even the cruiser girls got some air on those! And we pushed our bikes to their max speed of 100 mph on the straightaways (although I’m sure there were others that exceeded that easily)! Everyone was zipping by each other, one group passing us, then we passed them as they stopped for photo ops. The road was peppered with all kinds of bikes and riders and lots of friends as they waved. The mood was upbeat and definitely happy! We stopped off at Mono Lake for pictures as Audrey had never been there and passed by Pamela and the SMC group as they goofed around on the side of the road taking pictures. The lake is really big and every time we came around another part of the road, we kept seeing yet another side of the lake. Back out to 395, we passed through one of SMC’s last ride destinations, Bridgeport, gassing up once again (note to self: for the next bike, get a bigger gas tank!!) (Webmaster's note: Perhaps a BMW! ). We then headed out 182 and across the state border into Nevada (now we can say it was a two-state trip for us anyway!), along 338/Sweetwater Rd., through Wellington via 208 and finally back out to 395 again. We kept passing the same dangerous curves road sign once in Nevada and decided that in this instance, they were definitely overstated. We steeled ourselves for hairpin turns like the day before but instead found ourselves in nary a lean! Talk about your extremes! From there we scooted down 395 and stopped for lunch at a little deli just near Topaz Lake, sitting in a little gazebo out back and looking out on the lake where all the vacationers were reveling on their boats and jet skis. It was warm and so relaxing to kick back and enjoy the day.Todd and Wendy caught up to us and joined us for lunch and remainder of the ride to Tahoe. Next was Hwy 89/Monitor Pass. As we traveled up 89, I kept thinking to myself that the view looked so familiar and then realized it was one of the roads we did on the way back from Bridgeport. All these trips and roads are starting to become a blur!! Lol We then turned onto 88 and stopped in a little town to gas up. This is where I realized in a panic I had left my bike pack, with all my money, credit cards, license, etc., back at the gazebo where we had lunch. I turned to Todd and asked him if he would be willing to go back the way we came, forcing him to re-ride those horrible roads that he so disliked (NOT) and by the look on his face, I got the feeling I wasn't asking that much of a favor but maybe doing one for him instead! “Go back and ride all those roads again? Oh DARN!!” All with a big smile on his face… barely had time to say ride safe before he eagerly pulled away on his errand of mercy, leaving a little trail of dust behind him. The rest of us continued on our way in a more leisurely fashion continuing along 89 and 88 (absolutely gorgeous stretches of road through the forests) and finally into South Tahoe where, after a short bit of confusion and driving around in the dirt and trying to avoid not running over any poor innocent campers, we finally found our campsite nestled in the redwoods. After setting up our respective camps, everyone wandered around sharing stories of the day and the routes. Thank gawd for the Taj Majal tent (the name we dubbed it because it was so fricking BIG!) being set up so close to our camp area, otherwise I’d probably still be wandering around looking for my tent! As I returned from taking what had to be one of the best showers ever (nothing like a shower after a long day of riding), the GSrs returned. And there in all his glory, stood Aussie Rob with a sh*t eating grin so big I thought his face would crack. He looked like a 5-year old kid on Christmas morning. I asked, “Soooo… how was it?” And he practically screamed, “It was better than sex!!” (which he was heard to exclaim several more times over the next few hours – we were starting to worry a bit about him). I think he enjoyed himself. We then had a great catered meal (and warm even this time since we didn't get in too late!) of lasagna, salad, bread, and steamed veggies that were great! We gathered around the campsite area and devoured our food and more grape juice (what a shock!). Pamela joined us to share her version of events of the day as well as Bob the Brit and his buddy, Mik, and Mike and Julie came to slum it with us after showering at their motel just down the street. After dinner, everyone gathered around the main campfire area for the raffle and poker run results – seeing everyone there reminded me of just how large a group we really were – 160 people including support staff! It was a raucous and rowdy bunch and there was a lot of ribbing about the previous day’s route. Julie won a BMW gadget knife which she parlayed onto me, so even though I had lost my raffle tickets, I still won something! Once the festivities subsided, we headed back to our campsite area for more chatter and wine. At this point, as it got darker and darker, Audrey started flashing everyone. No not that kind of flashing… she’d just point the camera at a random spot and take a picture. When it’s dark out, the flash is particularly blinding so we all responded in kind at one point by pointing all our flashlights at her in retribution. As the wine flowed so did the comments. I tried to keep up but after the first 5,342 funny jokes, double entendres, comments, etc. in about five minutes I just gave up. And it probably wouldn’t make any sense unless you’d been there anyway. Although there was one visual that will probably remain etched in our memory (and I’m not sure that’s a good thing) of Rob assuming “the position” and Todd playing “obstetrician” – you really had to be there to understand and appreciate the moment. We did amass a list of favorite quotes that will follow shortly. Next up – the return trip home! Peace,
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