2023 Author: Nicholas Abramson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 14:58
If at the beginning of this year they had asked me about my motorcycle travel plans for this year, I never would have said I was going to tour the American West on a Harley. Not that it hadn't crossed my mind, but it was like one of those timeless earrings. Someday. But not during this Easter. And yet I am writing this post from my hotel in San Francisco at four in the morning, a victim of jet lag.
It all started with the Iberia offers in mid-January. At home we commented that it had been a long time that we had a trip without motorcyclesSo we looked at tickets and ended up buying one to spend Holy Week in San Francisco. To do the tourist on foot. But a few days later I started talking about the possibility of riding a part of Route 66 on a Harley. Total, "Since we rent a car, we better rent a motorcycle". By the time we found out, we had it all screwed up: 13-day rental of a Harley-Davidson Electra Glide. Anyway, it is already known that the goat pulls to the mountain, and that we like motorcycles more than a candy to a child. So that trip without motorcycles was forgotten.
Tomorrow I'll pick up the Harley at the rental agency. But a couple of years ago we already rented a Harley Electra Glide in Murcia to tour the region for a couple of days. And the truth is that we liked it a lot. To begin with, I didn't have them all with me regarding whether I would enjoy it or not. And although it is a very heavy motorcycle, the truth is that it can be driven very well. You integrate into the landscape and enjoy it. Two times that I had scratched the platforms, I already realized that I had to take it easier. Said and done. Good music to accompany the beats of the Harley and it was a very enjoyable three-day duo trip.
The trip planned for these days begins in San Francisco. From there we will go to see a park Redwoods, then to Yosemite and Death Valley. The section of Death Valley is one of the ones that I like the most, although I know that we will toast ourselves in the sun. But the landscape of lunar desolation and loneliness I think it will be worth it. Afterwards, we will cross the Mohave desert all the way to Las Vegas.
Las Vegas is one of those places that I had never been excited to visit, but I have already made up my mind and I think get to this papier-mâché city by motorcycle it can be a funny thing. Anyway, it will only be a stage to get to Grand canyon, another of the key points of the trip. It will be the eastern end of our route. From there we will go down to look for the mythical route 66.
Well, Route 66 or what's left of it. From what I have been reading, it seems that of the classic route there are only sections to be found among the modern highways. But it's the same. The name itself is very powerful and I am looking forward to traveling those sections with those roadside motels that we have seen so many times in the movies. Bagdad Café, for example. Always west. Until returning to the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
Everybody introduces The Angels like the great disappointment. However, I want to lose myself in that universe of endless highways. Rare that is one. And of course, since we will be there, we will do a bit of mythomania looking for Sunset Boulevard, Beverly Hills and the Hollywood sign.
Finally, the coast heading north (Santa Bárbara,…) to return to San Francisco, where we will have the last two days to rest in the city. And to write the travel reports to the Moto22 friends (so that it does not happen again like the trip to Morocco in which I left the incomplete reports a while ago. Someday…). Oh, and I will also take the opportunity to try to get me an iPad, although I do not know if it will be possible.
In short, a somewhat long Easter (two weeks) for one of those trips that you have to do sometime. By the way, all kinds of suggestions from those who know the area are accepted and appreciated to include them in the travel plan.
See you on the route!