NORTHERN BAJA CALIFORNIA - DAY TWO

Today the ride south begins: woke to rainy overcast, streets wet, but riders are ready, let's go...

Riders gathered at MotoQuest to pack their bike, receive final riding instructions before heading out.
 

Soliitary Honda GoldWing sidecar rig being outnumbered by BMW GS's and F's. The rig attracts more attention everywhere than all the Beemers put together, but we sidecarists are familiar with the SDF (Sidecar Delay Factor).

 

Utilizing the HOV lanes, we are quickly out of the urban areas and into the well known rider's dream land of Southern Califonia foothills. First restroom break happens at Cook's Corner, a very well know bikers gathering spot.

Wonder why Cook's is famous? Here's the sign....

 


Cook's was followed by miles and miles of twisting foothills, Sunday traffic but not too bad. Next stop for a late lunch was Josie's Hideout... another infamous motorcycle gathering spot.
 

Bikes line both sides of the country road out front...

 

And what is a biker saloon without live entertainment????

 

Another hour or so riding the twisting roads before we reached out destination hotel for the night in Julian, CA.

Here we rest to prepare for the Mexican border crossing in the morning.

2022 Photo Review - Part B

Continuing on from the previous post, 

here is the balance of my culled photos from 2022.

Italy - Olive grove with San Gimignano skyline

Italy - San Gimignano, the locals pass time, tourist-watching

Looks like a jury deciding everyone's fate.

Italy - Arno River - Florence

Italy - Old section of congested Grand Canal - Venice

Italy - Foggy morning - Venice 

Italy - Dining alone with his book - Venice

Valladolid, Spain - Texting while riding

Spain - Santiago de Compostela

Resting Pilgram

Spain - Llanes country church

Spain - Llanes beach, tides out

Valladolid, Spain, Cobblestone street

Madrid, Spain - Juxtaposition

Texas - Three generations

Granddaughter

Mother

Grandmother

A Texas Cowboy

And that concludes most of my favorite images captured in 2022.

More travel, adventures, and images to come 

in 2023. Hang on to your hat friends, 

I have a few surprises in store.

Stay safe, be safe,

CCjon

Seal Beach Boardwalk

Revisited the Seal Beach Pier as the sun was lower in the sky.

Here standing underneath the boardwalk

Capturing the shadows as the sun sets behind the boardwalk

Now all most dark, the blue hour set in...

That wraps up our visit to the Seal Beach Boardwalk Pier.

Tomorrow we head south into Baja California, Mexico.

Texas ice storm - White Sands, NM - Seal Beach, CA

While trailering the Gold Wing rig west to meet up with a motorcycle group going to Mexico, got ahead of the ice storm in Texas, but not by much.

Nearing the Texas - New Mexico border, decided to swing by the White Sands National Park near Alamogordo, New Mexico for a photo op. 

When I stopped there last year, it was cold and overcast. 

The grey cloud cover made the shadows of the dunes dull. The photos taken then were flat.

This year I got lucky. Clear blue sky, bright sun casting long shadows in the afternoon.

Not many visitors in January, and the temperature was a very pleasant 56 degrees. 

Was a beautiful day to be there

There are several parking / picnic areas in the park with their unique wind shelters.

Wanted to capture the texture of sand ripples created by the constant winds.

Started to get nice shadow contrast as the afternoon wore on.

Stayed away from the dune edges as that sand is soft, easy to give way. 

The fall probably would not hurt as the soft sand would cushion some, 

but it is a long way down to a hard bottom

The endless waves of sand, would not want to be here in August with a blazing sun beating down.

Shooting in Black & White is a natural here, as there is little color other than the sky.

Can you see the solitary figure standing on the dune?  

Wonder how many people get lost wandering among the dunes. 

 There are marked hiking trails. But after a while, one dune begins to look like another. 

Easy to get turned around if you cannot see the distant mountain range in the west.

Then there is that urge to climb one more dune, just to see what there is to see...

After hiking numerous dunes to find that special view, 

it was back on the road, with miles to go.

Arrived two days later in Seal Beach, California, the rendezvous point. 

Took a night walk to the end of the pier, turning around, this is what one sees...

...with sounds of the Pacific crashing on the beach below.

Ride safe my friends

CCjon 

2022 Photos in Review - Part A

Whew... 2022 was quite a year for photography. While learning to work with a new Black & White camera as well as keeping the old SONY clicking, seems we captured several thousand images last year. Well, not seems, we did take over 4000 photos.

Then to sort which best represents the year, took some time, 

reviewing, editing then discarding the also-rans.

Hope you enjoy this recap of 2022 images,

 so here we go.

Starting with Alex's escape.

That decisive moment when Alex grabs his kindergarten diploma, 

then tries to sneak away 

in the wrong direction.

His expression is priceless.

 Downtown Houston at dusk

Not bad for an iPhone photo

The shopping mall

Desert Princess - Imperial Dunes, California

Mexican street beggar - Tecate, Baja California

Mexican Fisherman - Todos Santos, Baja California

           Mexican Mechanic  - Bahia de Los Angeles, Baja California

Pacific beach near Todos Santos, Baja California

Baja Fishing boats at sunrise, Baja California

Pacific Sunset - Lost Whale Inn, northern California

Rome - Vatican Priest late for mass

Rome - Bicycling the busy streets

Rome - Old Jewish Ghetto

Rome - Fountain at night

Rome - Illuminated Stone Columns

Rome - Vatican staircase

Rome - Empty Spanish Steps,  4 A.M.

Rome - Exploring the back streets - 5 A.M.

That's enough for now, next post will be

 Part B, the rest of the 2022 favorite photos.