When the Bells come to America.

[roverfj1200]

I suppose it is time I put together a bit of a blog about Julie and my trip to the good ole U S of A.

We flew in to San Francisco and while there did the Alcatraz tour. I highly recommend you all go and do it as the audio tour is amazing. You hear the voices of the old guards and prisoners. The views to the golden gate bridge to are worth the tour cost. The island is a bird sanctuary and you get a fantastic look at the bird life. The Big Red Bus took us around the San Fran and a local filled us in on the different areas we visited. A visit to pier 33 to was a high light of our time here.

[roverfj1200]

From San Fran we picked up a Dodge Caravan from lost campers and headed out to see Merica.
We headed down the coast to Santa Cruz following the coast road. America has some amazing Parks and natural areas and these where high on our list to visit. You have a big red tree call the General (ours is a little red face man) that lives up in the Cal mountains. Next we hit Vagas..

[TexasDave]

Great pics keep em coming. Once again less pics of that ugly bloke and more of that good lookin Sheila.   

[roverfj1200]

Next we spent a day or so heading south taking in Sequoia NP and on down to Isabella lake. Then east and through the high desert. Just amazing to see the altitude signs of 7000ft and so on. No deserts that High in Australia..  We rolled on into Vagas for a few days, and while not to my liking, spent sometime in Freemont street and the strip. Had a good evening in the tower of the Stratosphere downing Buds and watching the lights. With our wallets lighter and eagerness to see the BIG hole you call the canyon we left Vagas and headed east. Stopping on the way to see the Hoover dam. After a talk to a kind lady ,in a KOA at Peach Springs who told us not to do the sky walk but to keep going to the Grand Canyon NP, we drove on to Williams for the night. At First light we headed out to the "Canyon" heading straight for Desert view to see the tower and the big hole... While good I was not taken by the Canyon and some how felt almost let down. So back in the car and a stop at Navajo point....    "BAM" there it is that real WOW factor... The rest of the day was spent looking around.

Pictures via link

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1SmyuVOXprkWT8-w703CUyMdZyTaASAib

[roverfj1200]

OK so where are we. Thats right... OK. We had to back track some to get to our next port of call. Heading back toward Vagas and slipping right through on our way to Death Valley. I had to sign a waver before I could take the little van into the Valley.. Not sure it was needed. Death Valley sure is a different kind of place and the history is amazing. It was also our lowest point.... 190ft below sea level. I was somewhat disappointed we hadn't allowed more time in the area as there are walking tracks and lookouts that we had no time to do.  We were  on our way to Lake Tahoe and the west coast rally so we needed to stick to the plan. Driving up the 395 with the shear mountains top with snow off to our right had us mesmerized. It was not long and the road began the climb into the mountains toward the lake. I think it was the 89 we took and worked our way over the pass and into South Lake Tahoe. We booked 2 nights in the KOA so we could look around. For some reason I don't have a lot of pictures of Tahoe or Virgina City.. No photos means having to much fun. I know Julie does but they are on her phone...  We left Tahoe and once again back tracked on the 395 but couldn't resist the 89 aswell. We were headed to "Tioga Pass" and the run down to Petaluma and the *Drum roll* West Coast Rally. Via Yosemite of cause.....

Photos in link    https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EapjyOir3JcKxfeia2YKIdbChcROLVKS

[roverfj1200]

Our next stop on the way was Yosemite NP for a look around. We found the area beautiful but busy. That can be said for most of the areas we visited. I'm sure we could have spent move time in the Yosemite park but as usual time is limited on any holiday. We left Yosemite for Oakdale and our main reasons for our visit to the States. Heading west in CA there is one stop you must make on the way, and that is Oakdale. We had a  few days there and a visit to RPM are well worth your time. We were soon on our way to Petaluma and the rally.  So right here I will put a BIG thank you to Randy and Chandra for their hospitality and for organizing a bike and cabin for Julie and myself. This really did make our visit one we will never forget. So as not to leave out the other attendees to the rally  Julie and myself would like to thank you all as well for making us feel so welcome. So like Rallies all over the world I guess much merriment was had. We laughed till we cried and road bikes on twistie roads, made all so much better with a trusty Yamaha FJ between the legs. Riding the 1 along the coast and down to the 128 through the redwoods was amazing. The Chandelier tree at Leggett to was a awesome stop for a photo.

https://1drv.ms/f/s!Ag0cSTXGzuvUgTF83QYNEsP7qJvh

[roverfj1200]

Our next stop on the way was Yosemite NP for a look around. We found the area beautiful but busy. That can be said for most of the areas we visited. I'm sure we could have spent move time in the Yosemite park but as usual time is limited on any holiday. We left Yosemite for Oakdale and our main reasons for our visit to the States. Heading west in CA there is one stop you must make on the way, and that is Oakdale. We had a  few days there and a visit to RPM are well worth your time. We were soon on our way to Petaluma and the rally.  So right here I will put a BIG thank you to Randy and Chandra for their hospitality and for organizing a bike and cabin for Julie and myself. This really did make our visit one we will never forget. So as not to leave out the other attendees to the rally  Julie and myself would like to thank you all as well for making us feel so welcome. So like Rallies all over the world I guess much merriment was had. We laughed till we cried and road bikes on twistie roads, made all so much better with a trusty Yamaha FJ between the legs. Riding the 1 along the coast and down to the 128 through the redwoods was amazing. The Chandelier tree at Leggett to was a awesome stop for a photo.

https://1drv.ms/f/s!Ag0cSTXGzuvUgTF83QYNEsP7qJvh

Just incase one drive link fails https://drive.google.com/open?id=1OYTmqgUfyHKZrrnTKetGX1-tIT47hi2z

[Charlie-brm]

Great pics keep em coming. Once again less pics of that ugly bloke and more of that good lookin Sheila.   

The first thing that came to mind in that pic was OMG, it's 'Donk!' LOL.

[racerrad8]

Richard,

There are a bunch of other photos from the stop at the Chandelier Tree. I know I took a bunch with you guys seated on the bikes with multiple phones.

Hopefully people will add to the thread some of their photos. Plus there was one you took laying on the ground looking up at the tree, I hope that one came out.

I have attached a couple from the road when we left the Chandelier Tree, our lunch stop and the fire on Sunday night.

Great times

Randy - RPM

I couldn't leave out the graffiti left behind on the bridge...

[roverfj1200]

It was hard to leave the Rally and the great company we had there but our tickets were booked and we needed to get the camper back to San Fransisco. We boarded a plane that would take us to Nashville and to our surprise we arrived during the CMA. The place was packed. Every bar had a band and the streets were full of people. Once again time was short but we still had a great time looking around town. We had booked tickets to the Grand Ole Opry and what luck. Due to the CMA we had the best line up acts you could want for. Well when in Nashville a visit to Cooters the Dukes of Hazzard museum is a must. So much great memorabilia. I also got the must have pix of me in the cars... Awesome. We had hired a car and our plan was to drive to New Orleans for a look with a few stops on the way.....


https://drive.google.com/open?id=1vcAK9mZMw_osPS_5S37eODBDER3KT9QQ

[roverfj1200]

Well I found some more Rally Pictures

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1eHrXfrdB8pri_vsntznA-Iw0SeCkaLMM