Easter Hop

Ok, I'll start off with the bad news. Well it's bad for me, not so much for you. I've been trying desperately to get a stock triple tree for Kate that I can have powder coated. I found three of them last week on Ebay. Unfortunately, all ended up going to other people or not at all. The first is all my fault. When I was trying to raise my bid at the last minute, my number lock was on & I couldn't use my ten key. That way sucked! The second was bought by someone "Buy it Now" three days early. (I NEVER do that, unless the price is very fair). The last went up way high on the bidding, but still never met the sellers reserve. Apparently, Seller thinks it's made of gold. Ok, I'm healed... back to the drawing board. Anyone know where I can get a triple tree?
I woke up today and could not wait to get on the road. Unfortunately, my wife is a little ill & today was Easter, so I had a few things to do before I could go. Yeah, Well at 11:30 when I finally got out, it was GREAT! ! ! !
My Youngest son went with me. He's the perfect passenger. He sits still, doesn't fidget, he doesn't lean, and he has a low center of gravity. It was almost like riding solo, only when I saw something awesome and pointed exclaiming "Check that out!" I didn't look crazy.
We started off on the 76E. This road is great, lots of curves and plenty to see. East of the 15 it got even better. The traffic died down & we were free to enjoy. We followed the 76 out past the Pala Indian reservation and my son LOVED seeing the Buffalo by the casino. Even in captivity, these are truly majestic creatures. I can only imagine the beauty and force of a wild herd of these beasts.
We stayed on the 76 past Palomar mountain to the 79. Took the 79 into Santa Ysabel and then took the 78 up into Julian. This town is a treasure in the mountains! Well known for the apples that are grown locally, there is no shortage of places to get a slice of pie. well, we skipped the pie, but we did walk through several of the shops before getting back on the road.
We took the 78 back down to Santa Ysabel & stopped at Dudley's and Don's Market. My son loves to look at the rocks and trinkets at Dudley's, and I needed a bottle of water. I walked across the lot to get the water from Don's because Dudley's didn't have much of a selection of drinks that were bike friendly.
We kicked around for about 20 minutes before heading out on the 78 into Ramona. We stopped in Ramona long enough for me to call my wife & let her know we were still riding. Then we followed the 78 to Escondido. All along the way we kept passing wonderful sights, and smells. The Mountain views are absolutely breath taking! And the smells! I love the smell of lemon groves. The trees put out the sweetest smell ever. (I didn't particularly care to smell several road kills we passed... Ewww) This is truly the best way to experience this trip.
I tried to avoid getting on the 78 from Escondido to Carlsbad by taking Valley Parkway, it didn't work. I did, however, find a surprise (to me), Lake Hodges. It's a beautiful lake. We took a quick ride past the lake before heading back to the 78, as we were running out of time before a planed family dinner.
We got home around 4:15 with 135 miles on the odometer & dinner at 5.
The only thing that went wrong, other than the triple trees... I didn't make it back to the beach for my Sunset Pics.
Oh, Well, there's always tomorrow..Ride safe, Ya'all... Happy Easter!