Alissa Posts: Yearly Pilgrimage

Every year, my friends and I take our pilgrimage to Ocean Beach, California. We come from all over the place and we travel in a variety of vessels to spend as much time as we can in this cute little house near Dog Beach. That smile you see pictured above is pretty much permanent unless I am laughing. We have been doing this trip for ten years! We each have an account so we can help each other when times are tough, or, in the case of this year, when we want to celebrate a life change, like our friends getting married and doing the happily-ever-after thing.

Josh and I work in public education, so our friends
schedule their yearly vacation time for our spring vacation. I know, cool, right? That's because we know the coolest people EVER! And we love them immeasurably!

We visit the same places... Kevin's JumpStart Coffee Cart (he knows us by now), Bravo's Mexican Bistro and Cantina for delicious tacos and mango margaritas, Hodad's (http://hodadies.com) for burgers (yes, it is worth the wait~ whatever it is~ and we get asked every year), South Beach for oysters on the half shell and the view (http://www.southbeachob.com), Mother's Saloon because they have the most delicious macaroni and cheese (we call it crack and cheese), the AZ for a drink (http://www.theazcafe.com/site/) because it's thirsty work on vacation, and Pat's Liquor Store on the corner for just about anything from lottery tickets to champagne.

Every year, we try to take a slightly different route. This year, we took highway 95 to Death Valley after a snowstorm curbed our plan to head down the coast. Getting over the Sierras was just too risky, even with the new bikes.

This year, we were able to take a friend on our day trip to Julian, CA. It's a beautiful ride through some twisty roads into a really cute mining town. Julian is now known for its apples and we were able to bring back an apple-boysenberry pie for the troops (something we've not been able to finagle in years past).

Leaving OB

View along the trip

Another view along our way

A rest area stop (Yes, we took Kewpie along, too. She hates to miss anything!)

We were able to take our coastal trip on the way home. What a great way to end the trip~ taking the long way on Lady Illiria and Freddy (our Harley- Davidson Ultras). We rode highways 1 and 101 and stopped in Morro Bay for a night, as well as Santa Cruz for a night. We've stayed in Morro Bay before and love it there! A fantastic seafaring town, dog-friendly and with delicious seafood. What a treat! Plus, we got to listen to the sea lions! We keep thinking this is a place to spend more time. 

In Santa Cruz, we found the most delicious Indian fusion restaurant! (http://www.indiajoze.com/index.shtml) This is a must-stop! They are SO friendly and the food is SO delicious, we would return just to eat there again! Truly! And in the morning? THE BEST coffee (next to Kevin's, of course), Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Company (http://www.santacruzcoffee.com). 

The riding... hoo! The riding was outstanding! Over 1600 miles and it just gets better! Where I used to get nervous pushing Floyd (my 2007 V-Star 1300) through the freeway turns going over Interstate 80 in the Sierra Nevada Mountains... nothing! Set the cruise and hit the road. Just delicious! I leave it to Josh to talk techie with you. Suffice to say I am satiated: I spent quality time with friends I love doing things I enjoy with the intent of doing it over and over again. (Beach, wash, rinse, repeat)

It's a good life and I am a lucky girl.