What do you think when someone says California?

Hollywood? Moviestars? Smog? Liberal d!ckhead$? 'Frisco gay day parades? Moss munching Luddites?

I've been here for 31 of my 53 years, and this is what I think of:
The Sequoias, Yosemite, Shasta, the Gold Country, the High Sierra, the lakes and trees and mountains and ocean. You just don't get a wider spectrum of vistas than from Death Valley to Shasta, to the north coast.

I'm going to post some photos of past rides here, without much comment. Forget the name "California" and ask yourself if these are places you'd love to ride sometime.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/kc04.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/longshot.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/bigforest.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/oregontree.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/kc07.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/DSCF0705.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/DSCF0678.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/DSCF0813.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/DSCF0692.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/DSCF0757.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/c2.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/DSCF0717.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/GenGrant-1.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/longshot.jpg

(More to come....)

[Top Cat]

To be honest the first thing that comes to my mind is earthquakes. After that would be heat, high cost of living,gun control and all kinds of regulations on your vehickles.

[cactusjack]

Was that a picture of the rock at Morro Bay in there?

Some of these are taken from my friend's lightplane, over Yosemite and various lakes, the Sierra, and the huge San Joaquin valley.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/cad_on_49.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/y29.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/y8.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/y7.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/y1.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/vroc54.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/DSCF1503.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/28.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/19.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/5.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/6.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/DSCF0247.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/WINGOTAHOE.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/TAHOE.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/SNOW.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/DSCF1015.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/DSCF0980.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Touring/macatmorro.jpg

Was that a picture of the rock at Morro Bay in there?

Yup. The lighthouse is at Santa Cruz. A couple of the photos are from King's canyon.

[trip]

Nice pics CaddmannQ. When I think of Calif, I think of the trips I've made to San Fran, LA and San Diego. I think of the cool evenings in San Fran and the wonderful beaches in LaJoya.

Texas may sport the biggest, but California blazes the trail.

To be honest the first thing that comes to my mind is earthquakes. After that would be heat, high cost of living,gun control and all kinds of regulations on your vehickles.

Please don't take this personally. It's gonna sound a bit brutal, I know; but so much of that is false perception based on what things are like in the big cities. IMO big cities suck everywhere.

Earthquakes are mostly a problem around 'Frisco and LA/San Diego. Those places could fall off into the sea for all I care. The most horrible quake in the last 30 years was barely felt where we live. I thought someone just bumped into my wall.

I remember the blizzards almost yearly in New England and Minnesota. Not around here unless you live high in the mountains. Heat is a relative thing. In New York, people sometimes freeze to death on the street. They have airconditioners there as I recall, too.

Gun control is a big deal in the big cities. In Clovis and the smaller towns gun control doesn't really exist. As long as the local cops don't think you are a scumbag or a felon, getting a CWP isn't difficult. I own a gun. Nobody's ever tried to take it away. I never had to register it.

As I recall, in New York you need a safety inspection sticker every year. Here I get an inspection every two years, and all they check for is smog. In the counties far away from the big cities, inspections aren't required at all. My Pontiac is 12 years old & has had 6 inspections. This year they made me buy a new gas cap for $10 because the gasket was bad. That's the worst thing that's happened to me in 12 years. of smog checks. Our '00 Toyota hasn't required a thing done in 8 years. Life could be worse! My '74 Caprice Classic is totally exempt, being over 30 years old. So is my '61 Scout and my '47 Plymouth. All exempt. No inspections whatsoever. None of them are rusting through either. Is there a road driven car in New York over 30 years old that isn't rusted out? I think my Pontiac Bonneville cost $74 to register this year. Is New York that cheap? I haven't lived there since 1967.

The cost of living is variable too. My modest house is worth about $275,000 & has 1/3 acre, in Clovis which has maybe 80,000 people. It's totally suburban, or small parcels of 1~5 acres for the most part. In the real little towns around here it would be worth maybe half that or less though. If you dropped it in the sticks of central Arkansas it would be worth maybe $60,000, If you dropped it on the outskirts of 'Frisco it would cost $1.2 million. I'll bet it would go for almost that on Long Island.

Again, please don't take offense. I'm just trying to show how perceptions based on things like what TV shows you about California and are closely focused on what happens in the 1% of this land they actually show you over and over. 99% of California isn't like that at all. A great deal of it is absolute freakin' wilderness.

Nice pics CaddmannQ. When I think of Calif, I think of the trips I've made to San Fran, LA and San Diego. I think of the cool evenings in San Fran and the wonderful beaches in LaJoya.

Texas may sport the biggest, but California blazes the trail.


I've been to those places a few times, and for me it's like going to the freak show. It's fun once in a while to see them. When it's over you leave, thanking God you live somewhere else.

Exploring the sparsely populated parts of California on a bike or car or in a small plane is a real eye-opener. Some of those photos are of places you can only see from a plane or on foot. Maybe with a canoe or bicycle or horse. No motors allowed in the real wilderness areas.

But there are huge areas where they are, and I've only scratched the surface of them in 30+ years here.

[blowndodge]

I think "it's where BD lives!!"

[cactusjack]

I think "it's where BD lives!!"

Yes, but we try to overlook that http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif

[rflnomad]

Never been to Cal yet, but would like to someday. It would be a long ride for us! We would fly and rent a bike.
But we have NO interest in LA, Sf or other big cities. As mentioned, most big cities are the same. Hey, I don't go to Miami or Orlando!
We would like to see the smaller towns and more rural ( wilderness) type areas.

[tomk]

Really nice pics CaddmannQ.

I think you're right, the big cities get the credit for whatever reputation you get. LA is a dump. I live in the "OC" where we don't live like the TV show.

A lot of perception issues there. BUT, I know a few people on here who would like to be riding right now instead of snowed in.

Was that a picture of the rock at Morro Bay in there?

In that last photo, the one with me (in the hat) and my buddy Mac, we are leaning against the other Moro (one "r") Rock, which is in the Sequoias. That one you can "climb" (there's a paved trail) but the one at morro Bay is verbotten! No climbing the rock allowed.

That's Mac again, in the photo where he's sticking his head through a hole in a hollow log. Mac's over six feet, but that log is over 12 feet diameter. He had to climb the inside to look out.

[Idaho]

Hey CQ, you needn't worry about offending anyone. Sounds like you may have been tweaked though. Sorry about that. You are right, those of us from the rest of the country see California through the eyes of the media and want we see sucks. Earthquakes, Santa Anna winds blowtorching S. Cal and then there is Berkley. Oh yeah, Hells Angels, illegal immigrants and Hollywierd. The list goes on. Taxes, regulations and loonie tunes running the state. Wait, that describes just about every other state on that last one, strike it. California is a beautiful state and is probably a great place to visit. I've been there a couple of times. LA, San Diego, 29 Palms. Few good memories but nothing that pulls me back. To each his own.

Hmmm...
Well, we got trout. And bass. And salmon. http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif
No cutthroats though.

[buck]

Growing up in Ashland, Oregon, about 15 miles from the California border, I got to explore N. California a fair amount. I've always said N. California is beautiful and theSierras are spectacular. An old saying when I grew up, was 'Don't Californicate Oregon' but after the SFO earthquake they moved up in droves and now, unfortunately, Southern Oregon is as liberal as Berkeley. Still great outdoor country, but much too liberal for me and the cost of living is getting prohibitive. From a scenery standpoint though, California is a diverse as it gets.

[Idaho]

Actually you do. Paiute http://www.tucalifornia.org/paiutecutthroat.htm and
Lahontan Cutthroat http://www.tucalifornia.org/lahontancutthroat.htm. I believe that the latter used to reach enormous proportions until their environment was destroyed and the historical range wiped out.

[Top Cat]

Take offense ??? Are you serious ??? If I took offense to anything on this site I would have been driven off long ago ;)
Thats one of the things I like about being here. The people that stay are sometimes opinionated but we agree to disagree and life goes on and we all remain friends. I mean look at the rallies we have planned, you don't want to meet the people on the site if you don't consider them friends.

[blowndodge]

As usual, TC's here to enlighted us to the truth. We all want to meet each other and I know that day will come! I don't care where it is. I'll ride to it!!!! I got that new sissy bar bag and can now carry lots of sh*t!!!!

"Earthquakes are mostly a problem around 'Frisco and LA/San Diego. Those places could fall off into the sea for all I care."




Thanks a lot!

[jmorrow]

Nico, CaddmannQ probably didn't realize that you were such a sensitive person :'(.
We'd fish you and Sue out of the Pacific if that happened. (Well Sue anyway).......... ;)

[ells]

What I've always thought: California --- North = good
South = don't want to go there too often.

Nice pics CQ

I feel better now! :-/

[Top Cat]

"Earthquakes are mostly a problem around 'Frisco and LA/San Diego. Those places could fall off into the sea for all I care."




Thanks a lot!

Now thats laugh out loud funny right there http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif And I did. :)

I'm afraid I'd drown before you could come rescue me...I think Nico would save me though!!

Right Nico?

http://www.whatonearthcatalog.com/graphics/products/regular/AD2431G.jpg

Sorry Nico. If it makes you feel better I wouldn't care if NYC and Washington DC fell off into the ocean either. http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif

Actually you do. Paiute http://www.tucalifornia.org/paiutecutthroat.htm and
Lahontan Cutthroat http://www.tucalifornia.org/lahontancutthroat.htm. I believe that the latter used to reach enormous proportions until their environment was destroyed and the historical range wiped out.

I think they must all be fished out. All I ever see is rainbows, and in a blue moon maybe a brown.

Sorry Nico. If it makes you feel better I wouldn't care if NYC and Washington DC fell off into the ocean either. http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif


http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif

[rlfaubion]

I think I reconize the Panamint Valley?

[rlfaubion]

I think I reconize the Panamint Valley?

Might be. Is that up around Redbluff?

...Sounds like you may have been tweaked though....

I had to think about that a bit.

I'm not upset. I'm just sorry that so many people (Americans) I meet on the WWW have the wrong idea about California. I was a military brat & I've lived all over this country. California is one of the more amazing places I've ever lived. I think they're missing out.

[Top Cat]

Stuff like this dosen't help.
I just saw on the morning news, a guy that runs a gas station some place in the wilderness of California is charging $5.40 for a gallon of gas http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif
I can't remember the name of the town but they said the whole town is powered by generator and the profits from the gas go to run the generator.
Thats the kind of news we get about your state http://s2.images.proboards.com/shocked.gif
I guess this kinda proves you point :)

[beezer]

I wonder what the price of gas is snowmobiling on Tug Hill TC.

I think of the Beach Boys, scantily clad women on the beach, Summer of Love, Endless Summer, the crazies on Venice Beach. the cool cars in the parking lot at Gladstones, the nudists at La Holla, the canyons, In and Out Burger, LAX, PCH

Stuff like this dosen't help.
I just saw on the morning news, a guy that runs a gas station some place in the wilderness of California is charging $5.40 for a gallon of gas http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif
I can't remember the name of the town but they said the whole town is powered by generator and the profits from the gas go to run the generator.
Thats the kind of news we get about your state http://s2.images.proboards.com/shocked.gif
I guess this kinda proves you point :)

Yeah, I know those kind of places exist. Particularly if you fly. You learn where all the airports with cheap gas are, and which ones to avoid. Av gas in Porterville might be $4.15 while on the same day in Mammoth you'll pay $5.15.

(I don't own a plane BTW. I just have a buddy in a flying club with part interest in two, and we go fly around sometimes and split the gas.)

http://mozey.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/arnold-before-and-after.gif

[Top Cat]

I wonder what the price of gas is snowmobiling on Tug Hill TC.

http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif Beezer, how do you know about Tug Hill Plateau ???
Did you used to live in northern NY? Gas there is probably as high as they can get away with http://s2.images.proboards.com/shocked.gif

[cactusjack]

[quote:j0l6hbxr]...Sounds like you may have been tweaked though....

I had to think about that a bit.

I'm not upset. I'm just sorry that so many people (Americans) I meet on the WWW have the wrong idea about California. I was a military brat & I've lived all over this country. California is one of the more amazing places I've ever lived. I think they're missing out.[/quote:j0l6hbxr]

I have two older brothers (well, had two - one passed away in 2006) and when I was little, they both lived in CA. One lived in the Bay area, the other in Orange County. Every year, my parents and I would hit the road and make a big loop to see them both. Growing up in Utah, California really seemed to be the land of milk and honey - especially SoCal. There was tons of stuff to do and lots of places to go. I was stationed at El Toro for about 18 months while in the Marines. I absolutely loved it there. I was single, had a motorcycle, and I used to crash at my brother's place in Costa Mesa. I learned to surf there, partied a lot... ::) ::) ::) You get the picture. I'd still like to live there, but for different reasons now. I think I'd like to live in the Bay area, if I could afford it.

The last time I was in CA, was a trip to the Coachella Valley with my son, who had to take care of a legal matter in Indio. Lovely place - not. I think that area actually gets hotter than Phoenix, because it's below sea level. I'd like to ride to San Diego, one of these days.

I think I reconize the Panamint Valley?

Whoa! I finally Google Earth'd Panamint Valley, and it's definitely not on my history of bike rides.

Man, that place looks like the surface of the moon from Google Earth.

Is there actually anything there? (Except dust?)

[dogdoc]

Thanks for some very pretty scenery Cad, first thing I think of CA is earthquakes, then gays, then Nico and others. :-)

Thanks for some very pretty scenery Cad, first thing I think of CA is earthquakes, then gays, then Nico and others. :-)


You're killing me........


http://static.flickr.com/102/311520176_15cc62df6e.jpg

[beezer]

I wonder what the price of gas is snowmobiling on Tug Hill TC.

http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif Beezer, how do you know about Tug Hill Plateau ???
Did you used to live in northern NY? Gas there is probably as high as they can get away with http://s2.images.proboards.com/shocked.gif

I get around. We had a camper on Lake Otisco for 14 years and I spent several years snowmobiling Boonville and Tug Hill.

[Dave]

Is that your Bellanca?

No it belongs to my buddy Dave. Well, 50% of it does.
Here's a better photo. It's the Bellanca Super Decathalon. Quite a fun little plane.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/decathalon.jpg
Here's Dave with the Piper Cherokee. He also owns part interest in this one.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/piper.jpg
I fly with him all over & split the gas. I do not have a license myself. My eyesight isn't good enough that I'd ever trust myself to solo, so I only get to co-pilot and navigate.

BTW, If you see that last pic, you are at Sierra Sky Park, just north of Fresno. http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif

[ponch]

The people's republic of...And I come from NY...If it wasn't for the wackiness, I'd live their too. Too many taxes, too many restrictions.


Hollywood? Moviestars? Smog? Liberal d!ckhead$? 'Frisco gay day parades? Moss munching Luddites?

I've been here for 31 of my 53 years, and this is what I think of:
The Sequoias, Yosemite, Shasta, the Gold Country, the High Sierra, the lakes and trees and mountains and ocean. You just don't get a wider spectrum of vistas than from Death Valley to Shasta, to the north coast.

(More to come....)

[rlfaubion]

[quote:o2cp5ttj]I think I reconize the Panamint Valley?

Whoa! I finally Google Earth'd Panamint Valley, and it's definitely not on my history of bike rides.

Man, that place looks like the surface of the moon from Google Earth.

Is there actually anything there? (Except dust?)[/quote:o2cp5ttj]

Its a beautiful valley just west (over the mountain) from Death Valley. There are a number of canyons to explore. The famed Barker Ranch is there where they arrested Charlie Manson. The place is still in tact with furniture but no one lives there. Just last week I read they're investigating the possibility of some bodies being buried on the grounds. This would be a great ride and camping trip sometime from our area. Lets go!

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s31/rlfaubion/CIMG0465-1.jpg http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s31/rlfaubion/CIMG0464.jpg

...The famed Barker Ranch is there where they arrested Charlie Manson....

That's why I remember it. *shiver* http://s2.images.proboards.com/shocked.gif

[rlfaubion]

[quote]That's why I remember it. *shiver* http://s2.images.proboards.com/shocked.gif[quote]

Shiver is close, and you're right - its like being on the moon. I stayed in the town of Ballart, population of one (1), and he's the Mayor. His name is Rock :) - No motels here.....

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s31/rlfaubion/CIMG0430.jpg

[beezer]

I'm thinkin Helter Skelter

[blowndodge]

I'm thinking Alka Seltzer......synthetic of course

[beezer]

a girl with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair lalala

[cactusjack]

...The famed Barker Ranch is there where they arrested Charlie Manson....

That's why I remember it. *shiver* http://s2.images.proboards.com/shocked.gif

This will blow your mind.. Charlie Manson is almost 74 years old!

Wow....

Yeah, now yer startin' to make ME feel old!

[beezer]

Hotel California

6 months ago avgas was $7gal in Teterboro, NJ. I imagine it's over $8 by now.But, that is their way of discouraging those types of aircraft from using the airport.

I've had the opportunity to spend a good bit of time in Ca over the past 30 years.Some parts are a lot nicer than others for sure.On the other hand, every big city in this country has basically the same problems. High taxes, high crime rates, and horrible traffic. Calfornia does not have a monopoly on those things.
One of these days I hope to ride out there. I want to have lots of time to enjoy myself. I have flown into L A, San Fran, San Diego, and many other places as a crew member on corporate aircraft. The last 50 miles is incredible. I have always been amazed that a state with so many people can have so much area with no roads, no houses, nothing except beautiful scenery as far as one can see.
No where else can one go from urban to suburban, beaches to mountains, desert to lush valleys in such short distances.It's an incredible place for sure.

[bobzinger]

The whole state is one big sandy beach, and all the girls are blond, tanned, have blue eyes, and wear bikinis all the time. (Although I was hoping there'd be a few redheads sprinkled in)

That was my perception when I moved here 21 years ago.

It's a great state to ride in!

[waterman]

What I think of

Left coast - Wacko's San Fran to San Diego.

Fresh Fruit to die for. Was there over Christmas a few years ago and stopped at a road side stand. Could have lived on the fruit because we sure don't get that here unless we grow it.

Distance in time. Everytime I asked someone how far to here they would say 20 minutes or 30 minutes. I would ask, how about distance. "I don't know".

Parts of California are beautiful. Some parts could fall off tomorrow and I wouldn't miss them.