Well, I don't have any pictures of it, and I was tempted not to post on this ride but, I finally got the wife on the back of the bike. This is only her third time riding behind me on my Nomad. She gets nervous. So, I thought I'd take it easy on her. Just a short 1-hour jaunt up to Casa de Fruita outside of Hollister, CA. If you've never been, make the trip. It's well worth it.
Casa de Fruita is amazing. They've got several different buildings, each of which houses a different selection of things for you to blow your money on. They've got a very impressive fruit stand with an enormous selection of 'home-made' jams, syrups, sauces, and wines. Then there is the restaurant, the House of Sweets, the House of Wines, and others I can't recall. There is a mini train ride for the kids as well as a double decker merry-go-round. In all, a thoroughly impressive place. We ate at the restaurant and the fare was fair. Not bad by any means. Not stellar. However, the pies, which we didn't save room for, looked tremendous. The place even has an RV park, fuel station, and is open 24-hours. The perfect stopping point during any journey you happen to find yourself on.
Enough shameless promotion. The roads. The road I chose is called San Juan Grade Rd. It runs from Salinas to San Juan Batista. I believe I saw a sign indicating that, at one point, it might have been called G1. However, this road has long since been forgotten. It is a good 2-lane road from Salinas until it intersects with Crazy Horse Cyn. At this point it turns from 2-lane into 1-lane and the pavement gets, well, choppy. Fortunately, although the pavement was rough, there was an amazing lack of potholes. I didn't care. I had expected this anyway after looking at a satellite view of the road. Passing the above mentioned intersection, the bike, my wife, and I plunged into some of the most picturesque California landscape I've ever seen. And the best part about this ride is that I was going slow enough to see some of it.
The road, clearly laid down in the earlier half of the last century, snaked its way over rolling hills, climbing and winding ever higher as we traversed what was once probably a goat path through the mountains. At points along the way there were significant drop-offs as the road clung to the sides of steep hills. Each new turn in the road brought a new and grand panorama into view. There were deep valleys and towering mountains. vast fields cleared for grazing and some planted with a variety of crops. At points the farmland disappeared and we were riding through what could best be described as California wilderness.
The fragrance of the myriad wildflowers growing beside the road filled our heads as we swept along at a stately 35mph. Could we have gone faster, yes. Would it have been as fun, not nearly. The whole idea behind this trip was to see the country side and that is exactly what we did. We saw it, heard it, and smelled it. And at one point, with my visor clicked open for ventilation, I tasted it. Going at a parade pace also helped with the uneven pavement. And just as soon as I had settled into the rhythm of the road, it was over.
We rounded a sharp left with a switchback to the right as we crested the mountain pass. There before us, and well below, lay the farming community of San Juan Batista. It was quite breathtaking. We trundled the remaining two miles or so down the mountain and across the short distance to Hwy 156. From there we continued east to Casa de Fruita located just a smidgen past the junction of 156 and 152. But this highway riding was a bore compared to the lovely twisty piece of concrete slab we had just shimmied and jounced down.
Next time I take this road I will endeavour to take a few snapshots however, in most places there was no shoulder so doing this might become an adventure in and of itself. Till then.
