Saturday February 5th

Another beautiful day in Southern California.

The bikes are out of the trailer and we're riding down the Pacific Coast Highway to the Rock Store again.

Our last visit to this World famous biker hangout was on a Friday and it was pretty empty.  We decided to try a Saturday to find out if a bigger crowd would be there.

Varying our route from the previous ride, we turned off the PCH and onto Mulholland Highway.  Leaving the coastline behind us, we immediately began to climb up into the mountain canyons.  The road was steep and twisted.  Switchbacks, hairpins and wide sweeping turns all along the way.  As with last weeks ride via the Encinal Canyon Road, the scenic vistas were breathtaking.  Every bend brought a new sight.

This part of the canyon and mountains presented a feel reminiscent of the mountain roads we traversed in Wyoming and Montana.  And as Judy said there, "Every turn looks like another picture postcard", it applied here as well.

As we approached a crossroad only a few miles from the Rock Store, we saw a couple on the berm holding a map and looking lost.  We pulled over and they asked us if we knew where the Rock Restaurant was.  I asked if they meant the Rock Store and when they confirmed that was the place, we told them to follow us.  Judy warned them that the word "restaurant" was a loosely fitting term.

The last few miles down Mulholland were the twistiest of our ride.  I shaved off several more pieces of fringe from the foot boards as I leaned into the turns.  Our trailing couple kept up just fine and soon we were in the parking lot.  Turns out the lost souls were on a rented Harley and came from Whales to find the Rock Store.



Rock Store owner Ed
surveying his creation

 I spent a little time talking to Ed, the owner, a former Pittsburgher.  I described how his old Munhall neighborhood had changed and the former site of the U.S. Steel plant was now an upscale shopping district.  We expressed our love and hopes for tomorrow's Steelers vs. Packers Superbowl game.

A fairly large crowd had gathered in the lot and we strolled around checking out all of the machinery.  Most of the bikes were the metric sport types, but there were some nice customs and a few classics as well.  After a couple of hours we decided to move along and head back.

As before, we continued down Mulholland until we were back on the PCH and heading north toward home base.  The sun setting over the Pacific is something I will never get tired of seeing.