April 05, 2008

Planned Trip D1 (see planned trips here)

Day trip to San Diego.  338 miles roundtrip.  14 hours, 34 minutes total time, but we really took our time and made several long stops.  The GPS reports 5 hours, 2 minutes actual moving time.

This was a trip for 1 stamp.  Michael and I are leaning towards removing Death Valley from the Sierra weekend trip and making that a day trip as well.

Since we were heading to San Diego for just a single stamp, I thought about ways to add a side trip to keep the ride from being just a mostly boring ride there and back.  At least boring for me, since for a time my son was attending UCSD, so I ended up making quite a number of trips to San Diego, and most all were down the 5 and back the 15.  I was torn between a museum at Balboa Park, Old Town, and the harbor.  I settled on the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum, more commonly known as the Midway.  Michael added a stop to visit an old friend from high school, who lives just off the 15.

The meeting time was 6:30 am at the Chevron on Hubbard Street in Sylmar. It was cool (around 50°) and slightly damp.  I arrived a few minutes early, which surprised me, I usually don't leave enough time for getting ready in my morning schedules.  Michael arrived at 6:33, topped off his tank, and we were on our way by 6:37.   I led us on the usual route - East I-210, then South CA-2, to South I-5.  While I sometimes detour around the East LA Interchange, I decided to brave it this time.  Well it sucked.  The tight 2 lane portion is just not motorcycle friendly (as if LA traffic is).  But some careful lane splitting and dive-bombing got us through.  As we approached the 710 interchange, the through traffic on the 5 stopped dead.  So I led us onto South I-710, and then East CA-91 to get us around that mess, along with the annoying portion of the 5 in southern LA County.  The rest of the run to San Diego was at least at the speed limit, but mostly up to 20 mph over.  We exited the freeway at Rosecrans, which is CA-209, but in a rare case of poor Caltrans signage, it isn't until you are almost off the freeway that you see any indication that it is a state highway.  I was looking for a local breakfast joint, but I mostly found just fast food, and national chains, so we stopping at Denny's at the corner of Rosecrans and Jarvis.  It was 8:35 am, so we made decent time to SD, since we had come about 150 miles since Sylmar.  We left at 9:26 for the final slow 5.5 miles to the Cabrillo NM Visitor Center on Point Loma.  The road to the visitor center goes right through Fort Rosecrans, and the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.  We were taking our pictures at 9:45.  After the photos, we parked in the parking lot and made our way to the VC for the stamps. 

The ranger in the VC was very chatty, so much so that I did not carefully check the stamp date on the test stamp, and we ended up stamping our books with yesterday's date (although I did not realize this until I saw a calendar at the Midway).  The ranger wanted to be sure that we would look around, and we said yes.  Unlike some of the upcoming trips, we had lots of time.  I usually do either a ride through the park or spend time at the VC.  I would rather take a scenic ride than sit through a movie or stare at an exhibit.  For the places I have been to plenty of times before, during a stamp quest, the stop will be just a quick stamp and go.

Walking around the VC bring you to this view northward.

We then walked up to the lighthouse, which was in operation from 1855 to 1891, when a new lighthouse closer to the water at the tip of the point was built.  Michael explored inside the light house.  Several years ago, the coast guard moved the lens apparatus to the assistant lighthouse keeper's house, making an impressive display.  It still rotates.  Notice the rain gutters on the shot below.  There was a storage tank for collected rain water for the inhabitants of the lighthouse.  At the time it was built, the lighthouse was pretty isolated and had to be self sufficient.

The point was of strategic military value since it overlooked the harbor entrance.  Fort Rosecrans was dedicated in 1899.  Sometime between 1918 and 1945 this observation bunker was built.  An old radio shack near the VC tells the story of Point Loma's coastal defense.

We left Cabrillo NM at 11:20.  During our time at Cabrillo NM, I did remove my thermal pants and top, and I also removed the jacket liner.  It had warmed up enough to ride without the extra bulk.  It is just over 9 miles around the harbor to the Midway.  We got gas at a 76 station just before we turned onto Harbor Drive.  The ride along Harbor Drive is interesting, as it cuts through a naval base, and the airport.  We were parking the bikes on Navy Pier at 11:48.  I got out my Geza cover and we were able to store our riding gear under it.  A tour of the Midway is mostly a self guided tour.  Your $15 entrance fee gets you onto the ship and the use of a audio playback device.  You can explore a good portion of the ship, and there are a number of aircraft on display.  The Midway was built at the close of WWII, in 1945.  She was decommissioned in 1992, after playing a key role in Operation Desert Storm.  In 2004 she was opened as a museum.

This shot is in the Fo'c's'le (Forecastle), where the anchor windlasses are.  Yes, that is the anchor chain.

An F-14 Tomcat.  The F-14's were not normally kept on the Midway.  Only 2 ever landed on the deck, both were emergency landings.

F/A-18 Hornet.

A view of the starboard side of the "Island," which is the control tower structure.  This shot was taken while standing on the edge of the flight deck, with aircraft elevator #1 to my back.

Visiting parts of the ship reminds me of my days as a software engineer at Hughes Aircraft working on radar systems.  After quite some time of exploring, we were back in the saddle at 3:20 for a quick 4.5 mile trip to the La Piñata restaurant in Old Town.   We cruised down the paved street portion of Old Town, arriving at the restaurant at 3:40.  I picked the La Piñata because it was on the fringe of Old Town with easy parking and a good chance of being able to watch the bikes, and the food is good.  I had a carnitas plate, washed down with a Bohemia.  At 4:30, two very stuffed bikers got onto I-8, then CA-163, then I-15 for a ride to Murrieta and Michael's friend's house, a distance of 68 miles.  We pulled into the driveway at 5:38.  We had to take it easy riding there because of traffic and several LEOs.  We spent the early evening there, eventually leaving at 7:10 for the ride home.  I waved goodbye to Michael at 7:40, just before I headed west on CA-91.  Then it was North CA-71, and North CA-57 to I-210 West.  I did a quick side stop in Pasadena to see if my brother was home.  He wasn't home, so I got gas at Lake & Maple, and then returned to the I-210 for the ride home.  I pulled into the garage at 8:54.

Below is an updated scan of the NPS passport book.  Note the wrong date on the stamp.  Oh well.  The lighthouse bonus stamp was available at Cabrillo NM.

Below is the GPS track log of the trip.