Rant1: Motorcycles. I am amazed at how motorcyclists whiz between lanes. Especially in LA when cars are stuck in traffic, the motorcycles will create their own lanes. Hello, this is illegal. Not just illegal, but dangerous. Not just dangerous but scares the shit outta me when we're stuck in traffic, nothings moving and then a motorcycle passes within inches of me. Yes, inches. Crazy mothers....
Rant2: Merging. I have a new respect for truckers than before we started RVing. They have huge amounts of weight to haul and to STOP. It takes longer to stop a truck or an RV than a car. It also takes longer to accelerate. Why oh why, do people coming onto a freeway refuse to make the attempt to get to speed quickly and get out of a RV's way? We're doing 60, and these people are wusses about merging. Get to speed quickly people! We can't just pop over to another lane to let them in. We're tired of stomping on our RV's brakes because they wait to see if we'll be nice and usher them into a comfy merge spot.
Rant3: Rest stops: California must hate them. They must hate truckers too. There are hardly any around. It's not that bad for us anymore because we don't need to stop for a smoke break. Truckers are a necessity. You may hate trucks, but they transport crap. The crap we need. The crap we buy.
Rave1: The views, the scenic route, the water, the hills....... awesome. We took the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH to us Californians) as much as we could to get here and even drove through Malibu. Even 101 ran along the coastline. Just awesome.
Rave2: We're staying at the El Chorro Regional Park. I love county, city, state or national parks. Few of them have full hookups (water, electric, sewer) for RVers. I love that the sites aren't on top of one another and I love the typical foliage. Trails, climbs, etc. Beautiful.
Above: A few blocks away from the Long Beach RV park we were staying at. It appears to be just the top of a building.
Above: Driving scenery.
Above: Lunch stop scenery!
Above: Lunch stop / Dasher pee stop scenery.
Above: Dasher is tired after the 4 hour drive.
Above: Directly behind our campsite.
Above: Directly behind our campsite.Above: Video of the Malibu scenery.
"Dasher pee stop scenery" - I don't know why that hit me so funny, but LMAO!
ReplyDeleteNow *that* is a camp site!
Hey Guys, surprisingly, it is legal for motorcycles to weave between traffic. It is allowed because motorcycles can over-heat without air (most are air cooled). Scares me when the zoom up beside me on the freeway, I just cringe.
ReplyDeleteMarkandCraiginPalmSprings
What a peeping Tom you're turning me into...
ReplyDeleteLOVE the photos and the drive by video. Wonder what real estate goes for in Malibu on some of those homes. Any guesses?
PS: I agree with all your rants. Motorcyclists are idiots - especially the ones that ride without helmets.
@MarkandCraig (who are not in Palm Springs): Are you sure? Sounds like an accident waiting to happen. 2 vehicles sharing 1 lane.
ReplyDeleteThe rant about rest stops was my mantra when I moved to CA from Michigan where they seem to be every 45 miles or so. You can go hundreds of miles without seeing one in CA.
ReplyDeleteWe developed a new appreciation for trucks (especially on grades!) when we were living in our RV too.
(Motorcycles) I have always heard it was legal as I have seen them do it for 20 yrs. I will double check just to make sure it's legal.
ReplyDeleteM and C (in Tennesse at the moment)
Maybe that roof is actually a permanent Church Rivival Tent meeting thing?
ReplyDeleteI was going to say what MarkandCraig said. I don't know this from first hand knowledge obviously but had heard that it was legal in California
ReplyDeleteMotorbikes are supposed to obey all the same rules as cars. I suspect whoever came up with that was looking for a justification for their behavoir.
ReplyDeleteLook at it this way, if my car is low on gas and I'm in danger of running out and stalling in stop and go traffic, do I now have the right to blow by on the shoulder? No. If I don't get special rules for mechanical problems in my car, then why would bikers?
As to that "air cooled" bs...ya know, if traffic is heavy and crawling, they can shut that sucker down. For that matter, it's a fairly small proportion of bikes that use the air cooled system at this time, and it's mostly Harleys anymore.
Most of the bikers you see weaving in and out of traffic are sport bikes, and most of those are not air cooled.
Here's some good info in this wiki
http://tinyurl.com/2btute
Yeah ditto on all the rants!!! Particularly the one with the motorcyclists - as if driving wasn't hard enough, they just wanna scare us all with that bobbing and weaving and the sad/funny thing is, they would get hurt the most if an accident did occur!
ReplyDeleteLove the pics!!!
Wow, I'm lovin' the motorcycling debate....
ReplyDeleteGarret
Well, I think I can solve that debate...
ReplyDeleteA pro motorcycle group says that it's allowed in "just a few areas of the United States, most notably CA", ( http://tinyurl.com/24xpd ) a CA state site doesn't mention it either way.
( http://tinyurl.com/cchqxu )
My bet - CA will ignore it until it causes an accident, then charge the motorcycle driver as being at fault. No law agaist isn't exactly the same as "we're cool with it". More like "ok until you screw up, then it's your fault".
I know it's ilegal where I am, I had a motorcycle cop in front of me when some sport bikes did just that in a rush-hour jam. The cop went after them. They weren't going that fast, and hadn't done anything else that I could see, so I assume it was for the lane splitting.
I also know that when ever I see them coming up behind me that way, I have a nearly irresistable urge to throw my door open. Yes, I am evil. I know. That's my favorite thing about me. :D
Ya know, I never see the Harleys doing that, and they are more likely to be air cooled bikes. Of course, they also are the ones that have the "slow" races, so they're probably the only ones w/ the mad skill required to keep a bike up at 1/4 miles per hour.
@Walk On: So funny about your mean feeling of wanting to open a door on a motorcycle. Jim has said the same thing! Funny. Maybe its just us being jealous that we're stuck in traffic and the motorcycle isn't?
ReplyDeleteGarret
I want to hug Dasher.
ReplyDeleteThat looked like a very nice place..Missed checking in for a bit..computer was pmsing for a while..Glad all is will..Sonia
ReplyDelete