manic monday with mo ~ colorful

It has been forever since I played Manic Monday with Mo.  However the theme this week is "Colorful"...and I had some photos I've been wanting to post.

Weekend before last I was enjoying a few days of respite in the central valley.  After church on Sunday, The Teamster thought it'd be nice to head out on the bike to see if we could find some Fall Colors.

In our part of California we don't get very many trees with leaves that change colors...a few here and there interspersed with the redwoods, pines and firs. We do however, enjoy an amazing Indian Summer.

We stopped for lunch at the Black Oak Casino's Mill Creek Sports Bar.  Didn't do much gambling...but wanted to catch the end of the NASCAR race and Forty-Niner game.

After lunch we continued our beautiful ride . At one roadside stop in the late afternoon, The Teamster wondered if he should just call in sick on Monday, so that we could ride through the Sierras up over Sonora Pass. I must admit I encouraged him.

The Sonora Pass with an elevation of 9,624 feet (that's 2,933 meters for ILTV and David) is the second highest roadway pass through the Sierra Nevada range.  It is extremely steep (a 26% grade at some points) and very narrow.  Every couple of feet they are are warning you about something.

We had just about nothing with us to accommodate an overnight trip....except four pairs of glasses, a couple of cameras, two cell phones...and a laptop.   No toothbrush or hairbrush or change of clothing.  Thankfully The Teamster had stowed the chaps in the saddlebag...cause it got a little cold on the eastern side of the Sierras.

My cousin Jamie saw this picture of our ride and said:

"Nice Pict! I guess Desert Brown is a fall color.
It's probably also the summer color there as well."

What does he know?  He's spent the better part of his adult life catapulting off some carrier and has just chosen to settle down in the garden spot of Wichita for crying out loud.

About nightfall we came to Topaz Lake and started looking for a place to stay....see that tiny red dot?   Topaz Lodge !

I highly recommend this little spot.  Friendly and helpful.  Very affordable and fun. Good food. Comfortable rooms. The only draw back is that the area has only a single cell tower and it's for Nextel.  Since we are AT&T and Verizon customers neither of our cellphones or the laptop had service. sheesh. We had to use the room phone to call in sick and notify family and friends. (When extending a motorcycle ride its a good idea to let people know....especially when they can't get through on either cell phone...or instant message...those search and rescue guys don't appreciate false alarms)

We had a very enjoyable..rather old fashion...evening.

Topaz Lake is closed for the winter...but when open is an amazing place to fish!

 

Once it warmed up just a little we started our trek back home....this time via Highway 89 and up over Monitor Pass (only 8,314 feet in elevation).

I am very happy we took this trip when we did....I heard the storms of the past few days will close both Sonora and Monitor passes until the Spring.

We stopped for a gluten free lunch at Mel's....
but she wasn't there...sigh.... 

 

while you are humming  "on the road again....
I just can't wait to get on the road again....."
go visit  Mo's other colorful Maniacs....