It hasn't been a big week, but it has been a good week. Team Elephant has continued to wander around California getting our American legs and waiting for the US Government shutdown to end so that the national parks open up for visitors.

Our visit to Santa Barbara was exceptional not only because of our long awaited celebratory dinner, but also because, while wandering back to the pub with that expensively fed feeling, we chanced a meeting with a US biker couple Jim and Myra. We spent a great couple of hours chatting about bikes and family and life and all the rest of it. We finished the last kilometre of the walk home in fine spirits. Unfortunately, Jim and Myra had a long ride home to Bakersfield, a place long famous to fans of Aerosmith.

The coast north was touristy and touristy expensive, but a stop in the substantial city of San Luis Obispo provided another fine dinner and left us vowing to go on a more modest diet  sometime soon. Further up the coast a little we dropped into Cambria, a small, arty retirement village, with the intention of having a bite to eat and finding some accommodation for a motorcycle rally scheduled to be held nearby in a few weeks. We pulled into a parking lot in the centre of town and were almost immediately bailed-up by a local with the usual round of questions.

The discussion ranged over travel, retiring on the coast, the cost of living and, of course, the US Government shutdown. Every local we meet seems to have strong views on the shutdown and most seem polarised in a debate that has been framed in narrow terms by the politicians and media. We keep our opinions to ourselves, as guests should, but for this audience it seems to me that the crisis is completely manufactured and has little to do with the issue. The real debate, from what I can determine, is about the legitimacy and relevance of the Federal Government and its right to govern. Or maybe it's not. What would I know.

I was just getting a rundown on problems with the Federal Reserve and why it should be abolished when Jo was rescued by three firemen who were walking by and took an interest in the fitout of Elephant. With the offer of lunch with the firemen, I made a gracious exit just as my interlocutor was decrying the credentials of Janet Yellen (the new Governor of the US  Federal Reserve) and made haste to the local pizzeria.

The conversation was suddenly more interesting and convivial. We ate some of the fire fighters' pizza and accepted an offer of an overnight stay at the fire station. After lunch we explored the village and worked out where we would need to stay on our return visit to get the best out of the rally. Before we made our way to the station, we also made our own judgements about the best of the scarecrows made by local individuals and businesses for the October Scarecrow Competition. The small sample shown in the photos is just a taste. Many of the displays were excellent.

The fire team was on the last leg of its three day shift. The men were looking forward to getting home to their families the following morning or, in the case of Danny, the final preparations for his wedding on Saturday. The company was a delight and the warm and comfortable beds very appreciated. In the morning we made sure to have our photo taken beside the fire engine just to prove we were there. I did, however, resist the temptation to have my photo taken sitting in the cab! We packed and hit the road, again overwhelmed by the hospitality of our hosts.

North from Cambria, Highway 1 is one of the iconic riding roads in the US. We had been looking forward to it with cautious enthusiasm. The road was a little too civilised to be one of the great motorcycle roads but has spectacular vistas along the coast and some great stops including some beaches with sea lions wallowing in the sand. On the down side, there was a lot of traffic even on an off season weekday and the prices of fuel and food were outrageous. That night we had to wash away the memory of a truly dreadful $6 sandwich with a bottle oflocal zinfandel. Such is the life on the road.

With the weekend looming, we turned inland, away from the coast and weekend prices and found a cheap pub on the outskirts of Nowhereville California. The next morning we headed for Yosemite National Park. We had heard from a Michigan rider, Bob Cushman, that it was possible to “traverse” the park and decided to find out for ourselves. We arrived to find that the park was, indeed, closed but we were told by rangers we could ride through provided we didn't stop along the way. We agreed to the conditions and headed up the road stopping whenever we felt like doing so for photos, just like everyone else. 

The road eventually climbed through Tioga Pass at 9 945 feet or 3 031 metres with fresh snow and temperatures below 10º C, then dropped onto the high desert beyond the park and landed us in the village of Bridgeport on Highway 395. Bridgeport is a support base for summer outdoor activities in the National Park and surrounding forests. With average winter temperatures well below freezing, most of it closes for the off season. Enough of the place was still open for us to find a warm bed and a cold beer.

The next morning we looked out of the door to find a gentle snow falling on Elephant's cover. It was time to unpack the serious cold weather gear and head north along the valley. We turned off into the mountains and climbed along the road towards Monitor Pass. Above 2 000 metres the snow started to get heavier and by the time we crossed the pass at 8 314 feet or 2 534 metres it was building up on my visor and needed constant clearing. It was, as you can imagine, very cold with the mercury steady just below freezing. It was also an exhilarating ride along a great mountain road made eerily beautiful by the mist and snow. By the time we dropped below the 1 500m snow line we were both thoroughly chilled and stayed that way all the way to Lake Tahoe and a little lunch.

We had a good look around Tahoe but it just didn't seem our sort of place. A forecast of further cold weather was all we needed to turn west down the mountains and into the busy agricultural towns of the plains. We finished our week in Placerville, now comfortable on the bike and settled into our journey. And, I'm still grinning a lot and humming Dancing in the Storm even if I do in quietly to avoid antagonising Jo.