Day 7 and 8: Revisiting the OC and back to Columbus

Southern CA sure does know how to send me off on a bright note.

Once again, I could see Downtown LA and all of its surrounding cities in the distance.

Before I left to return the motorcycle to Brea on Saturday, I took some time to enjoy an ice cold glass of lemonade while admiring the clear view of the South Bay from my vantage point in Rolling Hills. It was gorgeous as I had remembered it when I still lived out here, and for several minutes I reminisced about those wonderful roads and those thousands of miles that I had ridden in, around, and through this part of the state.

I then rode back to Brea to return the bike to Victor, but not without sneaking one more ride on Palos Verdes Drive East. It was the clearest day this week and temps were in the mid 70s by the time I hit the road around noon. But this time, I didn't zoom through all those curves like I did those many times before. Instead I stopped at the first turnout to enjoy the view before my decent to sea level.

Catalina Island, only 26 miles out to sea and completely visible.

This is the first curve leading downhill on PV Drive East (or the last one uphill if you're going the other way). This road has quite a bit of sentimental meaning to me; the last person who managed to keep up with me during the entire ride down later became my husband!

I dropped off the bike and Victor took it to ride to a party in LA. I had his car for a few hours and drove over to the Daphne's Greek Cafe in Brea for round two of gyros, pitas, and rice. Thanks to an e-mailed coupon for a free plate I received on Thursday, lunch was next to nothing and I enjoyed a meal here for the last time during this trip.

To kill a little more time, I drove a few miles down to the new location of Hockey Giant in Anaheim to stare at some gear and then up the street into the neighboring city of Orange to visit Irv Seaver Motorcycles, the BMW dealer where Matt had purchased his (now deceased) 2000 K1200RS. After staring at a few bikes and picking up a couple t-shirts, I returned to Victor's apartment to hang out until he rode back.

After he returned to Brea, we drove back to a Starbucks in Torrance, met up with one last friend from CAMS, and Vic went home. I spent about an hour and a half hanging out with my other friend at the neighboring Best Buy and catching up. The next morning, I had breakfast with my parents and they took me to LAX. The flight back to Columbus with a stopover in St. Louis was quite uneventful and I was back in Ohio by 8:30PM. Whew, what a week!

On a bright note, temperatures in Columbus are continuously rising and road conditions are now rideable. Looking forward to Spring! Stay tuned for more of my adventures on two wheels and my next CA visit in July where I get to hang out in San Jose for 25th Annual Women On Wheels® International Ride-In!