**This is a recap of my vacation back to Southern California from 12/28/13-1/9/14.**
I had to make my last day on the motorcycle on this vacation count.
I joined my old friends at the Orange County Spirit Riders for lunch in Wilimington, near the Port of Los Angeles, at a floating restaurant known as the Chowder Barge. Their food definitely didn't disappoint. I went with fried clams and their signature clam chowder. Just tasty. I'm coming back here again sometime.
After lunch, we parted ways and I spent the rest of the day cruising in Orange County and reminiscing on old roads before returning the trusty Triumph back to my dear friend. At the rate that I work that bike, I might owe him another set of tires.
I did make a special request after dinner to take an alternate route back to the house, swinging through downtown Long Beach for a view of the Queen Mary sitting in the water. There's something about sitting near the ocean that just heightens my senses, and believe me, it is a powerful motivator in my quest to eventually return home for good.
In the next (and final) installment of this SoCal Holiday excursion, I get a few extra days on the West Coast thanks to a severe winter storm hitting the Midwest and Northeast US. I wasn't going to argue with this additional gift. Even without the motorcycle, I still had quite a bit of extra fun.
