Birthday ride to Julian, CA!!

KJohnson21 · May 3rd, 2009, 01:42 PM

To celebrate my wife Crissy's 50th birthday we took an all day trip down to Julian, a remote little town known locally for its fresh apple pie.

I sat down at the computer and went through the options for our route there and back. This is what I came up with: Trip to Julian

This ride was a good inauguration for her favorite present, Sidi Vertigo Lei boots!!

We left our home in Indio at about 9:30 and cruised to our usual starting off and fueling point in Palm Desert. From there we went straight up Hwy. 74, the Palms to Pines Hwy. This is our normal Sunday morning run, so it was a good warm up ride for us. A quick climb up the side of the mountain and then a comfortable wander up through the hilltops until we got to the start of the little valley up there. That's where we turned south onto Hwy. 371, which jumps over the ridge and quickly winds down into Anza.

In Anza we stopped at the Dairy Queen, had a late breakfast and took advantage of their "free coffee for motorcyclists" offer.

After sharing a burger, onion rings and a salad, we continued through the hills, turning left onto Hwy. 79. The area is spotted with residences, farms, ranches and campgrounds. A nice scenic background. Fortunately, the traffic was only moderate, so we weren't stuck in a parade of motor homes, or anything.

At Lake Henshaw we stopped to enjoy the view.

We were also glad to see another motorcycle friendly establishment.

There was another group of four or five bikers there that we struck up a conversation with. They were from Camp Pendleton, enjoying a ride to Palomar.

From there, we went back to a little place we noticed on the access road to our next milestone.

All kinds of bikes, mostly Harleys, but all kinds were there.

I can't remember ever hearing about this place, what a great discovery!! We stopped, shared a bowl of chili and enjoyed the ambiance. A good, comfortable, accepting bunch of bikers. As we sat, many bikes came and went, some just cruised by to see who was there. It made us feel like it's the San Diego version of the Rock Store on Mulholland.

Then we went UP. Up the side of a hill. Up what is probably the steepest, twistiest, country hillside road I've ever been on. At least for the first mile that is, then it mostly leveled off, but the road runs just above the treeline, so there's definitely some more twists that come up now and again. Mesa Grande Rd. is a very fun little detour. I'll have to think of some excuses to take it again. I think I saw a cute mailbox. I'll have to go back and look for it sometime.

Shortly after we got back on the main road, we stopped for fuel. I'd figured out a good spot, close to the middle of our journey, so that we wouldn't have to worry about running out.

After gassing up, we headed to Julian. A cute little town, a bit touristy. It's a popular destination for motorcyclists, so there were quite a few there.

We looked around for a while before we went to the BBQ place and shared a pulled pork sandwich. Then we followed up a suggestion from one of the locals for a slice of apple pie, à la mode of course!

With our tummies full, we headed east. The section of Hwy. 78 that is just east of Julian takes a pretty good run along the side of a canyon with some sharp twists thrown in. Cool. Beyond that was one of the few stretches of straight road that we drove that day. That eased into some gradual hills until we got to the turn off to get to Borrego Springs. Yaqui Pass Rd. is another jaunt that goes up as fast as it can, with some great twists too. Once at the top, we were on a comfortable slope down into the Borrego Springs area.

While driving along Borrego Springs Rd. we made another surprising discovery. There are a number of large metal sculptures not too far from the road.

We found a sign that showed the name of the area is Galleta Meadows Estates, but we found no explanation for the sculptures at that time. It was amazing to see so many out in the middle of the desert. After taking a few pictures, we went into town and got a large bottle of water to share. It was a little warm.

Our next upward trek rose at a slower pace, but had a lot of twists flowing with the hillside. No traffic, very cool.

From the top of that mesa, all we had left was our meandering path home. Until we turned back onto Hwy. 371, we were driving into the Sun, as it slowly dropped in the sky. Sometimes we had shade from the trees, but not always.

We stopped again at the Dairy Queen in Anza. A relaxing break, but we were running out of light. We got back on the road and made it back to our familiar stomping grounds before it got totally dark. Driving our favorite road at night was a big change. On our way down into our home valley, we stopped at Vista Point. The spread of the city lights looked way cool. Too bad those pictures didn't turn out very well.

We had a very nice day with wonderful weather, mostly perfect road conditions and fairly reasonable traffic. We'll have to do some variations of this ride in the future.

Alex · May 3rd, 2009, 01:56 PM

Great writeup!

kkim · May 3rd, 2009, 02:21 PM

Great story!

Happy BD, Crissy!

Snake · May 3rd, 2009, 02:25 PM

Those are great shots. Tell your wife Happy Birthday!!

TnNinjaGirl · May 3rd, 2009, 02:50 PM

Great!! Happy Birthday!! Also, let me know how she likes those boots because I'm thinking of getting a pair.

Sound Wave · May 3rd, 2009, 02:59 PM

cool! happy birthday to your wife.

it is neat that there are so many motorcycle places there.

FroggyGreenInSD · May 4th, 2009, 12:20 PM

Glad to hear you had such a great time celebrating your wife's birthday. You hit some of my favorite places to ride. Mesa Grande Rd. is not as well known, but definitely a lot of fun. And The Hideout is a fun stop, they even have live music sometimes on the weekends. I haven't made it out to Montezuma Valley Rd. on my bike yet (the climb out of Borrego Springs) but would like to before it starts getting unbearably hot.

Cali619 · May 4th, 2009, 01:52 PM

thats a nice route, a mix of cruising scenery and some twisties. Julian is like a hub for all the canyons and routes. Happy belated and nice boots

zail · May 4th, 2009, 02:21 PM

Sounds a great ride! Love the sculptures

KJohnson21 · May 4th, 2009, 11:51 PM

Thanks for the compliments, everyone! We had a great day!

I know Crissy still liked the boots at the end of the day, and that included about an hour of casual walking in Julian. She's planning on writing some details about them pretty soon.

VeX · May 5th, 2009, 12:10 AM

Awesome pics! I've been meaning on doing a ride up to Julian some time... Although if you take a gander at your picture of bikes in front of "Jack's Grocery" there is only TWO sport bikes in the bunch (and they're yours)

Blue Ninja 250R · May 5th, 2009, 12:18 AM

Thanks for sharing Ken

and Happy belated birthday

to you, Crissy.

KJohnson21 · May 5th, 2009, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FroggyGreenInSD

Glad to hear you had such a great time celebrating your wife's birthday. You hit some of my favorite places to ride. Mesa Grande Rd. is not as well known, but definitely a lot of fun. And The Hideout is a fun stop, they even have live music sometimes on the weekends. I haven't made it out to Montezuma Valley Rd. on my bike yet (the climb out of Borrego Springs) but would like to before it starts getting unbearably hot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cali619

thats a nice route, a mix of cruising scenery and some twisties. Julian is like a hub for all the canyons and routes. Happy belated and nice boots

Quote:

Originally Posted by VeX

Awesome pics! I've been meaning on doing a ride up to Julian some time... Although if you take a gander at your picture of bikes in front of "Jack's Grocery" there is only TWO sport bikes in the bunch (and they're yours)

Maybe we should plan a ride before the heat gets ridiculous.

Whatcha think?

Cali619 · May 5th, 2009, 01:06 PM

Sounds like a nice idea Im only able to do a long ride on weekends though.

ManyCavies · May 5th, 2009, 06:16 PM

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes

I had a great time!
I love my Sidi boots. Very comfy and no problems walking around the town. I could have walked all day. I would definitely recommend these boots

FroggyGreenInSD · May 5th, 2009, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KJohnson21

Maybe we should plan a ride before the heat gets ridiculous.

Whatcha think?

I'm a weekend explorer like Cali619. I know this Sunday is Mother's Day, but Saturday isn't

Although I just checked weather.com and they're predicting 97 degrees

I could probably manage it if anybody else wants to try.

FroggyGreenInSD · May 5th, 2009, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ManyCavies

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes

I had a great time!
I love my Sidi boots. Very comfy and no problems walking around the town. I could have walked all day. I would definitely recommend these boots

I just realized I forgot to wish you a happy birthday in my original reply, so Happy Birthday!

VeX · May 5th, 2009, 08:01 PM

Aye, yes. Happy belated B-Day Crissy

As for a weekend thing, I'd be down. I'm pretty sure I'm free this Saturday as well. Heat be damned!

KJohnson21 · May 5th, 2009, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cali619

Sounds like a nice idea Im only able to do a long ride on weekends though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FroggyGreenInSD

I'm a weekend explorer like Cali619. I know this Sunday is Mother's Day, but Saturday isn't

Although I just checked weather.com and they're predicting 97 degrees

I could probably manage it if anybody else wants to try.

Quote:

Originally Posted by VeX

Aye, yes. Happy belated B-Day Crissy

As for a weekend thing, I'd be down. I'm pretty sure I'm free this Saturday as well. Heat be damned!

Awesome!!

It sounds like we're all up for it. How about a week from Sunday, on the 17th? I need check a few details, but I think that'll work for me and Crissy.

VeX · May 5th, 2009, 11:53 PM

I'll have to wait until the very last minute before I can let you know

My scheduler kind of sucks in that I don't get the schedule until about 3 days before the new work week

Cali619 · May 6th, 2009, 07:52 AM

Sounds good, PM or email me the details, will be like the socal rally, Ill try to get ninjette09 to roll also she is in the area as well

paterick4o8 · May 6th, 2009, 12:59 PM

nice

May 3rd, 2009, 01:42 PM	#1
KJohnson21 ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Ken Location: Indio, CA Join Date: Dec 2008 Motorcycle(s): '08 Kawasaki EX250 "Yoshi", '99 Kawasaki Concours "Grace", '06 Concours "Belle", '06 Yamaha YZF600R "Slick" Posts: A lot. Blog Entries: 3	Birthday ride to Julian, CA!! To celebrate my wife Crissy's 50th birthday we took an all day trip down to Julian, a remote little town known locally for its fresh apple pie. I sat down at the computer and went through the options for our route there and back. This is what I came up with: Trip to Julian This ride was a good inauguration for her favorite present, Sidi Vertigo Lei boots!! We left our home in Indio at about 9:30 and cruised to our usual starting off and fueling point in Palm Desert. From there we went straight up Hwy. 74, the Palms to Pines Hwy. This is our normal Sunday morning run, so it was a good warm up ride for us. A quick climb up the side of the mountain and then a comfortable wander up through the hilltops until we got to the start of the little valley up there. That's where we turned south onto Hwy. 371, which jumps over the ridge and quickly winds down into Anza. In Anza we stopped at the Dairy Queen, had a late breakfast and took advantage of their "free coffee for motorcyclists" offer. After sharing a burger, onion rings and a salad, we continued through the hills, turning left onto Hwy. 79. The area is spotted with residences, farms, ranches and campgrounds. A nice scenic background. Fortunately, the traffic was only moderate, so we weren't stuck in a parade of motor homes, or anything. At Lake Henshaw we stopped to enjoy the view. We were also glad to see another motorcycle friendly establishment. There was another group of four or five bikers there that we struck up a conversation with. They were from Camp Pendleton, enjoying a ride to Palomar. From there, we went back to a little place we noticed on the access road to our next milestone. All kinds of bikes, mostly Harleys, but all kinds were there. I can't remember ever hearing about this place, what a great discovery!! We stopped, shared a bowl of chili and enjoyed the ambiance. A good, comfortable, accepting bunch of bikers. As we sat, many bikes came and went, some just cruised by to see who was there. It made us feel like it's the San Diego version of the Rock Store on Mulholland. Then we went UP. Up the side of a hill. Up what is probably the steepest, twistiest, country hillside road I've ever been on. At least for the first mile that is, then it mostly leveled off, but the road runs just above the treeline, so there's definitely some more twists that come up now and again. Mesa Grande Rd. is a very fun little detour. I'll have to think of some excuses to take it again. I think I saw a cute mailbox. I'll have to go back and look for it sometime. Shortly after we got back on the main road, we stopped for fuel. I'd figured out a good spot, close to the middle of our journey, so that we wouldn't have to worry about running out. After gassing up, we headed to Julian. A cute little town, a bit touristy. It's a popular destination for motorcyclists, so there were quite a few there. We looked around for a while before we went to the BBQ place and shared a pulled pork sandwich. Then we followed up a suggestion from one of the locals for a slice of apple pie, à la mode of course! With our tummies full, we headed east. The section of Hwy. 78 that is just east of Julian takes a pretty good run along the side of a canyon with some sharp twists thrown in. Cool. Beyond that was one of the few stretches of straight road that we drove that day. That eased into some gradual hills until we got to the turn off to get to Borrego Springs. Yaqui Pass Rd. is another jaunt that goes up as fast as it can, with some great twists too. Once at the top, we were on a comfortable slope down into the Borrego Springs area. While driving along Borrego Springs Rd. we made another surprising discovery. There are a number of large metal sculptures not too far from the road. We found a sign that showed the name of the area is Galleta Meadows Estates, but we found no explanation for the sculptures at that time. It was amazing to see so many out in the middle of the desert. After taking a few pictures, we went into town and got a large bottle of water to share. It was a little warm. Our next upward trek rose at a slower pace, but had a lot of twists flowing with the hillside. No traffic, very cool. From the top of that mesa, all we had left was our meandering path home. Until we turned back onto Hwy. 371, we were driving into the Sun, as it slowly dropped in the sky. Sometimes we had shade from the trees, but not always. We stopped again at the Dairy Queen in Anza. A relaxing break, but we were running out of light. We got back on the road and made it back to our familiar stomping grounds before it got totally dark. Driving our favorite road at night was a big change. On our way down into our home valley, we stopped at Vista Point. The spread of the city lights looked way cool. Too bad those pictures didn't turn out very well. We had a very nice day with wonderful weather, mostly perfect road conditions and fairly reasonable traffic. We'll have to do some variations of this ride in the future. __________________________________________________ < ATGATT > Sweat you can wipe off, Road rash you can't. HEY!! Unregistered!! Does your bike have a name?

May 3rd, 2009, 01:56 PM	#2
Alex ninjette.org dude Name: 1 guess :-) Location: SF Bay Area Join Date: Jun 2008 Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 (white, the fastest color!), '13 R1200RT, '14 CRF250L, '12 TT-R125LE Posts: Too much. Blog Entries: 7	Great writeup! __________________________________________________ Montgomery Street Motorcycle Club / cal24.com / crf250l.org / ninjette.org ninjette.org Terms of Service Shopping for motorcycle parts or equipment? Come here first. The friendliest Ninja 250R/300/400 forum on the internet! (especially Unregistered)

May 4th, 2009, 01:52 PM	#8
Cali619 Giggity Giggity Name: Ryam Location: San Diego Join Date: Feb 2009 Motorcycle(s): 08 ninja 250R aka Hiryu Posts: 481	thats a nice route, a mix of cruising scenery and some twisties. Julian is like a hub for all the canyons and routes. Happy belated and nice boots __________________________________________________ Facebook DY Fender chop, Danmoto CB slip-on w/baffle, Airbox removed, Kleen-air removed, shimmed needles, Mikuni #117.5 Main jets, K&N RU-1822 air filter pods

May 4th, 2009, 11:51 PM	#10
KJohnson21 ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Ken Location: Indio, CA Join Date: Dec 2008 Motorcycle(s): '08 Kawasaki EX250 "Yoshi", '99 Kawasaki Concours "Grace", '06 Concours "Belle", '06 Yamaha YZF600R "Slick" Posts: A lot. Blog Entries: 3	Thanks for the compliments, everyone! We had a great day! I know Crissy still liked the boots at the end of the day, and that included about an hour of casual walking in Julian. She's planning on writing some details about them pretty soon. __________________________________________________ < ATGATT > Sweat you can wipe off, Road rash you can't. HEY!! Unregistered!! Does your bike have a name?

May 5th, 2009, 01:06 PM	#14
Cali619 Giggity Giggity Name: Ryam Location: San Diego Join Date: Feb 2009 Motorcycle(s): 08 ninja 250R aka Hiryu Posts: 481	Sounds like a nice idea Im only able to do a long ride on weekends though. __________________________________________________ Facebook DY Fender chop, Danmoto CB slip-on w/baffle, Airbox removed, Kleen-air removed, shimmed needles, Mikuni #117.5 Main jets, K&N RU-1822 air filter pods

May 3rd, 2009, 02:21 PM	#3
kkim Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.	Great story! Happy BD, Crissy!

May 3rd, 2009, 02:25 PM	#4
Snake ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Rick Location: Alexandria, Louisiana Join Date: Jan 2009 Motorcycle(s): 05 Blue Ninja 250 Posts: Too much. MOTY - 2017, MOTM - Jan '19, Oct '16, May '14	Those are great shots. Tell your wife Happy Birthday!!

May 3rd, 2009, 02:50 PM	#5
TnNinjaGirl Ms. Personality Name: CB Location: Murvill, TN Join Date: Jan 2009 Motorcycle(s): Depends on the week you ask Posts: A lot.	Great!! Happy Birthday!! Also, let me know how she likes those boots because I'm thinking of getting a pair.

May 3rd, 2009, 02:59 PM	#6
Sound Wave Ramen Rider Name: Gary Location: Honolulu, Hawaii Join Date: Jan 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2015 BMW R1200R, 08 Honda VFR800A (sold), 09 Ninja 250R (sold) Posts: A lot.	cool! happy birthday to your wife. it is neat that there are so many motorcycle places there.

May 4th, 2009, 12:20 PM	#7
FroggyGreenInSD ninjette.org member Name: Mike Location: San Diego, CA Join Date: Jan 2009 Motorcycle(s): 08 Green 250, 12 Ninja 650 (also green, it's the fastest color!) Posts: 32	Glad to hear you had such a great time celebrating your wife's birthday. You hit some of my favorite places to ride. Mesa Grande Rd. is not as well known, but definitely a lot of fun. And The Hideout is a fun stop, they even have live music sometimes on the weekends. I haven't made it out to Montezuma Valley Rd. on my bike yet (the climb out of Borrego Springs) but would like to before it starts getting unbearably hot.

May 4th, 2009, 02:21 PM	#9
zail ninjette.org member Name: zail Location: Bristol, UK Join Date: Apr 2009 Motorcycle(s): 08 Ninja 250r Posts: 156	Sounds a great ride! Love the sculptures

May 5th, 2009, 12:10 AM	#11
VeX That's me! Name: TJ Location: Ames, IA Join Date: Nov 2008 Motorcycle(s): 2008 Ninja 250r (Tis blue), 2008 CBR600RR Posts: 454	Awesome pics! I've been meaning on doing a ride up to Julian some time... Although if you take a gander at your picture of bikes in front of "Jack's Grocery" there is only TWO sport bikes in the bunch (and they're yours)

May 5th, 2009, 12:18 AM	#12
Blue Ninja 250R ninjette.org member Name: Stanley Location: Kedah, Malaysia Join Date: Feb 2009 Motorcycle(s): Kawasaki Ninja 250R 2008 Posts: 80	Thanks for sharing Ken and Happy belated birthday to you, Crissy.

May 5th, 2009, 06:16 PM	#15
ManyCavies ninjette.org sage Name: Crissy Location: Indio, CA Join Date: Jan 2009 Motorcycle(s): . . . . . . . 2000 Suzuki Intruder VS800 "Suzi", 2008 Kawasaki Ninja EX250 "Yoshi" Posts: 507	Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes I had a great time! I love my Sidi boots. Very comfy and no problems walking around the town. I could have walked all day. I would definitely recommend these boots __________________________________________________ GO GREEN!! GOT MY PINK ON!!

May 5th, 2009, 08:01 PM	#18
VeX That's me! Name: TJ Location: Ames, IA Join Date: Nov 2008 Motorcycle(s): 2008 Ninja 250r (Tis blue), 2008 CBR600RR Posts: 454	Aye, yes. Happy belated B-Day Crissy As for a weekend thing, I'd be down. I'm pretty sure I'm free this Saturday as well. Heat be damned!

May 5th, 2009, 11:53 PM	#20
VeX That's me! Name: TJ Location: Ames, IA Join Date: Nov 2008 Motorcycle(s): 2008 Ninja 250r (Tis blue), 2008 CBR600RR Posts: 454	I'll have to wait until the very last minute before I can let you know My scheduler kind of sucks in that I don't get the schedule until about 3 days before the new work week

May 6th, 2009, 07:52 AM	#21
Cali619 Giggity Giggity Name: Ryam Location: San Diego Join Date: Feb 2009 Motorcycle(s): 08 ninja 250R aka Hiryu Posts: 481	Sounds good, PM or email me the details, will be like the socal rally, Ill try to get ninjette09 to roll also she is in the area as well __________________________________________________ Facebook DY Fender chop, Danmoto CB slip-on w/baffle, Airbox removed, Kleen-air removed, shimmed needles, Mikuni #117.5 Main jets, K&N RU-1822 air filter pods

May 6th, 2009, 12:59 PM	#22
paterick4o8 ninjette.org sage Name: patricK Location: San Jose, CA--BAY AREA! Join Date: Mar 2009 Motorcycle(s): '08 blue 250R [sold]. '09 lime ZX-6R [stolen :( ]. '06 blue 636. Posts: 918	nice

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