Shortly after getting the Venture we went on an overnight trip on it. Ray and Sandra, introduced a few posts back, were headed to a camp in the mountains north of LA. I don't remember the details but one of them had a relative who ran a church camp and had invited them to come up, spend the night, and eat at a cookout the next day. They invited us to come along.
We decided to ride up to Big Bear Lake and then head over to the camp. the road up to Big Bear Lake has some spectacular scenery and views. We stopped along the way to take some pics.
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Unfortunately I picked up a nail in the rear tire. I tried using some fix-a-flat but the hole was in the sidewall and it didn't work. Ray took me to Big Bear Lake where we found a Yamaha Dealer and tow truck. We had the bike towed to the dealer and then had a new tire installed. We were real lucky they had a tire in the correct size in stock. I wonder what the odds of a dealer having a tire in stock would be today? Most don't carry much inventory anymore.
We were now behind schedule so we didn't have the time to enjoy all the scenery and headed off to our destination which was to the west on the other side of I-15. I had a map (remember those paper things we used to use before GPS?) that showed a short cut from the back side of Lake Arrowhead. We tried to find it with no luck. I think it was probably a dirt road not suitable for our big heavy touring bikes.
So we had to back track down to San Bernadino and then north and west. I do remember it seemed like a big adventure riding into the fading light with strange mountains all around us. I had no idea where we were and still don't today. We finally got there well after dark and spent the night in a cabin. We got some more pics the next day.
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I remember the first day of the trip pretty well. I barely remember the second day and I no recollection of the ride back home but we must have made it. It must not have been very memorable.
We decided to ride up to Big Bear Lake and then head over to the camp. the road up to Big Bear Lake has some spectacular scenery and views. We stopped along the way to take some pics.
.
Unfortunately I picked up a nail in the rear tire. I tried using some fix-a-flat but the hole was in the sidewall and it didn't work. Ray took me to Big Bear Lake where we found a Yamaha Dealer and tow truck. We had the bike towed to the dealer and then had a new tire installed. We were real lucky they had a tire in the correct size in stock. I wonder what the odds of a dealer having a tire in stock would be today? Most don't carry much inventory anymore.
We were now behind schedule so we didn't have the time to enjoy all the scenery and headed off to our destination which was to the west on the other side of I-15. I had a map (remember those paper things we used to use before GPS?) that showed a short cut from the back side of Lake Arrowhead. We tried to find it with no luck. I think it was probably a dirt road not suitable for our big heavy touring bikes.
So we had to back track down to San Bernadino and then north and west. I do remember it seemed like a big adventure riding into the fading light with strange mountains all around us. I had no idea where we were and still don't today. We finally got there well after dark and spent the night in a cabin. We got some more pics the next day.
.
I remember the first day of the trip pretty well. I barely remember the second day and I no recollection of the ride back home but we must have made it. It must not have been very memorable.