July 12 - Part 1 - Riding Route 1 Along The Pacific Coast... BREATH TAKING!

Hugs all around and we were off.  What a great host Jerry was.  Even Cooper was welcomed in all his puppy glory.

A quick stop at Wal*Mart was necessary, the we were on our way.  We rode a ways, but became hungry for an early lunch.  There was a strawberry stand at a gas station.  For $5 we got 3 pints of strawberries and ate half for lunch.  Cooper smelled his surroundings and peed on the important things as I snapped pictures of a strange flower on a bush close by. 

We met some other bikers who took Cooper's picture and I gave them Cooper's card.  We talked for a little while, then they rode on.  We finished eating our fill of strawberries and rode on too.

We traveled Route 1 along the coast for the rest of the day.  The scenery was amazing.  

We saw some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen.  

We rode some of the greatest motorcycle roads I've ridden in a long time.  What a day!  

Cooper's nose was in the air a lot just taking it all in as my camera did the same as I blindly clicked in every direction hoping to get some great shots to show.  

I used up the battery on my camera AND my cell phone with all my clicking.

The temp never got above the mid-60*s so we called an earlier end to our riding than we had planned.  We were all cold and started to shiver when we stopped to get gas.  We decided to stop for the night and get warm and fed and get some sleep so we could get out in the morning and see what we had in store for us next.

311 Miles

July 11 - Part 2 - Feet in the Pacific!

We went to the beach to cook hot dogs over the fire.  We rode in Jerry's car and got onto the beach by walking down the rocks onto the beach.  

We took pictures of me and Cooper with our feet in the water.  

Cooper had a great time digging a hole in the sand.  He loved how the water chased him up the beach when the tide came in.  

The kids played at the water's edge while adults gathered around the fire to talk.  

What a great night.  Just a sweatshirt was all we needed to be perfectly comfortable.

The sunset was beautiful and the weather was perfect.

Zero Miles

July 11 - Part 1 - Meeting Thomas The Tortoise

We got to see Thomas the Tortoise today.  We had only heard of him but he hadn't made his appearance yet during our visit. 

He has lived in Jerry's yard for over 30 years, so it was really cool to have met him.  

Cooper kept wanting to smell his face.  You know... the part that can bite Cooper's nose.  

What is it with Cooper that he always wants to get close to the part that bites???

We packed the bikes today but decided to leave tomorrow.  We'll sleep in the house, this way we can get an early start in the morning.  Packing the bikes takes so long when we camp, it'll be better to leave in the morning.

July 10 - Part 2 - Splish Splash, Cooper wants to Join in the Bath!

After dinner Cooper got playful.  I gave him one of his favorite toys from out of his back pack.  Cooper played and chased his little pig toy as it bounced all over the place.  He got really comfortable and knew how to get some great attention.  He even tried to crash Zoui's bath.  She was in the tub splashing when Cooper heard and went running.  He would have gotten right into the water with her if he had been given half a chance.

Before we went to our tent in the back yard Cooper was able to con Danielle out of a great massage.  I don't know how Cooper gets people to do that for him.  I would love to get someone to do that for me.    

I guess it pays to be a cute little white dog 

that everyone wants to touch.


Zero Miles again.

July 10 - Part 1 - A little Groomin' Time

Another day off the bikes.  Jesse got to visit with Jerry a lot and while they talked, I combed Cooper's hair out.  He wasn't happy about it, but the snarls on his head were beginning to become uncomfortable for him.  When I got done with combing I gave him a bath in the tub, then put him in the shower stall to shake the water off.  He's so cute.  He just does what he's told to do most of the time.  He shook a few times then dried off on a towel.  

I took a shower too, then Cooper and I sat in the sun to dry.  The sun was wonderfully warm and a great compliment to the cool breeze we had.  What a perfect day.

When Cooper was sick of being in the sun, we went to our tent and snuggled in there for a while.  Cooper was very content in there.  I could tell by the big exhale he let out when we laid down together.  We love our lazy days.

July 9 - Chickens! Bock Bock!

Waking up on a beautiful CA morning.  Dad gives the the ritualistic tummy scratch and we are ready to begin our day.

Waking up in Jerry's back yard was an experience for Cooper.  Jerry has three chickens running loose that  Cooper enjoyed hunting down so he could get a good sniff at them.  He found them in the overgrowth in the back.  I could tell by the sound of the chickens that he was getting too close for their comfort.  It was really funny to see his new found curiosity.  

I spent most of the day blogging to get some posts scheduled ahead of time so as not to disappoint my fine loyal readers.  

Cooper supervised me closely. 

Jesse spent a lot of the day working on his bike to get the repairs done.  

Cooper got bored with me, 

then went to supervise Jesse for a while. 

He's a good supervisor as you can tell.  

Zero miles today.

July 8 - Part 2 - Reached the PACIFIC OCEAN!!!!!

 Continuing on after the run in with the phantom hole dweller, we rode more and more and more trying to get to Jerry's before too late.  We finally reached the Pacific Ocean about mid way through the day!  What a beautiful sight that was.  Palm trees and waves, just like what you see on TV!  Cooper's nose went CRAZY when he smelled the ocean.  He immediately got excited and was up sniffing.  I took lots of pictures from the bike.  We didn't have time to get to the water for our picture but we will before we leave this area.  

We finally arrived at Jerry's around 9 pm.  It was a long day considering we didn't get on the road till about noon.  We set up our tent in the back yard, then visited for a while.  Cooper was happy to have our tent to sleep in.  He recognized it as our bedroom right away.  

It was weird to hear birds all night.  We all fell asleep very quickly.  Cooper was dreaming within about 5 minutes.

321 Miles total for today.

July 8 - Part 1 - Heading South to Ventura

Now that the ride-in is over, we said our good-byes and packed our bikes to get on with your journey.  We were headed south to Ventura CA to visit Jesse's brother Jerry for a few days and try to get a repair done on Jesse's bike.

We rode in and out of hot spots.  Temps of the day ranged from 101* down to about 64* all within only a few miles.  It was hard to know how to dress.

On one of our gas stops when Cooper was on sniff patrol as he usually does.  He was hot on the trail of something.  I really wish I had my camera rolling on video.  In a SPLIT SECOND, while Cooper had his nose in the hole of what ever it was that he was smelling, WHAT EVER it was that he was smelling came running out from under  a bunch of ivy and SHOVED Cooper's nose out of the way so it could get into the hole.  It happened so fast.  At first I thought Cooper may have gotten bitten, but he didn't yipe and he looked as shocked as I did.  He looked at me and went back to sniff some more as it to say, "what the heck.... ?!?!"  I didn't let him go back to sniffing though.  I feel like he got away without getting nipped on the nose the first time, so let's leave well enough alone.

July 7 - Banquet

From yesterday's BBQ

We had a busy day.  I know we were at the ride-in and should have got all we could from that, but we had been traveling for quite a while and Jesse and I had emailing and phone calling and bill paying over the phone that needed to be done.  Much of the day we did that while Cooper monitored the world of dreams.  He slept most of the time we were busy.

The banquet was at night.  We were happy to get all we needed to do done before then.  We got to sit with some folks we didn't know at the banquet.  Cooper laid on the floor perfectly well behaved while we ate. 

During the awards ceremony we stood up as our state was announced and I lifted Cooper up when I stood up for Massachusetts.  He waved 'Hi' a little bit as we stood.  It's so funny how he seems to just know when to do something like that.

I know it's blurry... i took it with my cell phone.
BUT LOOK!!!  He's on the vests of his 'Friends' now!

During the ride to CA and al through the ride-in I have been selling "Friends Of Cooper" patches.  They are beginning to appear on the vests of other WOW members.

July 6 - Part 3 - Cooper's run in with the COPS

 I think it might be illegal to pee on public property here in CA because Cooper and Chopper were walking around and Cooper peed in the bushes.

Before I knew it Cooper was surrounded by police who seemed to be scolding him for something.  

I'm not sure if he was mouthing off, but they seemed to get awfully serious all of a sudden. 

I don't know if they were threatening to arrest him or not, but they let him off, apparently with just a warning.   Good thing too because I'm not sure we could have bailed him out if they arrested him for Public Leg Lifting.

Total miles for today were 14, only to and from the BBQ.