My First Trip. Vroom, Vroom.

First overnight bike trip!

Ray Sanders, who’s married to Sarah’s first cousin, Tina, rode out to Southern California to join me for a week of riding in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

To learn more about Ray, visit the My Posse page of this blog.

In Joshua Tree, on Day One of my first-ever overnight trip.

We left La Quinta, rolled through Joshua Tree National Park, and on to Victorville, California, where I spent my first night ever on the road with a Harley parked outside my motel room.

Ray celebrates a successful Day One at the Olive Garden in Victorville.

From Victorville, we rode up US Highway 395 to Mammoth Lakes, high in the Sierras.

In Bridgeport, en route to Lake Tahoe. Ready for cold weather!

Then, it was on to South Lake Tahoe. We arrived via the Kingsbury Grade, which took us from Gardnerville, Nevada, to Stateline.

On our way home from Lake Tahoe, we stopped overnight in Sonora.

Dinner in Sonora, at the Rattlesnake Grill. Ray takes his red wine very seriously.

Continuing on toward La Quinta, we checked out Yosemite National Park.

Yosemite. You have to see it to believe it.

Next day, it was on to Sequoia National Park.

Hey, those are some big trees in Sequoia National Park!

A very good introduction to vroom, vrooming. Can’t wait to do it again.

Ray, on his Honda Gold Wing, in our La Quinta driveway. A minute later, he heads east toward Knoxville, Tennessee — on his way home.