This time around I decided to do something a little different.  Rather than a master plan, clearly defined route, times, miles, etc., we decided to just "wing it" (well, within reason).  Our attempt to see the exhibits at the Webster/Taggart museum back in April didn't work out (see Mystery Ride) so I thought we'd try it again.  The plan was simple... meet at the museum by 10:45am or so, drool over the cool, rare, Italian (mostly) bikes and vintage race cars, then figure out where to go for lunch and where to ride after that -- wing it!  With plenty of beautiful roads around the Ojai area, I wasn't too worried...

Lon Larsen & Pam DeBoer (and their ST1300) met me in Valencia right on time to head up to Ojai (everyone else agreed to simply meet at the museum). The weather was perfect -- comfortable enough to feel good about wearing all your gear but cool enough to rip out all the liners and warm stuff.  The 50 mile ride to Ojai was uneventful and we encountered little traffic along highways 126 and 150.  Actually, it was one of the rare times we had an open road for the last few twisty miles into Ojai. Gary Ward (FJR1300), Keith Lazz (Goldwing 1500), Roy Kautz (Goldwing 1800) and Wes O'Dell (ST1100) met us there at the museum along with a handful of others who heard the collection would be open for the morning.  Guy Webster was there at 10:30am to let us in to the museum and show us around. The museum is actually a small, but very impressive personal collection of Guy's, focusing on very rare Italian motorcycles with a few other notable bikes from other brands (e.g., Honda and Harley) thrown in for good measure.  I didn't do a great job taking pictures, but you can get a good idea of what's there by browsing my pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/rydred/20081026WingItWebsterMuseum.

Right around noon we gathered up in the parking lot to figure out where we wanted to go for lunch.  Various opinions were provided, but Keith and Roy's suggestion of Camp Scheideck won out -- primarily due to its location, right off Lockwood Valley Road.  Keith led the way out of Ojai through some back roads (avoiding in-town traffic) and up to Highway 33 for some fantastic twisties up to Lockwood Canyon.  After a brief jog up the lower section of Lockwood we headed up the thoroughly beat up Camp Scheideck road to eatery itself.  We dismounted, stripped off jackets and helmets, and headed inside only to find out the cook had died!  No kidding.  There was a sign in the kitchen and a little memorial for the guy. No food, just drinks.

Okay, so it's after 1:00pm, everyone is hungry (and perhaps a bit grouchy), so we quickly regroup and decide to head back to Highway 33 and up to Ventucopa where there's a hole-in-the-wall diner called "The Place" (original, eh?).  Despite the significant law enforcement presence along both Lockwood Canyon and Highway 33, we make pretty good time and get to "The Place" for enough Elk Burgers, Tri-tip sandwiches, onion rings and fries to fill us all up.  The food was good enough and much appreciated.  At least the cook seemed happy to be alive!  Amid the good conversation and catching up with friends, we also got to officially give away our free 1-year membership to HSTA to Roy Kautz.  We'll look forward to seeing him again on future rides.

So, after stretching our legs and filling our bellies it was time to head back.  Keith, Roy, and Gary decided to head back down Highway 33 to points south.  Lon, Pam, Wes, and I headed back to Lockwood Valley Road and up toward Frazier Park.  From there, Wes split off and headed up Cuddy Valley road and back towards Paso Robles (long ride for him that day) while Lon/Pam and I headed through Frazier Park and down I-5 to Valencia for a final stop for coffee before heading home.

Great ride, fantastic weather, fun people, and nobody went down or got hurt. Thank you to everyone who showed up and we'll look forward to the next ride!