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Courtesy of Rich Mample
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Rich Mample and Bob Burns prepare to ride. |
We didn’t really do a motorcycle ride today. A motorcycle field trip is
more like it. And, it was great! Bob Burns lives right by me, so I rode
over to his house, met him about 8:am, and from his house the two of us
shot up 280 towards the City on one of those really thick marine layer
days common to the San Francisco Bay Area this time of year, keeping any
sunlight from breaking through and causing water to bead up on the
outside of my facemask and breath fog to form on the inside of it, which
I hate! And, it was cold!
But, I digress. Bob and I shot up 280 - to 19th Ave.; to the Golden Gate
Bridge; across the bridge to the Vista Point; to a successful link up
with Leonard Lloyd; and, finally, for I don’t know how long, to an
enchanting view of the Bay, one seen many, many times before by each of
us, but one so entirely captivating that we had to once again stand
there for a while absorbing the beauty of it all.
Good old San Francisco Bay, all spread out under the marine layer,
streaks of sunlight breaking through here and there, the boats, the
islands, the bridges. It’s a great spot! Although, as I’ve already
pointed out, it was also cold and windy and wet, and as Bob so
succinctly noted, there was no hot coffee to be had.
But, breakfast was in the offing, which for me – at the Lighthouse Café
in Sausalito - was scrambled eggs with artichoke hearts, spinach,
sausage, and cheese. I don’t know what they called it, but it cost me 17
bucks. Anyhow, it was good, and the Cafe was only half a mile from the
starting point of our field trip – The San Francisco Bay Model - and
that was good, too.
Advice for anyone who hasn’t yet visited the Bay
Model: Visit it! It’s great! It’s a model of the whole
San Francisco Bay Area bigger than two football
fields, built in the fifties by the Army Corps of
Engineers to provide data relating to both the
development of and the environmental health of
the Bay, but now serving more as an educational
resource for the public, since computer modeling
works better for those other tasks. It’s free. And it’s
located right on Richardson Bay, right where all
the boats are; and all the ship chandlers and all
the brokers, too, should you desire to buy a boat
(or, more likely, should you simply want to go
aboard a few boats to look and dream).
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Rich Mample and Leonard Lloyd after viewing Bay
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Leonard, who served in the US Coast Guard, right
here in the Bay Area for much of his tour, loved it.
In fact, we all loved it. Both Leonard and Bob are
lifetime SFBA residents, and I’m a long-time
resident, so we all had something to say about it;
and speaking for myself, I love every opportunity I
get to say something.
Consequently, we weren’t moving quickly. Our
breakfast was relaxed and at the Bay Model we
spent a lot of time wandering around, reading the
explanatory plaques along the way and commenting
about everything needing comment. And, this took
time. Before we knew it, it was close to 2:pm leaving
Bob with no time to join Leonard and me on our ride
through the Marin Headlands to inspect the Bonita
Point Lighthouse. He had to head home. But, Leonard
and I did our duty. We rode out there – not far - found
a place to park our bikes – not easy! – and then we
walked down the trail and through the tunnel to the
vista points and the lighthouse itself, and once again,
to views that captivated us and inspired us to
comment about the beauty of what we were seeing
and how lucky we are to live where we live.
Altogether a good day. And, you know what? The
Automobile Sport Touring Association couldn’t have
done it! We’re in the right club, folks.
Rich Mample |
