I'm back! It's been a busy few days, and I can't seem to stay awake at night to get the blog caught up. So I'm going to quickly post a bunch of photos from the last few days. First, I wanted to post a few that my friend Shannon took and graciously shared (she has a great camera and much better skills than I!). Shannon rides with her husband Ryan, and is able to get great shots from the bike.

These were from Thursday's trip to the ostrich and lavender farms.

Smile for the camera!

These babies are BIG!

Ready for takeoff

The lavender was so pretty

And a few more from the same day

On Friday, we started our day-long ride on 101 south to Ojai. We got caught in a road work backup for a while. Jim (on the left) suggested lane splitting to get through it quickly. I vetoed that idea! I know it's legal and accepted in California, and the car drivers actually do cooperate, but I can't imagine doing it on a Gold Wing!

We were near the coast, and the scenery was nice even on the highway.

Shannon took these:

This is at Lake Casitas.

My Gold Wing...

And Ryan's 2015 40th Anniversary Gold Wing... the one I'm lusting after!

Jim's new Victory.

Keep in mind we're at a Kawasaki Vulcan rally - and we have 3 Hondas and a Victory :-)

My riding buddies for the day, L to R: Sherm, Shannon, Ryan and Jim (our rally host).

We stopped for lunch at the Deer Lodge before we hit the REAL twisties. A neat place with a great patio, and the food was really good. The rest of the group had some yummy sliders, while I opted for fish tacos, made with grilled salmon. Yum!

Shannon looked down and thought she had a spider in her soup spoon! It was actually the reflection of the underside of the umbrella :-)

Pretty flowers around the patio.

One VERY tall palm tree!

Sherm is one senior who has really embraced technology... he's worse than a teenager! :-)

3 out of 4 of our lineup for the day. For some reason, Sherm doesn't like to park his little CTX with the big dogs. He's probably afraid I'll drop my bike on his :-)

Some of Shannon's pictures from our ride through the twisties. I was a bit busy keeping the bike on the road!

We stopped at an overlook above the road we'd just traveled. Fun stuff! I couldn't begin to keep up with Jim and Ryan, and I know they were taking it easy, but I held my own and had a great ride.

At the summit it was really windy. I didn't even get off my bike, I was afraid it was going to get blown over!

Sherm on his Honda CTX. A fun bike for a fun guy!

Back down to the flat land, and it got HOT!

So that's through Friday, and it's time for me to pack up and get back on the road. Today I'll be riding from Santa Cruz to South Lake Tahoe, with a stop by my childhood home in North Highlands, California. I'll try to get caught up to current this evening, if I can stay awake!