Virginia City via the 49 Highway Day 1

September 16, 2012

We left the house in Fallbrook at 4 am to start our latest expedition. The weather had been warm and we decided to get across the Upper Desert before the heat hit. We met up with the rest of our party at the Denny's on Railroad Canyon in Lake Elsinore. We found we had an Outlaw in our midst as one of our friends had chosen to ride his Harley out of his gated community where it was not allowed. Well he appeared without any sirens blazing so we figured he had gotten away with it. Ted the Outlaw!
We were off! We road straight through to Kramer Junction and the 
Roadhouse Restaurant for breakfast. I was in need of more coffee to start the day, (more on this topic later). 
The Roadhouse is known for their Homemade Cookies. They are sold up by the register, don't pass them up. We filled our tanks stashed the cookies and where on the road again.

Iron Horses invade Randsburg

  A short way up the road we visited the Ghost Town of Randsburg. An old mining town that is now a ghost town. The town consists of Junk Shops and Antique stores plus a couple of places to eat; and several rather eccentric desert dwellers. This all adds to the ambiance of this little town in the middle of nowhere.
We stopped to take a butt break and to take a few pictures before continuing on our way. After a bit of driving in circles, Joe stopped to ask someone in Randsburg for directions. He was trying to find a road out of Randsburg that lead to Hwy 14 across the desert, next to a dry lake bed. Yes Joe is a man and yes he asks for directions. (My opinion; I have the perfect man, more on that topic later).
We found the road on the west end of town and started out. The view was pretty spectacular and much nicer than the standard highways we have normally taken.
We had a little mishap when we found  highway 58 and realized we where going the wrong direction. Bob straightened us out and we turned around and headed to Lake Isabella and Kernville. We stopped for lunch in Kernville at Cheryl's Diner.  This place has just good home cooking. From there we headed on to Springville.

The road started winding up into the Sierras; turning from sand and sage into pines and cooler temps. We laughed when we were talking that evening about the descent. As we went  down the hill, each curve looked the same and it was as though we where stuck in some Twilight zone episode, where you are stuck in time and nothing would ever change. The terrain changed as we were no longer in tall trees and it was warmer but the curves didn't. Turn to the right and long swooping turn to the left. Down we went.

Springville Inn

The Park across the street

Finally we arrived in Springville and checked into the Springville Inn. The town was small and quaint. The Inn itself is very old and has had some work done to update it. The rooms were very comfortable and had all the amenities. There was a small park across the street with a gazebo and and manicured lawn. The mountains rose up behind it as a backdrop. It was a very beautiful site and nice end to a long day of riding.
We sat out on the patio area and drank some wine and ate the cookies from the Roadhouse in Kramer Junction. We  discussed the day and laughed a lot. Then it was off to bed.