April 20 – Rain and Good Friends

On Friday I woke up at the usual time of 5 AM to see heavy rain from the motel window. As the ride for today was relatively short, I figured I could see if the rain dissipated. This involves sleeping for an hour and rechecking the conditions from the window. The extra hour of sleep was welcome, but there was no change at 6 AM. I decided not to ride and slept until 8. The decision was predicated on several factors: 1) Karen could take me and the bike to Los Angeles. 2) I have ridden in the rain many times; it is not something that I need of want to practice. 3) Much of the day’s route was to be on Hwy 101. Even it the rain stopped the pavement would be wet and each passing car and semi would spray me with water in proportion to its mass. At 10 Karen and I let for LA, well to be precise Nancy and Mark’s home in Beverly Hills. I admit that as it had stopped raining by 10 I felt some guilt over my decision. However once I saw the condition of the shoulder on the first section of 101 I was glad that it rained, as it would have been very nasty even on a sunny day - lots of stones and broken pavement in the shoulder. Then around 11 the skies opened up. It was difficult to see far enough to drive a car! Being inside was so much better than being outside.

By 12:30 we were at our friends’ home and as it almost never rains in Beverly Hills the skies had naturally cleared. Their house was formerly owned by Jean Harlow and then some time later by Rita Haywood. There are several pictures of both actresses in the house in the house. As Jean Harlow lived in the house when she died, it is a site for the ‘Dearly Departed Tour’ that goes to places in Hollywood where stars died. The tour van just stops in from of the house and the driver/guide talks about Jean Harlow. It’s not really that bad. However one day Nancy took the tour. When another rider asked about a bathroom stop, Nancy volunteered her house. The driver almost died when he realized where Nancy lived; he had never been in any of the homes on his tour. I guess some days you are just lucky, like I was that I was to have not been riding on Hwy 101 or the Pacific Coast Highway when the heavens opened up.