After seeing Bill and Carol off to work we hopped on the motorcycle and began wandering toward the ocean. A few miles up the freeway we got off a side road to ride along Lake Elsinore (and bypass the main part of town) before hopping on 74 to wind our way through the mountains and the San Bernardino National Forest. The road was a lot of fun (what twisty mountain road isn’t on the motorcycle) and dropped us off right in the heart of San Juan Capistrano, next to the old mission.

Ashley remembers visiting here when she was younger, but only vaguely. We parked and had lunch at a park across the train tracks. There was a school group playing nearby – they gathered for a train and walked right by us, oblivious that a) they didn’t know us and b) that we were even there. 😀

After lunch we walked around the Los Rios Historic District – many of the cottages there have been turned into businesses. We enjoyed perusing the art co-ops, checking out menues at restaurants, and generally seeing what there was to see. Stopped for coffee at the Hidden House Coffee Roasters. We both got a pour-over and loved the presentation – a little bamboo tray with our mug and a glass beaker with another serving. Walked around the mission perimiter but opted not to go in and tour the grounds.

Back on the bike, we headed out to Dana Point for a bit of an ocean view. We walked about the boardwalk (spotting the restaurant where Ashley first recalls having New York Cheesecake with Don) and sat for a bit to enjoy the view. We heard some seals barking and went over to watch them sunning themselves.

Unfortunately, time to head on back. We headed south on the Pacific Coast Highway, running parallel to the beach for a ways, then hopped on the freeway and on to a highway back over toward Temecula. The highway was busy and running slow. We watched a couple of other bikes split the lanes and finally followed along after sitting through the same stop light for a couple of cycles. (I was too far over between the lanes, sitting, and a motorcycle cop came up behind me and announced through their megaphone, “if you’re not going to split the lanes don’t block it Kentucky” Oops! Ha!  It was dusk when we made it home and cooling down quickly.

Back at the house we started getting supper ready and spent another delightful evening chatting with Bill and Carol.