We headed back through the mountains to the Pacific Coast Highway, taking it nice and easy and enjoying the scenery. Through Santa Barbara and stopped for a great Italian pizza in Malibu. The roads were very busy again as everyone was out for the long weekend. Every beach and stopping place all along the coast was packed with holiday-makers. There is a constant fog along the coast but the temperature has been just right.
We booked online a reasonably-priced hotel in the centre of LA city before we left in the morning and when we got into the city the streets were almost deserted.
We've filled the bike twice now with "gas". The price is about $3.1/gallon and the bike takes about $20. I've been going to the attendant inside and giving him some cash and the pump number and if I don't use it all I can then collect the change. You can use your credit card in the actual pump, but most of them want your billing zip code as a security feature, so that's a problem.
The RT (we've nicknamed The Silver Surfer) has been a brilliant ride so far - smooth with great handling. I never thought that cruise-control on a bike would be any use, but it's really nice to be able to relax your right hand when the conditions are suitable. I also like the electrically-adjustable windshield - you can get it just right depending on your speed. One thing I don't like is the mirror position which is on the fairing at dashboard level - you have to look under your armpits instead of over your shoulder.
The drivers here are a pleasure - polite and competent. All the lanes keep moving and even the slow lane consistently does at least the speed limit. There have been almost no trucks on the roads, so I think they must be restricted to certain hours. And of course the highway system is amazing - double-lane, fast moving roads everywhere. The road surface is sometimes a bit rough, but haven't seen anything like a pothole that we are used to.
Today we'll just wander around LA and see what we see.
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