We arrived to our house sit about 2:00pm. The driveway looked very rough and steep and we didn’t know if the gate at the top was going to be open. I started up the hill and met our host Scott on his way down in his explorer. He was really surprised that we were here already. I told him we were concerned about getting the bike up the driveway and he suggested that we head out to Los Alpes where we are going to be staying for the next several days.We asked.about the road in and Scott said that it wasn’t as steep but that it was unimproved. He said motorcycles go up there all the time.Well that may be so but I’ll bet they aren’t as big and heavy and laden with gear!I rode in the car and we ventured out. The road went from standard dirt to crappy dirt to rough trail with rocks, gravel and potholes that could eat a tank. Bill dropped the bike in the first hundred meters of this.Scott and I were out of sight range so we waited a few minutes to see if Bill was going to show. When he did not, Warner, the caretaker of Los Alpes, jumped out of the car and went looking for him. Scott and I carried on looking for a spot to turn the car around. We found one another kilometer further along. The road was no betterWhen we reached Bill he had already removed the luggage. We piled it into the car and we all headed back to Scott’s house. The driveway looked more doable than this road.Without me and the luggage Bill had no problem making it up the driveway. Linda made us some sandwiches because we were starving and we spent an hour or so getting to know each other a bit.We met Chelsea, the dog who was quite shy of us and unsure about the bike. We also met the outdoor cat and glimpsed the very shy indoor one.After an hour or so Scott gave Bill the keys to the explorer and had us follow his forerunner up to Los Alpes.What a wonderful place! The lodge is nestled among old growth trees and beautiful gardens. Inside there is a kitchen, two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a sunken living room with an imposing fireplace.Warner showed Bill how to lock and unlock doors and gates and garages. We seem to be in such a remote place, but Warner assured is there were always people around. Indeed when we arrived there were 4 or 5 hikers standing near the house, apparently lost because the property is clearly marked private.Once we were alone I set about making a fire with damp paper and punky wood. It took a while but I was successful. After dinner of Spaghetti, We spent a truly relaxing evening in front of the fire.
