Burning time, burning fog

MONTEREY, Calif. - It’s 8:30 a.m. and I’ve been up since 6, but I’m not heading down the coast for a few hours.
Why? Because of the Marine Layer. That’s ocean fog to everyone who lives more than 50 miles inland. It shrouds the coast much of the day this time of year. If I want to ride in sunshine, I have to wait for it to burn off and that may not happen until noon in some places. The first time I visited the Big Sur coast, back in July, 1986, I rode up from Burbank on a Sunday morning. I made the whole ride without seeing the sun. The road blew my mind anyway. When I came back a day or two later, I was absolutely enchanted. And I still am.
So I’m sitting here in Room 120 of the Monterey Motel 6 updating my trip log and sipping free coffee from the office. Upon reflection, it’s about the same number of steps from my room to the office as it is from my upstairs office to the coffee pot in our kitchen. But at least I have Sweet & Low at home. All they have here is sugar and even with two packets, the coffee tastes nasty.
I see that I’ve covered 3,240 miles since I left home on July 11. I’ll probably do another 2k by the time I get home. Who knows, I may actually earn a 10k award for 2010 from the Indianapolis BMW Club. It would be my 14th overall, but my first since 2004.
Today’s mileage will be low, but the smileage will be high, since I’m riding down my favorite road. My destination for today is less than 100 road miles from here -  San Simeon. There’s a very nice motel there where I can get a good night’s sleep. I’ll need it on Saturday because that’s when I take on the heat of the Central Valley and the Mojave Desert on a 430-mile ride to Las Vegas to see Steve, Nicky and Lisa. I’ve done the Mojave in July before, back in 2002 when I rode my old ‘91 K100RS from Kingman, Ariz. to Monterey to meet Maria for a few days of California fun. I remember it was pretty damned hot and I drained my Camelbak twice. I have a bigger Camelbak this time and now I wish I’d bought one of those water-cooled hot weather vests they were selling at the rally.