Capturing that elusive "I", March 14, 2015

Started to leave at around noon, backed the bike out of the garage and noticed
that the GPS is totally dead.  Investigated, including swapping it for the one in the car,
No luck!  More about this below.

Oh well, I know the way to Isleton quite well so I headed out.

Up I-880 as far as Mission then headed over to I-680
Mission is totally clogged.  No problem, I stayed on Mission.
However, it is also completely tied up. Totally stopped at Ohlone College
Wandering around on surface streets (without my GPS)
I finally found Mission Blvd from the other side of I-680 and traffic was normal from there

At about 2:00 I realized I had not eaten anything since early morning
so I stopped in Antioch at a Jack-in-the-Box for a burger

Feeling more fulfilled, I returned to I-4 and then up CA-160 to Isleton

I got my photo for an "I" city

I enjoy Isleton even though there definitely is not much there there.
 

It was a beautiful day.  People were enjoying fishing on the local pier and boating

Heading home from Isleton, I thought I would stop in Rio Vista
Alas the traffic over the bridge was totally full and totally stopped.  I kept going.

I wanted to go home via the surface roads between Brentwood and Livermore
The alternatives are three:
back the way I came, CA-4, I-680 - boring
east to Stockton, down I-5, I-580, and the I-680
or, the mst interesting, over the hills on surface roads to catch I-580 in Livermore.

I thought I could remember roughly how to go but without the GPS, I was shooting in the dark
I stopped in a local Best Buy and decided to replace the ailing GPS
Best Buy stores are always disappointing.  This had a miserable selection and no one who wanted to help
so I left without purchasing anything.

It's a miracle!  Upon leaving the Best Buy, my ailing GPS healled and started acting well.
I guess the threat of being replaced was sufficient to straighten it out.

Going over the hills was beautiful.  A gentle breeze, the wind mills were spinning slowly
The mustard flowers filled the fields and scent of fruit blossoms were fragrant.
I wish I had a photographer in the back seat to capture the scenery

I decided to stop in Pleasanton perhaps for a cold drink and a bite to eat
I forgot that today is their St. Patrick's Day brew crawl.
The town was very popular with people wearing green and carrying little beer glasses
All the stores had craft beer brewery samples and long lines of thirsty people.
If I remember next year, I will come by car and joim the libatious fun

I was able to people watch from welcome benches around Main Street
Each time I don't ride far for a couple months, it takes a couple long rides to get back in rhythm
today was about 200 miles, and I arrived home quite weary but happy.