Last weekend we decided we could ride to Big Basin Redwoods State Park, which is basically just on the other side of the Santa Cruz Mountains from here.

So we rode up to Skyline, it was a bit cold here in Sunnyvale, but we broke through a very low hanging cloud cover on our way up, crossed Skyline and had a really breathtaking view over the mountains with really low hanging clouds which covered most of the valleys. Not a good sign for the temperatures down there!

As planned for this weekend - we did some more road trips so that I could get used to riding "Baby Sue" and would feel step by step a little less like a very newbie. The Bay Area has so many awesome routes that it is not hard for Guido to find something nice, but rather hard to decide which one of the really good trips to do.

What a nice day today! First, the German soccer team sent the Brits home in a beautiful 4:1 game. And second, Guido and I did our first ride on two bikes again. After practicing on a parking lot some days ago, I finally wanted to ride my new DR200SE on the road. And it was FUN!! Riding the V-Strom was always kind of stressful and sometimes even scary. With Baby Sue (our friend Sonja helped us finding the name for this tiny Suzuki bike) however, the experience was sooo different! This bike is so light and easy to handle and finally I really feel that I have everything under control.

With around 28 miles, it was a fairly short ride, but this should be only the beginning of a great summer on two wheels. Thanks to Guido, who chose the route very carefully and did a nice job on leading the way, this tour gave me lots of confidence. I can't wait to get back on the road again with Baby Sue who has done only about 550 miles in the 9 years of 'her' life so far. More to come!

Today we were really successful: we called the first guy that had an interesting motorcycle offered on Craigslist, he called back an hour later, we drove to San Mateo to look at the bike and bought it right there. Now the little thumper sits in the garage next to the F800GS.

It's a Suzuki DR200SE, model year 2001, we bought it with just 529 miles on. The bike has some scratches, but nothing serious and overall it looks really nice and clean. Andrea is really happy to have a motorcycle for learning now - and whenever she outgrows the little one, it goes on to the next.

Here are some more photos: