A fun ride inspired by a garbage truck encounter.

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Where we parked before hiking up to the Point Sur Lighthouse (A)

Where we parked before hikind up to the Point Sur Lighthouse (Photo by author) -- below is web link to this VR Panorama photo:

http://www.rlk.biz/PointSurLighthouse/PS1/index.html

Walking up the stairway inside the base of the lighthouse (C)

Walking up the stairway inside the base of the lighthouse (Photo by author) -- below is a web link to this VR Panorama photo:

http://www.rlk.biz/PointSurLighthouse/PS12/index.html

A large San Jose, Calif. garbage truck decided to blindly back out of a narrow alley into a major street that I was traveling down in my small RV. That encounter, which produced no physical injuries, kiboshed my original Memorial Day Weekend plans to attend the NorCal Club’s ‘49er Rally in Mariposa, Calif. What to do instead?

Talked to an old friend who suggested a ride to the Point Sur State Historic Park & Lighthouse, which started shining brightly on August 1, 1889. Located in what had been an isolated part of Calif., until 1937, when a nearby section of Calif. State Route 1 (SR 1) was built. That road has and now goes by other names that have changed over the years. But, that’s the road that got us there, after some scenic detours.

Here’s the Point Sur State Historic Park & Lighthouse website:

http://www.pointsur.org/

SR 1, the part between Santa Cruz and Big Sur, is an amazingly beautiful section of road that I’ve ridden many times. But, I was unaware of Big Sur State Historic Park & Lighthouse, as well as some of the backroads along the way. Before the ride I did some research and was amazed at all the historical interconnects.

Closer to where I live in San Jose, in nearby Mountain View, Calif., is the now decommissioned Naval Air Station Moffett Field, where several huge former airship hangars remain. One of these was for the USS Macon (ZRS-5) which crashed into the ocean, close to Point Sur Lighthouse in 1935.

As they say, getting there is half the fun. After riding over Calif. State Route 17 (SR 17) from San Jose to a friend’s place in Santa Cruz, we headed to breakfast at The Red Apple in Watsonville, picking up two other friends along the way. All of us rode different brands; BMW (me!), Honda, KLR, and Suzuki. We rode mostly on SR 1 with diversions to River Rd., SR 68 west to Laureles Grade, to Carmel Valley, then back to SR 1, past the Big Sur State Park & Lighthouse turnoff, then lunch at the River Inn in Big Sur. Not far south of the restaurant SR 1 is closed, due to a buckling bridge, and further south, a massive landslide, and may not reopen for a year.

We then rode a few miles back to the Big Sur State Park & Lighthouse turnoff, and waited at the gate for the start of the 2:00 p.m. 3-hour tour, along with some car folks. Then we drove in caravan for mile or so over a dirt, gravel, sand and asphalt road, where we parked at the bottom of a hill. It was a lot of walking after that. If you plan on visiting, be sure to check the pointsur.org website, since tour schedules vary by time of year, etc.

I brought several cameras with me, but decided to use just the VR Panorama camera, a Ricoh Theta S. Part of the reason was that once parked, it’s a half mile walk, each way, up and down a hill, not to mention lots of stairs.

The views were awesome, in every direction, whether indoors or outdoors. We were surrounded by all kinds of sights, sounds and smells. Hawks and Seagulls in the air, barking seals on the rocks below, spouting whales in the mid-distance, and ocean going freighters crawling across the horizon.

The sights were a perfect spot for shooting what’s called 360 x 360 degree VR (Virtual Reality) still photo panoramas. If you’re into VR gaming you could probably look at some of the photos using a similar headset, where you can move your head in any direction, and it would be almost being there for real, in the middle of it all. Or, you could just look at these VR panorama photos on your computer, smartphone or tablet and scroll up, down, left right, in and out, and all around.

When you view these VR Panorama photos in a web browser, you can also scroll around using the toolbar built into the bottom of the photo. Then, in the first photo, you’ll first be able to see the top of the “hill,” then when you pan around 180 degrees, you’ll see our motorcycles parked, as well as the asphalt, dirt, and sand road (about a mile or so long) between the gate on SR 1. This first photo is where our guided walking tour started and ended.

Here’s a link to all the VR panorama still photos:

http://www.rlk.biz/PointSurLighthouse/

It’s also possible to shoot VR Panorama video, but the quality isn’t there yet and it consumes way too much memory and bandwidth. An easy alternative is to convert some of the VR panoramas into a panning video. Here’s an example of that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnWadhSaEZM

The future is never certain. So, if you too are able to survive a close encounter with a garbage truck, something better may be sure to follow.

Inside one of the display rooms next to the Point Sur Lighthouse (B)

Inside one of the display rooms next to the Point Sur Lighthouse (Photo by author) -- below is web link to this VR Panorama photo:

http://www.rlk.biz/PointSurLighthouse/PS5/index.html

Point Sur Lighthouse from the outside (D)

Point Sur Lighthouse from the outside (Photo by author) -- below is a web link to this VR Panorama photo:

http://www.rlk.biz/PointSurLighthouse/PS13/index.html