March 18th-20th, 2010 pt.3

Today the four of us were going to ride south to San Juan Capistrano to check out the 52^nd annual Swallow’s Day Parade.  It started as a school carnival in the 1930s to celebrate the legend of the return of the swallows to the San Juan Capistrano Mission.  Today it is the nation’s largest non-motorized parade.  We met up with another rider named Hew at a Starbucks somewhere in downtown Santa Ana who was going to tag along with us.  His steed of choice was a Honda CBR1000.  I should also mention that Asphalt Assault rides a BMW F800S and Nate rides a Buell XB9R.  I hope these guys aren’t fast riders because there’s no way in hell we’d be able to keep up with them.

A suped up Nissan 300ZX pulled in while we were eating IHOP pancakes on the patio.  This was the first time we ate at IHOP and their pancakes were delicious and filling too! 

The sun was shining and the scent of the ocean breeze was in the air as we rode down the infamous pacific coast highway.  We stopped at a convenience store to take a potty break and then proceeded onwards.  By this time the weather was starting to get really hot.  We were waiting at a set of traffic lights when all of a sudden I heard a loud bang followed by a cloud of smoke that rushed up from behind me.  For a split second I had a terrifying feeling that it was coming from my engine, but as I started to diagnose where the smoke was coming from, it wasn’t coming from my bike after all.  It was coming from the Honda CBR1000; Hew’s bike.  We pulled into an underground garage close by to get out of the blazing sun to see if we can fix the problem.  The gasket from the coolant hose leading into the engine had blown.  All it took was some duct tape, an empty can of Red Bull, and 45 minutes to temporarily fix the problem. 

The Mission

Historic jail cell located at the Los Rios Historic District.  What we've got here is failure to communicate.

After our visit in San Juan Capistrano, Hew rode back home to tend to his bike while the four of us had dinner at Chipotle for the first time.

The prices were reasonable despite the fancy artwork and nice interior

There's not much on the menu as you can see, but there's a reason for that; tacos & burritos are their specialty.

Check out the size of that thing!  It's the size of a new born baby!  Now that's what I call a burrito.

Now I know why the menu is so limited.  After eating one of these, what more do you want?

Later on in the evening we went over to the Orange County Performance Arts Pavillion where Nate works.  He took the three of us on a tour.

The Ambrosia, a five-star fine dining restaurant is also within the Pavillion.  This private room called "The Wine Cellar" can be booked for a nominal fee of course.

Before the OC Pavilion was converted into a theatre, it used to be The Bank of America’s Western Regional Headquarters.  They converted this vault into a VIP lounge, which at one time used to house 1 billion dollars in cash and receivables nightly back in the day. 

Amanda getting a taste of what it feels like to ride the Buell XB9R Firebolt

After Nate was done work, the four of us went to The Habit Burger Grill for ice cream.  Well, Amanda and I had ice cream; Asphalt Assault and Nate had a few burgers.  We heard the nightly fireworks coming from nearby Disneyland to signal that they were closing for the evening.  There were also these glowing flowers that did a good job at catching Amanda’s attention.

Too hot to handle.

Duct tape prevails once again!

The swallows return.