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I took off from San Francisco a little later than I wanted too. There's
always a few last details to wrap-up, and this being my first long
motorcycle trip (only a week, but it's still the longest trip for me), I had
lots of details to fret about.
I was excited to be on the road, and my loaded up motorcycle felt right. I
had my riding gear on, and my earplugs in, and I was ready to go. The first
stretch of the trip was going to be long straights on freeways. I crossed
over the Bay Bridge and headed East.
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Mojave Desert
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Breakfast at Turlock and I was back on the road heading South down Highway
99. This turned out to be a great opportunity to play around with the
borrowed GPS unit. I calibrated my speedometer (fast by about 8 percent or
so) but it was such a cheap model that it really wouldn't prove to be of any
other use for the rest of the trip. I took 99 straight to Bakersfield where
I stopped at Sonic Burger for lunch - a real drive in (which was funny on
the motorcycle).
At Bakersfield, I turned East again towards Barstow. This is the start of
the desert country. The roads were straight and fast. I stopped for gas at
Boron, where the attendant told me which turn off to take at Adelanto so
that I could bypass Barstow.
I passed by the Mojave airport (home to many mothballed airplanes -
especially these days) as I again turned from South to East. By now the sun
was beginning to fade, and I wanted to be there already. I cut across Apple
Valley and entered the Lucerne valley fighting the sunset (and losing).
After losing the battle, I was alone in the dark of the desert. And it got
cold. But before I could justify stopping to put on more layers, the town
of Yucca Valley came into view, and soon enough I was arriving at the Desert
house, just in time for dinner.
Total mileage for the day: 530
Time between Departure and Arrival: 9 hrs. 50 mins.
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After a few fun days of climbing at the park it was time again to hit the road.
We climbed on Monday morning, and got back to the house to shower and pack
up. Luckily, Jim and Christie agreed to schlep my climbing gear around so I
didn't have to worry about that, and I could even take advantage of the
opportunity to get rid of a few items I since decided I wouldn't need on the
trip.
My destination for the day was Las Vegas. The only time I had been there
before was for a bachelor party, and we stayed off the strip, so I wanted to
go back and see it in all it's gaudy glory. I cut North across the desert
on some pretty small roads. It was here that I experienced my first (but by
no means last) extreme cross-winds. I was crossing the Bristol Lake bed
(one of many 'dry' lakes out in the desert) and the winds from the North
were horrific. I had to keep my attention piqued in order to react to the
changing winds, but I was still blown all over the road. A few times I
almost got blown completely off the pavement. I can only imagine how
painful that would have been.
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Las Vegas
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I continued along the small roads, enjoying the open road, and the emptiness
and loneliness of it all. I passed remnants of settlements long-since
abandoned. All too soon (or was it) I was looking down on I-15.
Unfortunately, there were no gas stations to be seen, so I needed to hop on
the interstate rather than continue my back road adventure. But that
probably wasn't a bad thing, since the day was getting late, and I wanted to
keep my night driving to a minimum. I gassed up at the NV/CA border (at a
casino, of course) and rolled into Las Vegas soon after.
Total mileage for the day: 217
Time between Departure and Arrival: 4 hrs. 15 mins.
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Las Vegas is - well, Las Vegas.
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I decided to spend two nights in Las Vegas so that
I could hang around and also get out to see Hoover Dam. This was probably a
mistake. One night in Las Vegas would have been plenty.
So for the next day and nights, I walked around the strip, lost and won some cash, had a few
free drinks, and generally wasted away the hours. I enjoyed it, and the
first night was fun, but I could have left after that.
I am glad that I got out to the Hoover Dam, though, and it was great to be
able to do it without being rushed. The dam is pretty impressive, and their
one-sided pro- Army Corps of Engineers propaganda of the construction (and
how great it is for the environment) is pretty amusing. But, engineering
feats are impressive, and this is among the best in the West.
After touring the internals of the dam (something that's been available
since the dam opened - in fact tourism was built into the design of the dam)
and spending some more time in Las Vegas, it was time to move on.
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Hoover Dam
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My third day on the bike started off with a bit of a slip pulling out of the
hotel parking lot. The roads were just a little slick, and the back tire
came around ever so much.. It raced my heart, but did little more than that.
I (or should I say the bike) recovered and continued through the turn and
down the road. We were on our way. After a few hours on the road (all
I-15) I pulled off for a breakfast stop. This brings to mind one of the
most notable features of a motorcycle trip, and how it differs from a car
trip. You just can't do much on a motorcycle without pulling over, taking
off the gloves (sometimes the hat too), cutting the engine, etc.,)
Something as simple as 'oh, I'm a little cold' is not rectified by a simple
turn of a dial - rather, you've got to pull over, power down (so you can
access the sweater in the sidebag that requires the ignition key) pull off a
jacket, put on the sweater, put back on the jacket, gloves, helmet) etc.,
etc., Don't even get me started about things like trying to eat tootsie
rolls or put on chapstick!
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Utah
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Anyway, after a great stop at a small-town cafe, I was back on i-15 just
waiting for Utah so I Could get off the interstate (of course I had to get
to Arizona first!). Before doing either, I had to make it through the
Virgin River Canyon. This is a beautiful stretch of Interstate 15, but this
day it was blasted with awful winds. These were as bad as what I was
experiencing out across the lakebed the other day, but this time I had big
18-wheelers riding up next to me. Up to this point, this was the worst
driving conditions I had ever been in (oh! but stay tuned!).
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Zion National Park
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I pulled off I-15 (finally!) and turned towards Zion National Park. Even
the ride out to Zion is great. I stopped several times to appreciate the
view of the Virgin river cutting deeper into the red dirt. The Virgin River
Canyon on I-15 was really my entrance into canyon country, but I could
hardly appreciate it. This on the other hand was spectacular. I had to
pull over to just take it all in.
I made it into Zion around mid day and spent the afternoon driving and
hiking around the Southern end of the park. I watched a movie about the
park, stopped by the visitor's center, and took lots of photos. The park
was awesome. Like a real narrow Yosemite valley with Red rocks, and at this
time of year the trees were aglow in hues of yellow. One day when I have
more time, I'll have to return for an extended stay, but this trip is just
about getting out and seeing the whirlwind tour. Next time it will be about
the slow and appreciative method.
I left the park on the Eastern side and pointed the bike towards Bryce
Canyon. Bryce Canyon is North and East of the park, but it is also higher -
by a few thousand feet. I was enjoying the ride up there, but eventually,
the day got the better of me (I think the time zones weren't quite in my
favor either) and I soon found myself in the dark, on the side of the road,
and shivering while looking for more layers to put on. I pulled into Ruby's
Inn well into dark, checked into a first floor room, unloaded the bike and
hopped into the bathtub to warm up. After I was warmed I went over to the
main lodge and enjoyed a 'healthy' dinner (steak, and a glass of wine
followed by a warm brownie with vanilla ice cream). The temperatures had
dropped into the 20s/30s that evening, and I felt it out there in the cold.
I would buy a better balaclava at Ruby's before taking off.
Total mileage for the day: 272
Time between Departure and Arrival: 9 hrs. 50 mins.
Continue on
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