The Trip Home!

The Adventure Concludes . . .

March 9, 2010

761 kms today! I imagine that seems like a lot of kms for a day. For us it didn't really seem that way, being busy focusing on so many other things through the day, it just flowed along beautifully. Getting the early start we did must have made some difference too. Leaving the hotel in Yuma we found ourselves in California within 15 minutes, and a time zone change at the same place. Expecting bikini clad beauties and the Beach Boys singing "I wish they all could be California Girls" as we re-entered the state would have been a far better memory than what we were treated too. Heavy winds with the added pleasure of blowing sand left us to believe that we were in a sand storm for probably 50 or so miles. The bikes were canted so farr over the the left we felt that they were being lifted as each gust hit us. I still had sand in my mouth when we stopped for lunch.
On to the Salton Sea, wind had lessened, here we found it hard to believe our eyes as the GPS was telling us we were 200 feet below sea level, and from research on the internet the Salton Sea is directly over the San Andreas fault, other than that not much to see so we moved on.

Fortuneately the wind had abatted by the time we drove through Joshua Tree Park. The landscape here was beautiful with many pictures taken of cacti and Joshua trees. Frankly this looked like many miles of the high dessert we had seen in Mexico, including having seen many more Joshua trees for many more miles, didn't make it any less beautiful and a joy to drive through.
Next the drive to Death Valley, many miles and easy miles without the wind kicking us around, it was a pleasure to just cruise for many miles without a care. We arrived at Death Valley just as it got dark and everyone tells us we are in for a treat tomorrow as the sun rises. That will follow in tomorrow's writing and more adventures in California - bring on the bikinis!
Chris

Joshua Tree

Today was a very diverse and long day. We travelled from Yuma Arizona to Death Valley California, through deserts and elevations from -200’ to over 4000’. It was windy and cold with sand storms and severe cross-winds and had a blast. It was beautiful, California is beautiful and the deserts and mountains are beautiful. I don’t know if it is in the eye of the beholder but that is irrelevant as it was my eyes and that is how I saw it. Joshua tree park was just as good as the first time. The Mojave was something new and now we are in a five star on the rim of Death Valley and though it is not part of our economic plan is defiantly worth it. This has been a good leg of the trip. Though the wind this morning was a challenge the results in the end were worth it. I will defiantly be coming back down to this part of the world again as there is so much to see and do.  My pictures this time are of the GPS @ -200’ at the Salton Sea and of cacti in Joshua Tree park as they are my favorite plants. Chris will have to come up with his own.

Chucky

March 10, 2010

813 kms today! We set off this day with a goal in mind, sort of unusual for our daily ride. Today we set out to make it to Chuck's sister's home in Angel's Camp near Sacramento. But, waking up to the beauty in Death Valley was spectacular. To think in the summer it lays claim to 129 degrees F. Not today though, it was comfortable and it seemed that we would run into bad weather which we did. Riding through the valley the GPS saw lows of -245 ft, then ascending out of the valley the temperture went lower and lower. Finding a small restaurant in Onyx the brakes were applied to the max, a warm spot for two shivering souls. After a wonderful lunch we ventured out again and shortly found snow. This threw all out planning at the restaurant out the window, now we needed an escape route to the coast. So we headed down the only road where the terrain decended rather than acsended. Down a beautiful small valley highway into Bakerview to the warmth, and the drone of many miles north on a super highway. Many hours later we arrived at home of Chuck's sister where Trish and Easter treated us to pizza opening their home and treating us like kings.

Chris

March 10, 2010

96 sorry kms today! Only a short ride left between Trish and Easter's home and Leo and Ineke's home where we would load up the bikes and head home. This was the final leg of our journey, the sadest and longest hour of the trip. We just couldn't get our heads around the idea that the trip is done, so we dawdled and mossied and did anything to draw it out. Not much was said over the intercom, we simply followed the line on the GPS until we arrived at the checkered flag.
Loading the bikes went easy, Randy the head grape expert at the ranch helped, and being a motorcycle guy himself we exchanged tales. Leo arrived and amazed us more with his state of the art solar power system. Finally the time arrived to move on so at 12:15 we bid everyone farwell again and did the most unusual thing of the trip . . . we got in the truck to drive home.
Chris

Wow!
A pretty short description for a pretty long journey. Unfortunately I do not have any more pictures as I was rather negligent in that department and too intent on the destination. Once again the scenery from Death Valley to Angles Camp was fantastic and very difficult to encapsulate in a picture. The long rifts in the landscape that appear to have been caused by crust upheaval will have to be investigated through further research and if correct will require a return trip to explore further. Sister Trish and Easter once again were very welcome hosts after a long day in the saddle. Their little (80 acres) hideaway in the California mountains is always such a peaceful and quiet respite from the hustle of the Sacramento Valley crowds. I sound like a commercial for a real-estate company.
We made it to Leo’s with one mile to spare, before my chain gave up the ghost, and we coasted into the yard to a very warm welcome from Randy and a very long sigh that the ride was unfortunately over. Thank you Leo and Ineke, for the warm reception and support that you have given us, and I hope that we can somehow drag you along on a future adventure. Now we are on the long trek home and have spent the remainder of the day in a reflective mood and relaxing in a conveyance that does not require a concern about wind or rain. It is un-dramatic and anticlimactic but all good journeys must come to an end. What is next we do not know but have both been theorizing on future adventures. My desire is to follow a Baja or Dakar race as support crew and Chris has been talking nonstop of different rides he would like to do with the love of his life. Wanda, I hope you are reading this as that means YOU and not his bike.
That is enough for now as Chris seems very anxious to get back on the road (it is 0630) and has already showered and is down petting the bikes. We still have a BMW shop in Portland and a parts shop in Seattle to stop at so I guess the day must begin. Life is good and reality is near.

Chucky