Up at 6.30. Loading today is half an hour later than normal at 8.30 with departure at 9.00
For our breakfast today I just got a carry out from the food court in the hotel (these 'Vegas hotels have a small shopping mall on the ground floor) and took it back up to the room.
We load up the van outside the lobby and then meet up on parking level 2 where we left the bikes overnight, for this mornings rider briefing.
The Mileage on the bikes odometer as we leave is 2441
First off today, we've got to fuel up, so it's across town to a Chevron gas station.. Something different this time as the petrol pumps have a device fitted to the nozzle so the gas only pumps when the hose is pushed right down tight against the gas tank, this is supposed to stop the fuel vapor escaping into the atmosphere. It doesn't really work well for bikes though as, in order to fill the tank to the brim you have to push the ring up with your hand (or else the fuel don't flow).
On the trip today, we need to get back onto the old route 66, as to come to Las Vegas, we have taken a significant detour off of it.
We leave Vegas on interstate 15 to the Nipton exit and into the Mojave Mountain Reserve, rising up to about 5,000 feet through the mountains.
Gary is alerted to a problem further back in the group - one of the riders is suffering with the heat - so he pulls the rest of us over while he goes to sort things out.
Meanwhile my camera seems to have malfunctioned - it takes pictures but they're all coming out blank - just a white screen. Later in the day I discover that it's because I left it set to 'long exposure' last night when trying to photograph the neon lights of Las Vegas, and merely setting the exposure back to back to 'program' restores normal operation. Lesson learnt there.
Gary returns and we travel on through the Mojave desert. Mrs. K and I and really glad that we decided to buy the cool vests yesterday as the temperatures are up past 40C (110 F). Gary emphasizes the need for to make sure that we drink lots of water today because of the heat.
We move on through the desert and stop where there's loads of Joshua Trees (a.k.a Yukka Palm) - apparently this reserve has more of these trees than the Joshua Tree National Park - here we take some
photos, drink more water and re-soak our cool vests. #photo #
Our next stop is at Kelsoe, which was a railroad depot and a munitions storage place during WW2. Now there's a cafe and rest room there - and it's air conditioned which gives us a welcome place to cool off.
A bit further on we turn right and we're back on the old route 66.
We stop, (1.15 PM, odo 2570, todays trip 129 miles) just for a rest break, at Amboy, at Roy's where there's an oldgas station, still is use, but we don't need any gas now - I buy another Tee shirt, this time with the Roy's logo embroidered on it.
The temperature is rising, to the peak of the day at 117 F (46 C) . We soak our cool vests in the ice box again again before setting off on the next section, which is to Ludlow where we do re-fuel (odo 2598).
Gary had warned us about the state of the road on this section, about ruts and potholes, but really it wasn't
as bad as what we experienced a few days ago on route 66.
We get off the old road and onto the interstate for the ride into Barstow for a 'late lunch' - if you call 3.45 late - at 'Coco's Bakery Restaurant'. Some of us didn't need anything though, satisfied just with the iced water.
After 'lunch' we had one more stop before the hotel. This was at Elmer's bottle tree ranch, the home and garden of Elmer E. Long in Oro Grande, California. A place in the desert, with 'bottle trees' and other assorted sculptures made from various pieces of scrap items. Elmer kindly showed us inside his house, where various fixtures and furniture are improvised from re-cycled scrap.
Our hotel tonight, the last night before the end of the trip, is at Victorville, California (CA), at the Hilton Garden Inn. We arrive at about 5.45, get unloaded and Gary hands out our room keys. It just so happens that today at the hotel, they're re-launching their 'Aryana' restaurant and offer complimentary entrees and beer, that we are thankful to take advantage of.
I take our luggage up to our room on the 4th floor, and decide to go for a swim in the hotel's outdoor pool, which was a most enjoyable way to cool off after today's heat. I also used the Spa pool - most relaxing.
Back in the room we get ready and changed to go for a meal in the hotel restaurant at 8.00, where we've arranged to eat with some the others in our group. I wasn't over hungry at this point, but the chicken Caesar salad was good for me. Mrs. K went for 'fish and chips' - the fish was Wahoo fish which we've never heard of. It was an enjoyable meal, with reflection on the trip amongst the 7 of us eating together.
Tomorrow we load at 8.30 to leaving later at 9.00, to avoid the heaviest traffic going into LA.
jump to: Day 15 Day 13
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