1. A throttle rocker is worth every penny ($8.99 at Cycle Gear).
2. It doesn't matter how early you start off, you'll never "beat the heat."
3. Camelbacks are an absolute necessity while traveling through the desert.
4. Never assume that you'll just get gas at the next town. Reason: Just because there's a spot on the map marking a "town" doesn't mean there is a town there.
5. Always travel with kleenex and cleaner for your visor.
Okay, on to the pictures.
Our plan was to drive to Santa Barbara to spend the night. We pretty much stuck to Highway 1 the entire way down.
A quick stop in Carmel to fill up on mochas.
A random stop along Highway 1. This is just before Ragged Point I believe.
A shot of the bike at the Los Padres sign. Same spot north of Ragged Point.
Last pic north of Ragged Point.
Due to time constraints, we only stopped at Hearst Castle to view it from afar. I didn't realize the tour took 2 hours, and we had already spent 4 hours on the road with 2 more hours to go. So here's the closest we got.
Day 2: Santa Barbara to El Cajon. ~233 miles.
The final destination of the leg was my parent's house where we were to spend Thursday night, Friday, and Saturday with my parents. Our only real stop along the way was the mission at San Juan Capistrano.
Another shot of the mission.
A look down the corridor.
What's left of the mission after an earthquake just 3 years after completion.
Day 3: San Diego. ~0 miles.
Sorry, no photos. I forgot to bring the camera with me. Which is a shame because we went to Comic-Con. Comic-Con is a super huge comic book convention, but is not limited to just comic books. It has grown to include movie studios pimping their new movies, game manufacturers, toy companies, etc. Basically if it's geek related, it'll be there.
Day 4: San Diego. ~0 miles.
My parents, Kim and I went to the San Diego Zoo. I've been there a few times, but since it was Kim's first time in San Diego, we did the touristy thing.
Polar bear playing.
Me playing jungle explorer.
I love meercats. I wish I could have a giant meercat farm, like an ant farm, only with meercats. That'd be cool.
I don't know, so don't ask.
Panda bear doing what pandas do. Eat.
Day 5: San Diego to the Grand Canyon. ~524 miles. Total gallons of water drank: 2
With over 500 miles to travel, and the southwest in a record heat wave, we left at 5:00 am in an attempt to beat the heat. At first we covered 200 miles in a little over 2 and a half hours. But then things heated up, and we slowed down. The longest (hottest) part of the trip was from Lake Havasu City to Kingman, Arizona. Even though we loaded up on water before we left LHC, I nearly passed out on the 50 miles to Kingman. It was so damn hot (118°) I almost stopped the trip right then and there. We stopped at a Denny's and waited out the heat for an hour or so. I then got up the courage to continue. Luckily 40 miles east of Kingman, you start to go up in elevation, so the temperature begins to drop. I never thought I'd be so happy to be driving in 98° weather.
This shot was after we had driven through the Imperial Valley. I'd estimate the death toll to be in the trillions.
Vision was severely hampered by all of the bug carcasses covering my visor..
What's in Lake Havasu City you ask? Why the London Bridge of course..
You can even drive over it.
Trees in Arizona? Yep, they exist. This is in Williams. About 60 miles south of the Grand Canyon.
Working on my self photography skills.
All the heat was worth it. Pictures may be worth 1000 words, but pictures can never capture the true beauty of the Grand Canyon. It truely is a place you HAVE to visit at least once in your life.
Another shot.
Park Ranger Wilit pointing out the Grand Canyon to anyone who will pay attention.
Kim watching the sunset.
Second attempt at self photography at sunset.
Day 6: Grand Canyon to Las Vegas. ~278 miles. Total gallons of water drank: 1.5
We got a late start due to exhaustion. We left around 8:00 am. Our original plan was to take Route 66 out of Seligman, to visit the Grand Canyon Caverns. Given the heat situation, we decided against it. Instead we drove straight through to Las Vegas. Another 118° day. Anyone who tells you the heat is bareable because it's a dry heat is a complete moron. I've heard the seventh circle of hell is a dry heat too, but it doesn't mean it's suitable for human habitation. We did pass by a lot of beautiful scenery, but because it was so hot, I wasn't inclined to stop to take a picture. So, you only get one shot from the Hoover Dam, and some random Vegas strip shots. On our 2.56 minute stop at the Hoover Dam, I happened to talk to some Harley riders who were cooling off. There were 2 bikes and one chase vehicle. The 5 of them were from Belgium, and were doing 7 states in 22 days. Very ambitious. They were absolutely burnt to a crisp. Gear consisted of a tank top, torn Levi's, a bandana to protect the coconut, and the obligitory gold eagle pendant on a gold chain.
The Hoover Dam. It's big.
Attempt #3 of self photography. This is in front of the fish tank at the Mandalay Bay.
Random Vegas strip shot.
Random Vegas strip shot #2.
Damn M&M hitting on my chick.
Since we had such a hard day, we decided to treat ourselves to some oxygen and a water massage.
Just a fraction of the money I lost gambling.
A shot from the Venitian. Such a lovely hotel.
Day 7: Las Vegas to Mammoth Lakes. ~301 miles. Total gallons of water drank: .9
Day 7 started with the best of intentions. Since we got back to the room at around 11:30 pm, we decided to sleep in and didn't get on the road until 9:00 am. We had about 300 miles to cover, 200 of which was through the wasteland known as Nevada. Why is this even a state? Anyway, we left Vegas with 112 miles on the odometer from the last fill up. Since I knew the reserve light came on at around 180 miles, I figured I'd fill up further down the road. We passed the first town outside of Vegas, Indian Springs, passing up several prime fillup spots. Next town on the map was Mercury; upon reaching Mercury the odometer hit 175 miles. Problem: Mercury is not a town. There is not 1 inhabitant in Mercury. It has a dot on the map for reasons unbeknownst to me. So here's my dilema... After passing Indian Springs, the sign read 50 miles to Amargosa Valley, thus putting the odometer at over 200 miles, I'm now at 175, and have at LEAST another 30 miles before the next dot on the map. I decided to press on, all the while praying that we wouldn't run out of gas in the middle of nowhere. For some reason, the sign for Amargosa Valley is 2 miles outside of the city limits, and on first impress, it looked a lot like th sign for Mercury. I thought once again, I was screwed, only royally this time. But the road crested and I could see in the distance there was indeed a gas station. I pulled into Nevada Joe's with 205 miles on the odometer. Thank God for the VFR's excellent gas mileage and tank range. I still had .8 gallons left in the tank, which theoritically could have gotten me to the next town, but I'm glad I didn't have to find out for sure.
I've never been so happy to pay for fuel in my entire life. Thank God for Nevada Joe's. Oh, and there was a brothel in the back. Go figure.
We were planning on stopping at a town called Lida. The word town was a gross overstatement. 3 shacks built in the early 19th century does not constitute a town. So we stopped about halfway between Lida and Big Pine, Ca to stretch.
This is Ca Highway 168. There are NO gas stations between Beatty, Nv and Big Pine, Ca. About 168 miles. However at Scotty's Junction, about halfway is the Cottontail Ranch. Guess sex is more important than fuel.
Day 8: Mammoth Lakes to Fremont. ~238 miles.
Our final leg of the trip. From Mammoth Lakes back home via Yosemite. If you've never been to Yosemite, then shame on you. It's an amazing place. It's so beautiful. It's another place you have to visit.
Kim checking out a pond in Yosemite.
Some random scenery.
The bike with Mammoth Peak in the background. We traveled from sea level to a height of 9,948 feet. This is the high point. Thank God for fuel injection.
Random Yosemite scenery.
Some guys rock climbing.
The Yosemite Valley.
All in all, it was a fun trip. Only a few close calls with some gravel, the heat, 2 jack rabbits, and 1 road runner (the real kind, not the one by Plymouth). I think next year's trip will be to Vancouver, British Columbia. I've done riding through the desert. I can stratch that adventure off my list of things to do.