Monday, July 4



Washed clothes last night. Birdie washed her Ipad. Didn't do it much good, and it still doesn't work this morning.


The bikes were covered with dust and little spots where the rain had hit them. So much for them being washed the day before.

We'd gotten up early so we could visit Hoover Dam before it got too hot. We ended up going through Boulder City, and people were all sitting out in their chairs, waiting for their parade to start. We felt like we should be waving. They were sure eyeing us as we rode by. A little mini-parade of two.

We parked the bikes at the dam to the tune of $7 each, no breaks for motorcycles or old people. That reminds me, when going in to Bryce the other day I told the park ranger I was a senior. I got in for $10 plus it's a lifetime pass for all the national parks. I just have to show my card with my driver's license. Who knew? And here I'd been going to these parks and could have been in for free using my pass. Don't forget ... 62 and you're in for $10.


We had been going to ride across the dam, but instead choose to walk it. That was actually a lot more fun than the ride because you can stop wherever you want and take photos. It was great. Not too many people and not too hot. We had some cloud cover again, so that has really helped heat-wise.


We hopped on I-15 and hit Baker, California, which is located at the start of where we entered the Mojave Desert. It had been cooler earlier up at the higher elevation, but now the heat just hit you in the face like opening an oven door. We had on our neck snakes which help some and I have a hydration vest which is a necessity since I've had multiple issues with heat in the past few years, with each succeeding bout worse than the last. The vest may not keep you totally cool, but it sure helps keep the core at a more manageable temperature when riding in this stuff. Barstow was 95 degrees; Bakersfield 103. Sure seemed hotter as we were crossing the desert.


From there it was on to Bakersfield as we both would like to get service. They open at 8 a.m. so we want to be there then.

We were riding along and you could see a whole line of rain showers along with some lightning. It looked like we'd sneak through an opening, but that was not to happen. We hit a few drops and as we did we rode under an overpass. When we came out the other side, the skies opened and just let us have it. The wind was blowing and it was ugly. There was no other overpass in sight, so we had to push on. We put on our hazard lights and slowed way down. Traffic was very courteous and eventually we passed through the weather. We then skirted it for the rest of the day.


It appears we were pretty close to where my former co-workers and friends Jim and Cheryl live in Tehachapi, but a highway away. For us, that's as good as a hundred miles sometimes as we had to keep moving.

We did see a huge wind generation farm. There were all sizes of turbines, and from the distance it appeared they were only a few feet apart. They were were dense in population. Love those things.


Found the shop, got a place to stay and a place to eat. It doesn't get much better.  The Internet is slow, so can't get my photos uploaded.  Just words and gray space.


Good night, all.