U.S.A. 2023 - DAY 1, 2, 3 - L.A. TO BLYTHE

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Well here we are again, hitting the road on Harley Davidson Ultra Ltd's for our 4th trip. As I always mention when you are reading this blog, they are usually done later in the evening after dinner and maybe, just maybe a couple of drinks - bourbon or margarita's - a small keyboard, big fingers after a long day in the saddle. So please excuse any spelling errors. And you can enlarge the pics for a better look.

Day 1 - Arriving in L.A. at 6.30pm after a sleepless night on the plane, so a quick snack, shower and bed was in order.

Day 2 - Just a bit of a lazy day, a relaxing walk around Hawthorne, lunch at Chips Diner, over to Hertz Ride and meet Jim to finalize the paperwork for the bikes, then off to our favorite Mexican restaurant - El Torito just a block from our motel. Once again a marvelous meal and quite a number of margarita's, chicken enchilada's, prawn & chicken fajita's and a very sweet strawberry & honey dessert. Our Supreme margarita's came served in 'buckets' with Grand Marnier shots hanging off the rim holder, very impressive and must have been the best margarita's we've had - with the exception of Snapper's homemade marg's!

Day 3 - Left the motel and went to pick up the bikes - leaving L.A. at 10am and of course - my GPS didn't really want to play, so relied on intercom directions from Norm following behind as his GPS was almost on the right track. Fought the peak traffic for a good hour before a quick stop at Riverside HD. They have their WTC ride for veterans this Sunday, which is Memorial Day here, similar to our ANZAC DAY paying tributes to their veterans and those who paid the ultimate sacrifice during wars fought. We hit the freeway to Banning, then up an amazing scenic byway - the Esperanza Firefighters Memorial Hwy to Mountain Center which became the Pines to Palms Hwy thru to Palm Desert & Coachella. Once again the landscape changes did not disappoint, changing from high mountain desert, with cool pine forests to a hot windswept arid desert in the matter of a few miles. We hit the I10 interstate and headed for Blythe, CA for the night. A quick dip in the pool and dinner at Denny's. Only a few pics for this first blog, but many more will follow in coming days as we see more and more highlights.

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