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Day 62……02/06/2012 Well there had been a few clouds bubbling up over the mountains last night, and after two weeks of not seeing anything but clear blue skies, they were a little concerning. So it was with a little trepidation that at 0700, we pulled back the curtains. Where did they all go? Not a cloud to be seen in any direction, a crystal clear morning, with terrific views over the mountains. This was good news, but meant that we would now have to get our skates on and get going. Our route today will take us out of the higher regions of Utah and down into the much lower plains of Southern Nevada, State number 20, and with that will come much higher temperatures. By 0730 we were fuelled and on our way. As we left the city of St George behind us we rode down through immense gorges that weaved through the mountains, vertical rock faces on both sides reaching up hundreds of metres, and then the final opening that revealed the wide sweeping desert floor that would take us through to Las Vegas. Taking in a fair amount of water at our last stop, we made the
dash down out of the mountains, the temperature rising with each mile travelled. After about an hour the tall hotels of the world famous resort appeared in the distance, and the traffic started to increase too. Las Vegas has become an immense city, and some are now saying that this will be its downfall, as there is not enough water to sustain itself, all I know is that it will be here until Tuesday. The Satnav took us directly to our motel just off the strip, which pleased Lynne no end, as the temperature was by now a little over a hundred, and the traffic was giving her a little trouble. We settled into our motel on Tropicana Avenue, and planned a sort of itinerary for the two and a half days we would be here.
Day 63……03/06/2012 Now Las Vegas has plenty to offer just about everyone, even if you are not much into gambling like us, then there is always the shopping, hang on a minute I’m not much into that either, oh well at least it’s not shopping in 102 degree temperatures, damn it is. We wandered in and out of the casinos getting respite
Venetian Casino, Las Vegas
All the photo's of the Venetian Casino are all inside and the sky is painted, and back lit, from the heat in the air conditioned splendour of the outrageously over the top settings, each one vying for your dollars. We had to admit though that some casinos like the Bellagio, and Caesar’s Palace are so over the top, they were quite brilliant, it must have been an architect’s dream job to have been given the commission to design some of these places. We also like the Venetian with its gondolas floating up and down the Grand Canal, and under the slightly smaller version of the Rialto bridge, most of which is inside the shopping area of the casino. That evening as the sun set and the thousands of twinkling lights and neon signs took over, the famous strip came into its own. Out came the suits and posh frocks heading for the various shows on offer, with most of the ladies trying to outdo each other with bling and makeup, and a few with silicone and spray tans, people watching in Vegas is such fun. We made our way back to the motel, all window shopped out, that’s the benefit of having no more room on the bikes, we can only look, much to Lynne’s disapproval.
Day 64……04/06/2012
We took the bus today to Fremont Street the historic district that used to be Las Vegas, in a time when the entire current downtown strip was just sand and dreams, and I remember that time just thirty years ago. The Golden Nugget, Freemont casino, and the 4 Queens, all places that you have seen so many times in any old films involving Las Vegas, now just consigned to being at the other end of the strip. I actually liked the old Vegas better, it has been made an historic district, and so has some protection against the build and destroy attitude of its more profiteering offspring at the other end of the strip. We took the bus back towards our motel, and had a nice meal in a fairly authentic Irish bar called “The Nine Fine Irishmen”, a political reference methinks. I had Sheppard’s pie, and Lynne Bangers and mash, just the job. After we visited the Harley shop nearby where we broke our look but don’t buy policy, well mine really, when Lynne spied a jacket that she liked, and off she marched with it to the till. We will now definitely have to post the
rest of our spoils to our friend Reg in Connecticut to make room on the bikes. One word of warning to anyone coming to Las Vegas that has not been before, well the men really, do not accept any of the cards or leaflets being constantly thrust at you, they just encourage the mucky exploitation of naked women, I know because Lynne told me so.
Day 65……05/06/2012 The plan today is to get up early, and beat the morning rush hour, and also to get a head start on the rising temperature that we can expect today, especially as we will have to cross the northern end of the Mojave Desert. Well that’s exactly what we did, and by 0700 we were fuelled and rolling. There was just one thing affecting our smooth progress South, and that was a fifty mile an hour side wind that was hell bent on making life difficult for us, on top of that Lynne’s throttle started sticking giving her grief when changing gear, oh and to top it all off there seemed to be a sand storm up in the distance. Luckily the sand and dust was a short lived experience and
we passed through it within a mile or two, just as well as it’s not the sort of thing you want getting sucked into the engines for any length of time. We entered California, State number 21, and the further South we travelled the less the wind was a problem, and neither was the predicted temperatures, in fact the ride became quite pleasant through the high desert of the Mojave. Around mid-afternoon we got to the town of Barstow, and rode for a short distance on the old route 66, this section was definitely not as well preserved as some stretches we had been on in Arizona, but I guess it was the 66 none the less. We found a post office, where we mailed all of Lynne’s accumulated goodies back to Reg’s house in Connecticut, which has become the holding depot for all her spoils, of tee shirts and trinkets, ok so some of it is mine, I did by a fridge magnet. As we rode further along the 66 we found this great little motel that was at least doing its best to keep the spirit of this historic road alive. There were old 50s cars of one
type or another, signs, and period items of the bygone era all of which made for a very nice night stop. I got Lynne’s throttle fixed, and later that evening we found yet another Mexican restaurant, to try more recipes from South of the border, delicious.
Day 66……06/06/2012 How fitting that on day 66 of our travels and it being the 6/6 we would be leaving the little Route 66 motel and travel a few more miles along its path this morning. The plan today is to ride to Bakersfield some 150 miles west. The route although fairly straight will take us up and over the southern end of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and even though these are just the lower end of this huge range the scenery was just beautiful, at times resembling the mountains of Spain, and then as we passed through the forests of Joshua trees it brought you right back to the US. The winding uphill mountain roads eventually gave way to the most perfect descent through narrow gorges with massive rock overhangs, and all the while on our right side, a river that changed from raging rapids to almost still deep pools, and
then back again. It was almost an anti-climax when we exited out through the western side of the mountains and on towards Bakersfield.
Day 67……07/06/2012 We have booked an extra night at the motel here in Bakersfield, because today we will ride a 300 mile loop to visit the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks which are in the heart of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It was a little over 100 miles to the start of the first park, and after entering we were greeted by one of the most twisty roads that I have ever ridden, and I have been up and down a few in my time, and I was also glad Lynne was on the back rather than fighting this one. We snaked through the giant forests, with trees so tall that at times it was almost dark. The Sequoia as you may know are some of the tallest trees in the world, and this park was home to the tallest Sequoia of them all, the “General Sherman” this tree is 274.9 feet tall with a circumference at the ground of 102.6 feet, the diameter of its largest branch measures 6.8 feet, and it is
even more awesome than all of those facts when you are standing at its base looking up. A great day’s ride of which almost all bikers would do anything to undertake and we are having them day after day, what a life.
Day 68……08/06/2012 Heading towards the coast today, and with that came a little more traffic, but at least the speed limit for trucks here in California is 55mph, and due in part to the heavy fines it keeps them a little restrained, we even managed to pass a few for a change. We arrived in Camarillo, around fifty miles from Los Angeles, and we will stay here for two nights, tomorrow we will ride into the city that realistically stretches for around fifty miles and over time has just swallowed up all the small towns along the coast. We will pick out the highlights to see, Hollywood boulevard, Malibu beach, and Beverly Hills, where we might even put a deposit down on a summer home, yeah right.
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Ian
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bin there
Stayed in the golden nugget, fab hotel got most of them pics ( boring ) haha. how nice to have good old bangers and mash eh? Shame you didn't get to old town at night 'n' see the overhead tv, Oh. and visit Hogs and Heffers . You both would have liked that ! Why not pop back it aint far lmao