The wind was terrible! The driver is somewhat protected by the windshield, but the passenger's head is doing the bee-bop-alula! At some point, you just hang onto the person in front, try to keep no daylight between you, and grit your teeth, all the while grit is getting in your teeth! At Tonopah we stopped at the Clown Motel, fitting, huh? The next day - finally - the Eye on the Prize began some serious viewing! We were able to begin the fine art of stripping - first the leather jacket, then the next layer, then the next - coming from 23 degrees to 90 degrees F takes some effort!
In Las Vegas we were able to stop and enjoy the sun and warmth! Had lunch and prayed our way through the Vegas traffic. We saw on TV earlier that a dump truck had dumped its load right on the highway we were going to traverse. They had time to clean it up before we arrived. Gravel and bikes do mix, but they shouldn't.
Then, the clear sailing, beautiful, hot drive to Kingman! I saw more beautiful flowers in Nevada than I have ever seen before - Spring in Nevada is the time to go! The cacti have beautiful flowers as well as the tiny yellow flowers that were all along the roadway. We started seeing the bikes as well.
The War Pony was terribly dirty. We met some riders who came from Salt Lake City. They thought they had a long trip until they heard how far we had come. We had gone about 850 miles. We did have the dirtiest bike! As soon as we checked in to the motel, we dug out the always present cleaning materials. The motel supplied a bike washing area. We hosed him off and shined him up to prepare for our arrival in Laughlin.
There were so many bikes - all kinds, all colors, all sounds! I cannot do the River Run justice by mere words - one would have to be there and I strongly suggest that it be done. At one time in the past there were gang problems but not at this time.
We drove with many others from Kingman to Laughlin, about 30 miles. It was at least 90 degrees F every day we were there. We went from Kingman to Oatman, where the burros take over. The trip, about 20 miles from Laughlin, consisted of bumper-to-bumper bikes. I know, bikes don't have bumpers but you can figure it out. In Oatman, there was standing room only - no place to park - so we just drove through, very slowly and very loudly! Most riders turned around at the end of town, which is just a couple blocks, but we went on the 'back' road to Kingman, the old Route 66. It is a gorgeous ride, lots of turns, and much cooler than the Laughlin side.
More tomorrow about the ride home.
No comments:
Post a Comment