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Woooowwwwww.... yesterday we rode to Mars. Seriously, it was another planet. We travelled some of the most inhospitablle terrain I have ever seen. And some of the starightest roads. And in unbelievable heat.
As a measure of the straightness of the roads... I have cruise control on my bike, which means I don't have to hang on to the handle bars... and I didn't... for TEN MILES. I sat there, with my hands on my knees for ten miles. Unbelievable. (Hi Mr Policeman, I am riding a green Kawasaki and I am currently in Illinois)
Cool bits of yesterday were seeing 2 volcano craters with thier black lava flows crossing the road in places (and yes, I collected my souveneir piece of lava :) We REALLY got into the desert yesterday; literally hundreds of miles of nothing punctuated by the remnants of towns. The photos just don't capture how huge the place is. (as an aside, I haven't seen a cloud for 3 daysm and I also have no bugs on the windscreen... its even too hot for the bugs)
Another cool bit (and when you read this you'll know how little we have to do to keep us amused), is getting the train drivers to blow their horns as we pass them. Yep, its that bad. :) So when we come up to a train I toot my horn and wave my arm and they blow their massive air-horns back. Its funny! :)
Gav, just for you: we passed a 1.8 mile long train yesterday, 3 engines on the front and 2 on the back.
Stopping is pain. Its apparently about 110 in the shade and its easy 50 celcius in the sun, so the heat off the engine, plus the sun, plus the hot wind means that we are dehydrating and cooking as we ride. We really can't stop in the sun, we just break out into an instant pool of sweat and if we did it too long we'd probably end up with heat stroke. This of course means the photos suffer (its just too hot to stop).
Yesterday we rode from Barstow in CA to LAS VEGAS BABY! :)) It was about a 270 mile day and we were riding for probably 7 hours with stops to take photos and marvel at the landscape. The contrast between Barstow and Las Vegas could not be bigger. We went from a roadside Motel in Barstow to the MGM Grand in Vegas, and FOR THE SAME MONEY. :) Its nuts.
Vegas was awesome fun, and we got out of there without even gambling a cent! :) Ted-Ted and Little-Dog hadn't been to Vegas before, so spent the entire time with their jaws on the ground. We went on the roller-coaster at New York New York, checked out the Coyote Ugly bar (cranking!), and then nipped down the Bellagio to watch the fountains and have another beer. Probably the last 'party night' we'll have for a few nights!
Today we had to back-track down south to join Rt 66 again and then across into Arizona.
If yesterday we rode to Mars, today we rode to a Western set (as in Western movie). We we riding amongst the stuff we have only seen in the Western movies, and then we came across a very Western-looking town in Oatman. There were literally Donkeys wandering the streets and the shops were all ramshckle and run-down. It was literally just as it was 100 years ago. (we were wondering if this weas foresight, or just making the best of a bad situation....?)
From Oatman we rode up over the Black Mountains to the highest point of Route 66 (3,550 ft seeing as you asked), and then down onto the flats and into Kingman, the spiritual home of Route 66. This town has EVERYTHING branded with Route 66. Yep, I had a Route 66 beer with my steak tonight. :) We are staying at a motel again... pretty expensive one... a room for the three of us was... .... $60. God bless America. :)
Its cool here because they have no helmet laws, so just before going for dinner we went for a slow cruise through town on the bikes in shorts and thongs and t-shirts. Dam cool. :) While ridfing around we came across something I didn't think still existed... a Flintstones / Grrease style drive-in where you order food from your car and they bring it to you, still in your car. Its so fuuny! "Hey darlin', wanna go out for dinner tonight, in my car? No, I really mean it, dinner IN my car"
Tomorrow we're up and looking around all the Route 66 stuff that Kingman has to offer, then setting off into the heat haze for the 5 or 6 hours across to Flagstaff. Arizona is where all the best Route 66 stuff is, so we're taking our time to see it, as well as doing the 200 miles a day we need to, so we are all completely knacked by the end of each day (there are two blokes snoring their heads off in the next two beds asd I type.
Time for me to do the same I think. :)) Enjoy the photos :) Might be eeasier to view them on Picasa at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/104094667716148238316/AcrossTheUSByHarley?authkey=Gv1sRgCNCOwOP3qpGlugE&feat=directlink
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