April 14, 2009

Day 2

The alarm went off at 6:00 AM. I didn't want to get up. I shut if off before it woke up my roommate, Bruce. We got up later, packed up our bags onto the Motors and walked over to the restaurant for breakfast. After breakfast, we all returned to my room and looked over the map. We checked out of our rooms and headed north at 8:48 AM to a Verizon store so that Bruce could get his phone worked on. It wasn't working very well. The Verizon store didn't open until 10:00 AM. We had traveled 2 miles and since the Verizon store wasn't open yet, we went next door to a gas station and filled up.

C.E. was up to lead now. We left at 10:43 AM and headed towards Death Valley. We entered Death Valley and rode for 76 miles and stopped at 10:28 AM at the Death Valley Fee Pay Kiosk. We thought that this was the place to pay for our National Parks passes, but we were wrong. While we were here, we took advantage of the facilities and too a pit stop. We left at 10:43 AM. C.E. led us westbound and at 11:02 AM after 12 minutes, we stopped at the Furnace Creek Ranch, thinking that this was the place to buy our passes. Again, we were mistaken. We left at 11:05 AM and continued.

We stopped 1 mile later at 11:08 AM at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center. It was 88 degrees and time to shed the jackets. We entered the Death Valley Museum and, finally, this is the place to purchase the passes! Jan had already purchased his pass before starting the ride. I got a free, lifetime pass because of my disability. C.E. and Ken each paid $10 for their senior, lifetime passes. Bruce and Chuck split an $80 pass which allowed two motorcycles to utilize the same pass. We were now ready for all of the National Parks. We left at 11:40 AM.

C.E. was still leading the group as we headed westbound and riding to a higher elevation. The road was a two-laned, winding road with dips and it was a good ride. While on this road, I dropped to the read of the group, set up my camera to "video" and started from the rear and took videos of each of the riders. As we rode to a higher elevation, it got colder. We got to an area that was 4,456 feet and it was 59 degrees! We stopped after 42 miles and at 12:22 PM. C.E. pulled over to the side of the road and we all put our jackets back on. We left at 12:27 PM.

We started heading down the summit and after 15 miles, we stopped at 12:42 PM in a small town named Paramint Springs, CA. It was hard to pronounce the name so we all called it "Peppermint Patty Springs." We stopped at a Shell gas station because Chuck was low on gas. The gas was at $3.20 per gallon for regular and Chuck takes premium! Chuck opted to wait and stop later. We left at 12:48 PM.

We were headed to the next town for the gas station. Just before we arrived, we drove through blowing sand. After 47 miles, we stopped at 1:41 PM in Olancha, CA and immediately stopped at a Mobile gas station. Chuck's motorcycle has a 5 gallon gas tank and put in 4.71 gallons! We all gassed up and there was a sub shop in the station. We were due for lunch and we ate. It was 64 degrees. We left at 2:49 PM.

Chuck was up to lead and he took over. It was windy and we spend a lot of time riding with a strong wind hitting our right side. At 3:28 PM and after only 43 miles, Chuck stopped at Brady's Mini Mart at the junction of Highways 395 and 14. As in the past, we like to stop after about 20 to 45 minutes after lunch so that we can take a pit stop and a break to "wake up." It was 63 degrees at this point. We left at 3:47 PM.

We were headed to Bakersfield for our next stop. As we rode on, the wind picked up. The wind was so bad, we were being pushed into the next lane! The wind was hitting us on the right side and we often times had to ride at an angle. The wind was also trying to take our helmets off! It was crazy and scary and a lot of fun! THAT is what motorcycle riding is all about! As we rode, we noticed that the cloud were very dark in the direction that we were going. It looked like it was raining. I told Chuck on the CB that we should consider pulling over the first chance that we could and put on our rain gear. It was getting colder! It got down to 45 degrees and it was starting to sprinkle. We needed to pull over and put on thicker gloves and/or more clothes. We stopped at a gas station in Tehachapi. CA for a pit stop and to decide whether we were going to continue for another 40 miles to Bakersfield or what we were going to do. I asked the young lady at the counter if there was a Best Western in town and she stated that there was one about a mile and a half down the road in the direction that we were headed. She also stated that there were several restaurants in the area. It was decided that we would look into this Best Western instead of continuing on to Bakersfield. As Chuck said, we needed to stop because of the "new guys in our group." I led the group to the Best Western Mountain Inn & Country Park Hotel since I spoke with the clerk and got the directions. We arrived at 5:05 PM after 3 miles of riding in 45 degree weather. We parked next to the office door and got three rooms. While we were waiting for our group to get all of our rooms, it started to SNOW! We quickly got our bags out and went to our rooms. After getting our stuff, we tucked our motors in for the night. We travelled 305 miles today in weather that ranged from 88 degrees to 45 degrees and snow. This is what motorcycle riding is all about...FUN! We will see what tomorrow brings...