Total: 237 miles
Estimated travel time: 3:51 hours
[Sunday - March 15,
2009]
Wow, I actually feel better. All those layers of clothes in
addition to the Buff on the head really helped. The throat is
still a little
itchy, but it's not as severe as yesterday. This morning is just
about time when it's sinking in that we're on vacation.
Unfortunately, it's right at the same time we have to head home.
It's the same usual stuff. Time to pack up and head on out.
At one point or another, David bids us a fond farewell and heads on out
also. We'll most likely see him back at work in the near future.
Any thoughts of getting breakfast at the restaurant
across the street went out the window. It's 10:30am and breakfast
stops at
10:00am. Oh well, it looks like we have to get something on the
way out. Panamint Springs is a good a spot as any to get some
food and fuel. Checking in with the significant other?
Forget it. This won't happen
until we are close enough to the a major city or in proximity to a
relay station. Jokes and obscenities aside, we're off and heading
towards Panamint Springs. It's a cool late morning dotted with
areas of thermals that raises the temperature. When I say raise
the temperature, I'm referring to low 60's. As we go through the
Panamint mountain range, the high altitude has the temps drop into the
low 40's. It's to be expected, when sections of the Hwy reaches
the 5000 feet mark. Yeah I know, those are warm temperatures for
you folks that live in places like Minnesota.
Riding into the horizon.
We stop to brunch at the Panamint Springs restaurant, fuel up, and head
back out.
Boy the 8GS makes the road much more enjoyable than it's suppose to
be. I remember doing this section of the Trona Wildrose Rd back
in the DV '07 trip and it was as vibbie as ever on the 12GS.
Funny thing was, both bikes have the same tire model (e.g. Micheline
Anakee). Proof it's not the tires. This road would be a lot
of fun if we are able to the climb out of Panamint Valley at speed as
we approach Pioneer and Trona. Unfortunately, we're greeted with
slow moving cars that can't handle the hairpins. Oh well, maybe
next time. Then again, I distinctly remember saying that two
years ago.
As we get out the tight stuff, and as the cars all start speeding back
up to 80 MPH, I get flagged down to pull over for a quick break.
Still no cell phone signal...
Look at all those colors.
Yes, the Captain and his middle of the road shots.
We pass through the town of Trona without flare and continue on Trona
Rd. As we reach a fork in the road, we make that slight left turn
to continued on with Trona Rd (e.g. instead of continuing straight to
Ridgecrest). I know where we come out on the 395 but this is my
first time on this section of Trona Rd. It's a fun little
road. It's out in the middle of freakin' nowhere so there are
hardly any cars. This gives us the opportunity to take our time
and enjoy the road and scenery. We encounter an occasional truck
or two, but most of them turn off to go off roading, or we wave them to
pass us. The wild flowers are blooming right now so the high
desert is full of color. Well, yellow, green, and purple.
It's beautiful. This is also the greenest I've seen the high
desert in a long while. When we reach a good expanse, I have to
be a tourist.
Still no cell phone signal...
When the flowers bloom, the bugs will come. This is only the
start of it. Later on I receive three big yellow
bug smacks on my face shield.
Wild flowers of the Mojave high desert.
Oh man! The bugs are out in droves. The face shield is
covered in large yellow bugs spots and I can barely see though the
shield. I had to resort to riding with the face shield up and
just use my goggles. Of course this makes the helmet a lot
noisier at 70 MPH. After a while, even my goggles start to suffer
the same fate as my face shield.
I dread it but I see civilization looming in the distance. All
the signs of life come in the form of crazy cagers. The minute we
pull onto the 395 heading south, we're confronted with a massive amount
of traffic. Everybody is always in a hurry to get wherever.
75 MPH is not good enough. They have to be doing at least 90 MPH
to be happy. Either that or they have to pass you with extreme
prejudice to be happy. The unfortunate part is the minute we make
that slow rolling right turn just east of Saddleback Mountain on the
395, near Kramer junction, we encounter the forever present Mojave high
desert west to east wind. All environmental conditions hint to me
... Oh yeah, I'm on a GS alright. I get whipped around like a rag
doll. My thought on this whole bit, "I remember this when I was
on the 12GS doing this same stretch of road." This time around,
I'm more mentally prepared so it doesn't effect me as much. It's
annoying, but I manage. I guess it's all part of riding a GS.
We pull over at the Astro Burger and take another break.
Finally! Houston! We have signal! Nu calls his
girlfriend, The Captain calls... somebody, and I call my wife to let
her know, "... I had forgotten there was no cell phone signal in Death
Valley..." Am I happy that I have cell phone signal? Kind
of... I guess. If I had taken the SPOT with me, I wouldn't have
need a cell phone to check in. I have to rig that thing to my
bike for the next long trip. That way I don't have to cell phone.
Continuing on the 395 south, we are greeted by a lot more of the Mojave
high desert wind. From Kramer junction all the way to Adelanto, I
was hanging off the right side of the 8GS in order to keep the bike
upright, and going straight. I can sit upright and cant the bike,
but when a gust hits, it feel really funky. So right knee
dragging I go. The scary thing about all this, the cagers are
desperately wanting to pass because 70 MPH is too slow for a 65MPH
Hwy. Ah the wonders of civilization.
The Captain got separated from Nu and myself when we tried to fuel in
Adelanto. Making a last minute left turn decision didn't help at
all. That's OK, the Captain went down the road a bit, even tried
to do a U-turn (without success), went somewhere else to fuel up, and
headed for home. After fueling Nu and I pretty much did the
homeward bound thing.
It has become a regular occurrence after 5 years of riding long
trips. It is now ingrained into my psyche that the end of every
long trip will be chaos. What chaos? The chaos of
civilization. The further out from civilization you go, the more
civility you will encounter. The closer to civilization you are,
the more civil unrest you will see. You should fear this because
it might kill you one of these days. Time and time again, I am
reminded of how much we have lost touch with our inner self. How
we are in a hurry to do and worry about things that make us forget we
are alive. Come on people, wake up from this slumber. Slow
down a bit and remind yourself what life is about. You'll find
that you'll like it. Laugh a little or a lot. It can only
help you.
