March 12, 2009

Waking up in a room was much better than in a tent! Eric felt alive and ready to take on another 400 miles. The weather was nice, but overcast so we still bundled up a bit for a full day of riding. We set off on I-15, but stopped in Temecula, Ca at the H-D dealer. What a refreshing difference as we were well received there in contrast to the cold reception in Yuma. From Temecula, we merged onto Ca Hwy 79 which took us to Ca Hwy 371. What a blast! Until this point I had a pretty bad impression of Ca, mostly due to the brown streaks that had been left in my underwear the day earlier on the freeway. But Hwy 79 and 371 were so much fun and good riding! They were twisty but still straight enough to get some good speed going as well. It all got even better once Hwy 371 ended and we continued east on why 74. There was a stretch on Hwy 74, right before we came into Palm Desert, Ca, that swept back and forth and again was a motorcyclist's delight!

The weather in Palm Desert was amazing and it is no wonder so many people retire in that area. From here we jumped on to Interstate 10 and rode east until we pulled off, on what I would call one of the straightest and most barren roads I've ever ridden: Hwy 177. It is just a straight road (I take that back it has one crook in it where it turns a little more north) out in the middle of the desert. It ran into Hwy 62 which is identical to Hwy 177 except that it runs east towards Az and Lake Havasu City where we were heading. Along Hwy 62 we came across a couple of foundations, all that were left from a structure fire from what I think was once a gas station. Along the fence that was around the foundations people have hung shoes. Yes, passers by have dropped off old shoes. Some with notes to passed loved ones and some with the date they passed by on the highway.

Shortly we were on Hwy 95 and then right into Lake Havasu City! What an awesome place! Every other car we passed on the main street in town was a classic car that had been restored to show room condition! Our first stop was at the In & Out Drive In. We ate at everyone we came across on this trip. I'll bet I ended up eating about 12 In & Out burgers on the trip all together. From here we checked out the London Bridge which was purchased and relocated to Lake Havasu. It set a record as the biggest antique ever sold. We headed on out of town we were going to keep going, but we were tired. So we turned around after we had left Lake Havasu City and got a motel room. These were the end of our camping days.