Day 1 - The epic voyage begins

I didn't get as early of a start as I planned to. It just took longer to get everything arranged on the bike. I also needed to do some relentless culling to get everything I needed, albeit at the expense of some of the things I wanted to bring with. HAM radio made the cut, but the charger didn't. As long as I don't play too much, the battery should last till I get home in case I need it for an emergency call. Mp3 player made it, but the charger didn't. Sandals didn't make it and neither did some of the extra clothes I was going to bring.

I passed a guy on a recumbent bike with a bunch of stuff strapped on about a mile before I got to Wickenburg. He came in to the gas station to buy some sports drink and I heard him talking with another customer and mentioned he has lived on the bike for 10 years. Among other things he had, I noticed a guitar. I guess that would never need recharging if you are living on the road. I was snacking on a bagel when he came out and I gave him one and he was really grateful. Seemed like a nice guy.

Even with the later start, I still made it out of the Phoenix heat before it was too hot. By the time I got to Kingman though, I was pretty warm. I stopped at Denny's and had some breakfast for lunch and started looking at the maps for the next leg of my journey.

The electric signs warned about traffic delays over Hoover Dam due to holiday travel. That along with no real desire to spend any time in Las Vegas made me decide to alter my route a bit and I headed out towards Laughlin and then West towards California. My campground spot won't be ready until at least Monday and maybe not till Tuesday, so I am in no real hurry. I will probably make it to somewhere around Death Valley later this afternoon and then I can get an early start and make it though before the sun has a chance to heat things up too much. Even if I stop for pictures (like that's not gonna happen) I will still probably make it to my campground by mid afternoon and see if they have a spot open for me and if not, still plenty of time to find another campground or cheap hotel.

Speaking of pictures, I didn't feel like stopping too close to home to take pictures that I can take on any given weekend, so I have only taken a few. They pretty much summarize the open road to me. Like Bob Segar's song that goes something like “I could go east, I could go west. It was all up to me to decide” That kind of sums things up for me right now.

From Yosemite_trip

From Yosemite_trip

Even with this heat, I've seen a ton of motorcycles. I realize how much I enjoy “the wave” when passing other bikes on the road. It makes me smile a bit every time I get a wave from a fellow rider. If you aren't a motorcycle person, I'll ramble in more detail about “the wave” in a future blog.

More tales from the road tomorrow.