Day 3 - Henderson, NV to Springdale, UT

Well.... today was one of the unplanned events that seems to turn these trips into an adventure. We left the Las Vegas area early and only had to ride about 180 miles. We had planned on getting to Zion Park early and take the day to explore inside the park. However at our last rest stop (only 50 miles from Zion) my bike wouldn't start. So we got to experience (yet again for those who recall last years blog entries about our Alaska trip) the pleasures of roadside assistance, tow truck drivers, and waiting and wondering.

The real burden fell on Walt. While I was in the tow truck Walt rode back to Las Vegas. Although the mileage on just one leg was not too bad the heat of the day (105 to 110 degrees) and the fact that Walt had to ride it THREE times made for a KILLER day. Walt is an amazing person and an amazing friend. While I was calculating and figuring out worst case contingencies Walt remained hopeful and positive that the problem would be diagnosed and solved quickly.

BMW of Las Vegas helped us out and got my bike checked out right away. The problem turned out to be a bad battery. The battery was only a year old so we're assuming that perhaps the heat was just too much for it. From now on a new battery will be part of my trip preparation!!!

My bike was ready to go at 5PM. After a little consultation Walt and I decided to go ahead and ride back to Zion again and get the trip back on schedule. We knew it would be a hard day and that we'd get to our hotel after dark but the alternatives were less desirable. For Walt this meant he had to ride 500 total miles today in desert heat. For me it worked out to mid 300's.

We got into Springdale, Utah about 9:30 in the evening. Riding in the evening hours was really a nice treat. The heat dropped a little and we were able to see some of the canyon colors in the twilight of the day.

We were running the entire day on a small continental breakfast and lots of liquids (and a Clif bar for me) so getting a dinner in the evening was a real treat. The day ended quite well considering. We're staying at Flanigan's in Springdale. This place is really quite nice. The food was excellent. We got a good nights rest and all is back to normal.

Day 2 - Kernville, CA to Henderson, NV

We got an early start today and were on the road just before 8. Enjoy the pictures. We posted a lot because there they tell more of the story than the words will.

It was HOT. The guide at the dam said it was 115 outside. We couldn't find any thermometers. Do you know what the windchill factor is with 115 degree heat and 70 mile per hour wind???? 134 degrees!!!!!! We took as much advantage as we could of pouring water on ourselves. I got bold enough at one of the rest stops which had a faucet to just turn it on and run it over my arms and shoulders.

The only interesting landmark we saw on the way was a solar energy farm. After Walt and I explored it a little and were walking away there was a loud boooom! We both ducked and looked around for the explosives. Not seeing any we looked up and saw the aircraft contrails. This was different then the sonic booms I'd heard before. Not sure if or why they can sound different due to various conditions.

Because we started early we had time today to vist and take a tour of Hoover dam. Quite interesting to see it in person. After having seen several TV shows on the building of the dam one new piece of information I picked up was that there is a copper liner between the dam and the canyon walls. This allows a compression fit with the water pressure pressing the dam against the canyon and it allows the dam to survive an earthquake.

Tomorrow we have a short day riding to Zion. It should be cooler there and we'll have time to explore there.

Face of the dam 

Downstream from the dam 

Long way down! 

Tunnel to the dam 

Generator room 

Hoover Dam 

Thermometer 

Desert oasis 

Boooom! 

Solar reflectors 

Solar energy farm 

Hundreds of miles of this! 

Another lake view 

Lake Isabella 

Riverside Park in Kernville 

Kernville Inn 

Transients in Kernville 

Day 1 - Sunnyvale, CA to Kernville, CA

It took an hour or so to get out of the Bay area and start to enjoy the ride. We got some gas in Hollister and started riding on highway 25. This is a very beautiful ride. Walt and I took it about a year and half ago when the temperature was much colder. We say a bank thermometer as we were leaving town today. It was 77 degrees at 9:30. That was a very comfortable temperature. Vineyards are covering more and more of the this area. We saw a Napa-esque style house up on a hill overlooking vinyards covering the valley. Every time I see houses like that and wineries I'm reminded that there must be a LOT of money in the wine business.

The end of this segment put us into Coalinga and the heat began. Probably about 90 degrees. We can complain though. This is just a warmup for things to come as we head towards Las Vegas tomorrow. It did give us a little opportunity to test some cooling ideas. We filled up our empty water bottles and tried to drench our jackets. Walt tried the pour and rub approach first, I worked with the injected appraoch in which your press the open bottle top against your jacket and squeeze. Both approaches work. It makes things comfortable for 15 to 20 minutes. Then the water dries up.

As we came out of the hills just before Coalinga we could see the central valley all green with the farms and across the valley the snow capped Sierra Nevadas. We were anxious to push across the valley to get into the mountains. (Did you know that there is a Naval Air Station in the middle of the Central Valley?)

Once we crossed the valley we started into the Sequoia National Forest. Mountain forest is so nice when the smell of the pines hits you. The ride gave us plenty of time to practice our turns. We had about 70 miles of twisties. Mostly tight turns going up to the pass at about 8000 feet. (No snow here but we saw a couple small packs on some of the mountains.)

We got into Kernville about 5pm, settled into our room, put the bikes to bed for the night, and strolled over to a diner for dinner. Our waitress was very nice and took our joking with her very well. Could be an early bedtime tonight and an early start tomorrow. We'll let out bodies decide on when we get up but an early start will help us avoid some serious heat.

Mountains 

Heading into the Sierra Nevada foothills. 

The beginning!