Monday 25 March 2013

LEAVING LAS VEGAS

After a couple of days in Sin City it was time to hit the road towards the California state line. There were still chilling reports of winter weather up North, so Leana and I headed West through the Mojave Desert, mostly on Interstate 15 where we were allowed to cycle. In the process we stayed in some crazy little places like Baker, where a famous shop sells "Alien Jerkey" (there are some of the little green men outside, with the one from "South-of-the-border" seemingly showing only 1 finger). Also in the desert we passed the Edwards AFB (known for space shuttle development), and we stayed in Mojave town which is about as sad a place as the aircraft graveyard situated there. There are little roads turning off to Death Valley, military areas, and also to nowhere. Then we climbed through a range of hills which signals the divide between the desert and the Central Californian Valley. This is a virtual wind tunnel, with hundreds of turbines. On the way down from the hills I managed to snap a pic of the elusive Mr Wyle E. Coyote. We camped at an RV park in Bakersfield, where Shaun, Mike, and Syd from a demolition company were also staying while pulling down a local power station (they invited us over for food and drinks). Also in Bakersfield I found a nice set of Serfas tyres (thanks Martie in SA). Heading out of Bakersfield through the central valley we passed the oil fields with hundreds of the large silent oil derricks nodding their long necks over the black wells. Also in the valley we passed large budding orchards, the falling blossoms resembling snow. As we headed over some more hills (past the road junction where James Dean died), closer to the coast we also cycled through the Paso Robles wine country. The surroundings were definitely becoming greener as we approached the coast. For the second time on this trip my front rim wore through from the braking, and thanks to Leana I fitted a nice Mavic rim in the regional town of San Luis Obispo. We also eventually got our bank on the phone, and ordered new cards as both our bank cards are about to expire (in any case, I lost my card ages ago in Nicaragua - so much for my finances!) We eventually reached the California Central Coast at Morro Bay, where we are still marking time. Our bank cards are to be sent to a place close to here, so we have been camping at 2 state parks around here,and will probably camp a few more times in the vicinity. Distances cycled since my previous post have been:- Primm 70 km; Baker 82 km; Yermo 108 km; Boron 77 km; Mojave 55 km; Bakersfield 93 km; Bakersfield town 50 km; Blackwells Corner 111 km; Paso Robles 95 km; San Luis Obispo 51 km; Morro Bay State Park 35 km; Montagne De Oro SP 25 km; and Morro Bay 25 km. The total distance cycled on this trip in the 6 years so far is 106 692 km (66 683 miles). The distance cycled so far in the USA is 2 066 km (1 291 miles).

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

6 years tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

Enjoy highway 1.