Yoshua Tree - Free from Hail
Thursday, May 28, 2009, saw us leaving Flagstaff for California. The weather was sunny and cool - low 60’s. We head west and stopped at the Bellemont HD - a throw back dealer with a great facility. As we headed toward Kingston the sky opened up and we were greeted by our second meeting with hail. There is something wrong with hail in May and we rode through it and I had to laugh at riding in hail. The hail left me wet - no time for rain gear - only to be dry within 4 hours.
Going west we hit Route 66 at Seligman and went west on Route 66 to Kingston, AZ. Seligman was filled with nostalgia stops and venues - my favorite was the Road Kill Cafe - did not stop to eat and the name sounded great. The rest of the ride to Kingman was uneventful and not much to see. Kingman was our Route 66 termination and we filled our tanks for the next leg. We stopped at the Kingston HD dealer and had lunch along with discussion on where to head next. We received input that Route 95 south along Lake Havasu was the best way to go - it was a great recommendation.
We headed south on Route 95 to Lake Havasu and noticed that not only had we gone from a peak elevation of 8800 feet at the north rim of the Grand Canyon to 575 feet at Lake Havasu; the temperature had gone from 62 degrees at Bellemont earlier in the day to 102 degrees at Lake Havasu. We stopped several times to rehydrate. Along the ride from Lake Havasu we stopped at Parker Dam and at Parker, AZ we made a left and headed into California.
Entering California, the realization hit we are a day from the Pacific. We took Route 62 west toward 29 Palms and Joshua Tree. Route 62 was a series of long straight aways with no sign of life except the occasional car - great riding. As we entered 29 Palms after 109 miles on Route 62 we decied tro call it a night - the heat is definitely more challenging to ride in. At times it felt like being in an oven.
Today we ride through Joshua Tree and then end the day in Monterey.
Have a fabulous day!