The drive to SoCal to pick up the new bike was trying at best, being we got into some horrid LA traffic, not knowing any better. Friday afternoon is not a good time to take any sort of freeway travel, and here we thought we’d make up some time and ended up in what appeared to be a very long parking lot. After nearly 2 long hours in bumper to bumper traffic we finally arrived at Hutchins Motorsports a mere 2 hours after we thought we’d be there. Sadly, our diabetic kitty required Gary to simply flip around and head back home, which made for a very long day. I on the other hand got a motel and an early morning start on my sojourn east to better weather to do the break-in ride for my new Kawasaki Versys.

We did encounter one very special Royal Enfield in Fresno when we stopped at a BMW dealer. Check out this totally decked out RE.

From the rear…Gary thought the gold balls were a very nice touch.

Where was his passenger?

The owner of the bike was a colorful as the bike itself.

The morning after picking up the bike I headed to Joshua Tree NP where I knew there would be a few twisties, even though the speed limit is 45, I figured I would get to feel the handling of the machine. The day couldn’t have been more perfect and the bike was a gas, without using much 😉

This plant reminded me of a little alien.

My first fill up…geeze!!

I made it to my friend Roger’s home near Phoenix around 6pm. He rode out to meet me, and we proceeded to his home for a nice night of family camaraderie. What a treat. His dog Snoop and I bonded immediately!

The following day after a very leisurely morning, he escorted me out to old Hwy 60 leading to Globe, AZ as I was planning on making my way to Lordsburg, NM.

I had a wonderful ride through Superior and Globe revisiting the photographs that were still fresh in my mind from my post regarding the old Hwy 60.
Both the following shots were shot while riding and sadly aren’t as clear as they should be, but you get the idea.

As I made my way to Lordsburg, the day was waning and the sky began its bedtime dress. I shot a few photos while riding that after I arrived in my motel, I quite liked the result! It was an amazing sunset.

A fit ending to an amazing day!

Tomorrow on to Truth or Consequences, NM and some dear friends.