Well, the bank fiasco was one that ended up taking a serious slice of time and it was nearly noon before I was riding south, heading toward Las Vegas. Lacking the affinity for excitement like Hunter S. Thompson, I was trying to remain high on the highway and the miles simply began to slip by. I got gas in Hawthorne and chatted with a couple of veterans from Viet Nam and Korea who were on their way to the “wall” in Washington, DC. I was impressed by their dedication and conviction as they had more than just a few miles to achieve.
They, as others, were worried about my riding solo, so they offered to have me join them as they too headed for Las Vegas. One had mentioned riding 55mph which was enough to discourage me adding at least another hour in the already longish 8 hour ride. So, I continued on solo after bidding then a thanks, goodbye and safe ride.
I saw these wonderful things rigs outside of Tonopah. I had to wonder if they were vehicles made for Burning Man. I had to flip a U just to get some shots of them.
They certainly made for conversation for me and me! ; )
This was probably the first time that I made this trip that I was not concerned with gasoline. Usually, I am riding south to north and take a side road or two and end up barely slipping by on my allotted gas. This trip I simply filled up everywhere I could, topping my tank just in case.
I stopped a number of times to check on cell service so that I could phone home and let my wonderful husband know where I was, but to no avail. There didn’t seem to be any service anywhere. I finally reached him in Las Vegas, with a terrible connection. We tried to find a motel for me, but I had no interest in going into the heart of LV so instead I continued on towards Laughlin. It was dark out of Vegas and cool. I usually am not thrilled with night riding, but this trip was fairy tale like, with light groupings in the distance, and many stars lighting my way.
After a quick ride through Laughlin discovering just another tiny Las Vegas. I found an old school motel in Bullhead City, and called it a day 509 miles from my start in Yerington.
The following morning after checking my oil, I discovered the level a bit low. I rode to Walmart after packing up the bike to get a quart of oil and new headphones, after my good set of Shure sound-isolating phones, quit. Wanting to get out early, I arrived at Walmart right after opening, got what I needed and added 1/2 quart oil in the parking lot. After riding nearly 3 miles and covered in oil, I discovered that I had not put back my oil plug. OMG, what a mess!!
I slid (literally) into a gas station to survey the damage and discovered that my entire bike and me were covered in oil. I also knew that hosing it off was NOT an option. I promptly called in the troops, a motorcycle shop in Bullhead City called AZ Performance Cycle.
In less than an hour, the shop owner’s wife and I had the bike loaded in a trailer and we went back to search for the oil plug in the parking lot of Walmart. Amazingly…we found it. For some reason, by virtue of the shop name, I hadn’t expected a Harley shop, but they cleaned the bike up and had me back on the road at the low low cost of 80bucks total including towing the bike in. Phew…the ride moron good karma, holds yet again.
I could finally head to Oatman, AZ, the home those other asses!
Oatman reminded me alot of Virginia City, NV even down to the daily staged gunfights. Lucky for me, I missed most of the “wild west” show but did get to see the burros wandering the streets. They are wild but seem quite tame as they beg from the tourists. I certainly fell for it, buying my $1 bag o’ carrots to feed the wandering masses. I couldn’t help myself. They were cute!
A very pregnant burro
Now tell me how cute is this?
The Jackass Junction seemed more than appropriate.
When I arrived I was a solo bike. After only 15 minutes I was surrounded by a group of American steel and one piece of Jap crap joining mine! ; )
The road out of Oatman
The vista as I descended.
I knew that I would be arriving at my friend Renee’s home, later than expected, so knowing I would be late anyhow, I rerouted taking in some of the Prescott, AZ area. I could see the squiggly lines on the map and knew it was time to find some twisties. I did and didn’t get one shot!! I was in the zone.
The day’s route
