Day 138 – 25th April 09
Posted by TravellingStrom on April 25, 2009
Saturday – Twenty Nine Palms, California
Well, I was a bit seedy this morning after that concoction I drank last night which made me start late, who cares, not me 🙂 I only had a small ride today anyway, depending on what there is to see and where there is to stay.
I managed to post another blog update before getting on the road at about 11am or so. It was basically a reverse of yesterday arvo, back to that place called Baker, the only thing going for it is the largest thermometer in the world.
I fuelled up and had some lunch before locating the road to Amboy which is on the other side of the Mojave National Preserve.
It was still blowing its ring out which made for fun riding, not! As you can see, the flag is about rooted, it only has one star left and the Union Jack and I have had questions, are you a pom and one old chap asked if I was from Texas as they have a single star on their state flag. I am going to remove that tonight when I stop, hopefully I can get it replaced with a new one, hint hint 🙂
Not much to say about this part of the trip, it was cold and windy, there was some more large sand dunes near Kelso, in the centre, but I only had a passing glimpse.
And a few rock outcrops made an interesting break to the monotonous desert.
There is probably more to see here, but in this wind I was not real interested, I actually just wanted to rest for a while, so I thought I may stop in Amboy. Just before the small town, which is on Route 66, there is this tree full of shoes, I had heard about this but had no idea where it was, now I know and so do you 🙂
I had a quick look around the servo/shop but the motel was closed. I spoke to a local that was working there and he said they were slowly getting the diner side of the servo working then when the food starts producing money, they could start renovating the motel side of things. He said to go to Twenty Nine Palms for a motel, that was another hour away, no worries, off I go. They had this old Dodge patrol car there, quite good really, the old black and white 🙂
This road was quite barren with flat nothing on one side and weird mounds/hills on the other, I am not sure if they are natural or manmade?
Then I came to the conclusion it was manmade as there was a Chloride plant just up the road, but I am not sure if it is Sodium Chloride (salt) or not, it did not really explain, but the water’s edge looked like salt.
More flat and boring landscape before I arrived in Twenty Nine Palms, although I saw a lot more palms than that!
I found a small motel, not too bad and it had under cover parking, except it was soft sand, so I parked the bike outside on the hard, I did not want the wind to drop it on its side again.
I had a relaxing time getting some blog stuff done, which I enjoy. I also fixed my loose mirror mounts and removed the tatty Aussie flag and folded the flag pole down and out of the way. After a while decided I may go have a beer 🙂 This was after 7pm mind you, so I walked up the road a while and asked a biker where the closest bar was, basically too far for me. I saw this other nice bike on the way back, but did not see the rider.
I ended up buying 3 large pint cans of Icehouse beer, some tucker and sorted some stuff out on the net.
It may not sound a very exciting way to spend a Saturday night in a strange town, but tomorrow I wanted to see Joshua Tree NP, so it was best I stayed quiet. Well, I did, until after midnight, lol, I got caught up watching a movie on the teev, the first time I have watched TV in the states.
Day – 198 miles and 319 km
Trip – 4,556 miles and 7,332 km
Cheers
TravellingStrom
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TravellingStrom 
Nigel said
Hey Richard,
Great to have a read again here. Sorry to see the helmet under the bike….nose first into the wind if possible.
I’ve just watched the first part of a Billy Connolly special. He did the NW passage and Canada, etc. I don’t know how far north you’re hoping to get, but if you get the chance look up the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia. It looks like the most amazing bit of road and worthy of the trip. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabot_Trail
No other hassles with the new Strom? You’ll be needing a service again soon?
Take good care of yourself,
Nigel
travellingstrom said
Hi there Nige
There is no chance of a nose into the wind, unless you are lucky, most times
it is get the best lean over angle and hope for the best. I am looking at
the google results for that Cabot trail righ now and will certainly keep
that one in mind 🙂
I am currently in Corona, near LA. I am having issues with my comms system
and also need to sort out the rear shock. After last nights
effort,(escorted home in a black and white) I am intending to stay here
another night before riding the freeeway system into Newport Beach etc.
The strom is fine, it needs a new front tyre, other than that no worries.
Cheers
TS
ybg said
T-rich,
I’ll vouch for Nigel. The Cabot Trail is great, along with the rest of the East coast. Nova Scotia, Gaspe, The North and South Shores of the St. Laurent, West Coast of Nfld, all should keep you busy for a week or two.
I’ve done it several times both on the bike and in the car. Once with the kids and the parakeet.
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Carleton&state=QC&country=CA&latitude=48.110081&longitude=-66.14138&geocode=CITY
travellingstrom said
Parakeet, I am too scared to ask 🙂
TS
TravellingStrom said
Hi!
Have you already seen that? It’s simply the coolest stuff I’ve ever seen! Just take a look here http://result.collegeboogy.com
Be well, Richard Winter
TravellingStrom said
Hey,
I’ve just read some interesting info and I wanted to ask you a couple of questions regarding some issues, here, take a look http://xn—–7kcaabltbiketrbgc4fepfhahda4b9v.xn--p1ai/federal.php?a8a9
Sincerely, Richard Winter
TSV-Strom (Pete) said
I noticed the “Disco” parked behind the patrol car at Roy’s has seen better days. Looked as though they had literally rolled into town.
On your travels you are going to taste a mighty range of alcoholic beverages, and I think it is your duty to all us home-bound folk to tell us a bit about what you’ve imbibed, the ones you like, the ones you hate, and the ones you wouldn’t even give to Lyell (if he drank). In later months you could write a compendium of international sources of social lubrication and name teh best and worst of the drinks you have tried.
Ride safe and stay away from anyone suffering from “pigfluenza”.
Anyway, a great read again. Keep it up.
cheers, Pete
travellingstrom said
OK, let us start from the fact that, “never” in all my days drinking
Bundaberg Rum, have I ever ended up in jail, or even close to it. Last
night I tried beer and rum, which is Samual Adams and then Meyers Rum and
coke. I have had this concoction before, but I somehow ended up going the
wrong direction(?) back to the motel room and took a ride in a Black and
White, yes a patrol car. The copper was quite nice, but get this, the motel
key card(swipe card) had no address or name on it, so where was I staying?
I had no clue, so I am currently abandoned and staying another night in
Corona 🙂
ps. I finally found where I am staying and found my bike, but am I crook,
yep!
I may need a hair of the dog this arvo, the barmaid was nice, her name is
Sarah 🙂
Cheers
Richard
Sags said
Richard
I am loving travelling with you mate.
travellingstrom said
Hey there Sags, have they got the rides sorted out yet, you know, fast at
the front, slow at the back, plenty of space in between?
Cheers
Richard