ESCAPE

Some of my motorcycle trips are planned, where I do a great deal of research regarding roads, places to stay, and stuff to see. And then, there are the spur of the moment rides, where one minute I'm washing the car, and 30 minutes later, I'm on the Harley, heading off toward an unknown destination. Such was the case this morning, when in an instant, I decided to escape from my normal at home activities, and catch some wind on the bike. Unlike a lot of my friends who ride motorcycles, I'm one who cherishes the open road by myself, where I have no responsibilities to anyone but yours truly. Some might call that selfish, but I really don't care, because it's an escape, and a true sense of freedom that has worked for me, for a very long time.

Fortunately, I have a life partner who recognizes and accepts my need to get away from everything, and for a lot of years, that escape has been on the Harley. There's a saying in the Harley world that goes something like - "If I have to explain, you wouldn't understand".

Amboy, CA is on old Route 66 in the middle of the Mojave Desert.

So, this morning, without saying much more than "I'm going for a ride", Patty knew that I would be gone for a few hours, or perhaps as much as a couple of weeks. The one rule we have is that I call every evening, and tell her where I am. Many years ago, when we lived in CA, I remember calling at the end of a first days ride, and telling her that I was in Wyoming. That trip was one of 10, where I rode to the big motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D.

Today, I took off in a westerly direction, and veered off I40, west of Needles, and picked up a section of the old "Mother Road" that is still intact between Needles and Barstow. At Amboy, I put a few gallons of gas in the tank, and turned south off Route 66 toward 29 Palms. That's where I entered Joshua Tree National Park, riding south toward Palm Springs. This road through the park is one of the few roads in CA that I have never traveled. The road through the park is a great motorcycle road, with a speed limit under 45 MPH, and lots of curves.

Roy's in Amboy, CA has seen better times, but at least it's still open for gas, and a few conveniences.

When I left the National Park, I was near the north end of the Salton Sea, and I made a right turn toward Palm Springs. I ended up in Indio near the Riverside County Fairgrounds where we recently spent a week in the motor home at an RV rally.

Tomorrow, I'm going to head west over the mountains, and hopefully travel on a few more new roads that have eluded my quest for complete dominance of all major highways in CA. I'm getting close!