10 November

Dona goes to make the coffee whilst I am having a shower, but much to our consternation the jug is missing, but Dona uses her iniative and finds a replacement…the ice bucket!

We then go for breakfast-unusally for US this is a cooked breakfast buffet,with sausage,scrambled egg,hash browns and scones as well as the usual cereals & fruits.

We mention our predicament with the coffee machine and are told not to be so silly as the machine was for cups only!! Oops!

It's another Michelin man day - 36.5F as we set off

We take a lovely windy road down the mountainside,but Dona is the only one who manages to overtake the queue of cars in front of us to really make the most of it.
The newly named "Unity",the bald eagle seems to be enjoying the ride.

Down in the Valley the waeather has warmed up so we stop to strip of a couple of layers, I also get my first look at cactus.

We head up to Parker, where we stop for gas and water. We then cross over the Colorado river.

And the Zumo tells us to turn left & continue for 84 miles!

This picture just about sums up those 84 miles-long & straight , and very little traffic-the good thing is that does mean we can ride at 80-85,so the miles quickly zoom past.

I panic Scott at one point, as I go from being right behind him to disappearing  when I have to pull over as a huge swarm of bugs have headed straight for me and splattered all over my visor and I couldn’t see a thing, so I has to stop and wipe it clean.

At the end of this its a short stint on 10 before we turn into Joshua Tree National Park. Joshua Tree National Park Website

Whilst having a quick stop at the the Rangers office we get talking to another biker, this guy is from Vancouver and is riding a new bike he bought in North Carolina which he is riding home.

Another beautiful park where I will let the photos do the talking.

Ocotillo Patch

 

Cholla Cactus Garden

Joshua Trees...as far as the eye can see

As we leave the park, decisions being made about which way to go.

We turn left to Yucca Valley and find a Motel 8 with rooms.

We eat at Carrows-a chain a bit like Beefeater.  On the ride out of the park I had been thinking about what I fancied for dinner tonight and unusally I had an urge for a jacket potatoe...it turns out that Sue had been thinking the same-although in her case it was a Baked Potoatoe she wanted! The similarities between myself and Sue just keep on coming!