Day 2 South West Trip

South West Trip Day 2 Friday May 5, 2017

Today starts in Bakersfield, CA
And finishes in Kingman, AZ
With a side trip Through Oatman, AZ
The little Route-66 town that time forgot

Places Visited Along The Way, Photos, and Notes

Woke up in Tehachapi and headed out on the highway by 8:00

Good thing I did, it was already about 78 degrees and rapidly warming
I'm glad I cut into today's route yesterday because
this was probably the longest day effortwise for this trip
and the segment between Barstow and Needles at over 140 miles
perhaps the longest segment with the possible exception
of between Salt Lake City and Wendover later
and this after the long stretch, 90 miles from Tehachape to Barstow

The desert goes on forever

First stop Barstow, CA where I join Route-66 (I-40)
They have opened a long new very nice stretch of Hwy-58 before it gets to I-40
The GPS on the bike was not aware of the change and since it follows
a very different path, the GPS struggled mightily but in vane
At last, I got to a point where the GPS recognized where we were again

The desert goes on forever.
It is so hot and so dry that they stockpile airplanes out here

Hard to see in these photos, but they're over yonder

Ludlow, CA is a ghost town. I got off the highway and
looked around and there was absolutely nothing of interest
I did not even dismount, but continued on

After forever and a half, I arrived in Needles
It was hot, 105 degrees and I was really bushed
I stopped in at the River Cafe for a sandwich
I have been here once before in 2010
I had an avocado and bleu cheese hamburger which I enjoyed

This is my third time visiting Oatman, AZ, it is always fun
On the way I passed a bank sign that said 109 degrees, whew!

final 12 miles is on Boundary Cone Road, not very good shape

The burros were out in force. Being a Friday, there were not all that many of us tourists

I shot one final Oatman photo at the post office
This shows I have been to Arizona, my second state this year

Kingman, Mojave County, AZ
Best Western Plus A Wayfarer's Inn & Suites 2815 E Andy Devine Ave

There is a Corvette club from Orange County here
Many beautiful cars in the parking lot

Mother Road HD sells HD's, Polaris, and Yamaha
I got a shirt (as if I need another from there) and some poker chips

Then, I made a rookie mistake. Across the street from the motel
is an Indian restaurant. In Kingman, AZ? How good can it be? Well, what the heck

A buffet, all you can eat. One table has vegetarian, another non
A third had salads, fruit and deserts
Turns out it is very good. I ate way too much and had a King Fisher to boot.
Now, composing this page, it is hard to concentrate, sleepy