Day 12 – Beach or Bust
We pulled off our plan to get up at 5:00, finish writing journals, and hit the road by 7:00. The perfect plan, yes. But one that landed us back in the LA basin perfectly at evening rush hour. Urgh. However, I suppose riding through 100 miles of parking lot in 90+ temperatures makes the allure of home all that more appealing while reducing the inevitable end-of-the-journey malaise.
But, let’s go back to the morning, because before arriving back in LaLa land, we had yet another outstanding day of riding, weather, and breathtaking surroundings. Rain-drenched Williams, AZ had magically transformed into a glorious vision of lazy morning sunshine as we rode off along the last high-altitude stretch – wearing only an additional long-sleeve shirt under our riding gear.
We cruised through (ok, not so much ‘cruised’ seeing as we had a 450 mile day ahead of us…) the mountains and dropped into the rocky high desert of Arizona’s Indian reservations. After Prescott the road started to twist, hugging massive flowering rock formations before eventually splitting into a one way one-way cliffhanger course of nonstop 20 mph turns. Meanwhile, the temperature was creeping up and by 10 a.m. it was already hotter than Hades.
After this amazing stretch, we dropped back into the desolate rocky Arizona desert that always comforts me because, hot as it may be, it is a signal that I’m almost home. (Almost home being about 300 miles away)
The rest of the ride is one I’ve done numerous times, lots of slab with little scenery. So, allow me to summarize: heat, heat, desert, highway, heat, tumbleweed, rocks, heat, I-10, Colorado River, bushes, heat, slab, slab, heat, California border, 107 degrees, slab, rocks, Blythe, gas, water, slab, heat, palm trees, Indio, heat, slab, desert, weird car, heat, Indio, slab, heat, Palm Desert, gas, heat, heat, slab, slab, heat, slab, traffic, traffic, traffic, BEACH!!
Woo hoo – Home!
