DAY TWO: POWER RIDE

A great highway ride.  

A big part of this trip—the central event, really—is catching up with people. Richelle is in LA all June and July, so coming out was a no brainer, but as I got to thinking about all the people I know up the West coast it seemed like a pretty neat map.

The first visit of the trip was this morning with my dear friend Brian. Brian is many things: a Marine, a Professor of Business, a fellow seeker, and a gamer, specifically, of Dungeons & Dragons. Brian and I met during the quarantine in a game he was running online, and we’ve been friends since. We’ve never met in person before, so it was a blast to pick up the conversation in real life. And it did pick up. We talked right through breakfast at Park Cafe in Salt Lake City and ended up sitting on a bench for the morning.

Great to finally meet you in person Brian!

Thank you, again, for commenting on my endless gas station pictures. Thanks, Deb, for signing your comment! I can tell some voices from context, but not all!

I left Brian and rode I-15 straight to LA. No hail, but intense heat from St. George to Barstow.  

Two patched (outlaw) Harley riders were ahead of me in t-shirts, vists, and beanie helmets blasting through the desert heat, apparently unphased. I couldn’t keep up.  I had to remind myself of one of my rules for motorcycling: “Ride Your Own Ride.” I swear, Mesquite, NV, was a blast furnance. I don’t know how people ride directly under the sun.

There are a number of tough patches on I-15 to LA—cutting through Las Vegas can be brutal, and the straightaway to Baker, CA, is usually a lesson in high-speed tailgating; there is steep descent after Victorville that send the locals into a shark-like frenzy of cutting in an out, and the 210 to our house in La Crescenta can be chaotic—but all of it was calm and fluid tonight, with a nice overcast sky and a cool breeze.

I got in 13 hours after I left, including breakfast.  753 miles

I am headed for a shower.

Thanks all for reading!