My desert rose

Im not sure what time zone my body is on. It felt like 1am last night while it was only 9PM. I think I slept good, and I know I dreamt a lot, but cannot remember for the life of me, what about.

I got a good start this morning. hit the road about 8:30AM. It was a bit chilly, but by chilly I mean, on the bike, cruising at 70mph speeds, it was light jacket weather. I was heading southwest towards Phoenix. The sign by the road immediately said; CHAINS or SNOWTIRES a must!

Weird

The desert sands that accompanied me from NM to here were getting replaced by HUGE mountains. I saw some really amazing scenery today on route to Phoenix. I even saw my very first cactus. Not first cactus ever per say, but first cactus that looked like it was out of a western movie or even a charlie brown cartoon, when snoopy went to go visit his Uncle who lives near a cactus. According to google maps, I rode through Tonto National Forest, into Scotsdale and then Phoenix. Nice ride this morning for sure. Then it got hot, and it was tee shirt weather all day!

I then continued west on Interstate 10. Which was straight and straight, and

straight!

I looked to veer off the hwy many times, but seemed to not be many choices. There was desert, and huge brown mountains, and veering off into the great unknown seemed a bit TOO adventurous, even for me. So I continued straight on hwy 10 which took me into California finally.

It was a not a huge transition getting into Cali, but mind you I am still pretty much in the Southeastern area of the state. I did get to ride by the Joshua tree national monument even while the band U2 amazingly started playing on my ipod. Swear! i also was chatted up by a very cute girl at a cafe in the desert while I was just sitting and chilling out. taking a break from my ride. She was originally from California. I forget where now, but no matter. Was just nice to talk to someone, especially a cute girl.

After my nice chat, I rode about 50 feet over to the General Patton Museum, situated also in the middle of the desert. Very odd. I didnt go in, but did snap a few pictures which I hope to upload later.

So, we drive onward, and westward. The next stop. Palm Springs. Where I stopped only for fuel, and was not sure what to expect, but I looked around and wasnt impressed. Then came about 10 miles of the biggest wind farm I have ever seen!! It was insane. crazy. overdone really. Thousands of giant windmills, maybe more. they cluttered both sides of the road. Up high on the mountains, and down low in the valleys. You couldnt quite fit any more. I used to think those giant windmills looked so cool, but not here. here they were trashy and gross. They were cluttered and just dropped into any space they seemed to fit. It was also super windy here. I guess that should go without saying. You don't have tens of thousands of wind mills if there ain't no wind!! So, the next 10 miles were windy as all heck, and it wasa b**** to stay on the road, but after those 10 miles I was in...

CABAZON

Cabazon, is probably a speck on the map, But it is UBER famous for just one thing. The Dinosaurs from the movie "Pee Wee's big adventure" Just about one of THE best movies ever! I purposely went this way ONLY to see the pee wee dinosaurs. I got off the exit, made a quick right, and there they were. Standing super tall and dwarfing the Burger King....yes Burger King right smack next to them.

I got off the bike, grabbed my cameras and snapped away. I immediately called Kayleigh right after I pic msgd her a dinosaur picture. She immediately knew where I was. i wish she was here with me, We'd have SO much fun. We'd probably reinact the scene from the movie. It would rock!

So, much to mine and everyones dismay. I could not go inside the dinosaurs. I did see a way in and a sign saying enter at your own risk, yet all behind a huge fence. So I think Maybe since it was around 5PM when I got there, maybe it was closed for the day. Im not too sure. But I snapped many pics, and was SOOO glad I made it here. Twas a great day indeed!

So, all in all, today was a good day. Was sunny and hot at about 90+ degrees, yet no humidity. So a clear day, all day, and a great ride, and something...I'm not sure what, kept the demons at bay today.

388 miles today

768 total, so far on this trip.

Tomorrow I ride to Hollywood. A short 2 hour trip, and get to chill. Scott, the guy playing Dan in our movie is chilling in hollywood, and looks like we're both going for a motorbike ride into the canyons or something. I also hope to meet up with a few other friends I know in the LA area.

Desert Rose is an Eric Johnson song that started my morning out on the right foot. It's amazing how the RIGHT songs can put you in the RIGHT mood.

-g