Day 10, Back on the street again.

Up, brekkied, loaded and on the bikes by 8am. This is the start of Part 2 of the Wild West tour and we had 6 newbies joining us.

They are;

Elizabeth (another solo riding cowgirl) & Johan, a Swedish couple, Paul & Steve, from the UK and Martin & Ryno, from South Africa. The latter pair are sharing one bike (there's trust for ya!).

We headed out of Vegas and headed for our first stop, a fuel stop, in a place called Pahrump! It was already quite warm. Pahrump is in what we might call the commuter belt, except there isn't much between this place and Vegas, Apparently though, when property got too expensive in Vegas, the place was where they decided to build. To be honest, it looked a bit of a dump, its main claim to fame seemingly that it boasts 2 firework producers/sellers.

Refuelling took an age, due to Cletus behind the counter, who would only allow us to use one pump for 12 bikes. With a limit on the amount you can spend in one hit, like in UK, it meant having to reset the pump in order to continue, and each time Cletus wanted to see the credit card he'd already swiped!

Job done, we ventured back onto the open road and our appointment with hell, Death Valley. Don't believe people who tell you it is hot, it's FREAKIN HOT!! As you drop down into the valley, you become increasingly aware of your body being on fire, metaphorically, obviously. Dean's favourite saying, 'altitude is our friend' couldn't be more true in this blisteringly hot and desolate place.

We stopped for a photo at the DV National Park sign, then onwards into the cauldron and a place, aptly named, Furnace Creek. Furnace Creek's claim to fame, is that it sits at -190 feet below sea level. We stopped there for some refreshment and to get the cooling jackets on. As we got back on the bikes, Carl's temp gauge on his Honda ST, said 115F!! Off we went, back into the blinding sun. It could almost have been as though someone was training a magnifying glass on us from above, it was that hot. Phew!

And it's like a bloody furnace too!

Another short hop and stop for refreshment and before long we were exiting the DVNP and on our way to Bishop, where we would have our lunch. Lunch for me today, was a BBQ ham sandwich, with fries and a salad.

With another fuel stop, we were on our way again. About an hour away from Mammoth Lakes, we made our last stop of the day at Erick Schats bakery. This is a bakery started by a German immigrant way back in 1907 which is renowned now for the quality and variety of the breads, cakes, biscuits, etc, it produces. I bought Butter Brickle (cookies). Yum!

A shortish run saw us into our digs for the night, the Alpenhof Lodge. We are up in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada now and the temperature for tonight is destined to be about 38F. A far cry from that we experienced earlier in the day.

Dud and I went down to the bar for a beer and ordered some food. Soon we were joined by Cheryl & Geoff, then Graham & Jan. It's nice to relax with these people after a hard day of riding, where you only really get to snatch a few words here and there. 

Once again though it's blog time and then bed.

Tomorrow we have a lie in. Only about 200  miles to ride tomorrow and most of the day will be spent in Yosemite National Park. I wonder if we'll see a bear?