Well, we made it home after a week of ridding up the Colorado River and back. We headed out on April 10th with rain in the evening forecast. (Adam said it rained hard in Phoenix.) After eating breakfast in Wickenburg we headed west on 60 toward Parker. It was an easy trip with no traffic or bad weather, although the clouds kept us wondering. We spent the night in Parker and hit the Indian casino Blue Water right on the river. We returned to the motel just as it started to sprinkle. We parked the bikes and walked to dinner at the Mexican food place across the street. Boy were we glad we walked when we heard the thunder and rain while eating.
Saturday morning we continued our trip along the river to Lake Havasu. Spent some time walking around by the London Bridge and got a bite to eat before heading off again,riding north to Laughlin. Beautiful day and what a great ride. The scenery was awesome, I was so glad we didn't have traffic so we could take it slow and take it all in.
We took part of old route 66 from I-40, and other than a couple of other bikes, had the road to ourselves. Jerry, having serviced Laughlin back in his UPS days took us on a great outer loop around Bullhead City with a great view of Laughlin. He knows how much I hate traffic. Our luck held out and just as we were turning into the Aquarius Hotel/Casino it started to sprinkle and once again we were inside the parking garage when the rain began. Thank you God!
We were a week too early for the annual River Run Rally, but like us there were already other bikers enjoying the great spring weather. Our room had a great view of the river, at night it was hard to go to sleep while watching the lights hit the river out our window. We had fun gambling, didn't hit any big jackpots though.
After 2 nights in Laughlin we loaded the bikes and headed north again to Las Vegas. We took NV95 which I had never been on up through Searchlight. A long straight road through the desert with mountains on both sides. I need to figure out how to take pictures while I ride. As we rode into Henderson Jerry was looking for the Harley store. Someone stole my gas cap in Laughlin and he had given me his and had a washcloth shoved into his. With a new cap installed we headed into Las Vegas to our hotel New York-New York. What a nice place to stay, we had walked through before on other trips. The penny machines were nice to me, I hit a hundred dollar jackpot on one, not bad for a penny machine. Because it was slow in Vegas not many tables were open, I had to try Rapid Roulette (video). Although they spin the wheel in front of you and you play with other people it is not the same. I did have fun and again won a bit. Jerry played black jack as usual, the tables were not kind to him. Lucky for us he knows when to walk away and he enjoys watching other players almost as much as playing. Once again the rain came, our bikes were safely in the parking garage. Vegas was really cold, although you would never know inside the casino.
Thursday we loaded the bikes to head home. With bad weather in the mountains we had planned to drive home we altered our plans and rode back home following the river, staying in the desert. We dressed for the cold hoping to shed layers on the way home but it stayed cold the entire trip. We stopped in Searchlight to thaw and have a bite to eat, and stopped to rest again on the turn off I-40 toward Lake Havasu. The clouds followed us but we avoided the rain we could see in the distant mountains. The drive through Lake Havasu and Parker were again beautiful from a new viewpoint. After getting gas in Parker we were off again, but by Wickenburg needed to stop to rest and eat before the last leg home. 330 miles in one day! Our trip total was 730 miles, every mile a memory.
Jerylin and Talen enjoying the ocean as we head to the fish market to get some shrimp for dinner. Shopping is always fun, Jerylin bought a new purse, always something new along with all the same old stuff. There weren't the usual crowds this trip, the bad economy hits everyone. The good part is no lines at the border on our return trip. Traveling long distance with a baby is tough enough without waiting for hours at the border. We can't wait to head back down again.
