2021: Death Valley and beyond

On thursday, i had the whole day to relax.  as a matter of fact, i thought i had till saturday wnen i would meet maurice in vegas.  turns out, i actually have till sunday before maurice comes in, 3 full days. so i walked down to the 'beech'.  one of the first things that strikes you is the fact that the water is so low. I imagine the campground was originally close to the water's edge.  well, now the water is 3/4 mile away +/-. and it's all rock, there's no sand.  and, like most beaches, there's no shade. railrod track from visitor's center to dam.  to build the dam, basically in the middle of nowhere, they built 3 separate railroads to get materials to the dam.  the last three miles of rail to the dam site were built by the government.  now it's a gravel trail from the lake mead visitor center to the dam.  there are 5 tunnels that were created in order to build it. afterwards, since i had nothi

early morning at the campground.  the birds have been calling for awhile now, the doves dominating the scene. and the great tailed grackle making a variety of noises.  people are slowly begining to stir.  quietly.  morning breeze, just like the beech.  one can feel the heat of the sun coming on.  new neighbors moving in, setting up, soft voices. much better than yesterday  and the night before when two trailers rolled in late, around 8pm, set up and started the party.  music blaring like no one else in the world existed.  and modulating loud then turned down then loud then silence then loud again.  on and on till quiet time at 10, which fortunately they adhered to.  at least music-wise.  but a group of men stayed up the entire night talking loudly and laughing and didn't stop till dawn.  the one trailer was quiet, but the were running a generator all night.  they woke up by 6, yelling for the dog, talking and cursing, packing up.  i had fears that they were here for the weekend. fo

i don't do sitting well. woke up this morning, packed, and noticed one tire was flat, the other low.  pumped them up and the seem to be holding air.  i started out the door and noticed the front wheel was loose.  upon further inspection, i found a sheared half a nut in the room, apparently from the axle.  fortunately, there is a bike shop a few blocks down, small, but they have a good rating.  the don't open till 10. i walked across town to have breakfast at mr. d's., then walked back. kingman is an interesting town. the town itself is shaped by all the rock formations around it, the interstate, which feels almost like a separate town, and the desert to the north and east.  andy devine ave, a.k.a. rte 66, is the main drag.  there's a parallel road one block over which is the main commercial downtown.  it's really wide, 4 lanes, with very little traffic. half the buildings are vacant, but there's an obvious attempt to build back taking adv

up and going early, at lilo's diner by 7:00 for my classic breakfast.   i sat debating two things:  1) to take I-40 to kingman or rte 66, which is 15 miles longer than the 75 miles by interstate.  didn't feel good about the additional mileage, especially since the wind was forecast to build as the day went on.  and 2) should i stop at the hardware store across the street and see if they have a screw to lock down my back rack.  i opted for the hardware store and it proved to be a very smart idea since the zip ties had already sheared.  and then chose the shorter, direct route to klingman. all day riding the interstate; hope not to do that again.  this was the last of interstate travel for this trip, i think.  it's another 15 miles to follow rte 66 to the north, with no towns and little perceived reward.  it was 75 miles by interstate to kingman, that was enough, i think. unfortunately, riding the interstate means that you won't get to see all the

i was nervous about starting out again, worrying about whether the issue with the bike had been truly resolved or not.   vegas is 220 miles from williams, 3-4 days ride.  a good chunk on the interstate.  much of it downhill with a 1,600 foot drop right outside of williams.  i'm altering my route a little and staying on the interstate till kingman, not taking the rte 66 loop up to the north.  looking at camping arrangements, i will stop in seligman the first night, only 45 mi.  good to ease into riding again.  that will leave me about 75 mi to kingman, before turning nw another 75 to lake mead outside vegas.  i actually need to slow down a bit as it works out, since maurice won't be in till saturday.  i'll reach lake mead on wed evening.  so two additional nights to kill.  probably spend a second night at lake mead, might try to get an extra night at our vegas hotel. riding was easy today, mostly downhill with a little wind in the afternoon but nothin

Hmmmm...i may forget what it's like to ride. my plan was laid.  my plan was partially laid.  well, mylan was loosely laid.  i was to ride north toward the grand canyon on 89 till i reached cameron, then turn west into the wind and towards the east entrance of the park.  somewhere, and here the plan gets a little fuzzy, i would find a place to sleep, trying to stay warm as the winds blew @20+ mph and the temperature dropped to around 26 deg. the next day i would head to the south rim's visitors center, camping at the campground.  monday, i would then head south to williams and I-40. i noticed there is a warmshower host in williams, so i messaged greg & ann to see if i could spend monday night.  he replied saying monday was a potential conflict, but if i wanted, he'd come to flagstaff on saturday, pick me up, and take me to the canyon.  then, he'd bring me back to their place and i could spend sat & sun nights.  by monday the wind and temps would have swung back t

it's hard to say what defines flagstaff more, more like a combination of the following :  the fact that it's based on a tourist economy, the jumping off point to get to the grand canyon for most people; the mountains that bring a relief to the flat, windy, desert approach or the railroad. there's an interesting mix of tourism and alternative outdoorsy, mixed with a touch of art and craftmanship.  it's a small town of around 80,000, same size as asheville, but a msa of 140,000, about one third the size of asheville's.  it has a little of that alternatve vibe with multiple coffee houses and microbreweries.  i saw one of those obnoxious cycling party barges going down the street last night. and there are half a dozen bicycle shops, mostly catering to the trail riding crowd. route 66, of course, came through here.  i'm staying at the motel du beau, a 1920's classic one-story motor court.  the oldest continuing operating one, i'm told.  small but