2019 RPM Rally and Bun Burner 1500

[Tuned forks]

Some great pics Fred.  How do you get the selfies that show you some distance from the camera?

Joe

[aviationfred]

Some great pics Fred.  How do you get the selfies that show you some distance from the camera?

Joe

Plenty of tourists. I help others get photos of themselves and in turn they help me by taking a photo of me with my phone.


Fred

[aviationfred]

Day #7;

Today is desert travel day. The temperature was 34°F when I woke up and decided to wait for it to warm up a bit. I hit the road a couple of hours later at a balmy 43°F which is more manageable. A quick run down to Lone Pine and I stopped at the Death Valley Visitors center. Mount Whitney was looming directly to the west of me, bathed in the morning sunlight. At 14,505 feet it is the tallest peak in the lower 48 states. The peak is just above the front fairing photo. Photo #2. Shortly onward I am on one of those desert highways that seem to disappear in the distance. There are actually a couple of passes that you go through before dropping into the really low valley that is below sea level. Remarkably there is only 84.6 miles from the peak of Mt. Whitney to the lowest point in North America at Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park at 282 ft below sea level. Much of this area is used by the military as bombing ranges and I did see a few fighter jets strafing down the valleys. I will say that this was the perfect time of the year to visit this area. By 1:00PM the temperature had risen to 95°F. During the summer this area would be brutal to visit at temperatures that often get in the 115°-120°F range. As breathe taking as the alpine views were the day before up in the Sierra Nevada Mountians, the views of the desert were amazing. The canyons formed out of washes and the huge expanse of the sand flows were something you have to see for yourself, Joshua Trees have always intrigued me. Oh, I have to mention, the road from Stovepipe Wells to Furnace Creek was a great ride at a steady 75MPH. The canyon walls with multi colored layers of rock were interesting as was the stop at the sand dunes area....miles and miles of beach... but no water in sight. My stop in Furnace Creek was the lowest elevation that I had on my trip at 186ft below sea level. I did find out that my GPS speedometer which has an altimeter, does not display below 0. I so wanted to see a - number displayed. Climbing out of Death Valley I headed towards the town of Pahrump, Nevada. I decided to head into Las Vegas for the night. I rolled into town shortly before sunset and got a room at the New York New York Casino. After I checked in and got a few shots of the strip, I was heading to my room and noticed many people in the casino were wearing Vegas Golden Knights hockey jerseys. In my room, I had a view of AT&T Arena.... it dawned on me, there may be a hockey match tonight. I inquired at the concierge desk and in fact there was. I have been to Vegas a number of times and didn't need to see the sights of the Vegas strip, so I went to the arena box office and got myself a ticket to my first ever NHL hockey match. The Golden Knights lost, but i had a good time.


Fred

[Tuned forks]

Your straight highways pics remind me of Vanishing Point.  Can you imagine crossing that terrain on horseback...in the 1800's?  Brutal.

Joe

[aviationfred]

Continuation of day #7 photos

Las Vegas, Nevada



Fred

[aviationfred]

Day #8;

Not so cold leaving Las Vegas. Needing to make some higher mileage today did not leave much time for out of the way excursions. Except for a few miles into and out of Las Vegas, I had not ridden on an interstate at all during this return home. Cap'n Ron will be impressed. I did stop at an over look just south of the Hoover Damn that gave a view of the Colorado River on it's way to Bull Head City/Laughlin. I made my way into Kingman, Arizona and pick up I-40 to blaze back to Kansas. I did make 2 interesting stops on my way. Just outside of Wilson, Arizona was a road sign and having served in the United States Marine Corps, I had to get a photo. Devil Dog the English translation of the German word Teufelshunde, and is a name that the German Soldiers gave the U. S. Marines at the Battle of Belleau Wood during World War I and the name has stuck. Back under way, another stop was in Winslow, Arizona. For those of us that grew up in the 70's and 80's, and listened to the rock band The Eagles, will know why I stopped in Winslow. This also happens to be on the famous US Route 66. On my way out of Winslow and back to I-40, I came across a 9/11 memorial that was an added surprise. I had to stop. Back up on the Interstate it was time to get some miles and get into New Mexico for the night. The previous 2 days were less than 300 miles each day. Today I ended up with 500 miles when I called it a day. Grant's, New Mexico would be the stopping point.


Fred

[aviationfred]

Day #9

The final day of my trip. I needed to be back in Wichita and had to bust out some miles. Today was a time where staying in the saddle was needed, so I took the most direct route back and didn't do any photo stops. Just a long 670 mile day. I can attest to how well the auxiliary lights and high powered LED headlight perform in the dark. As Hwy 54 joins Hwy 400, I was able to spot 2 deer standing just off the road and had enough time to be ready if they decided to bound out in front of me. I made it home safe with no incidents and no performance awards.

3908 miles over 9 days. An average of 434 miles per day.

Longest day was 873 miles, Day 2 of the trip.

Shortest day was 143 miles, Day 4 of the trip


Fred

[Millietant]

Look at the difference a gallon of gas costs in other states compared to California.

$2.17 at start in Wichita, KS
$2.69 in Gallup, NM


$4.39 in Fresno, CA...

Crazy how expensive California has become compared to the rest of the country.

Randy - RPM

~DISCLAIMER~
~no political content needed in this topic~
All political content should be posted in the politics section.

And about $8 a gallon here Randy.......even Californian's are lucky with their "gas" prices !!

[big r]

That is a $1.60 less than we pay up here in central British Columbia. $1.32/9 a liter works out $6.04 a gallon here

[moparman70]

Just came back from Italy 1.50 Euros per litre --6.60 per gallon --- Highlight of the trip -- spotted a FJ1200 -- deep blue color that I have seen with white trim -- over here -------- unfortunately going the opposite way and moving so I couldn't get a picture.

[andyoutandabout]

434 miles a day average is most respectable.
I've never managed a 670, so top marks again.
Glad you made the trip to the RPM rally.
Andy

[aviationfred]

I usually forget something that I had intended to pack. For this trip, I forgot my disc lock. During my Wal-Mart run in Gallup, New Mexoco, I picked up a replacement. A bit of redneck engineering and I had a disc lock that should keep a casual thief at bay.

A large standard padlock and a length of colored rope.


Fred