Homeward bound (that is, if we can call Las Vegas Home!)
I forgot to say that we heard from Beryl & Bob while we were in Palm Springs, & the good news was they were at the airport in San Francisco, ready to board for their upgraded flight home. It was such a relief for us (& no doubt for them, too) to know that they were homeward bound at last.
Tuesday morning saw us leaving Laughlin at 06.30am to beat the heat, again following the Colorado River southwards, before turning east back onto Route 66 to Oatman, where they were expecting us at the Olive Oatman Saloon for breakfast. Oatman is an old silver mining town, now defunct, but open for tourists. When they closed the old mine, they set the burros free, & their descendants now live wild in the surrounding hills. But they're not daft, & have learned that people = food. Funnily enough, the shopkeepers in Oatman aren't daft either, & they sell bags of carrotts to feed them with. We only saw one mummy burro with her baby, but it was early in the morning with not many tourists, & Laurie from the saloon told me the burros count the cars, & won't bother coming down if there aren't enough people to make it worth their while! Told you they're not daft!
There's lots of interesting buildings there, even a very old hotel, where bygone stars of the silver screen used to go & stay for a bit of peace & quiet. Clark Gable & Carole Lombard honeymooned there, & you can see their room. I really don't know what the new Mrs Gable thought of the bathroom facilities though - there was a po under the bed!
Leaving Oatman, we ride some of what we consider to be the best bits of old Route 66. Twisty & curling around the hillsides, it's a bikers' dream. In the van at the back, I could see the silver snake of chrome glinting in the sunshine as they wended their way up the desert hills.
Of course, we had to visit Kingman, & The Mother Road Harley-Davidson - just in case anyone wanted another T-shirt - & of course, there were those who did! Then it was back on the road, to the Hoover Dam. Security is understandably tight at the dam, & we must have caught the guards with nothing to do, as they waved us in, ordered all the luggage out of the van, & made us all stand by our open cases for inspection. Oh joy! It was 40 degrees & the sun burned down on us as they barely glimpsed at the bags, before wandering off to wave a fully air-conditioned tour bus straight through, while we wearily humped all the bags back into the van. There's no justice!
Hoover Dam is a remarkable feat of engineering, & we stopped further down the road for photos, before riding across the massive structure. To the left, we could see the new bridge, which is almost completed & should be open this autumn, & from then vehicles will not be allowed to ride across the dam any more.
All too soon, we saw the familiar Las Vegas skyline looming, & the volume of traffic increased & stepped up a pace as we neared the city. Sadly, we returned the bikes, & all met up later that evening for a farewell meal, back in the Harley-Davidson Cafe, where it had all began, 1800 miles before.
At the beginning of the Golden Gate Tour, we had a group of people who had something in common - the wish to ride motorcycles in the USA. By the end of the tour, we were a group of friends, who had made their wish come true.
Thank you to all of our friends on the tour, both old & new. Please keep in touch, & we hope to ride with you again some day.
No comments:
Post a Comment