Somewhere along the Mojave Desert on a date I can not remember….

Ever listen to the song “Horse with No Name” by America? You should give it a listen. I have had this song playing through my head since we began this trip, perhaps it was the environment.

To date we are 3500+ miles into this adventure as we sit here at top of Hoover Damn in 114 degree temperatures. So far it has been a pretty epic trip (with not so epic logistic.) Much like in sailing, the weather has dictated when, where, and what time we ride. It was pretty easy until we hit Texas, when once you get west of Texas into New Mexico, you start to experience weather events which include dust storms, monsoons, and surface heat equivalent to the sun. Much like our sailing season we were clueless as to the extent the weather would play. I thought once we get to the southwest it would be hot but monsoon rains and dust storms were not really part of that picture. I should of paid more attention in geography class as a kid! I guess it makes sense, most of the incredible views in the southwest has been made from those monsoon rains and epic wind storms. Unlike sailing weather you can not just listen to the weather report and plan, here in the desert these events tend to pop up at random (or random to me). Thankfully you can see them coming from miles away so you can alter plans accordingly. A ranger told us to stay out of the canyons when there is rain on the horizon, these places tend to flash flood in an instant and well the Harley does not float. Same goes for the wind storms. Dust storms however only happen when the winds top 70MPH+. The reasoning is all the smaller dust has long since been blown away. Higher winds mean larger “pebbles”. I can not imagine riding into one of those. In contrast we have experienced the mushy feeling of the bike tires melting on the desert highway, the sensation of your sunglasses being blown from your face in an unexpected crosswind or a sunburn on top of your SPF75 soaked skin. It has been an adventure!

Back to the logistics of this trip. Since the distance we travel in a day is based on the heat, random weather events and traffic we do not reserve a hotel room in advance. Instead it is easier to just ride until you get tired or find an interesting place to explore. At that point it is easy to find a hotel in that area. Gas stops however require a bit more planning. The Harley gets about 50MPG and holds about 4 gallons of fuel. That gives us range of 200 miles. Seems pretty reasonable until you get to the isolation of some of the desert roads where you can go 50-75 miles with nothing in sight. After a few close calls we now refuel before we get to less then 2 gallons of fuel on board. Ever push an out of gas Harley? I have and you do not want to do it. A long day for us is about 350 highway miles. It’s easy to do in a car where you are protected from the elements but a bit brutal out in the sun, wind and rain. Typically we roll into town, see what hotel options we have, drive by them in an attempt to see if they are in an area where we feel safe that the bike will be there the next morning. You can not really trust the reviews, we have been burnt a few times. All in all it is pretty simple once I put it into words. Going from a life of super structure to one that is changing every few hours is exactly what this journey was suppose to be. The inner growth potential has been incredible!

One last comment before I stop rambling. I have had several people comment on doing this trip on a motorcycle. Sure it is a bit more difficult then in a car where you are sheltered from the elements I have written about above and to be honest, I would not have wanted to do this trip any other way. The experience is so much more immersive. You smell the incoming rain storm, you can feel the temperature changes of the elevation changes. The dry smell of the desert in contrast to the sweet smell of pine as climb out of the valleys. It is just an experience that can not be missed and one we had not intended.