Playing catchup.....

Guess I am going to have to do a synopsis post to catch everyone up to date on our travels. Seems as though we have been having too much fun lately and by the time the evening rolls around, I’m too tired to blog. LOL!

We last left you as we found a boondocking spot for Joshua Tree National Park. Lots of sun, beautiful scenery, gorgeous sunsets and very quiet. What more could you ask for.

We got up at a decent hour (for us), packed a lunch and headed out on Big Red for the day. First stop, gas. We knew that the closest gas going north was almost 50 miles away. Using the GPS we headed 17 miles south to the town of Mecca. What a surprise….not the town, wouldn’t bother going there unless we really HAD to, but the ride there and back. The road was aptly named Box Canyon Rd.

Here are some photos….perfect start to the day and we wouldn’t have found it if we had just run up the interstate one exit to a closer gas station.





On our way back to the entrance of Joshua Tree we noticed a young man walking up the road towards the interstate, away from his parked motorcycle. We asked if he needed help and he told us he badly needed some oil. His bike had run dry and he didn’t have any with him. We told him that our rig was only 5 minutes away and we’d bring him back a couple of quarts.

I snapped a few shots while he put the badly needed oil into his bike. We stayed to make sure that it would start and told him to just “pay it forward” when he asked about paying us. Later we realized that if we hadn’t needed gas and hadn’t taken the route to get the gas, we wouldn’t have been there when he was there and needed help.





We slowly drove through the park, enjoying the sights, continuing on to the visitor’s center. Since I now qualify for the lifetime $10 Senior Park Pass (or whatever they now call it), we figured this would be a good time to get it. When it was my turn in line we found out the person we needed to see was out to lunch but were expected back in about 15 minutes. Since we had packed our lunch we decided to just eat there.





We headed out to the bike and two riders were looking at it. Turns out they owned the HD trike that we had parked behind. They were from California and wanted to ask a few questions about a non-CA bike’s performance. We stood and chatted for probably 30 minutes. Another chance meeting that we would have missed if our morning hadn’t laid out the way it did.





After lunch I went back in and got my Senior Park Pass and we headed out. What a great day we had…the wildflowers were blooming, the Ocotillo and Teddy Bear Cholla gave way to the Joshua trees themselves, nestled in the shadows of amazing rock structures.

I took so many photos….over 300. I’ll only bore you with a few and if you want to see more you can visit our SmugMug album.





We also ran into two interesting campers. The first was European and obviously custom made. The owners gave us a high sign when we paused to grab a shot. The other we had seen parking out in the same area as us. While we were at the visitor’s center they came in. Turns out it was a young family from Quebec. They left Canada in January, spent two months in Mexico and were slowly working their way back home. They have been home schooling their kids. Interesting folks!





The next morning we were heading out by 9:30…or so we thought. As we tried to make the turn up to the county maintained road, we got stuck. Several attempts only dug Freddie in deeper. We dug, we raked, we dropped in rocks, we dismantled a camp fire ring, we moved more rocks, we shoveled more sand. Finally we unhooked Freddie and tried to come in from another direction. Nope, wasn’t going to happen.

Stu called our road service company and after a little discussion they got us on a three-way with a towing company out of Parker. After doing his best to assess our situation, he told us that if we could get the truck hooked back up to the rig, then the truck he had about 30 miles away could winch us out. If not, then he had to bring in a 4WD tow truck from Parker and that would be a couple of hours.





We once again, raked, shoveled, flattened and made ready for Stu to back up and hook up to KaZy. It worked! We didn’t attempt to pull out again, knowing that we would just dig back into the sand. In about an hour the truck arrived and before we knew it, they had us winched out and back on the road. Phew!! Definitely made for an interesting morning that we prefer to NEVER repeat. LOL!





Now on to Kingman, AZ where my motorcycle would get serviced and my leak repaired. The rest of the day was uneventful, the scenery coming into Kingman from the west was really pretty.





We arrived at the dealership before they closed and unloaded the bike for the next day. We asked if there was an empty lot close by where we might park for the night. Turns out they owned the huge empty lot beside the building and we were more than welcome to park there. Everyone was interested in our rig and enjoyed seeing us unload the bikes. We also nabbed a few shots at the Harley shop, including one of me with my mechanic, Clark Bishop.





Since they already had the bike, we slept in on Friday and took our time getting moving. We opted to head out to see a movie and saw "How to Train Your Dragon" in 3D. Really cute movie, we then headed over to get my bike out of hock. They had replaced the starter motor and a ton of seals/gaskets. Hope this is the last time, but glad we have the extended warranty. After parking my bike, we ran over to Denny's for a late lunch/early dinner. We sat and chatted and just generally relaxed. When we got back we loaded the bikes and got ready to head to Williams, AZ Saturday morning. We plan to stay there for a week.

Tomorrow I'll post about our trip to Seligman, AZ on historic Route 66.

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna & Stu