Yesterday was a total dud. I woke up to the wind howling outside, overcast skies, and a 70% chance of rain where there was no chance of it when I went to sleep. I put all my loose items in the trailer, stashed my trailer office setup, and put the bike inside. I ended up doing just about nothing for the day, just hiding in the van from the wind. Even Lister preferred to stay in and sleep on my bed after venturing outside for a few minutes. After dark there was even thunder and lightning nearby, but no precipitation ever got to me — probably because I was prepared for it. If I wasn’t ready, I would’ve gotten soaked.
Today was the day I’d set aside to take a bike ride through Death Valley National Park. Fortunately I checked the website, and saw that the entire park is closed due to flood damage. Last month, Death Valley received more rain in a single day than it typically does all year. It can’t handle that, and most roads in the park were damaged. Fortunately I visited the last time I was here, but I was looking forward to riding the V-Strom there, particularly on a day 20º cooler than it has been lately, which would be downright comfortable there.
It’s sunny, warm, and only slightly windy today, so I decided to ride as far as Shoshone, CA, to visit a hot spring I’d read about there. The comfortable but cooler temperatures meant a soak in a hot spring would feel quite good. Route 372 out of Pahrump turns into Route 178 in California, heading all the way to Shoshone about half an hour away. Google Maps took me straight to the spring, only to find the gate chained up and locked. There was also a sign saying that it was only for guests at the RV park next door. The multiple websites I’d read about this on neglected to mention this minor detail that sent me on yet another fool’s errand.
Determined to have at least a little bit of fun, I followed a driveway into a small town park. It went past a scattering of gravesites that passes for a cemetery, then to a small parking lot with these interesting rooms carved into a rock cliff. Most of them have doors and are locked up, but one of them has no doorway so I could go inside. I imagine that on a hot day, which most days are in Death Valley, this would be significantly cooler than outside. I don’t know anything more about this place or its story.
Although my plan fell apart, I still got a good motorcycle ride through territory that looks like this on a nice day. One great thing about a motorcycle is that it makes the ride, itself, an adventure, so this certainly wasn’t a complete waste of time.
Since I got back much earlier than expected, I tackled a small project I’d been thinking about doing. I moved the on/off switch for my power inverter so that I can reach it from bed. The cable that came with my inverter, which was coiled up inside the electrical cabinet, was just barely long enough to do the job. This means that when I’m falling asleep watching TV at night, I don’t have to get out of bed to turn off the inverter and prevent Starlink from running overnight, draining my batteries when I’m not using it. There have been many nights I’ve gotten up to turn off the inverter, only to be wide awake and have trouble getting back to sleep. This should avoid that. It also means that in the morning, even if I’m out of cell service, I can turn it on and catch up on internet things without even getting out of bed. This will be particularly handy on cold mornings, so I can entertain myself and even check in on work things (most of my employers are on east coast time, starting hours before I’m awake), while the heater does its job and makes the van comfortable before I get out of bed. Some may call this lazy. I call it working smarter, not harder.
I’m approaching the end of my stay in Pahrump. I’ve accomplished what I need to here. The weather is improving, and I’m waiting out strong winds between here and my next stop, camping with Adventuring with Amanda in Arizona. Tomorrow will be my last full day here. Weather permitting, I plan to drive as far as Kingman, AZ on Tuesday, then meet Amanda a bit south of Flagstaff on Wednesday. I’m not sure how long I’ll hang out there before continuing south to visit more friends in Sierra Vista before making my way to Quartzsite. It was still too hot there in early October when I arrived last year, so I’m sort of spiraling in slowly, doing things and seeing people along the way until temperatures there are habitable. Then the Big Loop will be complete, and I can start settling into my winter routine.
Smokey Da Van 