I’ve been slowly packing up camp to prepare for today. After the bare minimum of work, I hitched up the trailer, loaded up the bike, and headed west on I-10 for California. I’m off to the Kawasaki KLX300 press launch out of Murrieta. Tomorrow I’ll be spending all day riding dirt and street versions of the bike, then writing up my experience for ADVRider. I can’t believe this is my job!
Made up my mind to make a new start
Led Zeppelin
Going to California with an aching in my heart
It was a quiet, boring run down I-10, the good kind of boring where nothing bad happens. I bailed off the 10 and passed through Palm Desert, where I took the top picture, along the more direct route that Google suggested. I had no wish to fight traffic as I got closer to Los Angeles. The next thing I knew, I was on a 55 mph mountain pass that was too tight and twisty for me to maintain 55 on! I’d forgotten California could do that to you.
OK, the video is twice as fast as I actually drove it, but this is pretty much what it felt like, video game music and all. I did drop the gearshift into manual mode to choose my own gears, both for better performance and to prevent the transmission from shifting constantly. I can anticipate curves and elevation changes and choose the right gear for what’s ahead, while all the transmission can do in automatic mode is react to what’s already happened. I wasn’t even pushing the van very hard, maintaining 35-45 mph with a 55 mph speed limit, and pulling over regularly to let people by. I got an enthusiastic honk and wave from a Toyota 4Runner I pulled over to let by at one point. I think he was impressed I was moving along as well as I was.
Here’s a strange sight — my van parked at a hotel. The last time I stayed in a hotel was somewhere in Ohio, on the way to Indiana to finish building the first Smokey Da Van. At that time the van was still basically a moving truck, with everything I needed to complete the build packed inside. There wasn’t enough room to live or sleep in it until all that equipment was installed, so we got hotel rooms in New York and Ohio on our way. I haven’t needed a hotel room since then.
Technically, I don’t need a hotel room now, either. However, it was the best way to solve my issue of where to park legally for two nights in the Los Angeles suburbs, which are very unfriendly to van life. Kawasaki is paying the bill, so I’ve been enjoying the amenities tonight, including a long hot shower and a big bed all to myself. I also took advantage of the bathtub to wash my armored motorcycle pants, which are all dusty from desert riding. They’re hanging up overnight to dry and I’ll wear them tomorrow.
The only downside is that I’m not allowed to bring Lister into the hotel with me. Fortunately, the weather is in that perfect temperature zone where he won’t be too hot or too cold. I just checked on him and made sure he had food and water for the night, and he’s doing just fine.
Time to shut this down, relax, and sleep. It’s going to be an early morning to get to the Kawasaki event on time. This time of year we need to make use of what little daylight hours we get. It’s going to be a long day, and hopefully a good one.
Smokey Da Van 