When our friends Mike and Judy suggested riding our motorcycles west on Route 66 and back on Route 50, I was all in. But I was hoping Nancy would agree to make that long trek.
Fortunately she agreed, and all we had to do was work out the details. My only
suggestion was that we ride west on Route 50 so we could ride the Pacific coast
highway south, and have the ocean on our right. Mike agreed, and it was time to set a
date.
We decided to leave mid July. Mike suggested going to Ocean City, Maryland first so we could ride Route 50 in it's entirety from Ocean City to Sacramento, California. Then we would continue to San Francisco to extend the trip from coast to coast...an even better idea as this was something
I've had on my bucket list a long time.
The beginning of our trip was somewhat eventful, but once we made it to
Colorado, the past problems were forgotten and it was forward ho. Although I've
flown over the Rockies many times it was always a dream of mine to ride through
those mountain passes and experience them from the bike. It did not disappoint! The ride up to the summit of Pike's Peak was more than I had hoped for. Looking out and down from over 14,000 feet was an incredible experience. Check off one more item from the bucket list.
When we got to Utah, it was even better than I had expected. The sights there were just AWESOME!
When we got to Utah, it was even better than I had expected. The sights there were just AWESOME!
Although we had done some portions of Route 50 in Nevada before, the vastness of the landscape was truly amazing. Now came California and the Pacific Coast Highway. Even though we had done it in the past by car, it's much different on a motorcycle.
Next came the Santa Monica pier and the end of Route 66, or in our case the
beginning of our journey back home.
After getting lost a few times in Los Angeles, we were back on 66 in Pasadena heading east.
I don't know exactly at what point the Mother road became the Mother fuc***g
road, but it was apparent that California wasn't keen on maintaining Route 66. Especially with a nice new interstate running parallel to it. So we decided to wait until we got to Arizona to get
back on 66. Here it became much more of what I had hoped
for.
The ride into Oatman, AZ was great, but this is one time where the destination was the highlight. After several hours there, it was time to leave and head to our hotel in Kingman, AZ. Leaving Oatman and getting to the summit...I swear the view was over 100 miles.
Another highlight for me was the
old gas station at the bottom of the mountain. You may be thinking what's so
good about that? Well, for me, it was the owner's fantastic collection of Rolling
Stones albums; all signed by the Stones. Especially the one singed by Mick
Jagger...when his signature was actually legible.
Unfortunately, it wasn't long
after that when the journey for Nancy and I came to an abrupt end. About 10 miles outside of Kingman we went down and ended up at the hospital for a few hours.
I have
no regrets, other than not being able to finish the trip by bike. I'd recommend
everybody do it just once.
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