The DRZ Chronicles

 Great ride yesterday with fine weather. 25 mile ride on Ajo Mountain Road, inside the Monument.

 Heavy rain overnight. Cleared off about 07:30. Chilly, around 46 degrees. Wind stopped, bright sun, getting up to the low 60's. The new tent is growing on me. Held up through the wind, no leaks and it has a ton of room compared to the little Kelty. What to get into today? A Trip Review: New Mexico, Arizona, California

 Back in Organ Pipe for 4 days. Very windy but a big improvement from Kingman. The best places right now are Padre Island and south Florida but both are out of reach. Rain tonight, which is what I have come to expect in the desert. The new REI tent is getting a workout on its first duty station. It is roomy but does not appear too sturdy. I will see.

 I left Death Valley Thursday morning in the good hands of Tony and Wanda. (Hope I am remembering names correctly!🤔) They were camped next to me and are busy photographing the park. Wonderful people, hope to run across them again during our travels. The ride out of the park was quite breezy. The ride on US95 heading to Las Vegas was cold and the wind was insane. Once in Las Vegas, I stopped by REI and picked up a new tent as the Kelty zipper finally failed. REI was very disappointing with a staff that was friendly but totally incompetent. Such is the world. Leaving Las Vegas, I intended to go to Bullhead City, AZ. Google had other plans, changing the route at some point and took me down US93 toward Kingman. The wind was terrible, temps around 30 degrees, hard rain, and then 25 miles of snow. I made it to Kingman and stopped at the first hotel I came to. A half hour shower resolved the hypothermia and got blood flowing into my fingers again. Here for two days with no idea what I wi...

 I left Fernley, NV and high tailed it all the way to Death Valley, hoping to avoid the coming bad weather. And I did, until I got my tent set up. 30-50 mph winds, on/off rain and now forecast to continue for several days, with heavy snow at higher elevations. I have to get out of here but no place to go, weather bad all around me. Won't sleep tonight as I am an active tent brace. Very tired from long ride today and snow expected to start Thursday. Quite a pickle.

 I left Hawthorne, NV and rode further up US95 to Fernley, NV. I got a room at a Super 8, dropped off my duffel bag and rode north about 80 miles to Gerlach, NV and the Iron Butt Memorial on Guru Road. For me, getting to the Memorial was a pilgrimage of sorts. I have done it once, there is no need to go back, but once was essential. If that doesn't make sense to you, that's OK. Very few people get the Iron Butt Association. Some shots from US95 on the way to Gerlach John Ryan was Superman brought to life The Iron Butt Hotel

 Left Death Valley and rode to Hawthorne, NV. Yeah.... that is north.... Hawthorne is surrounded by extreme military insanity. 140,000 acres containing over 2,400 underground bunkers filled with munitions. Additionally, certain munitions are produced there. The lady in my hotel made it pretty clear that they actually have no idea what the military is doing there and it is better to not ask. OK then... You know you are in Nevada when... I have no idea what happened to this picture It was pretty chilly going over the pass Scenes from US95