simplybrad

I awoke to the kids getting up and Jordan getting ready for school. After saying thanks and goodbye to everyone, Jason heads to work and I get my things together. I am heading over to Phoenix today to see my other brother and his family.

I was going to head over to Indio via 79/371/74. I did not quite make it there the way I thought I was going too. Somehow I ended up back on 79 by Winchester. Not far from where I left this morning. Having traveled across the country and basically knowing where I am at I manage to get lost in my brother's backyard. Go figure. Maps and reality are very different in this area. Aside from my brother, his family, and the beach, I am not finding very many redeeming qualities about SoCal (oh, except for maybe all the gorgeous SoCal girls all over the place). Now knowing where I am, I basically retrace my route back to I-10 that took a few days earlier.

Back on the I-10 now, I take a side trip into Joshua Tree National Park. Not sure what I was thinking of when I thought this would be a good idea. Don't get me wrong, it is interesting but I have/will be traveling through this same terrain for most of the day.

I double back to the I-10 and head towards Blythe to get some gas in the bike. It's hot. 113F hot. I chug a Gatorade and dump a bottle of water over my head. I am soaked but evaporative cooling works wonders. With the wind blowing over me the temperature easily drops 20°F. The only drawback is the water evaporates too quickly. I also experimented with opening the face shield and closing it. It is much better closed. With the face shield open it is like a blast-furnace, literally feels like my face is burning. I keep it closed. The airflow through my helmet is actually quite good - one of the reason I bought this particular helmet (Arai Quantum II).

I stop in Tonopah to get gas for the bike, Gatorade for me. I also dump another bottle of water over my head/shirt/jacket.

I get into Gilbert around 5:30 and enjoy seeing everyone. We get some Rosatis Chicago Pizza for dinner and hang out.