Day 10: July 1st

I reserve a truck that is bigger than we need, but it has the required ramp we need to load the bikes. It takes hours to get all the paperwork in order so it is noon by the time I return to the hotel. Fortunately, Ceci has put the time to good use gambling. With ten bucks left to gamble she finds a hot 2 penny machine and is up over $200! Nice!
I get nervous riding up the narrow steep ramp into the truck, so I had help at the rental place loading the bike. At the hotel, Ceci is just as nervous so we push hers up too. I purchased 6 ratcheting tie down straps to keep the bikes snug and safe in the box while we ride in air conditioned comfort up front. The seats in the truck aren’t all that comfortable, but it is a big improvement over the Bandit’s saddle.
It is afternoon before we leave Vegas, a very late start. This is not a good way to make up time. We stop once to extinguish a small smoldering wildfire alongside the road. Probably caused by a careless smoker. Nobody else seems to notice or care. I guess Smokey the Bear was right: only I can prevent forest fires. The news is full of reports about wildfires in California right now.
We get to the Death Valley visitors center as it is closing. We have just enough time to get our stamp, a brouchure, and refill the drinking water. The thermometer shows 119 degrees in the shade. A full 20 degrees cooler than when I was here in 1996. So much for global warming. Still, I am grateful for the air conditioning and a healthy wife.
There isn’t much to see really, and no time to see it either. We just drive through and head to China Lake/Ridgecrest to drop off the U-haul. The only thing we see other than a desolate expanse of dirt is what appears to be some sort of chemical mining operation.
The sun is setting when we pull in to Ridgecrest. The chain hotels are a good bit expensive considering the total lack of anything out here. We stay at a local place called the Rose Garden Inn and Suites. I am hoping for a quaint old Mom-and-Pop place, but I get an absolute dump. Many of the residents appear to be living here. The first room we try has no AC. The second is clean enough and we stay. We get dinner and breakfast for tomorrow at a nearby grocery store to save some more time and money. We also drink down one of the Arrogant Bastard Ales that Andrew was kind enough to bring us from San Diego. It is an infrequently found great beer.
You can smell the smoke from the wildfires that are apparently heading this way. The manager of the hotel is eager to please and makes some calls to make sure we won’t get caught up in the flames or have to find a detour when we leave in the morning. I am still working on rebuilding our itinerary, trying to find a way to meet up with Roy in Ohio. We will leave out Sequioa National Park and head straight to Yosemite tomorrow. Well, once we get the U-haul turned in anyway. I also noticed a motorcycle shop in town, so we will probably stop in and see if I can find some sort of seat cushion to sooth my delicate rear.
We leave the bikes in the U-Haul, figuring they will be safer in there overnight, and it’ll probably be easier to just unload them when we turn in the truck anyway.