Thursday, July 19, 2008 Tyler and I set out an incredible adventure I never thought possible!
We left the house at 5:15AM and headed out to meet up with Trevor (Tyler's brother) and Mari (Trevor's girlfriend). We were riding a Harley Davidson Heritage Soft-Tail Motorcycle!
The itinerary:
DAY 1 - Thursday:
Phoenix, AZ to Mammoth Lakes, CA (Yosemite National Park Area)
Approximate ride time: 9 hours
DAY 2 - Friday:
Mammoth Lakes, CA to Yosemite National Park
Approximate ride time: 1 hour
Spend the day inside the park
Depart Yosemite, CA for San Francisco, CA
Approximate ride time: 4 hours
DAY 3 - Saturday:
San Francisco, CA
Spend the day at Pier 39
San Francisco, CA to San Bernadino, CA
Approximate ride time: 6.5 hours
DAY 4 - Sunday:
San Bernadino, CA to Phoenix, AZ (HOME)
Approximate ride time: 7 hours
We'd been anticipating this trip for months and had packed light, remembered the sunscreen, and were smart enough to wear helmets. So, off we went with the wind howling and the exhaust pipes blasting... hoping to make it through the great Southwest desert before the afternoon heat hit!
We didn't. We hit record highs in Palm Desert... 117 degrees and rising by 11:30AM!
I nearly passed out from the heat and had to ask Tyler to pull over immediately. We re-hydrated at the nearest gas station and prayed the heat wouldn't hold us back again... but we required SEVERAL more frequent stops for water and electrolytes, we doused ourselves (fully clothed) in gallons of water, and what should have been a 9 hour drive north, took nearly 14 hours! But alas, we made it to Mammoth Lakes, met up with our friend Bryan and crashed at the local Motel 6 after a HUGE meal at the nearest pizza joint.
Friday morning we all woke and stumbled upon the BEST breakfast food in the entire world... a little place in Mammoth Lakes called STOVE'S - GO THERE! After breakfast we headed into Yosemite and found the most EXPENSIVE gasoline we've seen thus far:
Here are some of the most breathtaking views in the United States:
After lunch in the park, we headed for Lower Yosemite Falls. It was a nice little hike in the shade, and a great relief to be OFF the bike! LOL! The waterfall was amazing and the cool breeze and the continuous mist of water was an incredible juxtaposition from the desert heat the day prior.
As we headed down from the hike in the falls, Tyler signaled to me to come closer to him - now, having spent four years with him at this point, I was sure he was plotting something hilariously humiliating like throwing a spider on me, or pretending to push me into the rapids underneath the falls - so needless to say, I was hesitant to join him.
After a little persuasion, I finally followed him to a more sheltered part of the walking path, away from the mist of the falls and the swarming tourists. It was then that he got down on one knee, pulled a ring from his pocket and asked if I'd spend the rest of my life with him!!
I immediately began to CRY and shouted, more audibly than I realized, a resounding "YES" and heads turned from every direction! Oops! Trevor and Bryan popped out of the bushes, like the true paparazzi they are and pictures began to snap from every angle. Tyler had let them in on the "plan" before the trip kicked off, so Bryan came ready with a bottle of champaign and plastic cups - so cute! - and we all celebrated underneath beautiful Yosemite Falls.
So, as a newly engaged couple, we got back on the bikes and headed for the City by the Bay - San Francisco!
Saturday, oddly enough, was record high temperatures in San Francisco! No matter how hard we tried, we just couldn't escape the heat! But nonetheless, we spent the day playing "tourists" down on Pier 39. We ate fish & chips and salt-water taffy, shopped for Alcatraz souvenirs and watched the sea lions sun-bathe for HOURS!
We knew we had to get started home or we'd never make it back to Phoenix by Sunday night. We said goodbye to Bryan in San Francisco and headed for San Bernadino... we really wanted to rest our heads on a pillow by midnight...
And we arrived in San Bernadino by midnight - hooray! Only to find out that there was a RODEO in town and all hotels/motels for 40+ miles were completely booked! Our only choice was to continue riding into the darkness in the direction of Phoenix until we could find a vacancy... at 2AM, we found it!
We were up again bright and early - no rest for the weary - and figured we could be in Phoenix before dinner. HOME - REST - RELAXATION - and no more PAIN in my backside!! I was ecstatic. However, we found ourselves in the desert again - DEATH VALLEY - to be exact and it felt hotter than the first day! So what should have been about a 7 hour ride became 14 hours very quickly - AGAIN!
We arrived back home around midnight, but the memories of the trip were well worth it! We traveled over 2,200 total miles in just four days on Harley's! I still can't believe we did it...
