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| Grand Canyon Trip: May 2002 Continued |
| I was a bit relieved when I arrived at the town of Yuma, Arizona. All I did was gas up, refill my water, eat another granola bar, and then I got back on the road once again. As far as I could see Yuma was just a farming town with not much of interest. I knew I was wrong but I had no time to find out the truth. There is a large US Marine base there so I�m sure there is also a large military population in Yuma. Highway 95 ended in Yuma where I connected up with Interstate 8 heading west towards California! The Home Stretch Interstate 8 is the southern most Interstate in California as it parallels the US/Mexican border. Like before, there was no fanfare as I crossed the border. Although, there was a border check that totally ignored me and the Bandit so I just went by. They were busy checking another car. I guess they figured I wasn�t carrying any fruits or vegetables from Arizona or Mexico. For some reason I was thinking this part of the trip was going to be easy and quick but it turned out to be one of the longest for me. By this time I was getting pretty tired and my state of mind began wandering between sleep and consciousness. The continuous droning at high speed didn�t help much. I tried hard to keep myself awake by looking around and thinking about places I passed while riding down I8. The Imperial Sand Dunes went by right after I entered the California border. In fact, the freeway simply cut right through big dunes. It was an interesting sight but unfortunately, I had no inclination to stop and take a pic. I should have! About 30 minutes passed and I just had to stop and close my eyes for a few minutes so I pulled over at the very next rest stop. I found a nice table with a shade all by itself so I immediately parked my bike next to it and lay down on the table under a small shade. I tried to cheer myself up by thinking I was now in California soil. Woohoo! Not even 10 minutes passed when this whole family parked their car with CA license plates right next to my bike AND began to setup a freakin� picnic table right next to the table I was napping on! I could not believe it. There must have been a whole acre of empty spots on that rest stop and this family chose to crowd me in my little oasis! I was so pissed! I just packed up and left as I cussed in disbelief! Californians can sometimes be so inconsiderate! |
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Left: Finally in California! I desperately needed a bit of shut eye so I pulled into this empty rest stop. Minutes after I took this picture a family pulled up and parked NEXT to my bike and had a loud picnic right next to my table where I was resting! What was wrong with the other EMPTY tables all over this rest stop that they had to use the one right next to me? |
| In my haste to get away from the small noisy crowd back at the rest stop, I neglected to put my hearing protection on. It was way too loud so I exited the Interstate at the town of El Centro to gas up & put my ear plugs back on. El Centro means �The Center� and they must have meant the center of shit! That place was a total dump. The roads were filled with potholes and sometimes just plane dirt! I arrived at a Shell gas station only to realize there was ONE ancient pump working and the �surface� of the station was nothing more than a pile of rubble. I took one look at that POS station and just rode past. Luckily found a Union 76 station with a PAVED surface, but not after enduring the bumps and grinds of what they call a �road� in El Centro! As I got back on I8, I saw two HD bikes parked in an abandoned building and their riders standing under a shady spot. They were hot too! More miles went by in a blur. I reached the community of Jacumba and that was when the Interstate got a bit interesting. That was where I8 began its climb up and over the mountains of the Cleveland National Forest, Descanso district. The Interstate started weaving left and right in a series of long sweepers which was downright exciting at around 100 mph! The elevation rose up quickly to around 5,000 feet ASL and stayed there for a few minutes. I passed by Incopa, which is a point of interest with interesting sand sculptures and structures built by a man who loved this part of the desert and lived there in the 1930�s I believe. $1 gets visitors permission to poke around the place. Part of me wanted to explore it but I ended up just bypassing it. Too hot to be poking around sand sculptures in the desert wearing leathers. Soon, I8 began to drop back down to sea level as it entered San Diego County. There, the marine layer so prevalent in the coast once again overcame the desert heat and the sun so the clouds covered the sky while the temperature dropped about 40 degrees from 100 to 60 F! I had to stop and put on my vest again due to the cold. At least I stopped sweating! From San Diego, it was a straight shot north to Mission Viejo. Aside from getting a little wet from the misty weather, and getting slightly lost in San Diego�s maze of freeways, the rest of the ride home went without any more excitement. Oh! San Diegan�s drive FAST! I had to maintain 85 mph just to stay with the flow. I arrived at my driveway at 5PM, 11 hours and 575 miles later. I was tired, dirty, smelly, but had a huge grin on my face as my wife greeted me at the door. The Bandit was none worse from wear. |