The next morning, New Year's Eve, high 20's I believe, I treated myself to the sheer grandeur of the snow covered Sierra's. I was even treated to a token handful of snowflakes on my visor on the way out of Carson City. Again, I did not expect to be here in winter but here I am. US-395 is a must ride.
I kept seeing repetitive signs, not on the scale of Bucee's mind you but touting nonetheless the $5.95 steak 'n egg breakfast special at the Topaz Lodge. I bit. I had to walk to the back of the massive casino and couldn't find the cafe at first. The waitress seemed frustrated when I ordered the special, and even more so when I asked her to take my picture against the beautiful backdrop of the lake. Her heart just wasn't in it.
Well at any rate, the view was impressive . . . . .
. . . . and the steak was excellent.
The sun had warmed things up a bit to near 40. It was a feast for the eyes.
A tourist at the overlook offered to get a shot of me with the bike - and actually put some effort in it.
I arrived at Aunt Peachie's around 3pm. We had a late lunch and spent New Year's Eve watching game shows and catching up on family business. It was a very enjoyable visit.
New Year's Day. Bishop, CA. After breakfast at Denny's and fueling up I hit the road around 10am. I was thinking I sure hope the locals here don't take this view for granted.
Once again, no precipitation in the forecast. I can't believe I'm actually talking about crossing yet another mountain pass, this time Westgard pass at 7,000ft in winter but I am - and I did. There is even a section where CA-168 goes to single lane between the rocks. Fantastic. I only got one shot here but hopefully my son can stabilize the shaky GoPro video footage.
The decent into Nevada gave a striking view too. (Wait for the video) I had neither the time nor inclination to stop in Vegas so I got gas and pressed on. I did however, stop here. I did not venture around back where they keep the dancing alien girls.
I'd like to see the Grand Canyon again someday but not today. And there was a long line to get to the Hoover Dam visitor's center so I rode on. Hwy 93 into Phoenix may have been a beautiful ride but nondescript after dark. I made it as far as Eloy AZ and checked into the Motel 6 around 11:30pm.
January 2nd. I'm still 1200 miles from home. I learned we're short an employee at the shop so I have to report for duty Saturday the 4th. No problem.
I stopped to meet a facebook rider buddy, Steve Loster of
Victory Police Motorcycles of Tucson. He gave me the grand tour. Very impressive. It seems more and more law enforcement agencies are retiring their Harley and BMW fleets in favor of Victory. And it's no wonder. These guys deliver a fully integrated, built to order, duty ready machine that doesn't have to go out to a third party for radio, lights, etc. My guess is they're cranking out around 5 police bikes per week. Steve rattled off an impressive list of his Texas clients too, Denton, Corpus and Missouri City to name a few. He showed me some nice features such as foot board/crash bar arrangement that allows 34 degrees of lean and the bike will not fall over. Officers can bail off the bike for foot pursuit without taking time to put down the sidestand. I was most impressed with the keypad on the bars that pops the left side case and for 15 seconds releases the electronic lock on the AR-15 inside. Slick.
I also took time to take in Arizona's rugged beauty.