Silly Billies Return to Roam

Our little Krysler! The first two nights of our adventure were spent in Joshua Tree. All the Yakka trees immensely excited Chris. We had a wonderful camp spot on the 2 nd day and enjoyed the sunset after we walked in to a real Oasis. Unfortunately we both had a nasty flu…I was so reminded of Dad in Orange Grove wishing for Death Valley. The desert oasis Luckily the desert heat did the trick and we were off to Vegas for a wee look around. We camped beside Lake Mead and headed into town at night for a look at the amazing Belagio with its majestic fountains and the Venetian for its amazing architecture. We were so reminded of Dubai and the gambling was eye opening. (Sorry Kurt, but we didn’t gamble a cent!). At Lake Mead the next day the heat soared to 40 degrees as we cruised past the Hoover Dam, then onwards to the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon was spectacular, if a bit touristy, but we managed to procure ourselves the not-so-easily-come-by permits to camp down in the gorge.

Our arrival in Los Angeles was typical…huge queues through customs, traipsing around hot streets carrying many bags of gear. But after some hours we did manage to hire a wee Chrysler PT Cruiser, very snazzy, and we were catapulted onto the high-speed motorway towards Kurt’s house in Redlands via Google maps directions. Redlands is about 1.5 hours drive from LA, and sits amongst some big hills and some very deserty terrain. It is suburban America, but set amongst orange groves it is very pleasant. It was great to catch up with Kurt and laugh about all the things that seem odd to us kiwis. We spent 5 days in total at Kurt’s place and he was a great host! I tried out a demo specialised on a ride through some local hills with Kurt and Chris, lots of windy single track through some very dry country. We took a drive into the local mountains and tried lots of local cuisine (good Mexican!). The highlight however had to be a free visit (thanks to Kurt) to Six Flags Magic Mountain