The service of Jaak and Mieke is postponed until next week. Today we crossed the border with Nevada, direction Las Vegas. It was a warm drive, we left at 27°C (10am) and temperature raised in no time to 37.5°C, this was due to the crossing of the Mojave desert! Before Las Vegas we took some private fun time. After this well-deserved stop we continued our way via the I-15, trying to avoid the heat, which didn’t work out very well. Almost dried out, we finally found a real nice campsite in Calico, a small silver mining ghost town. We arrived around 5pm and temperature was still 35°C: hot, hotter hottest.
The next day, we visited this lovely little town and continued the battle with the Mojave desert… Apart from the heat, we had an extra topping of gusty wind! In Mojave city we visited the ‘Mojave Air and Spece center’. This was the airport of the first non-refueling trip around the world of the Voyager. The aim of our stop was also to visit another boneyard, however, visits were no longer possible (a pity). We drove with the wind towards Red Rock Canyon State park. A tremendously beautiful park where we pitched our tent and walked the ‘desert view trail’. It was pretty sandy and we can tell that the day after we ate and wore sand 😊. On Thursday we left early to avoid the heat, however it was only 13°C and even more windy. Veerle was literally blown over on her motorbike! (wind up to 50-55mph). No damage to both ladies. Despite this event we continued via the Isabelle Walker pass and lake into Kernville. After fueling up Jaak & Mieke, we had a chat with the cashier and she informed us to see and visit the rangers of the Sequoia National Forest as the planned continued road was closed due to the snow and ice into the mountains. At the ranger station they informed us that all passes across the Alta Sierra Nevada are closed due to winter conditions. Due to the heavy wind and this new important information, we decided to stop riding for today. We booked a room at the Kernville Inn and adapted our roadtrip.
On Friday we took the road 155 which led us through a very curved and scenic landscape towards one of the most fertile regions of California. The valley was full of orange, grapefruit and lemon trees, depending on the season, the valley offers also avocado, prunes, apricots and more diverse fruits. Of course we needed to stop to taste and buy this tasteful fruit. Via route 198, Lemon Cove, Kaweah lake and Three Rivers we entered the Sequoia National Park. Because the majority of the campsites were closed for seasonal reasons, we stopped early at the Buckeye flat nearby the Kaweah river. We had a nice campfire and were accompanied by Michael and William, 2 motorbike riders who met eachother during a previous trip in Panama. We had a great evening telling stories, exchanging travel information and making future plans. Today we had brilliant day in the park. We did a hike to Moro Rock (2050m) and paid a visit to the old General Sherman Tree. Moro Rock was impressive!!! It gave us a extraordinary view on the valley and surrounding snow covered mountains. The curvy route through the park was every single meter spectacular and hard to catch on a picture. E stayed a second night in the park, but a different campground, the azalea one. Tomorrow we are looking forward to drive into Yosemite National Park.
