Day 1 – 331 Miles from Home

ORANGE, CA. to KINGMAN, AZ – 331 Miles

At long last our Route-66-to-Chicago-to-Milwaukee trip has begun! I promised my mommy I’d write a daily update, plus, it gives my brain something to think about on the road and makes a nice journal to look back on. Can’t promise it’ll be interesting but… Here we go!

I have to admit. I didn’t wake up in the best of moods, crazy considering it’s day one of a three-week vacation! I shoulda been giddy, right? But it had been a tough couple of days.

We didn’t get an early start because, well… I had to get my hair done. Girl’s gotta look purty right? (thanks Jo!)

Then we had to load up the bikes and get everything situated. I think our bags weigh nearly as much as the motorsickles! Finally, sometime after three, we hightailed it outta Orange.

Here’s where I go all cliche’… Once I got on the bike and cleared SoCal traffic, all the stress of the last couple of weeks vanished. Gone.

Talk about dynamic weather! Wind, rain, lightning, heat, rainbows, the smell of the wet desert (yeah… Those are all good things!) Mother Nature treated us well and shielded the blazing sun with a nice layer of clouds.

Somewhere near the Joshua Tree off-ramp I felt an icy cool sliding down my britches, and figured it was just a stray ice cube, but no, my Camelbak knockoff had sprung a leak! At least it gave us a nice chance to get some pics!

Then it was on to Kingman Az for the Hilltop Motel and Dambar steakhouse.

My pal Scooter Girl from the Blue Frog Cafe in Orange said I should collect something, like pressed flowers, or spoons, or rocks ala Lucille Ball in the Long Long Trailer (not such a good plan on the bike)… So I was thinkin’, what could I collect? Road grime on slicks? Check. Miles? Check. And then at dinner it came clear! Of course! Pie! An old family traveling tradition. Granted, I can’t carry it with me, so a picture will have to do as proof.

For my first pie, I present the Dambar’s Dam Pie, a mixed berry pie including rhubarb. Great flakey crust and a perfect mix of fruits! A 5 mile pie! (my top rating).

And now… It’s Sunday morn and time to ride on!

Later gators!

(by the way, this is all being done on the iPhone, pictures and blog, so if the formatting is funky, that’s why!)