Saturday, June 4th:

                Today we got up at 4:30- and drove back to place that we had ended yesterday, about 30 miles short of Seligman. We have about 106 miles to do today in order to get into Flagstaff, where we are getting a package delivery with some biking tools from Jerry’s relative. Speaking of Jerry, today is his birthday! But not just a regular birthday- it’s his Golden Birthday! (for fear of offending an x-marine, I won’t tell you how old he is, but just so you know, a golden birthday is when the month and day make up the age your turning… today is 6/4/2011). As we passed Seligman, we grabbed some subway sandwiches for lunch and then set back off on I-40. At lunch, Ed and Jerry decided that we would stop in Williams, about 30 miles short of Flagstaff. About 15 miles before Williams, we were at about 5000 feet in elevation- but Williams is at 7100 feet. Doing some simple math- we determined that the rest of the day was going to stink. And thus it did. It took us about 3 hours to finish off those last 15 miles. That included a flat tire, a messed up chain, and a whole lot of sweat. But eventually we find our way to the Best Western in Williams, Arizona.

Friday, June 3rd:

Today we awoke from our slumber at 4:00, and got ready for another great day on the road! (Then again, if you were talking to the bikers…. great might not be the first word that they use to describe it…) Anyhow, we headed back onto 95 north and then east on Highway 68- heading towards Kingman. Highway 68 led us up Union Pass, at an elevation of 3571 feet! It took us 3 hours to finally reach the top- but then we breezed down the eastern side of the mountain and kept heading towards Kingman. We ate at an IHop in Kingman and set back out onto the Highway heading towards the freeway. Once we hopped on to I-40, there were early troubles- as the road had a horrible shoulder. But getting through that portion of the freeway- the shoulder smoothed out, and we followed the 40 east through the Arizona desert. Matthew achieved his first flat tire about 40 miles out of Seligman- and about 10 miles later- the adults decided to just drive into the city and start out where we ended off tomorrow. We filled our guts with some Subway before hitting the sack so that we can wake up ready for another hard day tomorrow.

Thursday, June 2nd:

                Today we decided to sleep in until 5:00, so that we could rest our bodies from being on the road for 12 hours yesterday. After loading the bikes back on top of the racks, we set out for Vidal Junction to start our day off again. In Matthew’s words when asked what happened during the day: “We were out in the middle of nowhere forever”. Despite the bluntness of this comment, it is the best way. The roads we were on were decent, but they were quite rough through Eastern California. Snaking our way up the Arizona border, we made good time to Needles, CA where we stopped at a Denny’s for lunch. We crossed over the Arizona border and continued north on Highway 95. Finally, after a long, hard, HOT day- we arrived in Bullhead City, just near the border of California, Nevada, and Arizona- where we stayed for a good night’s rest.

Wednesday, June 1st:

       Whoo! Today was a LONG day! Our day started out at 5:00 when we woke up and got ready for 119 miles from Indio to Vidal Junction, right near the border of Arizona. Once again, the heat in Southern California caught up to us quickly, reaching 90 degress before 10:00 even rolled around! One thing that we did differently today is that we had to ride on the freeway, Interstate 10, for about 40 miles- because there were no highways that went into Eastern California. Along the freeway, Christian got a flat tire- and we stopped promptly to fix it. Afterwards, we got off of the freeway and grabbed a quick bite to eat at the only diner between Indio and Vidal- and run down and beat up place where they didn't even have the ingredients to make most of the stuff on their menu! So we were offered either tuna or turkey sandwiches, graciously thanked the lady for the meal, and set back off. We began by heading north on Highway 177, then finally onto Highway 64 East which led us straight into Vidal Junction. However, along the way, we somehow managed to pop another 3 tires- all three of them were Ed's. After stopping over and over and over again, we finally made it into Vidal 119 miles later, where we put the bikes onto the racks and drove over to Parker, Arizona where there was a Best Western Hotel waiting for our weary heads.

Tuesday, May 31st:

       Today started, once again, at 4:20 when we wanted to beat all of the traffic over Highway 79. Getting on the road early was a good choice, because before we had gone far- around 8:30- it was already 75 degrees! We kept chugging uphill all the way to an Indian Town called Anza, where we stopped for a bite to eat at a small town restaurant: 371 Diner. Despite the quantness of the diner, the food was delicious- and was perfect to fill a bunch of hungry men. We took back off onto Highways 371 North, as it kept climbing up over the mountains. Finally, we peaked and it was all downhill from there. Literally. The next 20 miles were all down hill, as we lost almost 5000 feet of elevation where we ended up in Indio, California at 40 feet above sea level. Upon arrival, it was my job to find a hotel- which in Indio- was no small task. Driving around for almost an hour, I finally found a best western- not hoping for much at all. However, after seeing the hotel, we were all amazed. It was the cheapest hotel that we have rented yet, but it was also the nicest. They had a huge pool, an excersize room with actual weights, and free DVDs at the front desk. We decided to order Dominoes pizza for dinner- and then call it a night for another early morning tomorrow.

Monday, May 30th:

        After waking up at 4:20, we set off on the beautiful Californian road to Indio. After smooth sailing for a few miles out of the LA beach, we started tracking our way up over the first mountain range. Grabbing a few pictures along the way, we trudged back and forth up each switchback until we reached the summit 27 miles later. Gratefully, we got some payback with a GORGEOUS scenic downhill for the next 6 miles! We ended up at Lake Elisnore, a beautiful little town just north of Temecula. The men started clipping south for Temecula, averaging almost 15 mph on the straight city street. In Temecula, we turned east on Highway 79- and were very grateful for a small tailwind helping us along. However, about 10 miles down the shoulder-less, dangerous, hot, and dusty road- Ed and Jerry decided that it was just too unsafe to be going down that road during the memorial day traffic. So we loaded the bikes back on the Tahoe, and booked it back to Temecula to find ourselves a hotel to rest from our uphill battle. During the day, we started at sea level, and reached 2730 feet, and then came to a rest at Temecula at about 1100 feet above sea level. Now we are getting ready to hit sack for another early day tomorrow.