Wow, great news. We completed the ride, and just finished the conference. At this point we have raised $28,605 for Action Against Hunger.
The auction raised $15,854 and to date, $12,751 has been raised for the ride portion.
Thank you for your support, your contributions and the significant work you’ve done to make the world a better place.
Breakfast was interesting as we got our “usual table” and were described as the “crazy crowd from last night”. It was time to leave.
A cold start led to a hot day, as the group headed towards Death Valley. Some confusion over the speed limits in “the park” led to the group getting a little disjointed with half heading one way, while the other half (with the map) went the correct way. By midday we arrived at our destination: Badwater, the lowest point in the US at -282 feet. This was definitely a highlight of the trip, and lots of photos were taken by the group and tourists who found the bikes to be an interesting photo op. At over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the heat was on, but the journey was worth it. Now it required a final 150 miles push to Bishop, California. Some of the best riding and curves (not as plentiful as the curves in Tonopah, but that’s a whole other story), ensured everyone had a great motorcycle riding experience.
Safely arrived, the pool and the hot tub became the focal point and we eventually moved on to the Whiskey Creek for a wonderful dinner and [more] alcohol. This was the last night the complete group would be together, as Turtle Mama, The Pirate and Scott (CHiPs) would be heading home tomorrow.
To start the ride, we all had to arrive in Reno first. One group rode up from Orange County (Ian, Janice & Daryl), while one group rode in from San Francisco (Dennis, Scott, Gary & Tayler) and met Tom who had flown in from San Diego. They stayed the night in Incline Village. The OC group froze in 28 degree weather (or less with the wind chill) coming up from Bishop CA. Stops were only 45 minutes apart, just to get warm and “the ride” has not even started yet. The SF group also froze as they made their way towards Nevada.
The Incline group got up and ready to leave at 8:43 with Pamela’s egg shots for breakfast with Tom’s Tomatoes!!
By 10:30 the group were united in Reno. Ready for the start of the big ride. Unfortunately, it took an hour to find the PRISMgives T-Shirts. Finally found the group were ready to leave… and Ian’s (The Boss) bike wouldn’t start!! While he worked on the solution (new battery for the security system) Dennis (Duracell) led the group to get fuel… except Tom (The Toddler), who struggled to understand the simple instructions!! OK… eventually the group re-united at the gas station (still in Reno) and the ride was on. Midday the group was finally pounding miles towards the first nights stop at Tonopah.
The first stop was in [Ian to add] where we stopped for fuel and lunch. A local delicacy (Subway) was consumed by all, while Janice (Turtle Mama) was becoming the local star at the hardware store (getting The Boss’s security battery). Onwards to the exciting night’s stop and Gary (Big Red) was kind enough to point out where Turtle Mama lost her highway peg, but not quite kind enough to stop and pick it up!! Fuel in the smallest gas station in the world and another 60 miles to the longest straight road in the world (16.5 miles) and we arrived safely in Tonopah.
The Ramada, Tonopah comes highly recommended (by the sign posts heading in) and included a “3 of a kind Dice Roll” for a free room, which “The Toddler” didn’t win (despite two threes and a two)!! Two hours later, we were all successfully checked in (not the most efficient check-in we have experienced).
Despite this inconvenience, Tonopah proved to be an exciting and memorable stop. As the “star gazing” capital of the US we were excited to see the Milky Way… unfortunately the only Milky Way we saw was in the grocery store. Big Red did allegedly see one star… and that was the Cat Man from Ripley’s Believe it or not. Big Red has still not recovered… but he will. Maybe!!
Dinner proved interesting as our resident Canadian debated the merits of clubbing seal cubs (a local pass time in Canada) with Turquoise hunting in Tonopah, which is carried out humanely… according to the locals. The Toddler still disputes this and is thinking of setting up a foundation.
The rest of us are still trying to recover from “The Toddlers” duet with Jeremy (the local Karaoke King) of The Proclaimers (I can walk 500 miles… and we wish they had) and Daryl (The Dirty Pirate) singing Teddy Bear… the scariest Teddy Bear we have ever seen, or heard!! The highlight of the Karaoke evening was the locals singing “I like big butts”, which was convenient as most had one. I cannot lie… which was the truth.
After significant amounts of alcohol Duracell decided to take first watch (Big Red was nervous after watching Deliverance earlier this year) and we finally all got a good night’s sleep.