Dear Diary, what a day its been !
We were lucky to have missed tornados in Kansas but by quirky happenstance we just happened to be doing the hottest leg of the tour on the hottest day of a national heatwave. Still as Shakespeare said: 'If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well It were done quickly'.
After a good night's sleep we breakfasted at 7 and were on the bikes at 8 am, stopping for a group 'Leaving Las Vegas' photo op.
View at fuel stop just outside Vegas:
Already hot - so group huddling in the shade:
Scenery:
We turned off the freeway and followed a winding road through the Mojave National Park.
Old post office at Kelso - an iron mining and rail transport depot.
Comfort break in Kelso.
Dropping down into the desert bowl we battled through the fearsome heat to Amboy:
Roys Motel - now just a cafe and petrol station.
Temperature in Amboy area a bracing 49 C - which we experienced for around an hour.
Volcanic cinder cone and lava field at Amboy - 80,000 years old - last eruption 10,000 years ago.
Other lava cones in distance.
Out of the frying pan - into Ludlow for lunch. Temperatures down to a more comfortable 43 C.
Why did they name this town at the edge of the Mojave desert 'Ludlow' ? Scenery at Ludlow, USA:
Scenery at Ludlow, UK - obvious resemblance !
Our route on Google Earth - about 275 miles
Google Earth close-up of Amboy - cinder cone and lava field evident.
Here we are - within a short ride from LA
So, we made it through the wilderness, but don't go thinking I'll put Madonna on the music clips - that would be like a vergein on the ridiculous !
Music Clips:
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