Day 2 - Friday 24 July 2009 - LA to Palm Springs

At last the adventure has begun. We left the Marriott LAX at 10am and headed south on Hwy 405 for 60 miles. A necessary evil to get clear of LA. Then we headed east onto Hwy 74 and some wonderful winding roads up into the mountains, stopping off at the famous biker cafe of Hells Kitchen (which features a salad bar in a coffin!) before descending to Lake Elsinore.





The temperature falls slightly as we ride up into the mountains but builds up again back at sea level. More winding roads then took us into San Bernadino National Forest with a wonderful aroma from the resin in the pine trees. Rising up to a height of 4,000 feet, the road through the mountains twisted and turned with sheer drops only a few feet away. As we neared Palm Springs we stopped at a vantage point high up in the mountains looking down into the city. While taking photos we were approached by a woman who had been stranded for nearly an hour in the car park with a severe attack of vertigo. She asked if one of us could drive her and her V6 Hummer automatic down to Palm Springs. Ness volunteered and drove all the way down the twisting road with the woman sitting in the back seat, unable to even look out of the window on the way down.

The last leg of our journey took us into Palm Springs with possibly the highest temperatures of the whole day as we descended from the relative cool of the mountains. After checking into our hotel several of us headed for the shops to buy some light coloured long sleeve T-shirts for tomorrows leg of the journey. It's going to be too hot for even the lightest jacket. Then we sat down for an evening meal and toasted Bill and Carroll who celebrated their wedding anniversary today!