DAY 7. THE END.

... and also this tour is coming to an end. We have been across a great variety of landscapes, from the empty deserts like Death Valley to snowcapped mountains on San Bernardino, spending a relaxing day sightseeing San Diego in between. Today we reach Las Vegas again, cruising a part of the historical Route 66 passing trough Oatman, a wild western village.

An iconic photo...

Lots of burros (donkey) around Otman... they seem pretty hungry!

Hand got a new friend, he wants to come to Vegas with him!

Lunch stop in Kingman, another famous town on the Route 66 (have you had any doubt?)

Today typical American

Color matching!

Last stop before Vegas: Hoover Dam, constructed in 1931 to provide water and hydroelectric power to the whole area. Its history is strictly connected with the development of Las Vegas.

Tour DONE! All went good, thanks (jumping)  Steve for your cooperation and effort to make it as enjoyable as possible!

DAY 6

After a night out having a walk trough the VillageFest of the VIP town Palm Springs we gotta cross the desert once again! Direction Arizona and Lake Havasu City, where they are having a weekend of ski-jet and speedboat races. It's gonna be lively packed!

Blue sky and sunshine, as usual! on Southwest of USA!

Ready for the briefing...

Trough the desert, wide horizon...

And water again! This town is very lively throughout the year, a sort of "internal Riviera".

DAY 5

Back on the saddle, heading east now, since we reach the westernmost point of the tour in San Diego. Further west... only a boat can go! A morning ride trough the city and then suddenly empty backroads up to the mountains in direction Lake Cuyamaca. San Bernardino mountains in the afternoon and then the chic Palm Springs for our evening.

Group picture by the ocean...

Getting higher again, and definitely cooler...

Lunch break: apparently nearly every restaurant in this area offer both American and Mexican cuisine, and this particularly is famous for the apple pies.

Afternoon break in the forest, admiring the sculptures of some very skilled wood carvers.

Someone has said there are bears around here?!?

Last downhill road and then the desert!

Another good ride that ends with a well deserved boot beer!

DAY 4

The morning in San Diego gives us two options: either joining Steve  for a 100-mile ride in the mountains around San Diego or sightseeing the city with Manuel, starting with the Old Trolley Bus tour. The various drivers/guides are quite some characters, each of them with plenty of tales about San Diego, or better "San Miguel", as the area was once called by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the first European setting his step on this land.

Ready?? Go!!!

View from the bridge towards Coronado Island.

Old town market... it might seems a bit kitsch but it's an entertaining version of a Wild West pioneer village, with some Mexican spices in it.

Here they are already thinking at Christmas... Catholic influence.

Hop on again on the trolley, direction harbor: plenty to see here, from the aircraft carrier USS Midway to the old sailing ships Star of India and Surprise, featured in Jonny Depp's movie Pirates of the Caribbean.

Inside the Soviet submarine B-39.. quite tight in here! And imagine that this is one of the largest non nuclear submarine ever built!

Trough the charming streets of Victorian Age Gaslamp quarter...

And back to the hotel in the marina after a long day of sightseeing... tomorrow we ride across San Bernardino mountains!

DAY 3

The morning in Big Bear at over 6000 feet is quite chilly! Fall is around the corner (actually, it is already here) and the bikes are feeling a bit cold. Soon the rising sun warms us up a bit and we are ready for a long session of curvy roads down towards San Bernardino. Lunch break is a bit special today: picnic on the beach, surrounded by palms at Lake Elsinore! Quite a treat with such a good weather, while back at home in Europe the temperature is dropping and the climate is becoming more and more wet.

In the afternoon we face some more twisty roads until we reach sea level and the pacific coast: San Diego, the southernmost Californian city is our destination! Mexico is just 20 minutes south and you can feel the hispanic influence in the air...

Tomorrow it is a rest day and many of us will take the chance to discover this interesting place.

Views from Big Bear mountains...

Our picnic spot by Lake Elsinore...

The Bay Club hotel in San Diego, right on the waterfront between the sandy beach ad the marina.

The skyline on San Diego across the bay and some pelicans

The pretty bay of Shelter Island, where our hotel is located.

And the view from the room over the marina... have a good night and see you tomorrow!

DAY 2

Wake up call at 5am, 6am already on the bike... quick ride to the fantastic Zabriskie Point to admire the first rays over the rock formations of Death Valley! Simply stunning... speechless. The following photos will be self explaining...

Wolfgang and Alice posing in the wind...

And your tour guide Manuel...

After the daily briefing we head northwest to the end of the Valley, stopping to view the sand dunes. It's still a bit chilly, the night of the desert has dropped the temperature from 93°F to 60°F!

Coffee stop in the middle of American Nowhere...

End after a 300-mile ride we deserve a cool boot beer!

Tomorrow we cross some more mountains and before reaching San Diego we will enjoy a picnic on Lake Elsinore... Have a good night!

DAY 1

Good morning sleeping Las Vegas! At sunrise the city is slowly going to bed, and we are waking up, eager to start our tour! Today we will ride to Death Valley. Despite of the park closure we are still able to reach our destination. Furnace Creek is open and we will spend the next night in the desert under millions of stars.

Our support vehicle is ready too... it looks quite powerful, and in fact it is: 6.7 liter Dodge, not too bad!

And these are the bikes for our tour! I like the blue and white one... look at the front 24' wheel, it should work pretty good for offroading!

(Just kidding, thanks god we have some proper bikes for the tour...)

Welcome to Death Valley... We caught posing some russian couples...

And here we are: 93°F at the Ranch Resort: definitely time to jump in the pool, but it's hot too, fed with hot springs!

Western feeling anyone? Inside the Ranch there is a scenic open air museum...

Hello Steve! How is piloting that old train? Come down before the security catches you!

Yes, below the sea level... and in summer it gets damn hot here, over 110° is the norm!

DAY 0

Welcome to Fabulous LAS VEGAS,

says the sign at the beginning of the "Strip", the main boulevard of the city of lights. Here we are going to start another Edelweiss motorcycle tour across Nevada, Arizona and California all the way down to San Diego, where we meet the Pacific Ocean. The welcome briefing starts soon and you can tell the excitement in the air! Stay tuned for the next updates from the road with your tour guides Steve and Manuel.