The California Backroads Tour 2014 has begun!  Our group assemble in Las Vegas from Canada, Austria and Germany ready to explore the United States southwest.  Luckily we started when we did because the day before there were very strong winds but that brought cooler weather which made it more comfortable for the ride.

DAY 1

The hotel was gracious enough to allow us to park the bikes in front under the their watchful eye.  Here we are getting ready to leave.  Three tour members rode their own bikes down from Canada adding and additional 2000km to their tour.  Marco, sadly couldn't make to Las Vegas but would join us later.

We started the day at the Welcome to Las Vegas sign where we were greated by Elvis himself.  For some reason he was afraid of me but that was OK.  We were lucky to arrive before the main rush and got our picture.  What a motley crew : ).  After we left the city we headed to the Red Rock National Park.  No pictures but I took lots of video that will be edited and posted later.

After lunch we finally arrive into Death Valley National Park.  On our way up to Dante's View are Gerard, Garhard, Siegried and Rod.

We stopped for lunch in Soshone at the Crowbar where we had a great meal and got to check out all the antiques.  Diane even found a place to go shopping.

On top of Dante's View awaits the GS and Schuberth helmet for the ride to continue.  Tomorrow we will be heading south through the desert and then finally up the mountain to Big Bear Lake.

DAY 2

Is there any better way to wake up than a purple and clear sky over the mighty desert? For some of us the day starts in fact with a short ride towards Zabriskie point, overlooking the sandstone formations of Death Valley.

Siegfried enjoying the view...

Back to the resort in Furnace Creek it is time for the daily briefing! Today we will ride along the sand dunes near Stovepipe Wells and than back south trough the desolated yet fascinating landscape of Trona and China Lake (no water of course) military base, a huge field used by US army for rocket testing.

Gerard admiring the dunes...

After a big stretch of desert and nearly never-ending straight roads we hit Bernardino mountains and a scenic curvy road, bringing us from sea level to over 6000 feet. In less than 20 minutes we are teleported in a totally different world, were pine trees and the last snow of the season are still dominating the landscape. Tomorrow we are gonna reach the coast: San Diego is on our way!

DAY 3

On day three we left Big Bear Lake starting at 2200 meters altitude.  It was chilly overnight but had warmed up nicely by the time we left.  We headed into the San Bernardino National Forest on nice twisting roads climbing to 2600 meters before heading down into the valley.

After 45 miles of tight twisting roads it was time for a coffee break.  We found the perfect place in Yucaipa.  Here are Gerhard, Marco, Diane, Gerard and Sigfried enjoying the sun and coffee.

After our coffee we headed for some more backroads and into the apple country of California.  We then got to the only natural lake in southern California, Lake Elsinore.  From there we got on the Ortega Highway which is made famous by several YouTube videos of motorcyclist and is also where we stopped for lunch with the view of Lake Elsinore.

Marco and Gerard admiring the lake and the road we just came up.

Most of the group decided to take lunch on the patio overlooking the lake and enjoying the sun and warmth.  Rob and Bob finally got into the picture.

From lunch we continued on the Ortega Highway to the Mission of San Juan Capistrano.  Most of heard about this beautiful mission from the stories of the Swallows that return every year there on the same date and then stay for the summer.   We toured the 10 acre mission viewing its history and magnificent gardens.

Rest Day in San Diego

We then headed down the Pacific Coast Highway to our hotel in San Diego.  Diane and Deanna are really looking forward to spending the rest day shopping as others take a rest day motorcycle ride, Gerhard and Gerard are off to visit the San Diego Zoo and others to visit the museums in town.  Diane and Deanna spent the day shopping and had to buy another suit case.  Bob, Rob and I went to the USS Midway museum and had a great time there.  Here are some pictures from that.

Day Five

We left Palm Springs and headed back into the desert.  Heading north towards Twenty Nine Palms we made a tour of Joshua Tree National Park.

It was a stark contrast to the empty desert, all the Joshua Trees and the large white bolders.  Bob did a little research and found out the the large rocks were lava from a volcano eruption millions of years ago and they are white because of the minerals in them and that they cooled below the surface, interesting.

After 100 miles of straight road through the desert we made it to the Colorado River, Parker Dam and Lake Havasu.  In Lake Havasu City is where the London Bridge is now located, in the middle of the desert.  It was bought by Mr. McCullough, taken apart brick by brick and then rebuilt here.

Here are Sigfried and Rob by the bridge.  While we were at the bridge Gerard made a new friend at the river.  I thought he was never gong to leave.