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Thank you Ed for taking us back in writing through this great journey!
Julio still wants to have the time to take his siesta after the great Apple Pie and Hamburgers!! You are so right!
We look forward to seeing you in another trip soon - hopefully another one in 2012!
All the best from Florida!
Mauricia & Julio

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Upon leaving San Diego we headed to the Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo National Monument which overlooks the Pacific Ocean and Coronado Island. The park was dedicated in 1913 as Cabrillo was the first European to step foot on what is now known as California. The park, however, was not completed until 1939 when the Portuguese government donated a statue of Cabrillo.
After leaving the park and the San Diego area we headed into the hills for some nice motorcycle roads. All these twisty roads make for an appetite so we stopped in San Ysabel. The restaurant was located next to an apple pie bakery, so of course everyone had to try a piece with their favorite ice cream topping. Mine was cinnamon, so good.
I teased Julio and told him that we were going to take a siesta under the trees for 30 minutes. So when everyone started to suite up, he was very disappointed. We continued northeast through the favorite twisty roads of the L.A. and San Diego before dropping down out of the mountains back into the desert. Our destination for the night was Palm Springs, the oasis in the desert. Our hotel was strategically located close to the weekly evening Village Fest which made for a fun and interested post dinner walk.
The group left Palm Springs and continued through the desert heading for Joshua Tree National Park. Everyone was set free to explore the park on their own. Upon gathering back together they headed towards the London Bridge Resort in Lake Havasu City but not before stopping and playing in the waters of the Colorado River. It was so refreshing! Lake Havasu City was made famous by the entrepreneur Robert McCulloch, who bought the London Bridge, had it taken apart, brick by brick and then had it rebuilt along the banks of Lake Havasu.
Sadly, this was to be our last day of riding. We departed Lake Havasu and continued through the Mojave Desert and headed for the most famous road in the United States, Route 66. This road was made famous by several movies but almost became extinct with the building of interstate highways. Route 66 was the first road to connect Chicago to Los Angeles but since has been replaced by Interstate 40. In recent years several communities has restored some sections of the road to enable us to enjoy some of the folklore.
Before returning to Las Vegas we stopped for lunch. As luck would have it they had a shooting range outside and offered a variety of weapons to fire. Some of the group and me went out and fire several different types of sub machine guns to let off some steam. Even “machine gun Dave” went out and hit the exploding target with his first shot.
Sadly, the tour had come to an end. This was a great group that always had a positive attitude and enjoyed the riding and the sites. I look forward to riding with them all again soon.

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Ed! this is great summary! thanks for taking the time to write it! Now, when work is too difficult, we come back and read it and wish we were riding instead!! We are looking at the next tour in The GREAT USA!
You and Steve voted "best tour guides"!!
All the best, Mauricia & Julio