El Centro-Ocotillo Drive

... having enough cash on me, but I knew there we toll roads. I read about it before we left. We should have brought cash with us across the border, as U.S. dollars are widely accepted. In fact, people everyone always expected us to pay in U.S. dollars, rather than Mexican pesos. I thought we come across and ATM in Mexicali, but I never saw one, and we were lost anyway, so once we found the highway to Tijuana we just stayed on it. Well, guess ...

After my class I left at 9:00 a.m. for Price, my hometown, which is where my brother Logan lives with my mom.  It's about two hours away, so I stopped in Price to get him, pack some camping gear, eat lunch, and we went on our way.  We drove about 10 hours to Imperial Sand Dunes and camped there that night.  Just a lot of driving.  Nothing too exciting about that!  

 I will always remember my very first trip I ever took. I was 14 and I went to Mexico with a group of people from Mill Creek Foursquare church on a mission trip to help out in some orphanages. I just loved seeing a different culture and way of life! It's when I knew I had to see the world. I wanted to experience it all. 

 The people in Mexico that I met were all so kind and seemed to love ...

... bunnies running around. I couldn't keep my eyes off them. I love bunnies, what can I say. Anyhow, the trail provided many interesting facts about the sea as well as the wildlife there. The refuge was established as a sanctuary and breeding ground for birds and wild animals in 1930. The place provided a nice scenery of the sea.

... seems the birds found a source of water to drink that was not salty . . .and were taking advantage of it. I know it snows in California . . but I had never seen it . . at least in Southern California. The wind farms at Desert Springs went as far as I could see.

... that Patrick was no longer employed. Questioning the loss of Patrick (the owners son), he was told that he'd been let go for embezzlement. Guess that explains the great rate! We're still about 100 miles from our launch point and the traffic (in the middle of the desert) has ground to a stop. It appears to be one of those random border patrol stops designed to catch the illegal entrants ...

... It is Blake who organizes and plots this trip every year, Blake who charts our course and Blake who packs the bike (an annual certification of his Engineering degree). Blake is the fun one in our family and I am always so grateful for the fun he brings to my life ... and sometimes drags me off to experience! So we're here in Mexicali, unpacked and settled into a lovely room ... with air conditioning! We just finished dinner ...

... Texas. All this in eleven weeks! Now a little bit about our steed..we riding a 2007 BMW GS 1200 Adventure that I have prepared for the trip. Malin calls it our Dream Machine...I'm kind of partial to the name Globe Stomper, but regardless, I've put about 13,000 miles of road and dirt beneath this bike in advance of our trip to make sure I know it inside and out...I've done all of the servicing and tire changing myself, and I ...

... guess they aren't getting much wear and tear. Ever wonder what a highly tuned athlete eats to fuel himself? Don't ask me, I have no idea. But I had a cherry turnover, english muffin with jelly, a pecan roll, 2 glasses of OJ, 3 trail mix bars, 1 Milky Way, a turkey sandwich, 1 banana, a pack of twinkies, a bag of pretzels, 2 cokes, a half a Mountain Dew, and just under 2 gallons of gatorade. And ...

... plaque with a picute of his bus on it. Someone took pics of the winners got them printed and got them on wooden plaques with clocks to give out, pretty cool ! Other new friends from Bakerfield with a Subie six powered Adventurewagen related their horrifing experience of the nite. He left our party circle late and went to his van, when he closes the glass roof vent it explodes into a million pieces. The loud explosing awaken most of his neighbors and he's ...