Going to the rally - day 1

Saturday, August 20: I left home around 07:15 AM. I had to get through 300 miles of desert on I-10 so I wasted no time. I stopped in Quartzsite AZ for gas (168 miles). Quartzsite is about 20 miles East of the Colorado River, and the California state line. Two hours later, I stopped in Thousand Palms (Palm Springs area) for lunch. It was around 104° degrees when I left the restaurant. I wanted to fill up, so I stopped at a gas station in Palm Desert (135 miles). I also stopped by Palm Springs Harley Davidson and grabbed a nice t-shirt. Just past Palm Springs is a gigantic wind farm.Thousands of wind generators line both sides of I-10. I know why they located it there. I fought a real nasty headwind all the way to Banning. I exited I-10 onto I-210, which took me around Los Angeles along the eastern foothills instead of through it. Right after I got on the 210, traffic came to a halt. It was backed up for about 3 miles, due to what I would later learn was a brushfire along the freeway. I shuffled along, moving about 1 bike length at a time for about a mile. That's how long it took for me to build up the courage to split lanes (legal in CA). After I watched a Goldwing pass me, I decided it was safe, so I very cautiously moved between the traffic lanes and made my way to the front of the backup. After that, it was smooth sailing all the way to Castaic, where I am spending the night. I am just a few miles North of Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park. Total miles for the day = 480.8.

I only took one picture today, of part of the wind farm from the Harley dealers' parking lot.