Death Valley, Reno and my quest for a burning man ticket.

  I was going to go through Bishop CA to get to Reno but as I was leaving town the clouds on that side of town were ominous to say the least.  So instead I went through Pahrump and into Death Valley.  I caught Death Valley at just the right time.  On my way through Pahrump the wind started blowing making it a little difficult to ride but not unbearable.  Luckily when it got unbearable I had made my way to the Amargosa Hotel just on the edge of Death Valley.  The front desk guy was kind enough to let me hang out till the wind died down.  I stayed about 3 or 4 hours and as dusk was approaching the wind seemed to have died down enough so I got back on the bike.  Turns out I caught the place in just the light I love.  Dusk ready to turn to dark which made the valley glow orange.  It was awesome.  It wasn't too long until a 3/4 moon was up and basking the desert floor in soft moonlight.

  My first stop in the Valley was The Furnace Creek Inn.  Supposedly this is the place that inspired the Eagles song Hotel California.  (I dunno about that). I had no intention of paying for a night here.  They usually start at $300/night and go as high as $1200.  I did intend to take advantage of the amenities though.  The first step was to make friends with bartender by ordering a water and tipping a dollar.  The reason to make friends with him is so that i can get some ice out of him later.  Next was to get clean and the pool was open to about  11pm.  Luckily it was about 10:15 so I had plenty of time.  I walked up to the gate and you needed a room key to access.  I pulled but it was locked.  Luckily the guy who was guarding/life-guarding was nice enough to let me in with no room key.  I didn't even have to make up a story about losing my room key.  I quickly jumped into the pool got out and found a nice soft couch to fall asleep on.  I was out and when I woke up the pool was deserted and the gates were locked.  I got a little nervous now because I was locked in and the fence was not an easy jump over.  This old fat guy was going to have to work to get over that fence.  As i get ready for the climb a golf court pulls up and a security guy gets out and lets me out.  No questions asked.  Wow!  I thought I was kicked out in the least and maybe trespassed.  I caught a few more hours sleep on a nice couch outside of the bar and then got on my bike and headed north.  For some reason I was still tired and had to pull over multiple times for little catnaps.  I decided that I'm not going to force myself to stay awake on the motorcycle.  Its just too dangerous.

   After about 3 or 4 naps I pull out of Death Valley headed to Reno on the 95.  My first objective in Reno was to get a room for a few days so I called my old roommate who runs the poker room at the Grand Sierra Hotel.  He seemed happy to see me and I asked to hook me up with a room he seemed happy to do it.  He even invited me to come down to the poker room in the morning and play in his poker tournament.   oops i forgot one  small part.  One the way to Reno you pass three legal brothels and I had never been in one before and ever since one of my dopey friends showed up with a hat from one I have wanted a hat from one of the brothels.  It's kind of a funny conversation starter and if you wear it proudly you keep them guessing.  Soooo I pull up into one at about 6am called Angel's Ladies.  A complex of trailers with a nice doublewide in the middle.....to be continued........

First stop ????

  Not sure if my first stop will be Burning Man or Yosemite, California.  I don't think I want to be at Burning Man for more than 2 days and the last 2 are the best 2 so I think I will try to get a ticket first then shoot down to Yosemite and do some sightseeing, maybe climb the cable route on half dome and then back up to the Black Rock desert for the end of Burning Man.  The nice thing about having no responsibility and nothing to tie me down is that I can change the plan at anytime.
  I have been wanting to do this since I was about to graduate college in New Paltz, New York.  I actually put together a cross country bike ride after graduation that raised money for a charity similar to the Make a Wish foundation.  I got sick about a week in and was unable to continue but 2 or 3 of the six that started finished in LA a few months later.  That was on bicycles.  This is on my motorcycle same story different tolerance for suffering.  Maybe when I get in a little better shape I will want to try again on a bicycle but for now the motorcycle is the perfect mode of transportation.

  I will definitely be in Joshua Tree, CA for Bhakti Fest which is (taken directly from their website):Bhakti Fest is a Yoga | Dance | Music Festival which celebrates the devotional path that has its roots in yoga, kirtan, and meditation. It embraces ancient and modern sacred wisdom and traditional and non-traditional spiritual practices. The festival is a vehicle for evolution of human consciousness through a heart-centered revolution. Bhakti Fest builds a community of people drawn to follow the path of the heart – a devotional, prayerful, loving, healthful, respectful family.  I am working security for the thing parking cars so I can attend free.

(I'm starting with about $1500.)  Hopefully that gets me to Texas in a few weeks and then NJ in a few weeks more.

  

Pre-Tripping the cross country roadtrip

Took a ride out to Red Rock this morning to get a look at an old friend I haven't seen in 3 years.  I just love this place.  It is the main reason I moved to Vegas and didn't leave for 20+ years.  When I was 18 I came out for a spring break trip to do some rock climbing and fell in love.  Moderate climbs on soaring sandstone walls was just too much fun for me.  After climbing there for about 20 years I have done just about every decent route up to 5.10c within 3 hours of the road.  (numerous times)  Riding my motorcycle on the twisting loop road and excessive speed never gets old either.  I am in gathering up gear mode getting ready for motorcylce trip.  I am going to take a short trip to Laguna Beach and San Diego to make sure I have all I need.  As far as Bottomless heart foundation goes I'm taking pledges right now.  No donations.  Paperwork is still pending and I don't want any hint of impropriety.  So if your interested you can pledge any amount and just let me have a good email address and phone number so that when it becomes official I can come collecting.  :)

For the motorcycle trip I have about 2k and want to see how far I can stretch it and how long I can stay out before I go broke.  I will post all expenses and daily spending mostly so I can keep track and you can get an idea of traveling on road and trying to be creatively conservative with spending money.

Bottomless Heart Foundation

 

So here it is my next endeavor.  Seems like I have been working on this one in one form or another for the past 25 years.  Welcome to the Blog of the Bottomless Heart Foundation.  I created this foundation to raise money for those in need.  Specifically, homeless, wounded vets, mentally ill, addicts and alcoholics, single parents, and anyone else who finds themselves strapped for cash and can demonstrate need.  To kick it off I decided I would go for a nice leisurely motorcycle ride around the United States and blog about the experience here as well as on Facebook and Twitter.  It's my goal for the initial rollout to raise 10k for future projects of the Bottomless Heart Foundation.  I'll be riding this:

Its a KLR650 dual-sport which means if I want I can take it off-road if the opportunity presents itself.  I'm still in the gathering up gear mode and I need to give my present employer a few weeks notice so look for the adventure to begin in about 2 weeks.