Day 21 What a great day

Everything seemed to come together today. I was supposed to receive my part via UPS sometime "before end of business". Depending on what time the package arrived I would either depart Temecula today or, if there was not enough daylight left to make it beyond San Diego, depart tomorrow.

The package arrived about 1pm. So I mounted the bracket on my new saddle bag, packed and fastened everything onto/into the bike, got a complete round of hugs, pictures and goodbyes and rode off by 2:20. I greatly appreciate Jason, Vic and the Gkids allowing me to disrupt their lives for a week, but it was time to go.

The choice was made to eschew the closest route to the coast as it would take me directly through San Diego devoid of an upside. The alternative was to go east into the mountains, near Palomar, to Julian, then cut southeast and rejoin (THE) 8 about an hour east of S.D.

The choice was a good one. Instead of riding through the desert of southeastern California (there will be no lack of desert riding in the next week) I took a scenic, somewhat winding road up over a 4,000 foot summit. That would have been enough for a thumbs up from me, but I got an unexpected bonus.

One of the things I had hoped would happen on this trip was that I would stumble across unexpected people, places and things to add wide swaths of local color to the back roads of America. I met one of those people and saw one of those things in an unexpected place - just 18 miles outside of Temecula!

His name is Ricardo Breceda. He is a sculptor and art designer who, along with a very talented staff, has created approximately life sized sculptures of a large variety of animals and other things. He has a huge collection in his front yard showroom right on Highway 79.

This piece sits right by the highway and easily caught my eye

You think Larry would object if I put these in my front yard? Beautiful!

An entire yard full of dinosaurs, horses, giraffes, cowboys, serpents; he does custom work too!

I have many more pictures that I can show all of you some time. I thought I'd buy The T-Rex for Bryce for Christmas. How do you think your H.O.A. would react to that Michelle?

From there I kept on climbing to Santa Ysabel. The day had been overcast since I left Temecula and by the time I reached SY it was getting cold and threatening. I told Betty I was going to stop for fuel and a rest stop in SY to give her time to work on the weather. By the time I downed an Arizona Sweet Tea and headed east to Julian, the clouds were parting.

Julian is a neat little place to visit but it is, I discovered, also claimant to something I never saw on the Idaho Centennial Trail - a rest stop and replenishment point for the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail), one of the best known, best supported and best organized long distance hiking trails in the country that goes from Mexico, over 2600 miles north to Canada. Right in the middle of town were a couple of businesses with signs welcoming PCT hikers!

As I continued to travel east out of Julian the road got windier ( as in the Long and Winding Road, not as in Wind Song). It dropped elevation quickly, and just as quickly the sun came out and the temperature rose steadily. By the time I bottomed out I was in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park, there was not a cloud in the sky and the temperature had climbed into the 80's. When I departed Temecula I had donned a long sleeve shirt under my leather jacket, a selection that had the look of genius written all over it just a few miles back. Now it had me reaching for the zippered vents on my jacket.

The change in topography was stunning. I was now looking at brownish green bushes on light brown sand as far as I could see in every direction. I chuckled as I rode past signs indicating a scenic pull out, as the land was as flat and featureless as can be imagined.

Five or so miles northwest of Westmorland I began to see signs saying "Medjool Date Shakes" ahead. It took me awhile to figure out what they were talking about and it wasn't until I stopped to try one that I found out Medjool was one of several types of dates they grow here. I had no idea there was more than one "date", but the sign at the store listed seven! I guess it's been a long time since I was dating!

While stopped in Westmorland I removed the panels that run up the inside of the arms and sides of my jacket (a first for this trip). If the weather is going to be just as warm tomorrow ( I believe it topped out at around 90 today) I may have to try out my "cool suit".

By the time I traveled across the desert of southeast California I found myself in a race against time to the state line. I had decided to take a stretch of (THE) 8 (I can't help it, it makes me chuckle) into Yuma and needed a picture of the Arizona State Line sign for my collection. 

As I cruised along on the Interstate only a couple of miles from the border, I couldn't help but be amused at a couple of things I saw. 

One was the Border Patrol office was closed, so I pictured families camping on the lawn to wait for it to open in the morning.

The other was, presumably, a method employed to keep people from wandering across the Interstate (or the border?). On the south side of the highway were miles and miles of what appeared to be oversized bicycle racks, chained together.

This would only be an effective deterrent to illegal immigration if they were coming by way of HumVee. An equally effective yet less expensive method to slow them down would be to put rumble strips in the desert! I know, it's a serious matter, but it's easier to make jokes than to take Donald Trump's wall seriously.

By the way, I pulled off the Interstate at a rest area to take the picture and there were a bunch of signs, at the rest area, that said "absolutely no parking". There was also a rickety old hand painted bus parked there, with about 25 apparently Mexican riders boarding. I'm sorry, I couldn't make this up!

So as I rolled across the state line (after taking the picture) I came quickly to Yuma. I have a friend who said he spent a week here one day. I also have a brother who used to live here. They both talked of unceasingly hot weather, which I suspect will be the norm for the next week or more. I was hot, tired and it was getting late, although I thought it was an hour later than it proved to be because Arizona is on Pacific Time and not Mountain Time during Daylight Savings season (they don't change like their neighbors do). So I got a motel room instead of searching for a campground (no room on the lawn at the Border Patrol office). I initially felt bad because this is the first night of my trip where I am confident it will not rain. The guilt quickly receded when I found out the room, with a TV, Wi-Fi and air conditioning is 1/6th of what the room at Big Sur was, and it has a pool!

So I may be camping out in the O.K. Corral tomorrow night, but I'm lovin' it tonight! Now if my pictures would upload...