Traveling off the beaten path is important. It broadens your horizons in many ways and it is fun too! I hear too many people say they just don't have time for it and that is too bad. I have always liked the back roads and the wealth of sites, history and life that they provide. True, there are times when a speedy trip to somewhere is warranted, even necessary, but be honest, it's not that often. How fast do you really need to get home from Vegas or to Reno? What's the fun in driving 90 mph up I-15 through Utah? Interstates are built where they are because it is the easiest, fastest, most cost effective place to put them, not because they go through the coolest, prettiest places. There exceptions to that rule, but it is generally a matter of geography rather than interest in the sites. I-70 through Glenwood Canyon in Colorado would be a classic example of that.

This past weekend the wife and I jumped on our Harleys, joined a group of friends and rode to Beatty, Nevada(on Hwy 95 between Vegas and Reno, 30 miles east of Death Valley) as we do a couple times a year. We always go the same way; over 58 to Mojave, 14 to Cal City, out through Cantil, Red Mountain, Trona, Panamint Springs, Death Valley and into Beatty..Home from Beatty on 190 to Lone Pine, 395 to 178 and over Walkers Pass, down the canyon and home. A round trip of a little over 500 miles in two days. This year we had planned on coming home a different way, but Sunday morning the group had decided to do the same way home again(even faster as they went through Ridgecrest)because everyone, for one reason or another, was in a hurry to get home. Bev and I weren't, so we said our "See Ya's" shook hands and hugged at the gas station in Beatty and split from the group at Hells Gate, they continuing on to Stovepipe Wells and we heading south to Furnace Creek.

Just the bypass from Hells Gate to hwy 190 is a great adventure as it rolls and winds down and across the alluvial fans of the Funeral Mountains along the valley's east side. The view is spectacular and you can see all the way south to Badwater and east to Stovepipe and Telescope Peak. We stopped at Furnace Creek and had breakfast and didn't balk at the outrageous prices($7.50 for two eggs and toast..no meat or taters!)because that is sometimes the nature of traveling, especially in a State or National Park. We left there and headed south through Death Valley Junction and the Armagossa Valley along the old Tonopah & Tidewater RR right of way where some of the most awesome desert views in California are to be had. We passed the Dumont Dunes where thousands of off roaders were wrapping up their weekends of sand blasting and ended up in Baker with the massive gas and muchie crowd on their way home from Vegas on the boring I-15.

We didn't join them. I wonder how many people even realize that, for an extra two hours of driving, you can head south on Kelbaker Rd. and have an awesome drive through a geologically young cindercone cluster and lava flow and wind down to the most beautifully restored Spanish style railroad depot in the state. The old UP depot at Kelso which just happens to be a few miles from the famous Kelso Dunes State Reserve. It is now the property of the Parks Dept and is open every day to the public. This can also be accessed from Nipton Rd, near stateline and from Cima Rd. between stateline and Holloran Summit. Well, Bev and I know about it and we crossed the jam packed I-15 and headed south. I think we encoutered four or five cars on the way to Kelso! After visiting the depot we headed south to I-40, 18 miles south of Kelso. You can continue south past 40 and hit old 66 at Amboy, but time really was catching up with us on the first "short" day of the year. We sped homeward at 80 mph trying to beat the darkness home, but lost the race about Tehachapi. To end the trip in classic style, Bev's bike sputtered to a stop at Union Ave. and 58, out of gas from the mad dash across the desert and up the mountain in a fierce headwind. In just that day we rode 430 miles. Our friends rode 260 and were home four hours before us, but we had a much more enjoyable ride, even if it was a bit tiring.

This was just one of our grand adventures on the backroads of California and America. If you're in Reno, skip the interstate trip home and cross the Sierras at Carson, Ebbets, Sonora or Tioga passes. See Lake Tahoe, hit Hwy 49 and visit Californias "Gold Country". On the way to Vegas sometime, turn north at Baker, go to Shoshone and go up over the mountains through Parhump. Or you can do what I did when I decided to start getting off the beaten path. Buy a detailed Atlas, a good map, whatever, and see what's out there to see. Find some history, eat some great meals at some Mom and Pop joints on backroads in Arizona or Wyoming. Stop at some museums, some "vista" turnouts, slow down, take it easy. Vegas isn't going anywhere and your house will be there if you are a few hours or a few days late. Enjoy America and the richness it has to offer. TRAVEL!