desert riding

Thursday evening after work, a quick trip to the store for victuals and a half hour of frenzied packing, I hopped into a truck lugging a trailer of motorcycles and discarded/salvaged Christmas trees and went with Andy and Kyle to their usual campsite east of the Salton Sea. We pitched the tent by candle-(flash) light and I fell asleep inside while the others caught up with their old friends who had already been on site since earlier that day.

In the morning I went on a bleary-eyed walk with Andy, yawning and shuffling along through the desert already blazing with the sun's heat at 8 AM. We picked up rocks and discussed the coming activities for the day, and Andy described the lay of the land as we crunched along.

Andy showed me how to start up, and shift gears on a quadrunner, and I puttered around in the stretch of the canyon, getting stuck in a bush and backing out of it, and getting used to steering this funny teal 4-wheeled ATV with a Misfits sticker on its front. A few hours later, everyone was ready for a ride and, after searching for a particular canyon campsite, we went on to Lookout Point. It was tricky to get up there, and I did alright that day (but the next day wouldn't be the same story...!). Everyone in the party had years of motorcycling experience so it was exhilarating and intimidating seeing everyone in their element out there.

We made it back and as I took off my helmet and gloves, I noticed my hair thick and gritty with the dust it picked up on the ride. Andy noticed it too and chimed, "I've decided I rather like you with grey hair!" Unrelated to that comment, it stayed pretty grey for the rest of the weekend.