The last day together for Helen and I in the US has finally arrived so I am up early to get organised.  All of my gear has now been sorted and I have the bags ready to go on Stan.  

I had plenty of time so I decided to ride Stan over to the Hawthorne Police Department which was less than 5 klms away – it was the first station that I visited back in 2017.  It was also a good opportunity to fill Stan up before I hit the freeway.

I pull up in the carpark and go inside the station foyer.  At the front desk is a young uniform lad that I introduce myself to and he comes out for a chat.  I see that he is limping in a moon boot and he tells me that as a result of coming off his motorcycle he is stuck on desk duties which is funny because he is still fully kitted up and armed.  I give him a patch and he hands me everything that he can find;

I get a photo taken holding my patch beside a plaque on the wall inside the foyer – reason being the plaque was there to commemorate two of their serving members who were killed off duty when they were riding motorcycles.  He tells me to keep an eye on their social media for the post.

On the way back to the Hotel I pull up at a Shell petrol station and go to use the pump to fill Stan up.  I try my travel credit card which did not work so I go in and pre-pay by giving the attendant $20.  Back at the pump I still can’t get anything to work so the attendant is forced to come out to get it running.  I can only hope my next effort is better.

Whilst filling up Stan a truck pulls up on the other side of me and the Mexican driver hops out to fill up.  He looks at me and then asks me if I am a Police Officer.  I am gobsmacked that he has ‘picked’ me until I realise that he thinks that Stan is a police motorbike.  I set him straight before going to get my change off the attendant. 

Back at the Hotel Helen helps me to get Stan fully loaded up and its time to say a sad goodbye.  I call an Uber so she can get a ride to the Airport;

The final touch was to stick an arrow on the windshield to remind me which side of the road I had to stay on (I did the same on Fred and it worked well);

The Uber arrives and Helen is on her way to LAX.  My aim for the day is to get to my friends house in Apple Valley which is a 160 klm trip.  This is heading in the right direction as my first commitment is the Superbikes at Laguna Seca which starts on July 12.

I set off in the opposite direction to Helen but only go about 100 metres before taking the wrong freeway entrance to head south instead of north (dynamic start).  It takes me about 10 minutes of doing figure eights before I finally get on the north bound freeway.

The home I am staying at is owned by Mary-Ellen – my 75 year old friend who I met at an Airbnb in Laramie (Wyoming) when we both stayed there.  Mary-Ellen has followed the blog since and for some crazy reason enjoys my ramblings.  I had promised that if ever was going anywhere near her I would call in.  I thought it would be a great opportunity to catch up but also recover from a very tiring first month of travel before launching into the road trip.

The 5 lane freeway is very congested with traffic most likely due to the 4th of July holiday the next day.  Combined with an air temperature of 34’c its not a much fun.  I continue on for nearly an hour only making slow progress before all lanes come to a complete standstill.  I wait for about 15 minutes before Stan and I start overheating so I decide to ride in between the lanes.

I continue riding between the lanes for roughly 5 klms before having to stop at the scene of a 3 car pile up which is completely blocking the freeway.  I watch on as a marked patrol car uses its front bull bar to push the cars off the road one at a time – we would be too scared to get a scratch on the paintwork back home! 

The freeway is opened and I finally get clean air and make good progress until I notice that my GPS is flashing a warning that the battery is low which means the charging cradle on Stan is not working.  This gives me heart palpitations given my heavy reliance on the device but fortunately Mary-Ellen had sent me directions in an email so I was pretty confident that I would still be able to find my way to her home.

Time for a very late lunch and coffee so I pull into Starbucks.  Whilst eating I bring up google maps on the laptop and discover that I am only about 20 minutes away from the house.  I make a few notes and then head off again.

I find the right address in Apple Valley and stop at a security post that is outside very large iron gates.  Mary-Ellen lives in what is known over here as a ‘gated community’ where the housing estate is limited to individual home owners who are over 55 years.  The community is quite large with 1675 homes.  It is not to be confused with a retirement village or assisted living.  Apple Valley is in a prime location due to being surrounded by the San Bernardino Mountain range.

My details have been left at the security post prior to my arrival so Stan and I go in and around the streets to find her house;

I pull Stan up in the driveway and Mary-Ellen comes out to greet us.  It is great to see her in person after 2 years and she looks a million dollars.  Stan gets parked in the garage and we have a coffee.  Later she takes me to the ‘Down Home Grill’ restaurant for dinner.  When I get shown the guest room I can hardly believe how nice it is and think what a step up from the Hollywood drug experience.  Its not a late night as tomorrow I am in the local July 4th parade in a golf cart.

Next day I am given the very important task of putting out the American flag to mark July 4th;

Mary-Ellen takes me over to meet her friends Bob (retired LA firefighter)  and Nancy who also live in the community nearby.  These guys have been out to Australia twice and covered a lot of ground in a camper rental.  They have another trip in February 2020 booked to attend a Wedding so we may be able to catch up in Adelaide.

Bob shows me his 1972 CB Honda that he bought brand new and is sitting in his shed gathering dust.  The bike needs a restoration but its complete and in very good nick for its age.  I have no trouble in picturing it in my shed back home.

Bob rolls out his golf cart that is fully pimped out in red/white/blue for the parade.  I am given the honor of sitting beside him with the ladies in the back.  I am even have my own flag to wave;

We head around to the community centre carpark which is the parade starting point.  I am surprised by just how serious that the local resides take the parade as there is a huge lineup of classic cars and at least 40 – 50 golf carts;

The parade starts on time and we are off – I could not stop laughing and the locals even lined the streets outside their homes;

It takes an hour before we complete the parade and get back to the clubhouse.  Next up is the celebration breakfast which turns out to be a feast of pancakes, eggs, sausage, potato mash and fruit.

After breakfast the crowd gathers on the lawn to watch a performance by the communities tap dancing group the ‘Rockets’ who have an average age in the 70’s;

Bob drives us in the cart back to his house where we have a coffee and a laugh.  Out comes the didgeridoo;

I must have angered the Aboriginal gods as the house started shaking and moving.  Turns out we are in the middle of an EARTHQUAKE.  The force is so great the light shades are swinging back and forth and it feels like you are on a ship moving in the ocean.  The whole episode lasts about 15 seconds.

Bob announces that it was a ‘big’ one and turns on the television to check the news channel.  The story is all over the news and we find that the epicenter is 198 miles away which in earthquake terms is not far – it was a 6.4 on the Richter scale.  I could not  believe that I was in it!

Around 4 am next morning I was woken up by further tremors that were nothing like the day before but enough to make me wonder what the hell was going on.  Fortunately nothing else happened and back to sleep I go.

Later in the morning I take over the kitchen and cook up a storm by making poached eggs and smashed avocado on sourdough – no melted cheese or fries in sight.  I then spend the next couple of hours sorting out paying the Insurance on Stan which was a right royal pain as the Insurance Agency is closed for the 4th July extended break (had to pay or be overdue).  I manage to get on to an after hours customer service rep who worked it all out for me to the extent I now have auto-pay set up.  There is no way you motor over here without Insurance.

I head out on a local tour with Mary-Ellen.  She takes me down to Lowes and I am able to get a new fuse for the GPS cradle on Stan.  I then get shown the home that Roy Rogers and his wife Dale Evans lived in when they retired in Apple Valley after moving from Hollywood;

I even get a look at trigger;

Trigger has only in recent times been moved from the cemetery where Roy Rogers is buried to this current location.  The move was done to enable more people see it on a regular basis to keep the memory alive. 

We also drop in at the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s office and I meet David Alexander – local Sergeant.  Turns out that David has the same bike as me and is a motorcycling enthusiast.  We have a chat and swap patches.

I thought I was in for a quiet evening until at 8:20 pm another EARTHQUAKE hit – this one didn’t go for as long as the other but was certainly more powerful (7.3 on the Richter scale).  The whole house was shaking and moving just like the movies.  There hasn’t been any for 20 years and now 2 in 2 days when I am here!  A few after tremors and it settles down.  The neighbours come over and everyone is a bit worried.  I even get a call from my mate Sonni who is in Las Vegas where they felt it and that is over 190 miles away.

Off to bed I go now armed with the knowledge of what to do if we get a ‘bad’ earthquake – shoes beside the bed and run for your life.  The one thing about being in the desert is that the nights cool down significantly which makes sleeping easy.

Around 1:20 am I get woken up by everything shaking again.  Ok now I am starting to think that I should seriously consider when I am getting out of here.  Luckily its only minor and doesn’t last long.  When the first one occurred it was a bit surreal and I never really thought much of it but now I am thinking (like everyone else) is there a big one coming?

I get up and spend the morning on Stan by stripping him down to check the wiring/cabling.  Everything looks ok but I still replace the fuses for the GPS before putting him back together.  I am now starting to think that the cause may be due to the battery in the GPS being on the way out.

I get on the net and find a replacement battery (Amazon) but miss the cut off for 24 hr delivery time by 15 mins.  I get on to Mike Keller (who I am staying with for the World Superbikes) and work out how to get the battery delivered to his address.  After a good 2 hours spent on something that should take 10 mins the battery is finally ordered and on its way – thanks to Mary-Ellen using her Amazon prime account.  The annoying thing is that I checked everything out before leaving Australia and it all worked fine.  I have a lot of gear with me but my GPS comes second only to my passport.

The rest of the day is uneventful (no earthquakes) and I get to watch the Superbike racing which is currently on in Donington – excited to think the next race is at Laguna Seca and this time next weekend I will be there.

My final day in Apple Valley arrives and not a lot is happening during the morning as I am just getting ready to hit the road tomorrow.  Later in the day is a trip up to Bear Valley Lake which takes an hour to get there.  The area is very popular in snow season as it is the closest snow field to LA;

On the way back is a visit to an antique shop that is seriously weird when you go inside.  The owners are sitting at a table and are eating hotdogs and macaroni cheese – the guy is straight out of the Beverley Hillbillys with no teeth and overalls.  His wife is slurping down a massive plate of macaroni and would not look out of place in a Sumo wrestling contest.  First time that I have ever been inside a shop that was someone’s lounge room.

The owners may have looked a bit rough but I can’t fault their hospitality as they offer me a plate.  As tempting as it is I find a way to stay strong and politely decline the offer (whilst exiting stage left).

To finish off the day I though it would be a good move to try and work out a bit of schedule of where I need to be on certain dates – I lose interest after 5 minutes and decide it is better if I just wing it.  I then decide to watch the rest of the Superbikes before moving on to the MotoGP.  

The aim tomorrow is to get to Lompoc which is right on the coast and about half way to where I am staying for the Superbikes.  Hopefully I will find somewhere to put up the tent.

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