My friend Perry and I just came back from a Fly & Ride to Las Vegas. I knew that going to Nevada in January was a little risky and I got even more apprehensive when it snowed the week before Christmas. But deciding to go in January was my way of breaking up the winter and I was determined to ride no matter what the temperature was. I had brought along all my winter gear: leather chaps, insulated gloves and electric vest. And I used all of it at one point. I also rode in a T-shirt. At the bottom of Death Valley, my portable thermometer registered +32 C and later the same day, when we were up in the mountains, it read +12 C.

We rented our Harleys from Henderson, NV through the HOG Fly & Ride program and when we arrived on Monday morning, the two bikes were waiting for us outside. We had originally rented the bikes for 5 days but had no problem extending the rental by another day and without additional cost!


We spent 3 days and 2 nights in Death Valley. The scenery was breathtaking. We rode up and down and around mountains and ended up in California. We felt the heat and played in the snow. The original plan was to reach Yosemite National Park but soon found out that the locals bring chains on their car when travelling that way. Since neither Perry nor I had any desire to see more snow, we went back to the warmth of Death Valley. We went back to Las Vegas for 2 nights and saw 2 shows by Le Cirque du Soleil. While in Las Vegas, we visited the Red Rock Canyon and the Las Vegas Speedway (to Perry’s delight). On Friday morning, I was ready to leave the noisy city and we pointed our wheels to wards the Hoover Dam and then over to Kingman, AZ where we met a couple of my Internet friends (Joe and Donna) for a nice ride to Havasu Lake City. The next morning, we left early for a leisurely ride back. We followed the Colorado River for a little while and found Route 66. We stayed on it until we reached Oatman, AZ which is an old western town with attractions like wild burros, street performers, and a real gunfight show in the middle of Main Street. I could have spent a few days exploring the town but we had to go.
We did 2000 km in 6 days and took almost 800 pictures between the two of us. We booked the plane tickets and the bikes about 7 weeks ahead of time. We also reserved the Las Vegas hotels through Expedia a couple of days before we left. I also used my Smartphone (WI-FI) to reserve rooms during the trip once we knew where we would be stopping.

We usually started the day with a good breakfast and we bought fruits and granola bars for the road. We rode until the sun went down at around 5:30PM every night, found a hotel for the night and went looking for a restaurant for supper. Since Perry’s Road King had a Tour-Pak, there was plenty of room to carry bottles of water.

As for packing, both Perry and I had a T-bag and a duffel bag. The content of the duffel bag and the bag itself went into the saddlebags every morning. We also brought another pair of shoes besides our riding boots for walking around town. I carried my helmet with me on the plane.

If I had to do it again, I would:
• Bring fewer t-shirts since I just had to buy a few on the road.
• I would set my alarm to wake up earlier so we could get an earlier start.
• And lastly, I wouldn’t worry so much about things that are out of my control like the weather.

This vacation ended up costing about the same as a week in Cancun. Would I do it again? YES! Even though I felt selfish to leave my children behind, I think that it was one of the best vacations I’ve ever had.

Softail Girl from Canada
All the pictures are available for viewing at www.photobucket.com/Softail_Girl

 

I felt like I was there from your and Donna's words and pictures! Definitely a trip of a lifetime, but then they all are in the saddle of a bike!!

 

Wow! Awesome trip. Looks like you sure got to do and see alot of different things in a week.

 

Awesome trip.

Last time I was in Death Valley it was April and I went up across Monitor Pass and stayed in Lake Tahoe. I headed toward Yosemite and tried to come across from Lake Tahoe to Jackson on May 1st. I had to turn around because of snow and ice when the passes were closing down. I did make it to Yosemite by going around through Sacramento. You did the right thing by not trying to get over the Sierras that time of year.

 

Sounds like a great trip Softail Girl.

Those pictures came out awesome!

 

Nice!!!

Sammi

 

Great pictures Linda. Took me back to our first trip to Las Vegas in August. But that was in a rental car, next time it'll be on bikes.

 

Hey, Where did you guys stay in Death Valley? I stayed at the campground down the mountain from Death Valley Ranch when I was there.

 

Linda... great pictures and great write-up. It was great being able to meet you and ride with you and Perry, and be part of your story. I hope we get to see each other again soon!

 

Hi Linda, I agree it was great meeting up with you and Perry. It was like old friends getting together.

You'll have to come back to Arizona when it's warmer and we can show you some really great (twisty) roads and scenery in the high country, including Prescott, Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon, Jerome, Flagstaff, Show Low and (my personal favorite) the Coronado Trail. - Had to give you some locations so you'll have something to look up while you're snowed in there.

We'll get you some more practice with the helmet off, at lower speeds this time.

Give us a week or two and we'll convince you to move here.