The desert is mostly flat and dry, with craggy mountains growing out of the sand.
A deep low pressure system passed through the region a day or so ago, and the result was high winds with gusts up to 65 mph in some parts of California. We didn't get the really high winds, but they were gusty and strong enough to blow us all over the road - a scary experience on a highway posted at 70 mph. We had to slow down and ride with our hazard lights on as cars flashed past us with a speed differential of 30 to 40 mph.
Our aim was to head north to Shoshone, and we turned north at exit 100. The road led us through the desert to Mitchell Caverns where the road turned to gravel. Chris realised a better route would have been to turn north at exit 78, so we returned to I-40 and turned west. With the strong head winds and the extra miles we travelled, we were in need of fuel before we headed out again across the desert. This is not a place to run out of fuel.
This meant riding 49 miles west to Ludlow. The winds seemed to get stronger the further we went. By the time we arrived there, we were both frazzled from fighting the winds. We stopped for a slow lunch at a fast food joint. You can see how the wind was nearly ripping the top off this palm tree...
The winds had died down a bit by the time we were ready to go. Also, we had to ride 29 miles east back to Kelbaker Road, which meant the winds were at our back and had less effect on us.
Turning north on Kelbacker Road we soon reached Kelso. There wasn't a single wheel barrow in sight, let alone a factory to make them... Taking a left at the fork in the road we wound across the desert towards the town of Baker. This is a wild and lonely place..
We had decided earlier that if the weqather was still bad we woulkd stay here the night. As it turned out we had a good run across the desert and so we decided to push on to Shoshone, our planned destination for the night. Besides, the "Bun Boy Motel" didn't seem like our kind of place. Before tackling the last 56 miles we stopped for coffee and a rest at the Mad Greek Cafe (appropriately decorated with dozens of fibreglass replicas of classical sculptures.)
The road to Shoshone took us through more desert, with a very different flora to the more southerly parts of Mojave.
The road to Shoshone was even lonlier than those we rode earlier in the day.
The desert became more arid and the vegetation more sparse as we rode on.
Shoshone is a very small town (Population: 25). It does have a hot spring in which we could have bathed.
We ate at the Crowbar Cafe, the only restaurant in town.
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