Julie's Trip to Israel

Julie traveled to Israel with a girlfriend on November 6 through November 15th 2008. She had a wonderful time even though she had a cold the entire time. Here are a few pictures of the trip.

Masada

Jerusalem

The Jordan

Taste Food

Lake Galilee

November 2008 Death Valley

Julie left on a trip with a girlfriend to Israel. Ya the county of. I dropped her off at the airport on Thursday and on Friday morning the 7th I loaded my bike for a trip to Death Valley. I had never been to Death Valley. I was born in Calif and have lived here most of my life except for two years in Washington State and I had never been to Death Valley. Now I can say that I have been there.

I rode up 395 to Lone Pine after a stop at the Ranch House Cafe in Olancha for a chicken fried steak dinner/lunch. I started on a Nutrisystem diet on the Monday when I got back so I had to have just one last fat encrusted meal.

Entering Death Valley at 5000 feet elevation

Stovepipe Wells is at Sea Level

Scotty's Castle on the North Entrance to the Park

After I left Scotty's Castle I rode off North East to Goldfield Nevada. I had met three bikers about my age just before the castle and we rode in together. They were heading to Beatty Nevada for the night but I had my mind set on Goldfield. I got to goldfield just as the last gas station was closing. There was no place to stay so I headed south down to Beatty Nv and stayed at a good cheap motel full of bike riders. The three guys I met in the valley were there. First day done and 467 miles of travel.

Day two

Five miles out of Beatty Nevada there is a ghost town called Rhiolyte Not much there but it was interesting. From there I headed back into Death Valley and to Furnace Creek. There were a lot of folks there. Some of them were having a bake sale of cookies and stuff so I had to get me some peanut butter cookies. They had no oatmeal raisen which is my favorite. From there I decided to ride to Parumpt (not to sure of the spelling) Nevada. Just another town and another gas stop. From there I rode southwest toward Baker Calif. Crossed back into Calif and got gas at Baker off of highway 95. The sun was in the western sky and it was hitting me dead on so I kept going south out of Baker to Essex Cailf. If you havn't been there you have not missed much. It is just an old small town along the rail line from Barstow to Needles. The sun was still up so I keep going south. Passed through Amboy and kept going. Got to Yucca Valley just as it was getting dark. Looked for a motel to stay but was not happy with the choices so headed west toward highway 10. Got to the 10 and rode to Banning Calif. There was a Travel Lodge next to a Sizzler so that was my stop. It looked like rain so I covered the bike and had a great meal and hit the hay. Rained hard that night and into the morning. Woke early but watched TV for a time until it cleared and I uncovered the bike and headed for home. Second day I did another 400 mile. Overall the trip was just over 1100 total. Got home early on Sunday and washed my clothes and made friends with the dogs again. All in all it was a good trip for me. I love to ride and put on miles.


These last two pictures of the road shows all the traffic I seem to get involved with on my trips.

My favorite picture. That's me on the bike heading south out of Amboy Calif to Yucca Valley.

Julie will be home this Saturday the 15th and she will have some pictures of her trip. They will probably get posted next week after she returns. We are a traveling pair. We are planning a 4 week ride to the east coast next fall of 2009. Julie and I think that we can do it together. After 41 years of marriage we still get along. Just so you know. She is my best friend.