Day 5 – Wednesday, July 4th (375 miles, Springerville, AZ to Blythe, CA):

Today was the worst day of the trip so far, solely due to the heat. When we left Springerville, the temperature was right around 60 degrees and it felt so good. Coming out of Springerville, we rode through beautiful fields and into some small mountains. We eventually stopped and ate breakfast in Show Low, AZ, where a 4th of July parade was going on. From Show Low, we continued west through Arizona and into the hottest temperatures I have ever experienced. Coming down from the mountains and into the desert was absolutely miserable. The temperature reached 115 degrees in Arizona! No cloud cover to help, just lots of sun and heat. I’ll never again ride through this type of weather, there is nothing fun about it. I got more sunburn and sweat the entire afternoon until I reached the hotel in Blythe.

Our plan was to find a 4th of July celebration and fireworks to watch once we reached Blythe but by the time we got there, my dad and I just wanted to stay inside the hotel with the AC.

Cactus on the side of the highway in the Arizona desert.

Day 6 – Thursday, July 5th (275 miles, Blythe, CA to Palmdale, CA):

Another hot day! We left Blythe and headed to Joshua Tree National Park, arriving at the park around 10:30am. Already pushing mid 90’s when we arrived. We rode throughout the park and stopped at various exhibits, taking pictures and walking around. Although Joshua Tree is a beautiful place, its better to visit just about any other time of year than the middle of the summer, so we were fine not hanging around too long. After leaving Joshua Tree, we continued west and got a hotel in Palmdale, CA for the night. Tomorrow we compete our riding for the week, ending in Santa Barbara, CA.

Beautiful but hot day in Joshua Tree National Park

Day 3 – Monday, July 2nd (360 miles, Weatherford, TX to Tatum, NM):

Going on just a few hours of sleep from camping the night before, my dad and I began heading west on backroads, avoiding traffic and riding through smaller towns. Traveling through the farmland and rolling hills was much more enjoyable and bearable than taking the major highways.

Just outside of Tatum, NM, as we were on our way to Roswell, NM for the night, we ran into a massive thunder and lightning storm. We waited on the side of the highway thinking it would pass in front of us quickly, only to turn around and head back into Tatum as the storm began heading our way. We took shelter under the roof of one of the local businesses for about two hours until around dinner time we decided to skip Roswell for the night and to just stay in Tatum. We didnt mind the rain much, but there was quite a bit of lightning and riding through that would be too dangerous.

Thankfully right across the street from where we took shelter was the only lodging in the entire town! We got a room at the motel and as we were moving our stuff into the room, the power went out. Not only did the power go out at the motel, but it went out in the whole town (Tatum is tiny!), causing all of the stores and restaurants to shut down for the entire night. This wasn’t the most fun situation, but we were happy to have a place to lay down for the night with a somewhat soft bed.

Waiting on the highway for the storm to pass.

Day 4 – Tuesday, July 3rd (400 miles, Tatum, NM to Springerville, AZ):

We got an early start to the day to make up on lost time from the delay in yesterdays storm and left the motel around 7am. It felt great in the morning, around 70 degrees, which was a nice relief from all of the heat from previous days.

We stopped for a quick breakfast in Roswell, NM at the Cowboy Cafe and then continued west. New Mexico has always been one of my favorite states because of the diverse and beautiful landscapes and todays ride added to that.  Heading out of Roswell, the scenery was beautiful! We rode through mountains and into a canyon, following a river for several miles before taking another road headed north. The cloud cover for most of the day made the riding that much more enjoyable. We visited a few small towns in NM that were established in the late 1800’s and rode across several more mountains before ending the day in Springerville.

These first few days of the trip have been some of the hottest days I have experienced in a long time, maybe ever.

Day 1 – Saturday, June 30th (525 miles, Lilburn, GA to West Monroe, LA):

Our goal for the first two days was to cover as much distance as possible so that we could spend more time riding through and visiting places west of Texas. This first day we rode from Lilburn to West Monroe, all on I-20. Riding on major highways is not particularly fun since there is typically not much to see scenery wise and because of the semi’s and high number of cars , but this was the fastest way to cover the long distance we had planned for the day.

My dad and I left Lilburn in the morning when the temperature was still around 70 degrees, but by the end of the day we had ridden through 100 degrees and my arms and legs were completely sunburned. To say it was miserable would be an understatement. We originally planned to camp in West Monroe, but by the time we had arrived it was nearly 9pm and we were completely exhausted so we got a hotel room instead. The heat took its toll! We did run into some rain in Mississippi, which was a nice relief from the heat, but most of the ride was spent under the sun with little cloud cover.

Departure Day! My dads purple (with flames) Honda Shadow 750 on the left and my black Honda Shadow 750 ACE on the right.

Day 2 – Sunday, July 1st (345 miles, West Monroe, LA to Weatherford, TX):

Today was even hotter than yesterday, with temperatures in Texas reaching 104 degrees. Overall this day was not much different from the first; we continued riding on I-20 through Louisiana and Texas until we reached Weatherford, a small city about 35 miles west of Fort Worth. Thankfully the past few days the World Cup has been going on, so Ive been able to listen to the games while riding, helping to pass the time. Unfortunately both teams I hoped would win the tournament, Argentina and Germany, got knocked out sooner than expected.

At night, we camped at a KOA Campground and were the only ones actually camping there that night. We set up our site (no tent, just slept non sleeping bags on a ground cloth) and got in the pool, which felt amazing! Neither my dad nor I slept much at night, probably because it was about 80 degrees through the night and not a comfortable situation. We were both just glad the day was over with and could start riding on backroads from then on.

First night of camping; Weatherford, TX