I was high. High on successful travel. Motorcycle travel, solo travel, and managing challenging conditions while still having fun.
It’s Day 3 of my April Escape. I’ll meet up with my dear man a day earlier than expected. But where and how? Winds are still daunting. And we don’t know where we’ll be heading after we manage to reconnect on the road.
But for now we have to focus on what lies ahead today, making the short-term decision of where to meet up. We do know that the further south I move, the harder it will be for him to catch up to me. That’s a problem I will have to solve over breakfast.
Day 3
Miles: 94
Route: US 395, US 6
My experience: With such low-mileage days, I had another slow-paced morning before getting back on the road. Plus I needed to consider how to meet up with my dear man. So I mulled on it over breakfast as I watched the winds rage outside the window of the cafe. It came to me.
I would ride back north a short way and meet him at one of our favorite remote hidey-holes, The Inn at Benton Hot Springs. The distance wasn’t terribly far but the winds would be challenging; the kind that make you feel like you’ve been pummeled in a boxing ring all day.
But the Inn isn’t far. As long as they had a vacancy, we’d be all set. Success! A quick phone call and our room was secured for the night. I faced another challenge, though. There would be no access to restaurants for dinner. Benton is a lovely place but very remote. They provide breakfast but we needed to have our own dinner sorted.
I pondered this as I walked back to my room, simply trying to stay upright in the gusts that seemed determined to toss me like a tumbleweed. After loading up the bike, it was time to muster unstoppable-motorcycle-chick attitude to combat the conditions I was up against. I tossed my leg over the bike and rode with determination back north to Bishop.
A short ride through gales, dust storms, and errant tractor trailers unable to keep to their lanes put me in Bishop. I stopped at the grocery store and wandered the aisles, partly recovering from the intense ride and partly unsure what I was looking for. I wanted to grab some food that didn’t require much effort. Although I had the ability to do some light cooking with camping gear on hand and the use of the grill at the Inn, I didn’t want to. So, not different from any other day of the week at home, really.
After fielding questions from curious staff at the store about how I would be getting all of the food on the bike, I set to actually accomplishing the task. It took some patience since the bike was quite well loaded already. But I stuffed and crammed everything into little bits of empty space in my panniers. Wine, cheese, salmon, crackers, capers and the like formed pieces of my unique puzzle. Some water and a deep breath and it was time to forge on.
I’d been so lackadaisical about my short ride ahead that I found it to be quite late in the day. It was looking like I might not beat my dear man to the Inn even though I had much less distance to cover. I managed it though and even had time for a nice walk around the property with a gentleman who is apparently the manager. He was friendly and proud of the place.
Once my dear man arrived, we proceeded with a fabulous night catching up and soaking in the hot spring tubs. It was glorious. The Inn was almost empty and we scored a room that didn’t require us to share a bathroom with a neighbor. It is a historic building after all. You have to make allowances for them not meeting modern sensibilities about these things.
There was no talk of where to go next that night. We’d get out the maps and sort that in the morning. That’s a tale for next time.
Cool stuff:
- The Totem Cafe, Lone Pine.
- The Inn at Benton Hot Springs.
The full ride map
(PS – the map is interactive if you want to take a closer look. I’ve dropped pins on points of interest. Zoom in to see those.)
