The second day was like the first... you couldn't ask for better riding conditions. It was cool but pleasant in the morning, and although the temperature rose quickly, it never got unpleasantly hot except for a few minutes when a driving hot wind hit while passing through road construction.

Here are the remains of the concentration camp called Manzanar which held Japanese American citizens interned during the war. While a beautiful spot, it is very desolate and I would imagine terrible in winter...

All motorcycle trips are an excercise in subtraction... that is, things are forever rattling off the bike, one at a time; some more important, some less. My first day saw the loss of the neutral finder cam and locknut; today saw my left side handlebar mirror rattle wildly and almost come off. I used a little blue loctite... the best stuff in the world! But today I hope to buy some superglue or epoxy and really fix it otherwise I'll lose it tomorrow.

Also, my speedometer broke. The cable remains connected at both ends, so I must guess that either the cable sheared inside the sheath or something went wrong inside the speedometer housing itself. Not a problem - my Veypor computer has a speedometer which has the advantage of being much more accurate... I really wasn't using the analog speedo anyway.

Apart from that, I'm losing the expected amount of motor oil, ATF and gear oil... I topped up this morning on all three. The gear oil was fine; it was just a hair below the port opening level, and when I stopped at the tire store next to my motel to fill it up, the bike was angled enough that gear oil came out the port ... so I just put in a small dollop and I was good to go.

210 miles later, everything seems to be working well.

Here is a historical marker describing the internment camp at Manzanar.

I rode north of Victorville on 395, a clear road through spectacular scenery... leaving the San Bernadino Valley and moving up into the Sierras, heading for Mono Lake and the turnoff to Yosemite (which I won't be taking this year... it's north to Carson City instead..) The hills turned into mountains and the dusty plain into great valleys. Very beautiful. As I started to gain elevation (I'm spending the night at 4000 feet) pine trees started replacing the Joshua trees and yucca plants and towns like Big Pine lived up to their name... a strong smell of pine in the air....
A huge solar generating plant on 395 about 50 miles north of Victorville

But tonight, I stayed at a small intown motel with no wireless access, so I may not be able to upload this blog until tomorrow... but I plan on walking around and seeing if I can find access tonight... I'm writing this at Bar-B-Que Bill's on Main street, which doesn't have wireless but does have an amazing prime rib sandwich... two pieces of white bread and about a pound of prime rib... time to go back to the motel and superglue that left side mirror.

Stops today... Coso Junction, Big Pine, Mazanal.
The one-store town of Coso Junction, with the Sierras for a backdrop.