Longrange308
Adventurer
Well, this was my first, but definitely not last time on the Mojave Road. I have been wanting to drive this road for a while now, and when the opportunity for a few days off work came up, I took it and told the girlfriend to start planning for the trip. I explained to her what the trip was going to entail in terms of length and accomodations. This would afterall only be the second primitive camping trip of her life, and I wanted her to be as mentally prepared as possible.
The plan was to have the Xterra fully packed Wednesday night, and leaving for Laughlin Thursday evening after work. It would be a quick jaunt home to change, collect the dog and scoop up the girl and hit the road, and it was. We merged onto the eastbound 91 freeway at 6:30pm and I was beginning to feel the excitement build and grow inside me. I was actually going to drive the road. This would be my longest offroad journey in both time and distance. My previous best was the Holcomb Valley in Big Bear covering 50 or so miles of snow covered trails and dirt roads, but boy was it fun!
The drive to Laughlin was uneventful save for a traffic jam on the 91 caused by an accident just past the 710 interchange. Luckily we were only caught up for a half hour or so and were back up to speed on the 710 Northbound in what seemed like no time.
The rest of the drive though and out of Los Angeles was uneventful and quick. I stopped to re-fuel in Apple Valley and tried to get my pup to go potty and stretch her legs, then it was back on the road headed for the 40 East. We made it to around 5 miles out from the 95 when traffic came to a sudden and complete halt. It was 11:30pm and people were poured out of their cars and onto the asphalt meandering around wondering what was causing the hold up. After 30 minutes of scanning through my HAM radio, and scouring the internet on our phones with what little service we had, a man walked by and explained to us that a motorhome around a half mile up had caught fire and apparently there was debris all across the road. He explained that the CHP officer her spoke with told him that he didn't see the roadway opened back up for at least a couple more hours.
It was late, I had already worked a full shift, and we were so close to our hotel that I could taste it. A minium of 2 more hours? Could I wait that long and still be coherent when we arrived? I had to find another route. More scouring of the iPhone revealed that Geoffs road, old Route 66 could be picked up only 5 miles back. I was lucky enough to stop in traffic next to a connector to the west bound lanes, so after plotting the new route, I was off. West bound on the 40, backtracking 5 or so miles, but doing so at 70mph. That was a totally acceptable alternative to the estimated 2 hour wait we had if we had stayed put. On the way to Geoffs road, I notice a smaller service road, Walter road, that would shave a few miles off the drive, so I decided to take it. I exited the highway and ended up on a well groomed dirt road. Still able to maintain ample speed, I contiuned on. No biggie, I would be on a dirt road for the next three days I thought to myself. Well, the dirt road turned into a washed out dirt road. I had to slow speed down to around 10mph or so, but I did get a thorough test of my new LED light bars I had installed a week prior. With jack-rabbits darting left and right in front of us, we continued on. No major obsticals, no drama, just extra time. Oh well. It was an adventure.
We finally made it to Geoffs Road, and took it to the 95, and then continued into Laughlin for a good nights rest at the River Palms casino.
In the morning, we woke around 830. Only getting a few hours of sleep, but at least they were good hours of sleep, I felt rested. I took the pup outside to do her business, but she refused. By now, she had not pooped or peed in at least 8 hours and I was beginning to get concerned. Shes a good dog though and usually tells me when something is wrong with her. I know now that she was just a bit stressed by the unfamiliar surroundings and was otherwise fine. The girlfriend and I headed downstairs to have a nice buffet and plan out our morning shopping needs before hitting the trail. Unfortunately that meant a trip to Walmart.
Bellies full of food, we headed back to the room to get situated and check out. As we were walking back to our car, we had the full realization that it was indeed the weekend of the Laughlin River Run. There were bikers everywhere. I personally dont mind a bike or two, but being surrounded by two thousand of them was a bit much. It just made me want to hurry up and get out into the desert that much sooner. We made our stops at Walmart to get the last of our food provisions and ice, and a stop at the gas station to top off and fill the auxillary 5 gallon jug, and hit the road, with our planned camping area for the night being the spring at Fort Piute.
To be continued...
The plan was to have the Xterra fully packed Wednesday night, and leaving for Laughlin Thursday evening after work. It would be a quick jaunt home to change, collect the dog and scoop up the girl and hit the road, and it was. We merged onto the eastbound 91 freeway at 6:30pm and I was beginning to feel the excitement build and grow inside me. I was actually going to drive the road. This would be my longest offroad journey in both time and distance. My previous best was the Holcomb Valley in Big Bear covering 50 or so miles of snow covered trails and dirt roads, but boy was it fun!
The drive to Laughlin was uneventful save for a traffic jam on the 91 caused by an accident just past the 710 interchange. Luckily we were only caught up for a half hour or so and were back up to speed on the 710 Northbound in what seemed like no time.
The rest of the drive though and out of Los Angeles was uneventful and quick. I stopped to re-fuel in Apple Valley and tried to get my pup to go potty and stretch her legs, then it was back on the road headed for the 40 East. We made it to around 5 miles out from the 95 when traffic came to a sudden and complete halt. It was 11:30pm and people were poured out of their cars and onto the asphalt meandering around wondering what was causing the hold up. After 30 minutes of scanning through my HAM radio, and scouring the internet on our phones with what little service we had, a man walked by and explained to us that a motorhome around a half mile up had caught fire and apparently there was debris all across the road. He explained that the CHP officer her spoke with told him that he didn't see the roadway opened back up for at least a couple more hours.
It was late, I had already worked a full shift, and we were so close to our hotel that I could taste it. A minium of 2 more hours? Could I wait that long and still be coherent when we arrived? I had to find another route. More scouring of the iPhone revealed that Geoffs road, old Route 66 could be picked up only 5 miles back. I was lucky enough to stop in traffic next to a connector to the west bound lanes, so after plotting the new route, I was off. West bound on the 40, backtracking 5 or so miles, but doing so at 70mph. That was a totally acceptable alternative to the estimated 2 hour wait we had if we had stayed put. On the way to Geoffs road, I notice a smaller service road, Walter road, that would shave a few miles off the drive, so I decided to take it. I exited the highway and ended up on a well groomed dirt road. Still able to maintain ample speed, I contiuned on. No biggie, I would be on a dirt road for the next three days I thought to myself. Well, the dirt road turned into a washed out dirt road. I had to slow speed down to around 10mph or so, but I did get a thorough test of my new LED light bars I had installed a week prior. With jack-rabbits darting left and right in front of us, we continued on. No major obsticals, no drama, just extra time. Oh well. It was an adventure.
We finally made it to Geoffs Road, and took it to the 95, and then continued into Laughlin for a good nights rest at the River Palms casino.
In the morning, we woke around 830. Only getting a few hours of sleep, but at least they were good hours of sleep, I felt rested. I took the pup outside to do her business, but she refused. By now, she had not pooped or peed in at least 8 hours and I was beginning to get concerned. Shes a good dog though and usually tells me when something is wrong with her. I know now that she was just a bit stressed by the unfamiliar surroundings and was otherwise fine. The girlfriend and I headed downstairs to have a nice buffet and plan out our morning shopping needs before hitting the trail. Unfortunately that meant a trip to Walmart.
Bellies full of food, we headed back to the room to get situated and check out. As we were walking back to our car, we had the full realization that it was indeed the weekend of the Laughlin River Run. There were bikers everywhere. I personally dont mind a bike or two, but being surrounded by two thousand of them was a bit much. It just made me want to hurry up and get out into the desert that much sooner. We made our stops at Walmart to get the last of our food provisions and ice, and a stop at the gas station to top off and fill the auxillary 5 gallon jug, and hit the road, with our planned camping area for the night being the spring at Fort Piute.
To be continued...
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