Morning came too soon. We all wished to sleep a little longer, but we knew we had to go through Death Valley before we reached the Sierras. We headed north on Highway 95, leaving the bright lights and rush hour traffic of Vegas behind. As we passed the Indian Springs Air Force training center, we were lucky enough to see the Air Force Thunderbirds practicing formation flight. It seemed to be a show just for us. The road to Death Valley continued to offer up interesting other-worldly sights. We didn't have to take the road to Area 51 to encounter aliens, as you can see from the picture of Dick and his friend. There were times the four of us were fighting sleepiness and boredom. We joked about duct taping Louise to the back of their bike so she could sleep without fear. It could have been boredom that drove Dick to man the camera, taking pictures while driving-- both of the scenery and of the bike.

Taking the road through Death Valley from Beatty was quite an experience. We met several other bikers who shared their enthusiasm for the road with us. We went from elevations of 4300 feet to below sea level, back up to 4900 feet, then dropped immediately back down to near sea level. With each drop in elevation came an increase in temperature. When we stopped on the valley floor at Stovepipe Wells, the elevation was 5 feet, the time was 10:30 a.m., and the temperature in the shade of the store was 97 degrees. We were in for a warm trip. Climbing up out of the valley was fun. It reminded us of a barren Highway 36. The Sierras were a beautiful, welcome sight. They held promise of shade, green grass, water, flowers, and the comfort of cool motel rooms and refreshing showers. We spent the night, a very restful night, in Bishop. We'll continue up Highway 395 in the morning.