The alarm was set for 6.15am today. Martin has decided that since the days are so short at this time of year we can not waste any daylight hours, hence we were leaving the motel car park on our bikes by 7am.
Flagstaff has a fantastic network of urban cycle paths (or FUTs!) and we were on a mission to explore some of them before we left to drive west. It was a lovely bright sunny morning but it was way too cold for me. Even with gloves on my fingers were dropping off and the temperature detracted somewhat from the experience. However, we found a really good, approximately 2.5m loop, the Buffalo Loop Trail, and set off to explore it. I'm happy to report there were no buffalo but we did see some deer. What struck us both was how ideally suited to a Park run this loop would be, absolutely perfect and stunning location!
Due to our early start and slightly shortened cycling expedition we were packed and on the road much earlier than expected. We had a straight forward drive along I40 (also known as the Needles Freeway ), a major east/west interstate crossing the Mojave desert to Barstow, where we had originally thought we might stay overnight. It was an attractive drive initially passing through the Kaibab National Forest and as we approached Kingman we could see the Hualapai mountains in the distance. We stopped here to pick up coffee and it was already 77 degrees and heating up!
After Kingman the route heads south before turning west and passing by Havasu National Wildlife Refuge and Park Moabi National Park where brief glimpses of Goose Lake are visible to the north. The road swings back to the north and passes by Needles, a city located in the Mohave Valley on the western banks of the Colorado river. The city is named after a group of pointed rocks on the Arizona side of the river which are clearly visible from I40.
After Needles the route swings back to the west and runs along the southern edge of the Mojave National Preserve. It really is a very attractive drive and in many places runs parallel to the historic Route 66 - the "Mother Road", which is no longer detailed on current maps.
As we crossed the border back into California we realised that we were gaining an hour and decided that coupled with the early start this meant we could press on and get much further west than we had originally planned. Passing by Barstow we were quite pleased not to be stopping there after all, it was not particularly inviting.
After Barstow we again headed south and entered the beautiful San Bernadino mountains, another (much more attractive) possible stopping place. I would have quite liked to stay here overnight but Martin had the bit between his teeth and wanted to continue all the way to Santa Barbara. We passed just north of Los Angeles through South Valley, avoiding the worst of the traffic and, after a brief stop at a Starbucks for coffee and wi fi to book a motel room, finally got our first glimpse of the Pacific as we approached Ventura at about 4.30pm Californian time.
We were both feeling very happy to be back in lovely California. It's so beautiful and so sunny and the drive along the Pacific Highway with the sun setting over the sea to our left was worth sitting in the car all day to see.
After a total of approximately 560 miles of driving we finally arrived at the aptly named Oasis Motel and gratefully checked in. We had booked for 2 nights and were so pleased that we had as it appeared to be a very attractive motel in an extremely pleasant area. After settling in we headed out for provisions and found the Loreto Plaza Shopping Centre just across the road, including a Gelson's Market which was like a combination of Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and the Mill Valley Market all rolled into one. We bought a feast of spicy salmon, curried cauliflower, spinach and grape salad and mixed roasted vegetables and returned to the comfort of our personal oasis to enjoy a quiet night in!
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