Day Nine......

I had rode a somewhat irritating three hundred and ten miles across the desert to Laughlin. Somewhat irritating because A) - I had left the L.A. basin that morning in a thick, thick hoodie and my Carhartt and, by the time I got to Barstow, CA (1/2-way point), I was roasting in 90+ degree temps.

And also B) - Failing to adequately plan shit out, I had gotten on Interstate 40 (yeah, broke my own rules and my promise to my parents that I'd stay OFF the Interstates - had to though. In Southern Nevada and Eastern California, there is NOBODY and no signs of life off of the interstate!!!! If I had taken the backroads, and something had happened, I'd be in a major dilemma......) at Barstow after stopping for gas, and, after riding for two-hours in desert temps, started to....uhhhh.....get a little bit thirsty.

Guess who didn't pack a bottle of water?

Well, such is life. Hey, lookie, there's a rest area thass about 25 miles before Laughlin. Cool....grabba drink of water there!

Except that when I hit the water button on the fountain......nothing comes out....

.....WTF??....

So I see a lady who appears to be a rest-area attendant (makes sure there is adequate toilet paper, cleans rest rooms, etc.) there, and I mention to her that the water doesn't work!!

"Oh, I know......CalTRANS came by and shut the water off yesterday."

Nice.,...they coulda put a sign up saying so. OR, BETTER YET - MADE CONTINGENCY PLANS (like, bringing in a "Water-Buffalo" water-hauling trailer from the military, or some shit like that)!

Guys.....it's Early May in the Mojave Desert and it's miles from nowhere!! And you shut off the water and make no contingency plans to provide water out there.....????

WTF?????

Christ......

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Got to the Avi casino and resort, owned and operated by the Fort Mojave Tribe of Indians. Have their own private beach on the Colorado River (air temp=90+.....water temp=40 degrees.....very contrasting) and a cinema and free bingo games (where you win cash)......and after 300+ miles in the desert, I was in NO huge hurry to hop on and get running again.....

Jus' totally vegged.....after not getting to sleep until 4AM Thursday Night, and woke up at ten with a Trotsky-like ice pick headache, I had decided to stay an extra day at The Avi and resolve to do nothing that required either excessive thought nor anything that required any sort of physical effort.

So, I sat on the beach and read, played B-I-N-G-O and went to see "Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay."

Not a bad movie....but not really great. I laffed out loud during more than a few scenes, but given that I was hungover to the point of near death, I probably would have giggled at a concentration camp......

Most of the film is juvenile to the extent of bordering on just plain fucking stooopid.......which is EXACTLY what I needed at that point in time. Seriously, depends on what state you are in when you see the flick: If you're deathly hungover, you'll find it humourous......if you are stoned, you won't be able to stop laffing!!


If you are NOT altered by chemicals in any manner whatsoever when you see this movie......

.....you'll probably walk out!!

(I dunno...maybe I hafta see it again, or something.....hell, it takes at least three viewings to really appreciate and love the Mike Judge flick Idiocracy)


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......sorry, no pics of the desert. Check "Google Images" for that. There was literally NOTHING for miles from nowhere to take a picture of. Why put in filler if the pic isn't of anything weird or cool or anything......?

This, however, affects my timetable slightly.......so look for me in Denver around the evening of the 12th or the afternoon of the 13th (depending on how much ambition I possess to cover vast distances during any given day).

-E-