Day 114 to 124.
| October 28th to November 7th, 2007 |
from Kingman to Yuma, Az.
WOW! ... Here's the last part of the US segment of our
trip!
Here we go again!
We're leaving the Joshua Trees...
...To get in the Sonoran desert and the giant cacti area.
After a while, the trail ends on US 95 on which we have to ride for 15 miles to get to
the state park.
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Unrelated: No, we are not on the moon or at
the local amusement park! There are really people living in this "house"! |
 
Yeah ! The desert, the cacti, all
new stuff to us.
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They're big! They're impressive! Being surrounded by Saguaro
cacti means being very far away from home, in a totally different environment! |
| Bof... |
A few long miles on the road... |
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It's definitely the grimmest part of the ride yet...45 long
miles on US 95. 45 miles on the highway, being pushed by the cars, big trucks, and RVs. We
ride at around 55m/h in a 65m/h speed limit zone where everybody wants to drive 75... |
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Welcome to the Cat Tail Cove state park, on Lake Havasu.
Not exactly rustic, but we have access to all the services!
Under the sun and the palm trees. WOW! Our first palm trees!
Water bodies are few and far apart in Az! Lake Havasu is known to be one of the nicest
places to see.
Magnifique !!!
Hey!... Let's go for a swim!!!! Cool! It's been a while since France had a chance
to jump in a lake!
Like Lake Powell, Lake Havasu is, in fact, the Colorado river.
Over here, the river is the natural border between California and Arizona (The
mountains you see are in Cal). This superb body of water thus draws boaters from both
states. Lots of people here on weekends, lots...
From Lake Havasu to Parker we have to ride 30 more miles of 95. At 55m/h, in all that
traffic, it's long and stressful...Minnie better hold on tight! If she slips, it's the end
of her...
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In Parker, we stop and fix our third flat. A nail. 5 minutes and we're on
the road again. |
| Life is not just all fun and games...Especially when all you have holds in
a few grocery bags... |
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This trip is all about contrasts. We camp in town, the next day, we're in the middle of
nowhere. We're in the mountains, then in the desert. It's super hot, then we're freezing.
We ride on the highway, then on a really small and rough trail...It's still the case here.
As much as the road to Parker was stressful and grim, the small roads out of it to
Quartzsite are super nice! Since we want to avoid US 95, we'll ride across the desert to
get there.
Without water, it's not much deseert...
...And dust...
...Add water, and it all turns green!
A roadside panel seen along the way.
We set up camp in the desert near Quartzsite, well known area where hundreds of
snowbirds head for winter.
On the cactus road. The next morning, we ride across the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.
What an incredible privilidge it is to be able to ride our quads here!
Polaris
Industries - Canada
Polaris Industries - USA
Just one more contrast. After getting cooked in Montana (where we thought it would be
cold) and almost frozen alive in Utah (where we expected hot temps...), we're back in the
heat. Daytime temps are above 90 deg F. While nightime is sorta coolish (45 deg).
Excellent sleeping weather!
You'd think we're in the middle of a western movie! Someone once told us we were 21th
century pioneers...We feel like the last cowboys!!
Special!
The desert really surprised us. We expected flat, monotones scenery, nothing but
sand...We were totally wrong!
There must be countless varieties of cactus. Here's one pretty particular. The
Ocatillo. From a distance, it looks like a bunch of dead branches...
...But...Don't get too close...Click
here for a detailed view.
One last night in the American desert, near Hyder, Az.
One last sunset in the U.S...
Around Yuma, the desert turns into farmland right before our eyes.
Irrigation is very functionnal and yields excellent results.
Your attention please, the Quadtrek expedition is in final approach to Yuma!
Here we are! Yuma! Our final destination in the U.S.! Also, the lowest point we've hit
yet: 262 ft above sea level!
Now we can really say it, it's done.
We have ridden our quads across the U.S.A.!
WOUHOOOO!!!
Seen in Yuma!
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In a restaurant parking lot. It's licensed and street legal in Az! |
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Life has it ups... |
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...And downs... |
Before we cross into Mexico, we have the quads checked and serviced one last time at
Liberty Motorsports.
We want to take this opportunity to say a big THANKS to Lee
(service manager) and Paul (parts manager) for their availability, kindness, and
generosity. They litterally went out of their way to make sure we would be all set with
everything we'll need when in Mexico!
THANKS A LOT GUYS! WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT !
After a thorough inspection, we replace a cracked spring spanner on the right rear
shock. Seems the fact that I adjusted it with a pipe wrench did'nt help it much...
Clutches are inspected and cleaned. Everything is under control, even the drive belts.
Lee asks if we want them replaced but, after mesuring them, we only find a .005 difference
between a new one and our old ones so, we put the original belts back on. We are all
curious to see how far they will go.
All the fluids and filters (except fuel filters) are replaced and Marc switches gear
from one quad to the other again, always aiming at making the work load more even between
the 2 quads.
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While all this is taking place, a Yuma Sun newspaper journalist finally
gets in contact with us (after a few tries on his part). He wants to interview us and take
a couple pics.
click
here to read the very interesting article of the Yuma Sun. |
This part of our trip was mostly one of adaptation to our new way of life. Living
outdoors all the time requires adaptation. You get cold when it's cold, get hot when it's
hot, get wet when it rains, wake up with daylight and feel sleepy when it gets dark.
During winter, that happens around 5:00 pm...Your sleep varies according to many factors:
Temperature, noise, how safe you feel, etc..
We will keep excellent memories of this portion of the ride. All along it, we have
experienced extrordinary support from everyone we met along the way and, basically, from
everyone involved in it in one way or another. We can say that it's been easier than we
expected.
Today, we are racing agains time! We have to make sure we
don't forget anything: Call our families, buy food and water, pay all the bills,
re-organise our gear to reduce chances of theft, update the web site...It just seems
nothing is working the way it should be...We can't find what we want, the internet
connection is'nt working, we even get pulled over by a cop! (for the first time!). He says
even though our machines are street legal, the tires on them say "Not for highway
service" and so, he could write us a citation...After discussing with him and
explaining what we were doing and comparing with other vehicules we've seen on the road
here (...), he decides to let us go and simply tells us to be careful...COOL!...But, time
is still flying anyway!
At 1:00am, we set the alarm for 5:30am and litterally fall on the pillow. We want to cross
the border as early as possible to be able to ride as far from it as we can before it gets
dark as it seems it is the most unsafe area.
Tomorrow, we enter Mexico.
It will be Adventure with a capital A,
with all it's new challenges, new questions: Customs, language, culture, currency
exchange, territory, food, etc, etc...
Stick around to discover Mexico, with us!
...T.B.C...
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