Caffeinated Nomads: Yeah!! Though We Ride Through The Valley of Death...

... we will fear no temperature.

We have been saddened by the drought and fires affecting the western states of the US. On our list of places to visit was Yosemite National Park and Sequoia National Forest. We were forced to forgo both due to fires. Another day perhaps.

Take a moment to appreciate the following pictures.

Pretty right? Waves of amber grain and all that except this is supposed to be green pastures. HERE are some dramatic images of before and after the drought. We passed a field of cows grazing on apples in the dirt because there was no grass for them to eat.

So we keep on riding. We made a stop in Mojave to check out the Air and Space Port because who doesn't dream of going to SPACE!

Above is a scale model of Space Ship One. The original is located in the Air & Space Museum in DC (we saw it last year).

The significance of this aircraft should not be underestimated.
It was the 1st private enterprise to reach space and is helping to push the boundaries of space travel into a more humanly accessible realm. This is an important next step in our evolution beyond this planet.

The Rotary Rocket above was another pioneer for private spaceflight.
From Wikipedia: "To many, the Roton represents the program that launched Mojave into the Space Age."
Sadly they ran out of funding so had to discontinue.

OK.. Back into the desert, and if this post hasn't made you thirsty for ice cold water yet, just wait. We are riding through Death Valley... on purpose.

You can taste the heat.

The ride takes us below sea level and as we drop in elevation the thermometer rises. Keep in mind we are still wearing our gear and gloves and the air conditioning on the bike is broken.

Yay for nice cold beer!

This sign is peeling in the heat.

We found the site of the famous Sailing Stones that seem to move without human intervention across the Racetrack Playa. The mystery of the sailing stones has been solved thanks to science! HERE is a link for the curious.

We're hunting sailing stones in Racetrack Playa.

Greywolf looking badass too

Coyote!

As we rode through Furnace Creek the temperature peeked at 111 degrees in the shade. The hottest recorded temperature here was 134 degrees in July 1913.