Start 7:00 AM - Stop 4:30 PM
Distance - 572 miles
We arose early, geared up and had an early breakfast. We were back on the road by 7 AM anxious to get home. This part of California we had ridden and driven through too many times to count and there really was no scenic route to take that we hadn't taken several times before. So we decided to take the interstate route home to get their the quickest. The ride from Blythe to Palm Springs was pretty much the same desert we had seen in Arizona, just not as flat. The windmill generators around Palm Springs were hypnotizing as we rolled into the Inland Empire. We had decided not to carry the extra weight of the Camel Paks on our backs for the last leg of the trip so we hade to make stops every couple of hours or so for water.
The ride through San Bernardino and Pasadena was uneventful as traffic was relatively light during the mid morning hours. We caught I-5 just outside of Pasadena and headed on over the Grapevine, feeling like the bike was an extension of our bodies after our long journey. We took I-5 all the way up to 152 to catch Pacheco Pass, stopping at a road side restaurant in the San Joaquin Valley along the way. The afternoon crosswinds on I-5 were a welcome excitement added to the otherwise straight and flat ride up I-5.
We rode over Pacheco Pass skirting the San Luis Reservoir and descended into the familiar garlic scent of Gilroy. Our last leg into Silicon Valley was a mixture of eagerness to get home and remorse that our journey was coming to an end. We arrived home at around 4:30 PM, early enough to unpack and then head to our favorite tavern up the street from our home to celebrate another safe and successful journey.