Death Valley National Park, California

The motorcycles stayed parked and the four of us took a rented Jeep into the Panamint Mountains for some exploring. Highlights included walking around the Eureka Gold Mine, exploring the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns and standing atop Aguereberry Point, where we looked down 6400’ onto the Death Valley floor.

In one unexpected moment we encountered a group of wild burros on the road. They quizzically walked up to the Jeep, but soon lost interest when there were no food handouts.

After returning to the Oasis, the rest of the day was spent hanging out in the hotel’s hot spring fed swimming pool while enjoying too many margaritas. While in the pool, Damian befriended another margarita loving guest who turned out to be a Santa Monica police detective. After the alcohol and banter completely kicked in, the Detective invited Damian and Brendan to ride their motorcycles on the Santa Monica Pier, accompanied by a private police escort. Despite our doubts, the detective came through, proving Aussie charm has its privileges.

This Death Valley Day was a lot of fun, but wasn’t without drama. I misplaced my motorcycle helmet in the morning, which caused a lot of anxiety searching for it. As the day progressed, I slowly lost hope that I’d find it, and thought my participation on the ride might be over. Thankfully, it reappeared in the afternoon to my giant sigh of relief. The details of that story will have to wait.