So I’m off to an Arduino conference in Boulder, Colorado. What I should do is fly from Monterey to Boulder and back. But instead I have decided to take a little (or big) adventure. I’m driving back there, but first going to Hoover Dam, then Zion National Park, then Dead Horse State Park near Canyon Lands and Arches National Park. From there it’s off to Boulder, CO. I’ll spend one day near Hoover Dam, two days at Zion, another two at Canyon Lands before arriving in Colorado. Today I left Carmel around 10:00. I brought everything: Bike, hiking gear, camping equipment, a ukelele, and running gear. I’ve got food for four days, Duraflame logs, and six gallons of water. This morning, I packed the car, fueled up and headed off while putting Gene Kranz’s book, Failure is Not an Option.
As I headed out, my car radio didn’t work. That’s a long drive for no sound. I had to put in head phones as I drove south to Paso Robles. After lunch at McDonalds, the radio started working again. Phew. 
From there I drove on highway 46 to Interstate 5. Then over to 99 and eventually to highway 58. That was a fun drive up and over the mountains past Tehachapi, Mojavi, and Barstow. The wind turbines were amazing. I was listening to the Gene Kranz’s book, and the terrain reminded me of Neil Armstrong’s assessment of the moon: “It reminds me of the desert of southeast California.” The outside temperature was 106°. There were a lot of joshua trees around. There were a lot of super long straight stretches. I found these to be tough to drive. I wasn’t sleepy but highway hypnosis can creep in. Around 7:30, after 523 miles, I arrived in Boulder City, NV.
I was glad to arrive. I was fatigued, and the nervousness of starting an adventure was upon me. After checking in, I noticed that the front tire on my back was flat. The back was good, but very full. I assumed at first the heat in the desert popped the tire. Then I noticed the rubber right at the tail pipe was nearly melted. So that’s a pretty good bummer. My plan now is to run very early in the morning, and then go to a bike shop down the road a little bit. Hopefully it’s just a new tire and tube and I’ll be off. I think the new plan will be to remove the front wheel (the back wheel is high enough to avoid the exhaust.
The wind turbines outside of Tehachapi
Pushing hard today ... 