Out for an early morning bike ride before starting to pack up. I make hummus while Ashley showers. Once everything is packed we dump tanks and refill water. The gas station has been refilled so I add about a quarter tank to the RV and fill up the motorcycle. Then, back at the site, we hook up the trailer and load the motorcycle and head out of Death Valley, back over the mountains where we came in.

Long, steep climb to get over the mountain and then alternate between first and second gear to work our way down the other side. But it’s only 30 miles to the next valley, just outside of the park boundaries into BLM land. We pull a quarter mile off the road and park in the desert, set up for the night.

After lunch we hop on the motorcycle and head over the next mountain range, potentially our next leg of the route in the RV. The views are spectacular – Joshua trees up on the plateau, expansive vistas overlooking valleys and various mountains, and only a few dozen vehicles spotted in an hour’s ride. The Sierra Nevada appears before us as we begin to descend from the plateau and draw closer for the next 30 minutes while we aim for Lone Pine (where the RV will potentially be parked while we hike the John Muir trail this summer). We stop at the Visitors Center, which has all kinds of information and maps for the different parks and trails. We pick up a Delorme California Atlas – it shows BLM, National Forest, etc lands in addition to the landscaping on each section of ground. So we’ll have a good idea now of where we can boondock without having to be so concerned about who actually owns the property.

Stop at a little cafe/restaurant/ice cream parlor/gift shop to share a coffee and take advantage of wifi. This is the first time we’ve had any sort of phone signal and we wanted to let family know a) where we are b) where we’re headed c) that we’re fine. Plus, we need to look up scheduling for John Muir Trail permit applications and send out the weekly A-S email.

Online tasks completed, we head back toward the RV, where it proves too sandy to get the motorcycle loaded back on the trailer. We’ll take care of that tomorrow. Then it’s supper time – a delicious marinara sauce made out of the left-over homemade pizza sauce from Saturday served over spaghetti squash.

We read a bit before bed.