{"id":11092,"date":"2020-11-27T06:50:41","date_gmt":"2020-11-27T14:50:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=11092"},"modified":"2020-11-27T08:01:49","modified_gmt":"2020-11-27T16:01:49","slug":"the-destinations-deal-ride-one-of-the-best-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2020\/11\/27\/the-destinations-deal-ride-one-of-the-best-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"The Destinations Deal Ride: One of the best ever!"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I wrote the blog for CSC Motorcycles, we organized several multi-day rides (trips through Baja, the western US, China, Colombia, and more).\u00a0 \u00a0One of my favorite rides was the Destinations Deal tour.\u00a0\u00a0It started out as an idea by the real marketing whiz in the CSC organization (who likes her anonymity, so I won’t mention her name), with directions to include some of the best destinations in the southwestern US.\u00a0 As I organized the ride, I realized all the spots I selected were featured in stories I wrote for Motorcycle Classics<\/em> magazine.\u00a0 CSC wanted to offer a discount on any new bike purchased for the event, the Motorcycle Classics<\/em> columns were all titled Destinations<\/em>, and the ride quickly became known as the Destinations Deal Tour.\u00a0 \"\"<\/p>\n

The ride was awesome:\u00a0 Topock, Laughlin, Oatman, the Grand Canyon, Route 66, Zion, the Extraterrestrial Highway, Tonopah, Death Valley, Shoshone, Baker, and then home.\u00a0 Just over 1500 miles in 6 days on 250cc motorcycles…it would be exactly what the doctor ordered.<\/p>\n

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The Destinations Deal was one of the best rides I ever did.\u00a0 Old friends and new friends, great weather, great stops, great roads, and great stories combined for an awesome week.\u00a0 The roads, the riders, the restaurants, the camaraderie…it all clicked on this one.\u00a0 But don’t take my word for it.\u00a0 \u00a0Take a look at the photos.<\/p>\n

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Leighton and a killer hot dog in Topock on the Colorado River just as we crossed into Arizona. You get a discount coupon for the local coronary care unit when you order this meal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A few of the boys and their RX3s in Oatman. Clark Gable and Carole Lombard stayed in this hotel back in the day.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Wild jackasses roam the streets in Oatman.\u00a0 \u00a0I could have a lot of fun captioning this photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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On our first night, we stayed in the Colorado Belle, a riverboat hotel on the Colorado River in Laughlin, Nevada.\u00a0 It was our first day and we rode through three states already.\u00a0 Gresh and I closed the bar that first evening. They had a live group doing ’60s Motown hits and the music was fantastic. Or maybe we just had a few too many cervezas. Or maybe it was both. The trip was off to a great start.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Day 2 on the way to the Grand Canyon. The weather was perfect for the entire ride.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Velma and Orlando, who rode two-up on a brand-new blue RX3. Orlando taught me Spanish on this ride: El naranja es el color m\u00e1s r\u00e1pido.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Another shot of the most photogenic couple you’ll ever see on an adventure ride, this time using a super-wide-angle lens on my Nikon.\u00a0 You can actually see the curvature of the earth in this photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Good buddy Rob, with who I’ve ridden several times in the US and Mexico, buys a drink for a new friend at the Grand Canyon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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On the road to Zion along Arizona’s Highway 89A after visiting the Grand Canyon. This was a glorious ride.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Marble Canyon in Arizona as we re-crossed the mighty Colorado River.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Zion, the Crown Jewel of our National Parks. This was shaping up to be one of the best trips ever.\u00a0 From left to right, it’s Dan The Man, Orlando and Velma, Gary in the back, Leighton, Willie, and Rob.\u00a0 Add Gresh and yours truly, mix well, and you have the makings of a grand adventure.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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My buds in the rear view, as we waited for a group of big horn sheep to cross the road. You could say the delay was baa-aa-aa-ad, but it was worth it to see those magnificent big horns.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The next day it was on to Nevada for the long trek to Tonopah. We took the world-famous ExtraTerrestrial Highway. Here’s a shot of shot ET after he phoned home.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Selfies in Rachel, Nevada, where Joe Gresh made friends with an elderly waitress. She schooled Uncle Joe on the finer points of place settings, ketchup assignments, and more. You had to be there to fully appreciate the training session.\u00a0 It was funny as hell.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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On the ET Highway, headed toward Tonopah. The riding was incredible; the camaraderie even better.\u00a0 We set a sedate pace to conserve fuel.\u00a0 Everyone did over 70 mpg (even Orlando and Velma, riding two up).\u00a0 Folks commented that they liked the slower pace.\u00a0 I did, too.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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After a night in Tonopah, it was on to Death Valley (entering from the northeast) the next morning. It was awesome. That’s Willie, Dan, and Gary.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The entire valley, as seen from Dante’s Peak. Death Valley is an exceptional destination.\u00a0 If you’ve never been to Death Valley, you need to go.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The crew (from left to right) included Gary, Willie, Orlando, Rob, Velma, Dan, Leighton and me (I was on the other side of the camera).\u00a0 Gresh was there, but he spun off to see Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley that afternoon.\u00a0 He had his reasons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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We stayed in Shoshone our last night. The Shoshone Inn had a fun firepit outside. Gresh bought the beer. It had been a grand ride and it would end the next day.\u00a0 I think we doubled the population the night we were in Shoshone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Dinner in Shoshone. Like every meal on the road, it was awesome.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Back through Baker after a freezing early morning ride, breakfast at the Mad Greek (another great meal and a popular motorcycle stop), and then home. What a week!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We did a lot of grand trips at CSC, and it did a lot to help publicize the RX3.\u00a0 Baja, the Western America Adventure Ride, the China ride, the Colombia ride, and more.\u00a0 I did a similar ride for Janus Motorcycles (Janus makes another great 250cc motorcycle) through northern Baja with a couple of their execs and it, too, was awesome (you can read about that one here<\/a>).\u00a0 There’s a lot to getting these rides organized and there are always things that can go wrong (personalities, bike issues, etc.), but I’ve been lucky.\u00a0 Every one has been a hoot!<\/p>\n

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This is a good time to buy a CSC<\/a> or Janus<\/a> motorcycle.\u00a0 Both companies are running awesome Thanksgiving sales.\u00a0 \u00a0Check out both motorcycles; you’ll be glad you did!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I wrote the blog for CSC Motorcycles, we organized several multi-day rides (trips through Baja, the western US, China, Colombia, and more).\u00a0 \u00a0One of my favorite rides was the Destinations Deal tour.\u00a0\u00a0It started out as an idea by the real marketing whiz in the CSC organization (who likes her anonymity, so I won’t mention … Continue reading “The Destinations Deal Ride: One of the best ever!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[654,66,89,369],"tags":[27,1614,970,1617,1616,1619,1621,155,1618,207,1620,1615],"class_list":["post-11092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventure-motorcycle-books","category-joe-gresh","category-motorcycle-adventure-ride","category-zongshen","tag-adventure-riding","tag-company-sponsored-adventure-ride","tag-death-valley","tag-extraterrestrial-highway","tag-grand-canyon","tag-little-ale-le-inn","tag-mad-greek","tag-motorcycle-classics-magazine","tag-rachel-nevada","tag-route-66","tag-topock","tag-zion"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/171025_6974-900.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11092"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11152,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11092\/revisions\/11152"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}