Eli: Labor Day Weekend

It happened to be one of the best Labor Day weekends I’ve had in a long time. Yet, we were struck with a few obstacles that kinda just made the adventure quite a good story.

Okay, so I’ve been in this biker club for over a year now. I joined a few months after moving here last year and it fulfilled two of my requests – to be able to ride my bike more often and to make new friends. It’s just amazing that this group is getting larger and larger. So much in fact, that there are some folks I have not even met yet!

While making some new friends with this group, we’ve all decided that not only do we want to ride but also to socialize. Riding can be very difficult on the social aspect except when we stop for fuel breaks or a meal – it’s the only time we are able to chat since we’re riding our bikes all over. Then the hikes began, then dinner parties, poker parties, playing pool and even having a beach picnic. It’s really a great group of people. I’m just so amazed that everyone is so friendly, inviting and seeking new friends.

When I was in Texas a few years ago it was very very difficult to make friends and even trying to find decent biker buddies. It was very clique-ish and I was very surprised since it changed so much from the great Texas experience I had while in the military. Then I realized a majority of my friends were no longer in Texas and perhaps that was why it wasn’t the same. Maybe that was why it was so easy to pick up and leave when I found out I was accepted into sushi school and moved to Los Angeles.

I think its people that are changing my perspective on SoCal. I still don’t understand why so many people live here. Sure the weather is great for most of the year but it’s really over populated, there are lots of rude superficial people, traffic is horrid, pollution is just crazy and there’s just no sense of space and definitely nothing serene! I’ve been ready to pick up and leave for the past 6 months or so but then I think of this group and the new friends I’ve made… and want to stay. Yeah, it surprises me too!

So back to this past weekend. One of my new biker friends invited us to the lake for the weekend. There were only a couple of us that had the time off and wanted to go. We left early Saturday and as we were about to leave, she asked if I liked to drive fast. Of course! But then common sense made me ask what do you mean by fast? 80-85mph… Oh, sure no problem. I usually travel 80mph on the highway by car anyway. Originally we were all going to ride together – there were only 4 of us. But I had to return a day early to return to work so I drove my vehicle. And one of the girls was nice enough to ride with me. And Rookie did not go 85… she has this huge monster truck and from what I was informed, the bigger the tires the lower the speedometer reads. So according to her speedometer, she was going 85 yet I was going 95 to catch up. (Yes, mom… I was speeding. Sorry.) And I still couldn’t catch up so I just slowed down to 80 and thankfully, Jayna knew how to get there.

It was so hot out; we unpacked as fast as we could, made a picnic lunch to take with and high tailed it to the lake. Lake Mead is huge! Rookie was driving us to all these coves and we’d swim a bit then move on. Time flew fast and the wind picked up. We moved once more to another cove and when we decided we were hungry and should get back for dinner. We were not able to cross the lake! The winds were so strong the swells were over 2 feet tall! Rookie was worried the boat would capsize although she tried twice to get us home. Several other boaters also tried and had to return to the safety of the cove to wait out the winds as well. The only ones that made it out were the ocean cabin cruisers and even they were knocked around by the wind and waves.

Luckily, we were stranded next to a huge houseboat. We were thinking of the worst and we could perhaps ask them if they could let us sleep over. But 3 hours later, we thought the winds died down enough to try returning to the boat slip. And no, we only were able to cross the lake into another cove. There was a boat there but no one was around. So yes, we ended up waiting and waiting and waiting and the wind never died. There was a lightning storm in the distance and we were worried it would rain (which was in the forecast for the evening). Luckily, it didn’t rain but we did end up sleeping on the boat overnight. Now that was quite uncomfortable! Not the worst situation I’ve been in but just uncomfortable yet we managed to find humor in our delirium… a lot of humor.

The sun rose yet the wind never stopped. It was not as strong at 5AM and Rookie decided to give it one last try. We made it. The waves were crazy huge and it took about 45 minutes to cross the lake and the safety of our boat slip. We were exhausted and ended up taking a nap. We awoke to a very hot RV. What happened?

The air conditioner was on full blast the whole night we were gone and froze the compressor and line. Several hours later and way into the evening, we figured that out and defrosted the line. The A/C was ready to go. We finally made our first meal since that picnic lunch the previous day. Whew! We were starving! With a great dinner in our bellies, we ended up checking out Hoover Dam and just hanging out.

By this time, it was already Monday and we all wanted to go for a little boat ride before I left. I ended up leaving later than planned although nothing else went wrong the remaining time of the trip. The other girls left Tuesday and everyone was wishing for a longer weekend.

This is the arch portion of the new bridge. The road across Hoover Dam will be closed off in a few years due to Homeland Security. People will have to travel across this bridge instead. The arch itself is the largest concrete arch in North America.

This is also part of the dam. You can see the water level of the lake. It is very very low - the top of the white portion is where the lake level usually is.