Randsburg,  CA  11 25 2007  by Noli

It was a nice ride for the Juancheros today. It started at Carl’s Jr. for  breakfast at 7:30 am.  We had Ernie, Glenn , Bing, Gio, Gudy, Ohgie, Sonny, Lito and  daughter Isabel, Pete, Angelo, Fred and Noli.

           

             

           

           

           

 We took Sierra Highway all the way to Palmdale with Pete as our Lead to pick up Anthony at his house. The weather was perfect on the 60’s.

           

           

           

           

           

Anthony took us  through  the back roads of Palmdale to Boron where we decided to have lunch at Roadhouse Restaurant at the Junction of 58 and 395 a.k.a Kramer Junction.  It is the home of the largest solar electric generating plant in the world which produces a maximum of 354 megawatts (MW) of electricity.

           

The solar energy generating facility produces electricity for the Southern California Edison power grid supplying the greater Los Angeles area.

           

We then proceeded to Randsburg taking the 395 North with me on the lead. The place was so nice. It was more than what I thought.

           

           

           

Randsburg, Johannesburg and Red Mountain are three small towns along U.S. Highway 395 between Ridgecrest and Boron, California. They are the mining district towns of the Rand Area, the gold and silver mining belt of Kern County, named after the Witwatersrand of South Africa.

           

           

           

           

Randsburg is a living ghost town. Gold mines here are still active. The Rand Mining Company employs over 80 people and works around the clock. The rumor is that it produces about 5000 ounces of gold a month.

           

           

           

     The climate is typical of the high desert -- summers are hot and dry, reaching average highs of 110 degrees F. Winter temperatures can drop as low as 10 degrees above zero and snow is not infrequent. With Spring comes the desert wildflowers -- Primroses, Prince's Plumes, Indigo Bushes, Lupines and Asters. Late summer is the season for thunderstorms.    

           

           

 We explored the area for a while, took some pictures and we had some nice conversation and laughs. Our new rider Fred really did a good job on his new bike.

           

           

We started heading home at about 2:00 pm and our last gas stop was in Mojave. We took the 14 freeway all the way home.  Total miles covered were approximately over 260 miles.

           

Hope everybody got home  safe.  See you on the next one, my fellow Juancheros.

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