I think I'll pass....

7:27 am - Thursday - December 1st - GNHS - 48° F, 54% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the south by southeast......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 66° F.  On this date in 2021 TLE and I were enjoying the alfresco view from Los Jilbertos Taco Shop in Borrego Springs whilst we consumed our food......↴

As you know from reading my recent posts it is World Cup time, and being soccer (aka: futbol) fans we are recording every game played, and watching most, if not all of many of them.  There were a couple of interesting matches being played Wednesday in Qatar (Middle Eastern country), so we spent the early part of the morning watching those matches, then around 10:30 am we decided to take a ride in the blue #10 Kawasaki KRX, which just got new 'shoes'.  We haven't rented that one out yet, as we were awaiting the installation of the new tires.  TLE wanted us to follow the loop out to the bat caves, then up to the Oasis, then home, as a number of customers have found the route difficult to follow on the GPS tablets.

It's about a 20 minute ride out to the scenic overlook at the top of the bat cave hill, and then another 5 minutes down to the bat caves.  We averaged around 20 mph going out, so I guess it is under 10 miles one way.....

The vista point

Typically the view is amazing here, but it was a bit hazy Wednesday

.....from the vista point we drove down to the bat caves......

Some silk flowers someone left behind....interesting.

....the time to be here is just before sunset so you can see the bats leave the caves....personally I don't really care, and frankly with all the bat guano it kind of smells funky.....lol.....

.....from there we began the drive over to the Oasis, and this is where our customers usually get turned around.   The trail you must follow is not intuitive, and it became obvious why people get off course doing this loop in a clockwise fashion.  With TLE holding the GPS tablet in her hands she kept me on course 99% of the time, and we arrived at the Oasis in about 25 minutes.....

Kind of cool to see the water pouring right out of a rock.....this water is potable, by the way.

......after spending about 10 minutes at the Oasis (we've been there once before) we began the drive back home.  From the Oasis home the trail, once again, becomes much more intuitive, and we managed to make it all the way back to GNHS without getting off course one time.  Below is the route we traveled.....

.....we arrived back at GNHS around 12:30 pm, and after blowing all the trail dust off our persons using compressed air we settled in for a nice, relaxing afternoon.  Next time out TLE will do all the driving, and I'll be the navigator.  I haven't said this to TLE, but I am really surprised at how much she enjoys these rides....I, sincerely, did not think it would be her 'cup of tea'.  Kind of cool that after 51 years I am still learning new things about her.

On the VW sand rail front, I talked with the owner on Wednesday, and while he is agreeable to me tinkering with it to get it unseized, he really doesn't want me to go much past seeing if it will turn over, and he is pretty well stuck on $1800 as the lowest he will go.  For me, I would like to see if it will run, but if I can't open up the carburetors to see if they are gummed up, or even start it my interest decreases dramatically.  He insists it 'ran when parked', and it may have, but now the electrical system seems to be compromised, and the engine is seized.  I could probably take it apart, fix the wiring issues, and rebuild the carbs and engine, but I have no interest in a long term project, and I certainly am not interested in forking over $1800 for a totally unknown quantity, so I believe I will pass on this one.  On top of that it would need four tires, a battery, possibly a rebuild kit for the twin Italian carbs, and the engine....probably another $1500-2000, plus all the time I would need to invest.

Thanks for stopping by!