NEEDLES, CALIFORNIA - April 2017

 Upon entering the town of Needles, the first thing I did was establish a place to crash for the night, by way of a cheap motel. It was still early in the day so I had time to look around town. Being late afternoon, it was really getting hot in this subtropical desert climate. The thermometer on the wall outside of my room was approaching 100 degrees and it was only April. This town regularly sees the highest recorded daily temperatures in the U.S. during the summer, occasionally even setting world daily temperature records. The town was named after a group of pinnacles, or mountain peaks, in the Mohave Mountains on the Arizona side of the river.

Needles also lies on Route 66 and was a major stop during it's heyday. Much of the main strip seemed abandoned and desolate but there were still a few colorful murals to be found scattered about the fairly spacious small town. I say spacious because it is 6 times larger in area than my own small suburb of Detroit, but Needles has a population about 6 times smaller. The amount of the population living below the poverty level in Needles is also about 6 times higher, at 30%, than Garden City, Michigan. Needles and Detroit city proper are almost identical with their average incomes and poverty level percent. Demographics have always interested me. The town seemed fairly clean though.



The next morning I was planning on getting up early and riding hard towards home. Really hard. The plan was to attempt a Bun Burner Gold, so I extracted the associated paperwork from the waterproof, clear plastic paper holder that is velcroed to the inside lid of my side case for just such an occasion. Now to find some witnesses. The Bun Burner Gold is an extreme ride, so instead of the typical individual witness requirement, you need two, or a police officer.

Before wandering the roads of Needles, I asked the upbeat Indian (from India) motel owner to witness my papers after explaining the ride to him. No way. He was having nothing to do with signing anything. This wasn't the last time I would experience this with an Indian motel owner. Just them. Never has anyone else ever denied this simple request. Makes me wonder if they are just suspicious of getting caught up in a scam, or if they have something to hide.

Down at the far end of town (pretty sure it was the east end) I found a massive old borax wagon. This is borax wagon No. 277. It was made by the Studebaker Wagon company. A wagon factory was being established in Mohave, California about 1880, and was used by Borax companies operating east of Mohave Railhead.



Three of the wagon wheels are Conestoga wheels and one is a Mohave wheel.

The wagon was used in the filming of "20 Mule Team" starring Wallace Beery in the early 1940's.

It was brought to Needles in 1947 where it stood in front of the El Rancho Motel until 1962. The wagon was given to the City of Needles by Mr. Alexander in May of 1962.



Stopped into the Needles police department and asked the officer on duty to sign my witness paper. After I explained to him what I was doing and that I would most likely ride more than 1,500-miles the next day on my motorcycle on the way back home towards Detroit, he looked at me, while his brain processed the information, as if he was trying to decide whether to lock me up or give me a drug test. Then he shrugged it off and promptly filled in my form with his name, position, and badge number.



After getting back to my room, I'd noticed that he forgot to sign the form. Ran back up to the police station but they were now closed. The signature was probably not really that important since he even included his badge number. Just to be certain, I obtained two more witnesses: one at McDonalds and another at the local Dollar General. Then it was time to get some sleep. I'd need it.