No longer the butt of our own jokes, we saddle up for the final push to Henderson, where we’re targeting an early arrival at Casa Bowman. It’s a 181-mile ride, which should give us about three hours of time in the saddle.

The posse is now down to two: Dave and me. John is heading home to Arizona, and Scott is on his way home in Fullerton, California.

What remains of the posse leaves early to minimize the desert heat. Turns out that’s almost not physically possible.

Still, we ride for an hour on I-15 before arriving in Baker, home of the world’s tallest thermometer. Visible for miles, it’s a 134-foot tall electric sign that commemorates the hottest temperature ever recorded: 134 degrees Fahrenheit in nearby Death Valley. The sign weighs 76,812 pounds and is held together by 125 cubic yards of concrete.

Baker, which sits at the western edge of the Mojave National Preserve, was founded as a station of the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad in 1908. It was named for Richard Baker, an eventual president of the railroad.

The Mojave National Preserve, a 1.6-million-acre park, has sand dunes, cider cone volcanoes, a Joshua tree forest and carpets of wildflowers. The ghost town of Kelso is in the middle of the preserve. Kelso has a defunct railroad depot serving as the Visitor Center for the preserve.

From Baker, we ride 40 miles east on I-15 before exiting onto Nipton Road, which becomes Highway 164 after we cross into Nevada. We’ll follow this road for 31 miles to Searchlight, Nevada. Searchlight, with a population of less than 600, is a typical tiny Nevada town – gas stations, casinos, fast food restaurants – sometimes all under one roof.

Former US Senator Harry Reid grew up in Searchlight and later became Senate Majority Leader. Reid says the most likely story as to how the town received its name was that when George Frederick Colton was looking for gold in the area in 1897, he supposedly said that it would take a searchlight to find gold ore there.

Shortly after saying that, Colton found gold in Searchlight, leading to a boom era when Searchlight had a larger population than Las Vegas.

***

Searchlight sits at the intersection of Nevada Highway 164 and US Highway 395.

From here, it’s a hop, skip and a jump to Henderson. We turn north on Highway 395, and in less than 40 minutes, we arrive at tonight’s destination: Casa Bowman.

It’s 11am, and our riding day is over.

***

Day Twenty Summary: Home at last. At least Dave is.

Click here to see today’s complete route from Barstow, California, to Henderson, Nevada.

We’re on our way home, eh?

Vroom, vroom.

***

Today’s Canada Fun Fact, eh?  The heaviest rainfall ever recorded was in Buffalo Gap, Saskatchewan. On May 30, 1961, 10 inches fell in less than an hour.