Wednesday, August 12--The California Desert to the Coast

For the first time, we decided to make a major deviation from our general travel plan. We originally were going to leave Vegas and head to Death Valley and then north to Yosemite but we decided to head for the coast and get a day riding up the Pacific Coast Highway. Back in Montrose, Colorado, an elderly couple told us there was great fishing village called Morro Bay south of Big Sur that we should try to see. So we said what the heck, lets check it out. The change meant a long hot day of riding thru the deserts of eastern California. It was already in the high 90s when we left Vegas at 9.

Before we left we had to check out the last remaining Playboy Club which was in the Palms where we stayed.



We headed out I-15 where the posted speed limit was 75 but the people headed to LA seemed to be doing alot faster than that. If the pictures Deb took from the back of the bike seem a bit blurry,you can guess why.

Most of the scenery looked like you would expect--desert!




We stopped for breakfast at Peggy Sue's Diner in Yerma, CA which was just east of Barstow where we left I-15 and got on 58 headed to Bakersfield. This is a us with a picture of Pops who was the owner's father.


The other major thing you see in the California desert besides dust and cactus are windmills--hundreds and hundreds of them.


We also passed thru Boron, CA. Can anybody guess what their claim to fame is?


As we passed through Bakersfield and headed west on 46 we passed many many flower farms, pecan farms, and walnut farms. We are still trying to figure out where they were getting their water from since most of the land was completely dried out. The temperature was about 105 at this farm.


We also got to see an oil field fire in Lost Hills, California.



After passing through Paso Robales and their many many wineries and riding over 400 miles we got to within 5 miles of the coast and started to feel the cooler Pacific air. Then we saw the fog rolling in.


And rolling in...


and rolling in...


When we got to Morro Bay, the visibility was extremely poor (thus no pictures) and the temperature was in the mid 50s. After all day at over 100 degrees, it was like a slap in the face.

We took a picture of the beautiful harbor the next morning once the fog had cleared.
From the Road,

George and Deb

Tuesday, August 11--Bryce Canyon, Zion and Las Vegas

Starting in Kanab, we headed north to Bryce Canyon. We got a relatively early start and the road was littered with Road Kill of all kinds--particularly deer. Glad we weren't driving thru there at night.

On the way to Bryce, you pass thru Red Canyon which gives you a warmup for what was coming. Deb took the pictures above from the bike.

As we approached Bryce, we encountered TRAFFIC!! Road was one lane and gravel for awhile so we had to wait.



It was definitely worth the wait.







On the way back out and on the way to ZION, we went through a few tunnels and captured some views.




It was lunch time and we stopped in Hatch, UT to at place advertising Burgers, Bikes and Beds.
Debbie decided to have some fun with the help...

They were very friendly and even had a picture for her on the wall. They must have known she was planning a visit...

We knew it was going to be significantly hotter in Zion than Bryce so we filled up on water.

After Lunch, we headed for Zion.



We saw alot of these signs as we entered the park:






As we got into the park, thru the tunnel, the temps were well over 100 degrees. As those of you who have been here in the summer, it can be brutally hot.

We stopped for what seemed like the one bit of shade and Debbie refueled on some water. Unfortunately, it seems someone else previously used the stop for something else...





I think Rosie needed a rest too but we couldn't find her any shade.


Zion was amazing and we definitely will go back and explore more. Unfortunately, we still had to make it to Vegas.

We headed for I-15 to make some time and got to Vegas around dusk. Our exit was closed and we were forced to get off sooner than we liked. We stopped to get gas and check our map. This was not the Vegas that you see on TV. I have traveled all over the world and I have not seen this many homeless people camping out. The dismal economy has really hit home here.

The Best Western we booked from Zion was in an older part of town which didn't pass the sniff test and we decided to head uptown and ended up staying at the Palms.




We even won a bit of money which is always a good thing.



From the Road,

George and Debbie

Monday, Aug 10--The Grand Canyon

The Best Western in Kanab, UT was somewhat centrally located between the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion so for the first time on our journey we were staying in the same hotel 2 nights in a row.

It was 69 miles to the entrance to the park and another 12 to the rim. Lots of wildlife spotting in the miles. Above is Debbie with a herd of bison. Later we saw mule deer, baby turkeys, ravens, hawks, etc.

The North Rim is at about 9000 feet so it was a very cool day., Unfortunately, recent forest fires left a haze over the canyon. They let us ride through parts of the fire (below).

The park had some really spectacular views and the shear size was amazing. 27 miles long. 10 miles wide. Temperature swings from the top of the canyon to the bottom were 30 degrees. You could hike from the top to the bottom it was 14 miles down. Of course you needed to hike the 14 miles back to the top. We saved that for another day. Jay Miers are you listening?

After spending most of the day in the park, we headed back to Kanab. Looking forward to another good dinner at the Rockin V Cafe and Art Gallery in Kanab. We had an excellent meal the previous night so we were looking forward to another good meal. Vic and his crew did not disappoint as Deb had the best pork chop that she ever had. At least 2 inches thick and extremely moist. It matched the excellent curried meatballs that I had the previous night. We highly recommend it if you are ever in the area. Owner Vic was born in NY and grew up in Texas and was the consummate host.

From the Road,

George and Debbie

Sunday, August 9--Mesa Verde, 4 Corners, AZ desert

Sunday was another Sunny Day as we headed southwest out of Durango. Our final destination target was Kanab, UT. But prior to that we planned to stop at Mesa Verde National Park then Southwest to 4 Corners and then the Loooooooong drive thru the NE Arizona desert and Navajo Indian Reservation before heading north and passing thru the Glen Canyon Recreation Area late in the day.

About 30 miles away from Durango is a giant Mesa that is host to Mesa Verde National Park. Inside the Mesa are tremendous examples of the cave dwelling Pueblo Indians.

Heading SW from Mesa Verde, and before stopping at 4 Corners which is the only state where 4 states intersect at one point (New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona), we dipped into New Mexico. In the picture at the top of the blog, Deb is in New Mexico and Utah and George is in Colorado and Arizona.

After 4 Corners we headed across the Navajo Reservation which was hot, dry and dotted with Mesas, Buttes and Hoodoos. These were taken from the back of the bike by Debbie.

We drove many many miles through this starkness and really needed some gas. With the next town about 40 miles away we figured we would be able to make it. Turns out it was a reservation town and the one convenient store/gas station had already closed up as it was around 8 pm on a Sunday night. Lucky for us, they left the pumps turned on so we could use a credit card to buy gas. Disaster averted.

After another 100 miles or so we hit Glen Canyon Recreation Area which is a dam set up on the Colorado River surrounded by the extremely red rocks that look like a disney set. It was hard to capture in the wanning light.

The picture below gives a good perspective on how it looked from the bike as we chased the sunset with nothing out there on the road but the bugs that kept splattering on the windshield.

We arrived in Kanab after dark and expected another late night fast food feast (or not) but were pleasantly surprised at the high quality Rockin V Cafe/Art Gallery that was right next to our hotel. For the first time on our trip, we were actually going to stay in the same hotel 2 nights in a row so we will report more on the Cafe tomorrow.

From the Road,

George and Debbie

Saturday Aug 8--The Rockies Part 2

The second day in the Rockies took us from Frisco to Durango. As we got close to Durango, we came accross "Switzerlan in America."



Early in the morning we were delayed in Leadville, CO. Turns out they were having a parade for burro races day. We stopped to check it out. They obviously have an excellent taste in foods.

We didn't stick around for the Burro Races and headed on. Stopped to eat at a roadside BBQ. Unfortunately, dropped the camera and killed it.

Continued South then West on Route 50 toward Gunnison then Montrose where we went to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Very impressive.

Next we headed down Route 550 aka "The Millonaires Hwy." This was 100 miles of switch backs, no guardrail, shear drop offs and mountain passes. Along the way, we passed through the town of Ouray, which is an old mining town. We would have stopped but it was so hilly we couldnt find a spot to park the bike.

Once in Durango, we couldn't resist the BBQ place next to our Hotel.

From the Road,

George and Debbie

August 7: The Rockies Part 1

Wheatland, WY to Frisco, CO

Headed out of Wyoming Hotel to Cheyenne to look for some breakfast. Stopped in the Plains Hotel which served up some mighty fine fare. The hotel has been recently restored and is beautiful.

After Breakfast, we finally left Wyoming and headed to Estes Park, CO which is the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park.

We cruised through the Park looking for Wildlife but it all must have been hiding. Deb took some pictures from the bike as we started to climb.

At the summit we were at over 12,000 feet and beyond the tree line.

Is that Heidi or Debbie?

Hard to appreciate the scale in a picture but that is me dwarfed by the mountains in the background and yes that is snow.

We crossed the Continental Divide at Milners Pass.

From the Road,

George and Debbie

The Black Hills, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Wyoming (Thursday, Aug 6)

As this was the Sturgis Bike Rally Week, Western South Dakota was inundated with Bikers. Sturgis normally has population of 6000 but this week it swells to several hundred thousand, mostly camping out, all on their bikes. It was great to have bikes out number cars for a change. The picture at the left taken from our bike gives you a perspective. It was taken in the small town right below Mount Rushmore. Bikes everywhere.

As it raining we spent most of the morning at the biker expo where you could spend lots of money upgrading your bike right on site or, if you preferred, buying way overpriced Tshirts. However, 17.99 for a Tshirt is much more affordable than 1500 for a new exhaust system even if they promised to install it in 1 hour.

Rain stopped and we headed to Mt Rushmore. Extremely impressive. Much larger than it appears in pictures.

We continued to meet interesting and very friendly people.

After Rushmore we headed to the Crazy Horse Monument which is in progress and has been for 50 years. It is a mountain sculpture much larger than Mt Rushmore that is completely privately funded and is a dedication to all the Indian Tribes. It is hard to capture the power of the place in pictures or words but the spiritualness of the Indian People is clearly in the air.

Here is a bronze of what the mountain will look like at completion with the actual mountain in the background:

As we left the Crazy Horse exhibit, it started to rain. We needed to move on so we got the rain gear on and headed West to Wyoming.

As we entered Wyoming, the rain stopped which was great since we would be able to make some time. We turned onto Route 85 South and the first thing we saw was a gate for when they close the road and then the sign No Services for 81 miles. We checked the the fuel and seemed to have enough. It was a good thing because they were not kidding. NOTHING was on this road and I mean nothing, no people no animals, no cell phone service NOTHING. About 60 miles in their was a junction with Route 18 and there was an unmanned reststop with outhouse style toilets. This junction was named Mule Deer Junction and as we approached we saw 2 aging bikers and 6 coolers of water. We thought it may be a mirage. But no, these two were camping out the rest stop handing out water to anyone who wandered in. They were doing it to help out all the bikers coming to/from Sturgis. They were there for 9 days!! Two good guys:

We grabbed a couple of bottles, thanked them, and headed on our way back into the nothingness. Landed in Lusk, WY at about 7 and and met another interesting character.

As you can see it was getting dark at this point but we figured we could make another 54 miles to I-25 and find a hotel. Oops, no town at the highway entrance. We figured no big deal we will just head down the interstate. Oops, there is nothing on the interstate. Checked the map and it looked like Wheatland was the next "big" town on I-25. It has a population of 1600. 50 miles later we pull into Wheatland. Excellent, a best western. NO Vacancy. The manager suggested we go to Chugwater, WY but we were really tired and didnt want to ride anymore. She called around and found us the fabulous Wyoming Hotel:

For more than a second we thought we would sleeping on the side of the highway but it worked out. The place was clean and cheap. Crazy Horse must have been looking out for us...

From the Road,

George and Deb