Zion and Bryce, the Desert Again, and Yosemite

We took a day and rode from Mesquite to ride Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. They are both wonderlands. Pictures to come soon.

We rode our bikes up I-15 and took UT Rt. 9 to Zion Park. We hadn't ridden switchbacks like those in Zion since we took a riding course in the Blue Ridge Parkway in VA. You do get up close and personal with the road that takes you to the mile long tunnel through the mountain. There are a couple of "windows" cut into the tunnel wall that offer spectacular views of the nearby mountain side. Coming down the mountain was much easier, but still required 15-20 mph speeds to make some of the curves.

We rode on to rt. 89 north to rt. 12 west to rt. 63 and into Bryce Canyon National Park. Bryce roads are simple and straight away in comparison to Zion, with many pull-offs to see the wonders of the canyon. The rock formations like Natural Bridge are massive, but you feel you can almost reach out and touch them (200 yards away :). At about mile marker 8, there a "U" curve that was a little too tricky for a band of riders. As far as we could tell from the ambulance and flatbed, there were 2-3 bikes involved in a crash. Coming back through that same curve, I was going 24 mph and had to scrub-off some speed in order to avoid laying the bike over to much to make the curve. The curve should be marked 20 mph or less for safety sake.

We rode back the same route through Zion. We missed out reservation for dinner at the lodge and instead, took the advice of a couple of riders familiar with the area and had dinner in Springdale. We then rode back to Mesquite around 7:30 PM. the desert heat was still there, but not as hot as when we arrived the day before at 3:30 PM. Even thought it was after late, the air was still warm and Lil Doc and I were washed out and a bit dehydrated by the time we got back to our room. Still getting used to riding the deserts that continually demand your respect.

The next day, we rented a car and drove into Las Vegas. It was the first time there for Lil Doc and the second time for me (over 40 years ago). Needless to say, we were mesmerised with all the eye candy and the shear confidence of the place. We go there at noon and when we left around 11:0 PM, there were thousands of people walking the streets.

We took the next day to rest and the following day at 6:00 AM we were on the road to California. We took NV Rt. 95 north through the the desert to Tonopah, NV. The rise in altitude was a life saver. Just as the day began to really heat up in the high 90's an above, we rose almost 4,000 feet loosing 3-5 degrees Fahrenheit per 1,000 feet. We passed through Goldfield, NV, that was a blast form the past. It should have been a ghost town, but looked like it would be quite a place on a Saturday night. We left Tonopah ahead of schedule so we rode on to Benton, Ca. We stopped at a local (and only) cafe in town. It was a treasure. It's run by the local Uteute indian tribe and everyone was wonderful, including the kids. Lil Doc had a great chile cup and I had a slice of cherry pie and coffee. The cafe was right out of the 1950's. The counter ladies were straight forward with the adults and differentail and kind to the kids. Stop there next time you're through for a top-off and a look at small town life as it should be.

We made it to Lee Vining after riding through a short rain. The water brought out the scents that the high desert heat traps. It was a mixture of sand and creosote bush. Everything turned a dark brown. In Lee Vining we stayed the night and the next morning crossed over Tioga Pass in Yosemite. The gods were still favoring us with extraordinary weather. The sky had a few stray clouds and the temperature only dropped a bit at 9,000 plus feet altitude. We rode back down the mountains and into the heat of the valley. Signs everywhere for cheeries and strawberries but we had no time to stop wanting to make Palo Alto before 6:00 PM, which we did. The wind was pretty strong around Lawrence-Livermore, but calmed down a bit after a while. We did hit the cool air of the peninsula that had us pulling over for shirts and jackets at the Dmbarton Bridge. In a few days, we'll be heading for Alaska and very cool weather.

We're on the way .....

We left home on May 21, 4 days behind schedule due to the need to complete a few projects as well as the weather (rain, rain, and more rain).

We made it to Matamoras, PA, the first day. The next day took us well into Ohio-where the gas cap to Linda's trike flew off; "pinged" her on the knee; and was never seen again. That necessitated a stop at the Harley dealership in Dubois, Ohio. The third day we arrived in Normal, IL, to see family and pick up a part for Linda's trike (a lock).

We then went west on I-70 through IL, and into MO. From MO (and keeping an eye on the weather) we headed into KS where we saw a lot of flooded fields and streams, but none bad enough to close the highways. The plains of central KS were quite windy and beautiful especially after all the rain. They have a gentle roll to them reminiscent of the Canadian plains, but softer. KS took us into CO. Riding through Denver the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend was relatively easy. As we rolled west, we began to climb the foothills towards Golden, CO. We were briefly presented with a full profile view of the Colorado Rockies. Even at a distance they were breathtaking. We rode through several passes and spent the night in Dillon, CO. (where we had the world's worst Sangria). Dillon is in the heart of ski country (Vale, Breckenridge, etc.). At one point the road reached over 10,000 feet. The next morning we were greeted by 32 degree weather and frost on the bikes. We donned all our heated clothes and started on the last miles down through the mountains. We eventually rode through Glenwood Canyon with the Colorado River flowing beside the road and down out of the mountains into Parachute, CO., where the temperature was in the 90's.

We found ourselves in the west CO desert that continued into into UT. The heat got the better of us and we stopped for the day in Green River, UT. We left in the next early morning and rode 100 miles into the Fishlake National Forest. The highway rose to almost 8,000 feet causing us to wonder where yesterday's heat was when we needed it. We found it when we reached I-15 and headed south. We stopped for cold water and gas at a small gas station near Beaver, UT, where we met a group of black motorcycle riders from Las Vegas.
Their club was named "Buffalo Soldiers." They and and their "women" were quite taken with Linda's trike. It would have been fun to ride with them, but they had to get back to Vegas. By the time we got to St. George, UT, the temps were up in the high 90's and we were cooking again. We arrived in Mesquite, NV, 50 miles down the road from St. George, about 3:30 PM. We had dinner and walked through one of the casinos and then headed for bed.

I'm not sure why I-70 is not designated a scenic drive in UT, CO, and KS. From rolling plains, to huge mesas, to desert, you can see the beauty of western America along that highway. We'd like to ride it again. So far, we've met and talked with some very interesting people on our stops along the way. Tomorrow we're riding to Bryce Canyon and Zion. The temperature is supposed to hit 3 digits tomorrow, so we'll have dinner and hang out at the lodge in Zion in an effort to avoid riding back to Mesquite in the heat of the afternoon.

We did 2,800 miles door to door in eight days. A couple of days we did close to 500 miles and others less than 250. All days were pretty good.

Cross Country 2007

This is our first attempt to communicate with friends and family as we tour.

We hope to have worthwhile commentary and some good pictures to share with you as we travel.

Feel free to ask any questions. We will feel just as free to answer them.

Best,

Dave and Linda