A little rain in Southern Utah

We were up early and rode 100 miles before we stopped for breakfast at a French bakery in Cedar  City, UT. This is a college town, so there were civilized amenities such as our breakfast place, a Shakespeare festival, and a Starbucks. After breakfast we rode east on UT 14 past the turnoff for Cedar Breaks and over an 8000 foot pass. During the ride we encountered  a brief rain squall, which was enough to get us wet and cool us down. By the time we reached the Long Valley junction at  Highway 89 we were dry and warm again.

We rode  north on 89 and turned east on UT 12, which goes to Bryce Canyon National Park, where we did a quick drive-by and stopped at a couple of viewpoints.

Short tunnel on Highway 12 before  the Bryce turnoff.

Bryce Canyon

Carol points out the hoodoos

Looking down into the bowl

Of course these small pictures don't convey the weirdness of the hoodoos or the immensity of  the canyon.

Leaving Bryce we continued east on UT  12 through  red rock canyons and over passes. Just outside of Escalante we passed by the Shooting Star Drive-In, which is motel and drive-in. The motel rooms are silver Airstream trailers, and you can watch a drive-in movie from vintage cars from the 60s. In Escalante we searched for a place to eat and finally found the Escalante  Outfitters, which had a small restaurant that served excellent food, including small strawberry-rhubarb pies.

The road soon became very curvy as we climbed up the "Grand Staircase". On one section of UT 12 we rode along a narrow crest with steep drop-offs into canyons on both sides.

Rain in the distance on Highway 12

Carols view of the curve ahead, and the back of my head.

After the town of Boulder we climbed up to a 9600 foot pass on Boulder Mt. The temperature dropped to 60 and it began raining in earnest, so we stopped to put on rain gear before we got soaked.

A little rain on Boulder Mountain

 The rain let up as we descended and by the time we got to Torrey and turned east on UT 24 we had mostly dried off, and the temperature began to climb.  The road winds through more red rock canyons and we were very lucky with traffic - there was none - so we had the road to ourselves. We are staying at the Whispering Sands in Hanksville where the temperature is currently 90. Tomorrow we'll ride south on UT 95 through Canyonlands, visit Natural Bridges, and then into Colorado.

Lonely roads in Nevada

On Monday morning (June 29) we rode a quick 25 miles to Lee Vining where we had breakfast at Nicely's restaurant, and where we met two guys on Harleys who were on their way home to Monterey, CA after a month on the road to Nova Scotia and back. We shared some memories of that beautiful part of North America.

A few miles down the road we turned east on CA 120, a rolling and twisty road that goes by Mono Lake and through a pine and aspen forest and then goes into Nevada  at Benton Hot Springs before ending at US 6.

Carol's view of US 6 from the back of the bike

Share the road in Nevada

We gassed up in Tonopah, NV and in another 50 miles turned south on NV 375, the Extraterrestrial Highway. For those of  you who never watched The X-Files, or Roswell, or don't follow conspiracy theories, here's the explanation: Area 51 near Groom Lake in southeastern Nevada is the site of a secret military test facility where exotic aircraft are put through their paces. Supposedly some of the technology that goes into those aircraft is the result of  reverse engineering from a crashed alien spaceship. Of course aliens were also aboard that ship...

The day was hot of course, but  the scattered clouds provided some relief, and even a brief shower that cooled us off a bit. We went over a few passes of 6-7000 feet, which also kept the temperature down. The only "town" on 375 is Rachel, which consists of a little cafe and bar that also sells alien-themed hats, shirts, trinkets, mugs, books, and posters. We stopped for coffee and the first rhubarb pie of the trip, which was quite good.

Rhubarb pie, mmmmm

Victor in front of the  Little A'Le'Inn

Cacti along the southern end 375

The 100 miles of 375 ended at US 93 and we went east for 40 miles to Caliente (that means hot - and it was 99 degrees when we arrived) where we are spending the night at the Midway Motel. We took a slow and pleasant stroll along the Linear Path, which winds along a (dry at this  time of year) river that goes through the city. We dined at the Knotty Pine Restaurant and even went into the World Famous Knotty Pine Lounge (the sign above the door says so) to buy a beer for Carol.

Cruising along at steady speeds at high elevation, the bike is getting very good mileage (over 50 mpg) and is running fine. Tomorrow we ride through one of  my favorite parts of the southwest - the Grand Escalante along Highway 12 in Utah.

Victor in front of room 4  at the Midway Motel

Two-up to the Pig

The first long motorcycle trip in 2015 is to a pig roast at Paul and Dee's farm near Grant Park, Illinois. They host an event every couple of years and it is a great opportunity to see them and their daughters, and to get  together with old friends. This year there is lot to celebrate since Paul and Dee's younger daughter, Emily, is making a good recovery from a very bad auto accident over a year ago.

Now that Carol has retired and the kids are grown, she decided to accompany me. When we were both (much) younger Carol and I rode together all the time, including a couple of cross-country trips, but until a month ago she hadn't ridden on the back of the bike for any distance in over 30 years. After a weekend ride to a motorcycle show in Auburn, CA she declared that she thought she could tackle a longer ride. That's good because the route I've planned will take us through the southwest, over the Rockies, across the Great Plains, and on to Ohio to visit my sister and her family before we get to the Pig - about 3000 miles. Carol will fly home from Chicago while I continue on my travels alone.

Today was a short day, and since we weren't going far we didn't leave until noon. We rode across the central valley from Tracy to Sonora and then took CA 108 over Sonora Pass (9600 feet) to US 395 and then south to Bridgeport, where we are spending the night at the Redwood Motel. It was hot from Livermore to Sonora and the traffic was light going east across the valley and all the way to 395. At the higher elevations it cooled off and began to rain slightly, and then heavier as we descended the eastern slope of the Sierra. I finally stopped to put on rain pants and gloves, and we both closed our jacket vents, but the rain stopped by the time we got to 395. 

As you can see in the picture below, the bike is loaded down with about as much as it can hold. Carol and  I used to camp when we traveled across the country on my old R75/5 - I can't imagine how we did  that.

Carol poses in front of our house (and Nikki and Walter) and behind Victor