Across Utah (Torrey to Moab)

Another cool morning start but this time Clint and Charleen had a relaxing day riding at the rear as Kerry and I did the lead today.

Over the last couple of days we have been riding through very dry hot country and today was no different except that we finally encountered some water. We reached the Colorado River which will eventually run in to the main part of the Grand Canyon which we will see in a couple of weeks. Clint found a fabulous viewpoint from which we took some fabulous shots. We were quite excited to see the river as it has a long history with the Grand Canyon.

Kerry and I have had an intermittent problem with our intercom as it sometimes cuts out and we can't communicate with each other except for hand signals. This has created quite a bit of fun as we sometimes misread the hand signals and we sometimes have some explaining to do when we stop. This will be rectified when we get to Tulsa as the suppliers will be at the WingDing.

We called in to see the Natural Arches National Park and saw some spectacular arches that have been carved through the Canyons. Before we left Australia we purchased a National Parks Pass and so far we are way in front compared to what they charge here for each entrance.

We stopped for lunch about an hour out of Moab and while we were there a thunderstorm came through and Kerry and I and Ken and Christine donned our wet weather gear but Clint and Charleen decided to brave it but five minutes down the road we hit 95 degree weather and for the next half hour we broiled in our wet weather suits. The area where we stopped to change out of them turned out to be a spectacular hole in a ridge and we ended up getting some great shots of the area.

It was very hot riding in to Moab and we were greatful that the motel was air conditioned and pleasant.

We topped the day off with a nice meal and wine at a Italian restaurant.

Some more photo's.

Cedar City to Torrey (More Canyons)

Up early as usual and off again by 7am. Once again it was quite cool and as we headed north to Bryce Canyon it got so cool that we had to stop and rug up. The scenery along the way was a mixture of open farmlands (Ranches) and heavily eroded Canyons which made some awesome sculptures. We stopped every now and again to take some photo's and Kerry was also brave enough to take some movie shots from the back of the bike.

We are now deep in to cowboy country, actually last night while we were eating a cowboy came in to eat and we were surprised to see that he still had his spurs on his boots.

Our first major walk today was at Bryce Canyon which is quite spectacular with its eroded columns. It looked like a scene out of the medieval times as some of the scenes looked like castles and ramparts. The walk was quite hard as we were at 10,000 feet and once again it was hard to breath. Kerry got some shots of a deer which she was pleased with. So far she has photographed quite a few animals.

We had lunch at a small cafe near the canyons and I tried the chilli beans and they were so good that I had them for dinner tonight as well.

We all had dinner across the road from our motel and the bill for Kerry and I came to the grand total of $12.

Tomorrow we will be leading the ride to Moab so if we don't get lost you may all hear from us again.

The Zion Canyons (Rest Day)

Question. What do motorcycle riders traveling around the USA do on their rest day do?

Answer. Jump on their bikes and do a day trip around the the Zion Canyons and the Cedar Breaks National Monument.

Once again we started out in the cool morning and as we rode up to Cedar Breaks it just got cooler. When we arrived at our first stop I found out why, we were at 10,350 feet. The views over the National Monument were breathtaking (See photo's). The canyons were laid below us and looked like they were sculptured from a scene out of science fiction. There were pretty ski villages dotted around as well which gave the area a European feel.

We called in to a village for lunch and found a really nice homely cafe which had great chilli beans and home made apple pie. Needless to say we left there feeling well fed and watered.

We kept on going around to the Zion National Park and did a walk to a lookout which looked all down the canyon. We were about 1,500 feet above the canyon. By this time the temperature was getting in to the nineties and at around 7,000 feet ABSL were were getting short of breath.

The ride back down to Cedar City was all down hill with huge mountains on both sides but was very hot. We called in to Walmart to buy a phone charger as ours gave up the ghost a few days ago.

The six of us finished the day off with a great meal just opposite our motel and retired at 9.30pm but it is still light.

Observations so far;

American are very friendly people who love to talk to Australians.

Americans are courteous drivers compared to Australians.

Americans love their food and eat big meals.

This is a big country and we are only seeing 9 of the 50 States.

Check out the photos.

Across the desert (Lee Vining to Cedar City Utah)

We agreed over a beer and pizza last night that we would head off early this morning as we had a long ride ahead of us today. We were up before sunrise and packed the bikes before having a quick breakfast before we left. The air was rather cool for the first couple of hours as we were still at 5,000 feet and above.

We rode for over 2 hours before we stopped at an old mining town for a coffee and something to eat. This town was out of the 19th century with its old buildings and it still had a casino as we were in Nevada which was quite well preserved and it served nice coffee and food.

By the time the sun was overhead and things were warming up. We continued riding through the desert and ended up on the extraterrestial highway which apparently has had a lot of UFO sightings over the years. The local businesses play up on this a bit as you will see from one of the photos.

Our trip was through a combination of mountains and valleys with some straight stretches of over 35 km's without a bend. Even though we were tempted we stuck to the speed limit but as there were few cars on the road and you could see them for miles we did get some side shots of our bikes.

We are now at Cedar City Utah and will be here for two nights to catch up on some local sightseeing and get the all important washing done.

The day was finished with a meal at Sizzlers before we retired to our motel.

Check out todays photo's which Kerry took from the back of the bike.

Selma to Lee Vining via Yosemite National Park

After the hot ride yesterday we were looking forward to some cooler riding today. We left Selma by 7am and headed back on to highway north towards the turn off to Yosemite National Park. As we headed in to the mountains the weather got considerably cooler but not unpleasant.

Throughout the day we were between 5,000 feet and 9,200 feet and the scenery was spectacular.

We stopped at Glacier Point to take photographs of the Half Dome which is a massive rock across the valley with sheer sides that drop over 2,000 feet.and the huge snow capped mountains in the background We actually saw some climbers halfway up the side of the Half Dome, they were just a tiny dot on the huge rock. Kerry was in her element taking photo's especially when she saw the chipmunks and the other small animals but unfortunately no bears.

The roads through the national park are mainly good except for the roadworks which can cause long delays. We walked through a forrest with huge Sequoi trees that were hundreds of years old.

The final leg of the day was down the other side of the Park and we dropped from 9,200 feet to 2,000 feet on a road cut in to the side of the mountain which got the adrenalin going.

We arrived in to Lee Vining just ahead of a spectacular thunderstorm which gave us time to have a drink before heading off for pizza for dinner.

All in all a fabulous day shared with people who are fun to be with.

LA Canyons to Selma

We finally hit the road after packing what we could in to the panniers and leaving the rest in our suitcases at our hotel until we get back. The first part of the trip out of LA was just freeways and in LA there are plenty of them, even when the traffic is really thick they are still doing 70MPH.

We did the Canyons heading out and before we knew it we were climbing to over 3,000 feet out of the LA smog in to the clear sunny skies. There were plenty of twisty corners to get the adrenalin going and get us back in to the swing of things after such a long wait to get here.

As we got further north the weather got warmer until finally it peaked at 102F (32C).

The last two hours of the ride was on the freeway heading north and we can't believe how many trucks there were. Trucks of all sizes are screaming along at 110kph and it gets quite noisy passing them.

3.30pm saw us checking in to our motel and kicking back with a couple of beers.

Here are some photo's of today.

Today is the big day!

The excitement is mounting! Today we pick up our bikes prior to heading off tomorrow. We probably will be tempted to take a ride up to Malibu to see the beaches and mingle with the beautiful people. Yesterday we went to Rodondo beach and had a walk around and lunch on the pier. The weather has been around 22c during the day and we are making the most of it as in a few days its going to be over 30c where we are going. Here are some more picks.

Fathers Day in LA

Bonus! I get two fathers day this year as today is fathers day in the United States. What did we do? Ken and I did our thing wandering around a shopping mall while Kerry and Christine did a spot of shopping. It was good for us as Ken and I had a chance to discuss the bike trip and work out what we all wanted to get from it. We found this supermarket and I have to say it was the best one that I have ever seen. Well laid out and the size of it was an eye opener.

When we got back to the hotel Clint and Charleen were there which was a surprise as they were not expected in until tomorrow. So for the first time the six of us are together and ready to go but we still have two days here before we pick the bikes up and head off.

Here are a couple of photo's that may be interesting including Ken and I kicked back while the girls shopped.

Breakfast in Brisbane - Burgers and Fries in LA

The day started very early in Brisbane. We were up at 3.30AM as we just could not sleep. This turned out to be good as we ended up having breakfast at the International Airport and had a chance to do some duty free shopping.

The flight over was the usual cattle class, full plane and not any room to spare. Thank goodness the QANTAS food was better than average.

We arrived at LAX with the usual Homeland Security warnings buzzing in our ears so our entry forms were diligently filled out to make sure we didn't make any mistakes and have the end of the line pointed out to us.

We ended up at our hotel at 9.30AM only to find out that our room would not be ready until 2PM so guess what, we hit one of the local shopping Malls to practice the plastic.

We are currently waiting on Ken and Christine's arrival and tomorrow we look forward to seeing some of LA's attractions.

No photo of breakfast in Brisbane but here are the Burger & Fries in LA.