Live2Ride

Sadly, we are on our way back to Vancouver.

2009-07-25T06:21:00.004+10:00

All good things must come to an end and we only have one more night before we disembark in Vancouver tomorrow morning.

Despite the weather we have enjoyed the cruise and seen lots of things that we will remember for a long time. Our last stop was in Ketchikan and once again our ship towers over the town. We see other cruise ships along the way as it is very busy during the Alaskan cruising season which only runs from May to September. Other times it is too cold and icy.

The crew have been magic and it was topped off at lunch yesterday (See photo) when they gathered around to sing a wedding song for us to help celebrate our marriage. It was quite moving but a lot of fun.

Every evening our cabin steward would leave a chocolate and a animal arrangement shaped from a towel on our bed. It was fun guessing what animal would be next.

We have met a lot of nice and interesting people who enjoy traveling like we do and we have had a lot of laughs. I would say that at least 95% of people that we have met have been great to talk to and are very interested in Australia.

Tomorrow when we leave Vancouver we will be flying back to LA to catch our flight back to Australia. After 6 weeks on the road we are looking forward to catching up with family and friends and we want to thank everyone who has followed our journey and who have sent us comments of support for the blog and congratulations on our wedding.

We counted 18 floatplanes lined up along the town of

Ketchikan.

Parked in the main street again...

The view of Ketchikan in the mist from our balcony.

Our waiters singing to celebrate our wedding.

Our cabin steward surprised us every night with a

animal arrangement like this made using towels.

Kerry found another furry friend...

Glaciers, Rain, Whales & more rain! (That's Alaska)

2009-07-24T06:50:00.007+10:00

Our excitement on entering Glacier Bay was tempered by the fact that the rain had followed us from Skagway. We were excited at the prospect of seeing our first glacier from the ship but it would have been much better had the sun been out.

Our ship got a lot closer than we thought it would and we found the best viewing was from our balcony as there was no glass to hinder the photo's. The ship floated around for about 20 minutes then did a 360 degree turn so everyone could get a look before it headed back down Glacier Bay.

We kept an eye out for wildlife on the shores but didn't see anything but we managed to see whales again before we hit the main straight.

Overnight we headed back down south and tomorrow we will dock in Ketchikan for a six hour stay.

The Margerie Glacier

The ship gets pretty close to the glacier...

Our train trip up to Whites Pass at Skagway.

This train snow plough was actually used until recent years

to clear snow off the train tracks. It had a steam engine

driving the blades which spun the snow off to the side of

the tracks. It was pushed by another steam engine.

One of the old buildings in Skagway.

kerry loves her bears!

Near the Johns Hopkins Glacier (It was very cold!)

You have to wake this horse up to get a ride...

Our ship parked in town... Where is the parking meter?

Finally, a whale saying goodbye as we left Glacier Bay.

Alaska - The journey continues!

2009-07-23T07:06:00.004+10:00

We feel lucky that having picked our cruise ship over the internet that it could not have been better for us.

The crew are so friendly and happy and they cannot do enough for us. The food is divine and we have so many choices to pick from (Big diets coming up). We have a choice of restaurants, some we have to pre-book and others are very casual depending on the mood. As an example we had a four course lunch today which was divine. We tend not to eat between meals even though the crew do their best to tempt us with coffee's and cake etc. We generally eat at 8PM in one of the more formal restaurants.

Its a sight to see the military precision with which all shore excursions are done once we are in port. The options for shore excursions are numerous depending on one's interest. As an example, in Skagway we went up to White's Pass by train to see how the gold diggers made their way over the mountains in extreme cold weather to make their fortune.

One can also do a crab catching trip on a real crab boat, do a floatplane flight to a small lake to catch or see salmon.

Cruising can be quite addictive as it is so relaxing and it is nice to be pampered.

Kerry dressed to kill at one of our formal nights.

Other ships docked in Skagway. 3 of them.

Beautiful small blue icebergs...

Honeymoon shot?

Sailing in to the Tracy Arm Fjord...

Check out the colour... Taken from our balcony!

What a magnificent specimen... The hills of course.

We love our private balcony!

Married in Alaska - Memories forever!

2009-07-22T07:22:00.004+10:00

Despite months of planning & organising when we woke up yesterday morning we knew that it was probably going to be plan "B".

Our original intention was to be taken by helicopter up to the Mendenhall Glacier along with a marriage celebrant and photographer and be married up the top of the glacier in bright sunshine with the helicopter pilot and the photographer as witnesses.

Little did we know that all the helicopters in Juneau were to be grounded because of the inclement weather. Plan "B" meant that the limo driver who picked us up from the ship and took us around to the courthouse to get our marriage licence had to drive us to the vantage point at the bottom of the glacier for the ceremony.

We met the celebrant and photographer there who had arranged for the ceremony to be held in the covered viewing area with the glacier in the background. This also meant that we would have an audience of fellow tourists who had decided this was as good as watching the glacier.

At the end of the ceremony the tourists clapped and cheered which made us feel like we were not alone but sharing this special day with our family and friends.

After the photo's, we were taken back to our ship while sipping on champers.

We proceeded to celebrate at a beautiful restaurant on the ship.

Unfortunately our photo's of the day will not be ready until we get back to Australia so we only have 2 photo's to share with you.

The happy couple in front of the Glacier.

Celebrating back on board the ship.

Finally Cruising to Alaska!

2009-07-20T08:50:00.003+10:00

What an exciting day! We boarded the Holland American line cruise ship MS Zuiderdam at 2PM prior to our 5PM sailing. The weather in Vancouver has been in the mid twenties C during our stay and today was just as good. It took us over an hour to get through customs and immigration to get on to the ship and were pleasantly surprised to find out that we had been upgraded to a verandah stateroom instead of the ocean view room that we had booked.

We sailed out under the harbour bridge and headed north between Vancouver Island and the mainland. The views were stunning and we were pointing our camera's in all directions to take advantage of it.

As we had did not have time to unpack before the ship sailed we turned our attention to getting this done before dinner. Our cabin is perfect with good views from the large windows leading out to the balcony. We can see that we will be spending quite a bit of time taking photo's from it.

We awoke this morning to see a huge group of dolphins swimming alongside the ship and a whale breaching in the distance... what a way to start the day.

The food and service is fabulous and I think that we will have to address a serious diet when we get back home.

Tonight is a formal night which we are looking forward to and tomorrow we will be arriving in our first port of call which is Juneau so stay posted.

Sailing into the sunset...

Kerry has found the perfect bar!

She has also found some friends frolicking in the distance.

Taken from our balcony.

Sunset on the first night...

Going under the harbour bridge leaving Vancouver.

My first Margarita for the cruise...

Kerry's first cocktail of the day...

Following another cruise ship out of Vancouver harbour.

Vancouver Canada

2009-07-19T01:39:00.004+10:00

Well, we have a few days to cover since we left Las Vegas.

We hightailed it back to LA from Vegas and rebooked in to the Ramada Plaza Hotel at El Segundo. After 22 days of faithful service our GoldWing was handed back to Eagle Riders in the same condition as it departed. Now we can focus on the next phase of our trip.

Don and Carolyn are in LA on business so we gave then a call and we caught up with them that evening for a great meal at a Italian restaurant on Century Boulevard at Marina Del Ray.

A fun night was had so we decided to do the lunch thing the next day at Malibu so we spent the day together touring around in Don & Carolyn's car (Thanks guys) We visited Santa Monica, Venice Beach and off course we lunched at Malibu.

We had to head off early next morning so it was time to say our goodbyes and retire for the night.

We flew LAX to Vancouver the next morning and booked in to the Holiday Inn on West Broadway.

After seeing so much of the desert and canyons on our bike trip it was so nice to be in a beautiful green part of the world. Vancouver is such a great city and it has beautiful harbour views from most parts of the city.

I was keen to have a salmon steak meal as I remember from previous trips here how good the salmon is and we found a great restaurant on the water and had a lovely meal and a few wines. The salmon was just as good as I remembered.

The following day we went up to see the Capilano Suspension Bridge and the beautiful gardens and forests that surround it. The scenery was spectacular and we wandered around taking photo's and lapping up the beauty.

We then continued up to Grouse Mountain which overlooks Vancouver and to get there you have to take a cable car up to the top. We were fortunate to have a near empty one so we could take photo's from all angles on the way up. The views over Vancouver and the harbour are spectacular.

On the top of Grouse Mountain there is a Bear enclosure so we wandered over to take photo's and there were two bears just feet away (Behind a fence) munching on the green grass. Kerry was thrilled to be able to be so close and take photo's.

After the excitement of seeing the bears and the views we decided to finish the day off with dinner at the top along with a couple of wines. This gave us the opportunity to see the sunset over the mountains and the lights of Vancouver on the way down in the cable car.

We arrived back at our hotel around 10.30 pm very tired but happy that we had such a great day.

Tomorrow morning Kerry is having her hair done then at 1 pm we are going to the cruise terminal to board our ship for our Alaskan cruise so the next time we post a blog will be from the ship.

Some photo's of our stay in Vancouver.

The view from the Capilano Suspension bridge

in Vancouver.

A friendly bear at the bear enclosure at Grouse Mountain.

This one is friendlier...

Beautiful flowers at Capilano.

The suspension bridge.

The Capilano bridge gardens.

We can't help ourselves...

Catching up for lunch with our good friends Don & Carolyn

at Dukes Restaurant at Malibu while we were in LA.

Viva Las Vegas

2009-07-16T03:04:00.002+10:00

Today was a rest day to explore this great town.

We are staying at the Paris Casino and were amazed at how well done it was inside. They have created a French Village theme and you would swear that you were in France not in Las Vegas.

There is a monorail which connects all the major casino's so we purchased a day pass and hopped on and off the monorail whenever we wanted to.

We wandered around checking out all the casino's as it was too hot to walk between each one.

Our favourite was Caesars Palace then the Paris Casino followed by the Bellagio.

Kerry was excited to hear that there were live lions at the MGM casino so we wandered over there to have a look and take photo's.

There are plenty of places to eat and drink and we were spoilt for choice.

Tomorrow we leave Ken and Christine who are heading up to Salt Lake City and we head back to LA to drop off our bike and rest before heading up to Canada for the next phase of our trip.

We are also looking foreward to catching up with Don and Carolyn who are over here at the moment on a car buying trip.

An old Morgan on display... I would love to own one!

Inside our hotel...

The foyer of the Caesars Palace Casino.

Kerry and Christine hamming it up.

A Kerry shot from inside the MGM casino.

Grand Canyon to Las Vegas

2009-07-16T02:16:00.004+10:00

We awoke to find some Elk feeding outside our room again so the day was started with the camera clicking away again.

Today we are heading to Las Vegas so it was time to pack the bikes and head off. The day started out quite cool as we are still over 6,000 feet but as we headed down to Williams it got a lot warmer. Before too long we were off the main highway and on Route 66 again. This route is going through a resurgence as people are realizing that it is so much a part of the history of travel from West to East and who knows how long it is going to survive modern changes.

We stopped at a town called Segman which has a lot of memorabilia dating back to when Route 66 was in its heyday (See photo's).

From there we headed to the Hoover Dam and boy did it get hot. We saw the traffic build up and thought that it was because all traffic has to go through a security checkpoint bur when we went through we realized that there had been an accident earlier and the traffic so bad that it took an hour to cross the wall. In the meantime the temperature reached 126 degrees (approx 45c) and as we were stopping and starting it felt like we were in a furnace. Kerry was almost passing out in the heat.

Once we were through the dam it was a straight run in to Vegas and as soon as we arrived at our hotel we hit the bar for a couple of beers before we checked in.

The massive new bridge being built over the Hoover Dam.

This has taken years to build.

The Hoover Dam near the wall.

The traffic going over the dam wall (Temperature 126F)

A layabout in the Route 66 town of Segman.

James Dean found his number one fan.

Early morning over the Grand Canyon.

Elk feeding outside our room.

The Grand Canyon South Rim

2009-07-12T11:19:00.005+10:00

Wow, wow, wow. What a fantastic way to have a 2 night rest from the bikes. We are staying at the Grand Canyon South Rim lodge called the Thunderbird Lodge which is only a few steps from the rim itself.

We arrived here from the North Rim which is only 10 miles as the crow flies opposite us but took us 5 hours on the bikes to get around to the South Rim. Once again we are at over 6,000 feet so it is a bit cooler than down in the valley. We managed to walk around when we got here to take some photo's and Kerry was in her element with all the squirrel's running around.

After our evening meal we retired to our rooms and as Kerry and I were getting organised for bed there was an excited knock on our door from Ken and Christine who had seen two Elk feeding on the lawn next to our lodge. I don't think 2 people had ever got dressed and grabbed camera's that fast before as we headed out the door to see 2 enormous Elk heads down eating away right in front of us.

Kerry snapped away for the next half an hour before the ranger came and made us remove ourselves to a safer distance. What a way to finish the day.

The following morning the four of us made a booking to have a 50 minute helicopter ride over the canyon and to fill in time before the flight we took a walk along the canyon rim and surprise, surprise Kerry braved her fear of heights and actually ventured to near the edge of the canyon which she has never done before. I was so proud of her.

We did the canyon flight with Maverick Helicopters who were well recommended to us and we were not disappointed. The flight was fantastic even though we had a couple of rain showers. We were taken over to the North Rim where we stayed a couple of days ago. The view of the canyon from the helicopter is absolutely wonderful and gives us a different perspective from the rim of the canyon.

We are about to celebrate our stay with a nice meal and a quiet drink.

Our trusty chopper...

Part of the Canyon near our room.

A shot from the helicopter.

And another

Kerry in action again!

Aren't we brave?

This is Kerry overcoming her fear of heights.

I am so proud of her!

And again...

Mexican Hat Utah to Grand Canyon North Rim (248 Miles)

2009-07-11T11:16:00.003+10:00

We were pleased to leave Mexican Hat after a hot stay but did not anticipate how cooler things would get by the end of the day.

We headed out through Monument Valley to a town called Page which had lots of boats on trailers but no sign of water. There was a large power station there but not much else. Shortly after that we came down the side of the canyon and stopped at a viewpoint which gave us tremendous views over the valley. There were also quite a few local Indians selling hand made jewellery and their work was very different than what we have seen in the past.

After continuing down we turned left at the bottom of the valley and headed up to the end so that we could cross a bridge at Marble Canyon to enable us to get to the North Rim.

We had decided in our planning before we left that we would see both sides of the Grand Canyon as most people only see it from the South Rim.

After crossing the bridge (See photo) we continued up the other side of the valley and after about 20 miles we started climbing and as we got higher the scenery got much better and the temperature dropped dramatically. Along both sides of the road there were conifers growing with large tracts of green grassland in between.

We eventually arrived at the North Rim Lodge where we were staying and the altitude was 9,832 feet and it was getting quite cool. After checking in to our unit we wandered around taking photo's before having a lovely meal at the main lodge which had huge windows overlooking the canyon.

Checking out the view from the North Rim.

The views are breathtaking...

Kerry's view from the back seat...

View from the bridge at Marble Canyon which crosses

the Colorado River.

Another of Kerry's magnificent shots from the back of the bike.

Alburquerque New Mexico to Mexican Hat Utah (386 Miles)

2009-07-11T10:48:00.003+10:00

The four of us are now on our own now that Clint and Charleen are staying on in Alburquerque for a few more days.

We headed west knowing that we had quite a long ride ahead of us and it was mainly highway cruising to the Arizona border where we then turned north towards Utah.

The country was not that interesting until we got into Monument Valley when the rising peaks and rocky outcrops became quite spectacular. On the way in to Mexican Hat we found out why it had the name. From a distance there was a rocky outcrop with a large boulder on top we did resemble a hat. It was very hot when we arrived and stayed hot throughout the night. We had to change rooms once as the air con could not keep up but did manage to get a reasonable nights sleep.

Some more pics below....

The upper reaches of the Colorado River near Mexican Hat.

Our Motel at Mexican Hat (Yes, that is the name of the town.

Kerry found this...

Our motel unit was at the bottom of this cliff!

Crossing another state line.

Amarillo Texas to Albuquerque New Mexico (379 Miles)

2009-07-08T11:23:00.003+10:00

Who is pointing out the obvious???

At 5 am I was wide awake and already trying to work out in my mind how the day was going to unfold. Every time when we head off to the next destination we may know where we are going to stop for the night but we never know what scenery and experiences may unfold for the day.

Today was no exception. We left Amarillo after a fantastic night at the Texan Steak House (See previous post) and headed out on the main highway to Albuquerque and after a quick 80 mph cruise for a couple of hours we turned off on to the old Route 66 once again.

After following this we found another town called Las Vegas but not the one everyone knows but a small village with the mexican feel like all the other villages that we were to encounter.

Further on we came to a village called Madrid where we stopped for lunch. This village was a haven for local artists who had settled in the area to create their mexican/american style artwork.

From there we continued on to Albuquerque where due to a GPS malfunction in the group we became separated from the rest of the group and by following our GPS we ended up checking in and settling in before the rest.

Jack who travelled with us from Tulsa happens to live in Albuquerque and invited us along with his wife Linda to their favorite Mexican restaurant and we finished the day off with great food and a couple of margaritas.

We leave Clint and Charleen here until we meet again in Las Vegas so tomorrow Ken and Christine and Kerry and I will head back up to Utah.

Our steeds parked in front of a diner in a small village

called Madrid.

Kerry liked this one....

Kerry relaxing after lunch.

A small church in a mexican village.

The flat and uninspiring plains of New Mexico (Other

parts are very different with great hills and valley's)

Tulsa to Amarillo Texas (379 Miles)

2009-07-07T08:41:00.004+10:00

After 3 days in Tulsa we were keen to hit the road again and head to Amarillo Texas. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Tulsa meeting fellow Wing riders. Their hospitality was fantastic and we were made to feel quite welcome. We did not win the international longest distance to get to the WingDing as Ken and Christine who came from Melbourne had a longer distance then from Brisbane.

The weather today was perfect for riding and we headed south from Tulsa to Oklahoma City then west to Amarillo.

The roads were very good and from time to time we found bits and pieces of the old Route 66 thanks to Jack who is riding with us to his home city of Albuquerque New Mexico. We found one road that was very old, probably from the 1940's which was very narrow but interesting.

When we checked in to the motel Charleen found some info on a texan steakhouse which is famous for its 72 ounce steaks and if you can eat one in less than 1 hours its yours free. Needless to say no one in our group took up the offer but the normal sized steaks were mouthwatering.

If you can eat this 72 ounce steak with all the trimmings

in one hour you can have it for free. Otherwise you pay

$70 for the meal.

Inside the Texan steak house where we ate tonight.

Kerry could not move after the meal....

This is a piece of the original Route 66 from the 40's.

And this .......

Another state ticked off the bucket list.

Tulsa Oklahoma (The Wing Ding)

2009-07-05T11:59:00.004+10:00

Not much interesting to read if you are not in to Goldwings. We arrived in to Tulsa yesterday afternoon and after checking in to our motel (Along with dozens of other GoldWing riders) we went along to the Convention area which here in Tulsa is called the QuikTrip centre and it is huge. We needed to register which took a while and then we went to the trades area where you can buy every conceivable accessory for a GoldWing.

We needed new coms cables for our bike and some other odds and ends but we showed a lot of restraint as we still have a lot of traveling to do so how would we carry anything else.

Last night there was a welcome BBQ which we had registered for but the food was terrible so we did not stay long.

We still have another day so I may not do another post on the blog until we hit the road again.

Clint and Charleen in line for the Grand Parade.

A Church in Tulsa.

Crossing into another State.

A Goldwing Trike (Lots of them here)

How is this for a trailer?

How is this for a paint job?

From the Mountains to the plains (Colorado to Kansas)

2009-07-03T11:21:00.003+10:00

I must have been a mountain man in a past life because as soon as we hit the Kansas Prairies I wanted to be back in Colorado but the journey must continue.

We were up early today as usual and had breakfast, packed the bikes and hit the highway.

Today we pretty well went from A to B on the state highway and only had the odd stop for the 300 miles or so as there really is not much to see on this stage of the trip as is is mainly flat wheat country with a lot of small farming communities dotted along the way.

This is very hot country and the temperature slowly climbed to 38 degrees celsius.

We arrived in to Dodge City mid afternoon and after checking in we went to a WalMart to purchase a couple of things before heading back to the motel for a quick beer and a Thai meal.

Clint and Charleen used this time to replace their back tyre as it was nearly down to the canvas.

Some more photo's below.

Our last view of the Colorado Mountains - We were sad to leave.

And another view....

Kerry loved this portrait.

The Kansas prairies. (No hills)

Our usual stop at each state border continues...

Beautiful part of the world - Colorado

2009-07-02T08:34:00.005+10:00

We awoke to find another cold morning which was not unexpected as we are still over 6,000 feet. After another continental breakfast at the our motel we headed off with the warm clothes to start with. After a short 30 miles or so we rode in to Aspen and what a beautiful place it is. The place is well laid out with beautiful trees and flowers and we thought it would be a nice place to have a coffee even though we have not been riding for long. We found a lovely bakery and settled in on the sidewalk with our coffees and watched the town wake up. Clint and Charleen sampled the bakeries buns and gave them the thumbs up. Kerry wandered around and took some fabulous flower shots (See photo's) as there were flowers everywhere and the town looked so beautiful.

After dragging ourselves away we followed the river towards the summit of Independence Pass which was our new record for the highest elevation. This road is closed all winter so is a popular ride for motorcycles as the road, scenery and twistie bends are incredible.

When we got to the famous Pikes Peak turnoff Clint and Charleen headed up Pikes Peak to have a look while Ken & Christine and continued on to Fountain Colorada and checked in to our motel.

Some more photo's below.

Riding through the Rockies

Our highest elevation so far!

A bunch of happy bikers enjoying the scenery.

Our sturdy steed at 12,000 feet.

Kerry having fun with her macro photography.

Rocky Mountain High (Moab to Carbondale) Colorado

2009-07-01T22:05:00.003+10:00

A couple of the things I love about this bike trip is the fact that the scenery can change dramatically in a matter of 10 minutes and the other is that the company is so good. We have a lot of laughs during the day whether it be at some ones expense or not or how we are handling driving on the right side of the road but thats another story.

We left Moab at 7.30am and did a loop through another National Park before heading to the Colorada border where we took our now customary border shots. While taking shots Christine found our first Rattlesnake but it was only the skin.

As we progressed in to Colorado the scenery gradually changed and we started climbing again towards the Gunpowder Ridge Ski Resort. The temperature drops quickly as we get higher and we ended up at 10,850 feet and the scenery was quite stunning.

The rest of the ride in to Carbondale was motorcycle heaven and we arrived in town after 11 hours on the road.

We finished the day off by having dinner at a fabulous American diner across the road.

Here are some more photo's that we took today.

Across Utah (Torrey to Moab)

2009-06-30T12:34:00.003+10:00

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)

2009-06-29T11:39:00.004+10:00

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)

2009-06-28T13:15:00.004+10:00

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)

2009-06-27T14:09:00.003+10:00

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

2009-06-26T22:09:00.005+10:00

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

2009-06-25T22:22:00.004+10:00

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!

2009-06-23T23:43:00.003+10:00

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

2009-06-22T15:29:00.008+10:00

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

2009-06-20T11:25:00.005+10:00

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.

Our USA Trip

2009-05-30T12:37:00.008+10:00

We head off tomorrow on our trip. Everything is organised and now the day is getting closer.

Here is a map which shows where we will be riding over the 22 days. You can click on it to get a larger view.

We will try to keep you all informed about our trip and as we go along and get better at this we will give you regular updates with photo's.

You are welcome to post comments by clicking the button at the bottom of each post and adding your comment.

Our Bike

2009-04-24T16:16:00.000+10:00

This is our bike which is a 2007 Honda GoldWing. We often take our little dog with us as he loves it on the bike and he has his own pair of goggles which attract attention along the way. He thinks that he is royalty as lots of people take photo's of us with him on the bike.

USA Trip in June 2009

2009-03-30T11:42:00.000+10:00

We are off to the US in June for a 22 day motorcycle ride through nine states starting and finishing in Los Angeles and are very excited about the prospects of riding a Honda Goldwing covering nearly 8,000 kilometres.

We have a Goldwing in Australia but will be renting one for this trip as it would be too expensive to take ours over.