Day 8
I had a great sleep, and with all the traveling I've done, no wonder why. I gotten up early again to
finish yesterdays blog, and to get started on this one.
finish yesterdays blog, and to get started on this one.
Now I'm just waiting for the sun to rise, so I can head out. It's a ready 70 degrees out.
So I figure it's going to be a hot one today. I still have no idea where I'll end up tonight,
it's one of those days, which is not a bad thing.
I want to be on the road at sunup, so I pack early and leave to sunup. Which for once, I actually do.
It looks good, but I got to get on the road, so no breakfast for me.
Sleeping beauty
I managed to use parts from the selfie stick to make a mount, and with some twist ties, I'm good to
go.
South Moab, Ut
I'm just outside of town and the sun is just starting to rise.
They are a lot bigger than it looks in the picture.
My first stop (for pictures, as they are not open yet), after riding for a 1/2 hour.
Hole in the Rock, history etc
The funny part is that I actually thought it was a real jeep and person. Looking at these pictures,
though, I can see in the zoomed pic that the jeep is chained down.
But trust me, it looks real from the side of the road.
I forget what this was, Arch something, but it's cool, so I stopped to take a pic.
Me realizing that when my phone is in it's holder while riding, it can take some good looking selfies.
It's a hard life when you spend the day riding roads like this, not! I did encounter a touch of rain, but
as I was riding away from it, it was not a problem.
The "Forest Gump" Monument Valley picture that everyone takes, including me!
I have no idea if the panoramic pic will work, but here it is.
The funny thing about this location, is, that it's about a 10 min drive from here is a gas station and a
7/11. So having Slurpee out here is actually doable.
Who knew.?
The whole valley is great to drive, and when you get closer to one of these Monuments, they are
huge.
See those pretty clouds? Every time you ride under one, you get wet. It's only for a minute or 2, but
it was just strange. It's sunny out and all of a sudden your getting wet.
If you are asking yourself, yes. it is worth the visit.
It's around a 1/2 ride through Monument Valley and it was worth every mile I rode to get there.
It's 1/2 a tank again, so I'm coming up to a junction where I have to turn off, and that is were it seems
they put most of their gas stations, as I'm learning. This one is different as it's completely covered.
What a great idea to keep you shaded from that desert heat in the summer. For me, it's been a
comfortable 80 degrees so far.
Another one of those selfie while riding pictures
Some Navajo nation art in McD's , Ok, so not the best representation, but you see Navajo art all
around the area. With all of my bucket list things finished for this trip, (through feel free to suggest
others). The plan was to head up to Salt Lake city and then over to Reno. Then either down the
eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains or the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway). While taking a
stop at McD's for a drink and free internet to update google maps. I realized that I could do both and
not bother with the very boring drive up to Salt Lake city and the really boring 8 hour ride of nothing
to see ride between Salt Lake and Reno.
On the way I rode over the Glen Canyon dam and bridge. I wanted to stop, but it's been a really long
day, but 4 more hours on the bike and I'll be in Vegas!
I book a room at the Stratosphere, for $9 a night, or after taxes, resort fees, room
fees....., it ends up being $95 for 2 nights. Still not to bad, for the new Vegas anyway.
I want to be on the road at sunup, so I pack early and leave to sunup. Which for once, I actually do.
It looks good, but I got to get on the road, so no breakfast for me.
Sleeping beauty
I managed to use parts from the selfie stick to make a mount, and with some twist ties, I'm good to
go.
South Moab, Ut
The bustling metropolis of Moab, UT at 7 am
I'm just outside of town and the sun is just starting to rise.
They are a lot bigger than it looks in the picture.
My first stop (for pictures, as they are not open yet), after riding for a 1/2 hour.
Hole in the Rock, history etc
The funny part is that I actually thought it was a real jeep and person. Looking at these pictures,
though, I can see in the zoomed pic that the jeep is chained down.
But trust me, it looks real from the side of the road.
I forget what this was, Arch something, but it's cool, so I stopped to take a pic.
Me realizing that when my phone is in it's holder while riding, it can take some good looking selfies.
It's a hard life when you spend the day riding roads like this, not! I did encounter a touch of rain, but
as I was riding away from it, it was not a problem.
I've been riding for 2 hours through the cold, it did drop down to the high 50's, slowly warming up as
the morning went on. Lots of that one lane construction, where you wait for the other direction to
pass then you go. Now I'm at a half a tank, so desert rules, always fill up when your at a half a tank
of gas. It's always worked for me and kept me safe.
The "Forest Gump" Monument Valley picture that everyone takes, including me!
I have no idea if the panoramic pic will work, but here it is.
The funny thing about this location, is, that it's about a 10 min drive from here is a gas station and a
7/11. So having Slurpee out here is actually doable.
Who knew.?
The whole valley is great to drive, and when you get closer to one of these Monuments, they are
huge.
See those pretty clouds? Every time you ride under one, you get wet. It's only for a minute or 2, but
it was just strange. It's sunny out and all of a sudden your getting wet.
If you are asking yourself, yes. it is worth the visit.
It's around a 1/2 ride through Monument Valley and it was worth every mile I rode to get there.
It's 1/2 a tank again, so I'm coming up to a junction where I have to turn off, and that is were it seems
they put most of their gas stations, as I'm learning. This one is different as it's completely covered.
What a great idea to keep you shaded from that desert heat in the summer. For me, it's been a
comfortable 80 degrees so far.
Another one of those selfie while riding pictures
Some Navajo nation art in McD's , Ok, so not the best representation, but you see Navajo art all
around the area. With all of my bucket list things finished for this trip, (through feel free to suggest
others). The plan was to head up to Salt Lake city and then over to Reno. Then either down the
eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains or the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway). While taking a
stop at McD's for a drink and free internet to update google maps. I realized that I could do both and
not bother with the very boring drive up to Salt Lake city and the really boring 8 hour ride of nothing
to see ride between Salt Lake and Reno.
On the way I rode over the Glen Canyon dam and bridge. I wanted to stop, but it's been a really long
day, but 4 more hours on the bike and I'll be in Vegas!
I book a room at the Stratosphere, for $9 a night, or after taxes, resort fees, room
fees....., it ends up being $95 for 2 nights. Still not to bad, for the new Vegas anyway.
As I reach the 1/2 mark on the gas gauge, and a town coming up I come across a guy pushing his
bike down the road. To me it says I've run out of gas. Since I keep a spare litre,
I stop and see if I can help out. Yep, out of gas and only 6 miles from town.
He say's his name is Joanie and he's from Japan, which I think gets lost in translation
He's over in the US for a couple of months driving across America to New York.
1 litre of gas later, and we're both back on the road, into town to fill up. Joanie refills my can, thanks
me again, and were both off.
Someone helped me earlier in the trip, so the least I can do, is to is help others. I forgot
to mention, the cross winds have been nasty, and was the one reasons Joanie ran out of gas.
I've got 3 hours to go, on, what is turning out to be a very long day. The bonus is that tomorrow
will be a free day, a day off where all I have to do is laundry and relax. I finally make it to Interstate
15, and begin the 2 hour drive to Vegas. South of St George, UT, is a pass that would have been
great, except for the brutal crosswinds , which after hours and hours, are getting to me. I'm through
the pass, but there's no relief from those pesky crosswinds. About 45 minutes outside of Vegas, I stop
for gas and a rest. Even I'm surprised on how windy it is. It's got to be a 30 or 40 mph crosswind.
Anyway, back on the bike and onto Vegas. Today is also the last of my free 25 hour day's, which
I've put to good use.
Vegas is like a second home to me, so no surprises, and I know my way around. So it's almost like
coming home. Instead of In-Out, which I can get almost anywhere on the west coast, I decide on
White Castle instead. There's nothing better than having that double cheese, bacon slider, sliding
down my throat. A well deserved reward for a long days driving. Then over to the Stratosphere
to check in and unwind. I go to self parking as the Valet doesn't do bikes, and today is one of those
days I wished they did. I get a bellboy to help me unload the bike and up to the room. He was telling
me that the weather has just broken from the usual 110 degrees to the more comfortable 90's, Yeh!
I hit the room, the one thing is, they had only smoking rooms available, well out of the cheap ones
anyway. As I was soon to learn, smoking these days means, weed, which you could smell coming
out from a few of the rooms. It's a new world kiddies.
I unpacked, got ready for laundry, where I
discovered that I left my underwear and sock bag back at the last motel. Well I guess I'll be buying
some more today! I setup my electronics, start recharging my phone, headsets, battery packs, etc.
Update some of the blog and off to a well deserved sleep
Today's mileage 567 miles or 912 km
Total for trip 3101 miles or 4991 km
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