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The "Adventure" Begins...............

Utah has to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever been although Moab is HOT. 102 today at Arches NP. :( I was able to tour the park today and Canyonlands is on for tomorrow. I did a hike at Bryce in the Hoodoos which was pretty cool but I went against the recommended direction and payed the price for it. :o From Bryce I continued on UT-12 and it was very scenic especially east of Escalade. Very twisty and high elevation and no guardrails and big drop offs. :eek: I paddled my way through it and went over a 9600 foot summit which got a touch chilly but I am still hot from the Mohave Desert so I didn't care. I then caught UT-24 past Capitol Reef NP where it got back to deep red rock formations. After the park it almost looked like lunar rock formations with sand next to them until Hankville where I turned north to pay the price on the slab. I turned south on US-191 and am currently in Moab where my tent is in the direct sun and not bearable until 8 or 9 when the sun goes down. I put a call in for a possible day Whitewater Rafting Tuesday on the Colorado river but am not sure at this point. I also did a couple hikes today at Arches and drained my water supply bottle on each of them. Once I left the park I was on the hunt for either a DQ or Mickey D's and a cold beverage and A/C. :D It seemed like it took me about an hour to cool off. I am now sitting here in the shade at the campground which is a premium around here downloading photos. Not sure if they will make and some might be repeats but hey, you get what you pay for.........................:p
 
I went to Canyonlands today and it was HOT. :( I took UT-313 and it was fairly well covered with vertical tar snakes. Dan (Salty Monk) had mentioned to be on the lookout for them while I am out west and they were greasy and slick as advertised. I normally look around but these got ALL of my attention. :eek: I also decided to bag the Whitewater Rafting for tomorrow and move on. I am heading to Grand Junction tomorrow for an easy day and A/C turned up to the "meat locker" position and an afternoon siesta. The last few days in the heat have took it out of me and a good re-charging is in order. :D I saw a road that runs along the Colorado river that looks interesting and will take it to avoid the slab and should be able to turn 170 miles into something much better.

I ended up stopping at the Micky D's again to cool off on the way back from the park and to down load pictures. About 1/2 hour into my "cooling off" period some goof shows up with a newspaper to drink coffee and kill and examine flies with the rolled up newspaper. After the first few kills/examinations I decided to hit the road and went out to the parking lot. I ran into a guy with a ratty Honda 450 that said he was from British Columbia and said he was on his way to North Carolina. We chatted for a few minutes and he said he needed to find a place to stay for the evening. The "freak-o-meter went off again so I decided it was time for me to leave Moab UT. Where was the "hillbilly whisperer" :p when I needed him? Overall people have been very nice but that told me I need to continue on.

On a good note I stopped for breakfast this AM at a hole in the wall type place on the main drag and got one of the top 5 biscuits and gravy ever. :D
 
I am really enjoying these updates Tim, keep them coming !!!

Enjoy the adventure !!!!! :)
 
Will do, pic count so far is over 2100 and I should be able to get some local "tech support" from my sister. Apparently WIFI is not able to process the amount of data but I think it still comes down to "operator error". :o
 
I finished up with Utah today. I tried to go to the restaurant with the B & G breakfast but they had a gas leak and were closed. :( I did take UT-128 and it ran along the Colorado river for a while with 300 to 400' red rock formations on each side. Very scenic and semi twisty so it was a fitting end to my "Utah experience". Pretty toasty again but the parks I saw were all outstanding. I went through Cisco Utah looking for a beverage and it looked bigger on the map but ended being a dusty berg but it did take me to I-70. I then slabbed to the Fruta CO exit and checked out the Colorado National Monument per my sisters advice. It looked the same to me as a national park and I took Monument Road through the park. Very nice park and the road did go through three tunnels and the first part had a number of switchbacks with no guardrails and big drop offs so I went into "paddle mode" but the part after the visitor center ran along the edge of a couple canyons with various view points and I stopped at some of them. The last part also had probably the most switchbacks I have ever gone through again with few guardrails but not as large of drop offs although it still got my attention. :eek:

I booked the Columbine Hotel last night for today in Grand Junction which per my sister is in a "dicey" neighborhood but I think she has forgotten my office is 13 blocks south of Gary IN and I sometimes go to the south side of Chicago. :eek: Even though there is no pool it is very clean, well kept, has "meat locker" mode A/C, and I was able to get in a half hour "siesta" after I got here and showered. :D I being somewhat frugal (AKA cheap) ;) have had to stay in a couple of ratholes up to this point but this motel has been very nice. :cool:

I am taking my sister to lunch tomorrow and we have a full schedule of things to do the next few days. Her daughter is a rock climber and there is a rumor of her getting her uncle on a rock face. :eek: She is getting qualified Sunday and I will be there to root her on or whatever it is you do for climbers. Maybe golf clap........new pics should be up in the next few days.
 
Great Stuff!

Great Stuff!

Hey Tim. I really enjoyed the pictures of Utah and Colorado. We lived in Utah for 18 years and that is where I had my first Suzuki GS. So, brought back a lot of terrific memories. That red rock country in Southern Utah is indeed spectacular. I spent a great deal of time down there and never tired of exploring. Have a great remainder of your trip and will look forward to hearing all about it.

Bob
 
twr1776 said:
Looks like Binky re-located........:p

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAADqE/23Xf8GFrDrU/w756-h567-no/DSCN0800.JPG
Click to expand...

I was wondering why we hadn't seen Binky in Indiana for a while. :eek:



One thing that's funny is that in nearly every photo you see of Delicate Arch, the photographer levels the camera relative to the layers of rock. In reality, the rock layers are tilted, making the arch and the whole landscape look even more improbable.

Tim has gotten some of the tilt, but not all -- note the angle of the people standing under the arch.
DSCN0620.JPG



This one is always mind-blowing -- I believe a goodly chunk of it has fallen off since I was there about 20 years ago. One of these days soon, it'll be gone.
DSCN0597.JPG



Red Canyon. Yep. Sure is red.
DSCN0486.JPG



Nice view... ;)
DSCN0482.JPG




Here's the best picture of all. It's fantastic to see you looking so relaxed and "in the moment". I guess that's the whole reason for going on this trip:
DSCN0740.JPG
 
Yes, needless to say I have had an excellent time visiting with my sister and her two wonderful daughters. :D The oldest has graduated college and has gone into the "family business" (engineering) and the the youngest has completed her second year of college and will going into elementary education which is the other half of our "family businesses". While I was here I was able to replace a couple of fence posts that were broken and have been flapping around in the wind and repair a gate that was in need of attention. Santa got a Dewalt drill and impact driver kit and circular saw and they are light enough for future use by my "sis".

Her youngest daughter has a summer job here and comped us on free passes on the 4th. She is a very persuasive gal and got me to ride the Giant Canyon Swing which swings you over the Colorado river 4500 feet below and also the roller coaster which also takes you over the edge. :eek:

http://glenwoodcaverns.com/giant-canyon-swing.html

Leaving for Denver and to see my daughter.........
 
Glad you're still having fun! The road beard is coming along nicely too! :)
 
Yesterday, 10:49 AM salty_monk salty_monk The road beard is coming along nicely too!
Click to expand...

I don't think it will stay but was good to "shock" my sister with. :p

I have neglected the last few days riding so here is an update. After my stay in the "honeymoon" ;) suite in Grand Junction I had some time before meeting my sister and decided to go through Mesa to check out the worlds largest flat top mountain. I passed by CO-330 on the way into town and per the map went to Silt so I thought I would give it a try. I had heard it was mostly paved and asked a random old codger about it. I showed him my newly purchased map and he said it was 10 years old. I should have known then........, he said 330 was mostly paved and looked at the bike and said I would have no problems. I decided to take it and it was paved for quite a ways but the sign said it ended in Coulitrane. I was about halfway in and saw a sign for a state park and it was paved so I continued on. The road did turn into hard packed gravel that had been beaten down by the trucks carrying water. It did not seem to bad but eventually went to gravel and then gravel with tire ruts and switchbacks. I took the picture showing the sign after getting through probably 20 miles of this. I FINALLY got back to pavement and was VERY glad to do so. I of course was late to lunch but did stay upright so all was good.

From my sister's place I took a combo of US-6 and I-70 to Denver through the canyon and along the Colorado river which was very scenic. I went over the Vail pass at 10,600 feet and the temps were slightly chilly but I knew they would be back up shortly once i got back down. I went through the Johnson tunnel which was pretty cool and said bikes only in the left lane. I was not sure why but did stay in the left lane. I finished up slabbing the rest of my way into Denver.

I am now in Estes Park and going to Rocky Mountain NP today with my daughter who has the day off. From Denver I took CO-7 which is also know as the peak to peak highway. It also ran through a canyon and was very nice and twisty. It had the usual falling rock signs and had one rock which seemed to be over part of the road surface. Since I don't have the "loud pipes saving lives" ;) I figured to sneak under it without incident. When I got to town I came around a curve and off to my right was a large animal with antlers grazing and I got a look but he kept grazing. I am still not used to all the critters with open range here. :eek: I did stop by the park briefly yesterday and while I was showing my pass told the ranger I did not want to be on the road after 6 pm due to all the critters on the road. He told me yesterday there was a bike / deer incident and I mentioned that he does not take it personally but I call them "antlered rats" and he got a chuckle out of it.

Planning on being here two days and on to Yellowstone.
 
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