High Country Rest. in Chama, NM

Goodbye California, hello Arizona, New Mexico, Texas

Well when we got to Needles it was 110 degrees, boy was it hot. We checked in and rested for a while. When we went to eat it was 117 degrees, wow, it was normal for this town it seems. We left the next morning and drove through Arizona. Well not without a hitch, Skip's Harley had a problem with the shifter so we had to make a pit stop for about an hour while they operated on it. Well the guys got it going, PTL. We skipped the Grand Canyon because we all had seen it before and drove on up the road.
I keep telling Jan that I will drive for a while but he won't let me...he doesn't want to sit in the seat behind me...lol.... Oh well, I guess I'll just keep riding and looking. I will say this is a wonderful view from the back of this goldwing. The seat is comfortable and the music is loud and I feel free and easy going down the road!!!
We stayed in a Navajo Hotel near Kayenta, Az. It was the most expensive room on the entire trip. It wasn't the nicest but not too bad really. We also had some authentic Navajo Fry bread. Jan already looked up the recipe so he can make us some. It was quite interesting eating in the restaurant with all the Navajo people. I think we were the only white people there, but that was fine, we had good food and good company. The next morning we were on our bikes by 6:30 am, this is the last day with Skip and Cheryl. When we got almost to Four-Corners Skip and Cheryl waved goodbye and went on their way back to Moab to get their truck and trailer and head home. They live in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I am sure we will get together again to ride. They are great people, we really like them, (Skip I have to say that, cause I know you will ready this) ha ha !! We enjoyed the ride!
Well Jan and I went on into New Mexico on a trail that we were familar with. The scenery is still beautiful and the weather was just right. We ate in Chama, NM at the High Country Restaurant. Ronnie and Molly were with us last time we ate there. It is a cool place to eat. From there we went on to Taos and stayed at the Indian Hills Inn. The inn was nice and we ate at Grahams, another one of our favorites. The weather gave us a scare on the way, thunder and lightning and Oh yes, it hailed on us again. I think this is the 3rd time we had hail on our heads. We got through it pretty quick.
We are in Texas now and it is getting hotter again. It was cool from Taos down to the Texas border. I can't believe I have been so cold this late in June. Well we want to get an early start tomorrow. Not much NEW to look at from here home. Keep us in your prayers. GOODNIGHT

Rainbow at Morro Bay

I didn't have room for my big camera and this small one just doesn't get the picture I want. I have to settle

Skip feeding a little squirrel along Hwy 1

sea lions

Left Morro Bay and toured the Sequoia's

We left Morro Bay on Friday morning, mission accomplished. Jan and I have rode the most scenic highway in America. Well he drove it (mightly, I might add) and I rode it. The most surprising thing was how cold it was. Apparently the part we rode, from the Redwood forest down to Morro Bay never gets any warmer either. Everyone said in regards to the weather, "this is it" doesn't get above about 72. With the moist air and wind off the ocean, you better dress warm, if you are on a motorcycle especially. :)

We drove up to the Sequoia trees and saw some of them. Jan and I had seen them before, they are humongus trees. Skip and Chery had not seen them so we had to check that off their list. After the Sequoia's we drove South to Porterville and stayed at a Motel 6. Oh, Skip has done a terrific job at finding and booking us cheap, clean hotel rooms. He is a good trip planner. Him and Cheryl have been a joy to travel with.
As we drove along the highway on the way to the park we saw lots of fruit tree groves. We saw orange trees, olive trees, pomgrante trees, loquate trees, avacoda trees, grape orchards, I think that's all I can remember, and I probably didn't spell them all right either. Ok I keep backing up but now we are going south. We drove by tons and tons of oil wells today, the most I have seen all together like that. It was truly an oil field. We stopped a few times and we always meet other motorcycle travelers. Today Jan probably saved a young couples life by being so observant. We had been talking to them (oh, they were a pair, for sure) and we were starting to leave and Jan saw a big worn through spot on his back tire. The chords of the tire were showing. The guy had a fit, said that was a new tire. But the tire could have blown any minute and they had passed us flying. They were on a two wheeler pulling a trailer. Well we made it to Needles, CA to another Motel 6 and will get an early start tomorrow. GOODNIGHT

More pictures of the coast along highway 1. I am so glad we were able to make this trip. I have been wanting to see this west coast on hwy 1 for a long time. I could just sit and stare at it, Jan can't understand, maybe it's just a girl thing. don't know. Oh, we also saw some sea lions sunning on the beach. We didn't realize what they were at first. We thought they were just more rocks. The highway is real curvy, I know Jan and Skip was getting tired of all the curves. They are excellent drivers. Cheryl has been feeling a little sick, coughing and all, but she's a trooper, keeps on going and going. We stayed at the neatest hotel right on the bay front, it was older but clean and cozy. They gave us free cinnamon rolls from the bakery next door, OH they were to die for. We also ate supper at a real high class, (high cost) place. Windows on The Water Rest. The food was really good and of course the view was great. When we left the restaurant there was a gorgeous rainbow all way across the sky, my camera didn't do a very good job of capturing it though. Morro Bay was our destination point along the coast and we headed in and up to the Sequoia National Park to see the GIANT trees.

We left Watsonville, CA this morning after a very good breakfast at Norma's Family Rest. We drove south on hwy 1, we saw lots of farming right on the coast. There were some strawberry fields and I really don't know what else. I was surprised of how much farming there was so near the ocean. It was still cold. I cannot believe how cold it has been since we left Salina, Utah. All the way across Nevada and California it has been really really cold. Well we would drive for a ways in sunshine and then a ways in clouds. We finally got down around Carmel and the coast got really pretty again. From Carmel down to where we are now in Morro Bay the views are just spectacular. I took lots of pictures as usual. We would stop often for me to take pictures. Jan has really been good about stopping quick :), it's easier on the trike than it was in the motor home. Skip and Cheryl lost us again today because Jan had to pull of the road to find out what he felt crawling in his helmet. (we never found anything). We caught back up with them after a while. I don't remember if I posted yesterday but Skip and Cheryl left while we were getting a picture of Alice's Rest. (it is kinda a novelty place), and we realized Skip headed East and we wanted to go West back to hwy 1, so we went the other way. They ended up getting lost in some deep dark woods when they decided to get off the interstate because of a traffic jam. I got a little worried about them but when we got to the hotel they were there. I was relieved. I was glad we went to hwy 1 though because I got to see a great lighthouse. I was excited about that. My first west coast lighthouse. OK i am tired. will add a few pictures and go to bed. Oh, I love Morro Bay! st

I will put more of the trees on next time. We rode on Hwy 1 down some of the coast today. It is absolutely beautiful. I can't take enough pictures. I am always trying to get just the right one, but none do justice to the scene. Jan is a great driver and did a great job missing a moma deer and her twin fawns. I seem to look away just the time I need to be watching. I looked just as he hit the brakes. The mom went on across and the babies went back thank goodness, we would have hit one of them if they had kept going across. We kinda got sideways in the road but avoided the babies. I wanted to stay and help them cross, but we kept going. very cautiously
We are staying inland a ways in Rohnert Park, near Santa Rosa. Jan needs to take the bike to get an oil change tomorrow morning. We have gone about 4,000 miles so its due.
I am missing my family, I love ya'll. Kiss Jonas for me. Will add more later.
I am looking forward to crossing The Golden Gate Bridge, maybe tomorrow. night

After we left Middlegate we arrived in California finally. We keep meeting up with some of the same motorcycle guys along the way. The interesting part is we end up staying at the same hotels. I was walking across the parking lot and some guy on a bike yelled at me "hey where you been?" I didn't know what he was talking about. Then when we got into the hotel he was the one we saw back in Nevada at another gas stop. Jan and Skip always remember them because of their bikes, I have to ask, "who was that?" We toured the Redwoods most all day and came back to the hotel and rested. The Redwoods are amazingly tall and there are lots of them. The forest makes you feel really small, you look up and can barely see the sunlight. Jan said it reminds him of Ferngully, girls you know exactly what he's talking about.

staying at Middlegate Stagecoach Stop

I am really tired so this will be short. We left Salina, Utah this morning about 7am. I had a terrible night, I got food poinsioning from the resturant we ate at. I was really really sick most of the night. I felt better this morning so we left and drove 450 miles approx to this place out in the middle of nowhere. Its really a neat place though. Old Old buildings and great people. I will have pictures on facebook and will put one on here tomorrow maybe. OK goodnight. Oh Hwy 50 in Nevada is called The Loneliest Highway in America, believe me it is. Not much to look at.

Arches & Fins and Things trail 6-17-2010 Thursday

We went for breakfast at Jailhouse Cafe this morning and then went to Arches National Park.
I love this park but would like to spend a little more time here. I want to experience all of it, trails and every arch that's in it. As usual we didn't get to stay as long as I would have like. We hiked up to Delicate Arch, which for us is the "main" attraction. Delicate Arch is the most popular of the arches. You will see it on Utah licenses plates and was on the front of the atlas on year. The hike up is a grueling 1.5 mile hike up rocks and slickrock, but is definetlyl worth the trip. I think Jan and I have hiked it 5 times. We always want to go with people when its their first time. This time it was Jennifer Johnson's first time seeing it. So we went with her, Beth and Rebecca. There are so many more people going now that 5 years ago.

Sunset seen from Big Mesa

Red Cliff Ranch

7 Mile Rim, Tusher Tunnel, Dead Horse Point, Long Canyon

We got up this morning and packed up our stuff so we could move to the Riverside Oasis Campground. Ronnie, Molly and Tyler left today headed home. I am disappointed they decided not to go on to California with us. I wanted Molly to see the west coast with me.
We met Beth, Beka and Jennifer at the campground and went to pick up our jeep. We headed out to tackled 7-mile rim trail. We had a few close calls, but of course that always makes it more exciting. I swear the jeep almost turned over, it was teeting on 2 wheels. Jan decided he would try backing up instead of going forward and that worked. My heart and knees went weak. When we stopped a little later I was still a little shakey. I got some pictures of the scenery, Beth got a couple of shots of one of the hills but they never do the steepness of the hill justice. You really have to experience the ride to get the thrill and know just how close you are to flipping or rolling over. We continued on to another trail when we came to the end of 7 Mile Rim. We went to Tusher Tunnel, went through it to the other side that opened up to a great view. Of course we take way too many pictures always trying to catch the right angle to bring it to life. After Tusher Tunnel we drove out to Deadhorse Point State Park overlook. This is also a great view of the rivers coming together. You are way up high looking down and the wind will blow you over. I was trying to take a picture of Beth and Jen and it blew me backwards. When we left the over look we went on another trail called Long Canyon. This trail has the big rock across the road that you have to go under. This rock has been in the jeep commercials. It's pretty cool.
We finished the trail and pulled out on the highway and got a picture of Jughandle arch. We headed back into town and met Cheryl and Skip at Zak's for stone fired pizza. Skip and Cheryl are our friends that are going to California with us. We met them last year when we rode our bikes up in the mountains near Pigeon Forge.
Last night we ate at Red Cliff Ranch with the girls and Molly, Ronnie and Tyler. I should of wrote about that first but forgot. We also went out to watch a sunset. Molly & I really like to see sunsets and you have to travel a ways out of Moab to see one. Moab is almost completely surrounded by hugh red rock walls. OK I am sure I probably forgot something but I really need to go to sleep. The wind is blowing really hard and we are under a severe weather alert tonight. Beka just came over and wanted to make sure we would save them if the wind blew their cabin down.

The Duckie following our raft, Satchie

river rafting on the Colorado

Rafting on the Colorado River

Sunset Grill

We had a new experience today, we went river rafting for the first time ever. Jan and I have always wanted to go but when we were in the Smokies something always prevented us from going. The kids were young and never reached the mark, so we just put it off. Molly decided we needed to do this so we were game. Navtec Adventures picked us up from our hotel about 12:00 pm and off we went. There is beautiful red rock mountains here in Moab. We lauched our boat with lifejackets secure. The Colorado river has tall red rock mountains on both sides so the view is great! Our guide was Dan and he served us lunch on a small beach area a little ways down the river. We had one duckie, that is someone following in their private kayak. She was a very independent 25 year old girl traveling for 2 months all alone. I'd say she could take care of herself pretty well. The river was full from all the rain so there was only a few rapids we went thru. We got soaked and the water was cold.
We came back to the hotel and went to one of our favorite places to eat in Moab, The Sunset Grill, up on the mountain. There is a story about the Sunset Grill, it was the home of a man that struck it rich here in Moab because he found Uranium. You can probably read about it on line.

Yesterday we didn't do much, just relaxed and walked around town. We ate lunch at Zaks and look in the shops.
I heard from the girls last night and they had seen the most incredible rainbow. They were on the road to Dodge City and it rained really hard they said, they across the grain fields two rainbows appeared. Beth was really excited and will have them on her blog. I have a link on my page to her blog, take a look.
The Poision Spider is a bicycle shop here in Moab. It is real popular with all the cyclest.

Well we traveled all day yesterday thru cold, rain, sleet and hail. No kidding. It hailed on us pretty hard one time and then off and on all day. We have rode the trike in all kinds of weather, but its a cheap ride.
We arrived in Moab, Utah where we will stay for 5 -6 days. We plan on taking the girls, Beth, Beka & Jennifer jeeping. We have a few jeep trails picked out just for them. pictures will be posted :) Although pictures never do the scene justice.
It is cool here this morning which is very unusual for Moab. When we first found this place back in 1996, it was not very popular or crowded but now OMG there are way too many people coming here. It is a big bicycle town, people come to ride bicycles out in canyonlands, which is crazy. Moab is also famous for Delicate Arch, which is in Arches National Park. The park is just outside Moab city limits and is a GREAT park. I like to see how many arches I can see, in and out of the park. I love the red rock. There are snow capped mountains in the distance and make a beautiful backdrop for the red rock. OK wish all of you were here enjoying the sites!

Traveling through Colorado is such a great ride. My eyes never get full. I love all the mountains, rocks, flowers and rivers. We will go thru a mountain pass in the morning and will see snow. I love how we can be burning up one day in 100 degree weather and the next be in snow capped mountains. We truly live in a great country. I really wish everyone would travel and see how awesome this land is.

This is an oil well, you will see them spotted throughout Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado. I wish I had one in my field, and it was pumping money into my pocket. lol

`After traveling about 500 miles that day we were glad to get do Dodge City, Kansas and get some good cold raspberry tea. We ate, found a hotel and got us a cup of coffee and relaxed for a while. The hotel internet was not very good so I could not update my blog last night. I am still trying to figure out how to get the pictures where I want them to be.

New roads, hot weather and lots of sunscreen!

Well we left Eurika Springs after trying to find a resturant open at 6:30 am and did not. We drove several miles before we found a little ma & pa cafe open. It was homemade bread, grits and over easy eggs. umm good. Oh did I forget good strong, hot coffee. It was a nice little place Korner Kafe, how many of those can we have. anyway it was good. We drove into Missouri for a short distance and then entered Oklahoma. The landscapes changes after a few miles or more into the next state. Oklahoma gets flat and windy through most of the state. I know there are always exceptions depending on where you go but it seems when we travel throught Oklahoma and Kansas the wind beats you almost to death. It was really hot even if the wind was blowing. There are many grain fields, wheat, corn and also lavender fields. The fields are endless, acres and acres of grain. I always think of the song America The Beautiful, you know the one O beautiful for spacious skies and amber waves of grain (is that how it goes?) We also see many grain silos. Oh also in Kansas and the east side of Colorado the cattle feed lots are all over. They used to be closer to hwy 50, but I guess EPA or someone made them move them futher back from the highway. You can still see a few close to the road though and I got a few pics, here is the beef!