Yep, this was a solo trip; my schedule and my interests
! 'Cept I did have to go back to work. This was my second "big ride" but the biggest one yet. I wasn't on any forum at the time (didn't know there were forums - duh!) You can google a place called smugmug and inquire with my user name and all the pics are in "06 trip" - there's a bunch.
Anyway, I left West TX and the first leg was to Ruidosa, NM. As soon as I got to Roswell it started raining. It rained most every day! Somes ahead, sometimes behind, sometimes beside, sometimes upon, rode out of it, rode into it. It becomes a theme in the pics! Rain gear was in tatters 1/2 way through the trip! The ride from Ruidosa to Cloudcroft was fantastic - even in the rain. I had dinner in Cloudcroft and rode back to Ruidosa in the dark. There are lots of cows on that narrow free range road - day and night
plus deer and elk. Drivers try to warn one another.
Then I went up to ABQ, NM to stay with my son for a couple of days. I checked out the Grand Quivaria (sp?) ruins on the way. I learned that you have to be very carful turning on top of a wet cattle guard!
After that was a long slab ride on I-40 to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. 47 years old and never seen the Grand Canyon. Well worth the trip. The south rim has all the amenities (camp grounds, stores, hiking trails, free bus tours and is what is usually shown on TV, movies, etc). You are going to remember the the first time that you see the GC for the rest of your life!
I camped there for a couple of nights. Then I took off and went back on 40 through Winslow (saw that girl!), Kingman and up to Boulder Dam. The road between Kingman and Boulder Dam is desolate and wide open. You suddenly shut down to 25 MPH getting close to the Dam. I wish I had taken a tour at the Dam; but I just took pics.
Then it was through Las Vegas on I-15. I'd have liked to have stopped in Vegas; didn't know what exit was for the 'Strip', pretty sure that I would kilt dead twice if I tried to exit. I have nothing nice to say about I-15 in Vegas. I got behind a 3/4 ton Chevy pickup and let him plow the road! Had to stop early in Hurricane, UT for business obligation.
Left that morning and off though Colorado City, UT where I found rain. Then it was up to Jacob's lake and the north rim of the GC. North Rim is more 'basic' and 'self guided'. One's as beautiful as the other - just how you want to do it! That was just a day trip; where I got caught in the hail ws the farthest point in the park. It was kind of funny. A woman park ranger came in hollering for everyone to leave because of a severe thunderstorm (that I was taking pics of coming up the canyon). She looked at me and said, "You're on a motorcycle; you can stay if you want!" That little storm iced the roads for about 1 & 1/2 hours.
I went into Panguich, UT after that and got a motel. I was glad that I did as that storm came back around about 2:00 AM with a vengance! Glad I wan't in the tent.
Next day I rode UT 12 & 24! Devil's backbone.
You can be a hooligan, but UT's finest are out there! I saw a car wreck (LEO already there) - drove into a tree on the inside of a curve
What? How? And went into Hanksville and Blanding for the night. Going into Blanding was a night ride. 95 miles of nuttin and nobody! I passed on mc, a school bus, a pickup and two suvs. I don't mind riding at night, except that you miss so much scenery. This road is the back side of Lake Powell.
The next day is when I went to Moki Dugway, turned around at the bottom and went back to Blanding; rather than going into Mexican Hat. Then off to 4 Corners; and Mesa Verde. Just getting to ride these roads is destination! Spent the night in Mesa Verde and it got cold. I didn't have much in cold weather gear and used a helmet cover for a stocking hat. Water froze on the table while making coffee in the morning. Stove would not boil the water - best was luke warm. Got a better stove now!
Gotta have that coffe of a morning.
Then it was up through Telluride and into Grand Junction. I stayed several days with my brother until I HAD to go bakc to work. That night it snowed on the Mesa. I wanted to ride Million $ Highway back to NM. The morning news was talking about snow on those passes. Snow + MC = problems. So I took I-70 west into UT, down through Moab, and Blanding (that's 3x if you're counting), down into the Res, through Shiprock, Bloomfield and got onto 550 and back to my son's. It was just sunset when I gassed in Rio Rancho.
The next day was an easy ride back to West TX.
