The Bear went out and rode with the Kiwis, and they all had a grand time. My wrist and back are killing me, so no rides for me.
Afternoon, got all packed up and moved to CHSP, to stay a few days.
Another short drive, to some good riding. Nice campfire and good friends this day. Love it!
Been a long time since I updated – no internet that I could count on!
Relatively short drive, but again, imagine that!, sucky internet. Such is KoA. For the most part. Amarillo was actually quite good.
Another long drive today. Yuck. Good weather, made good time, so life is good! Back still hurts like hell. Hope that stops soon.
Tomorrow, a bit shorter drive to Wichita Falls.
Feels good to be back in Texas.
Travel day. Big one today, a little shorter tomorrow.
Stopped in Gallup, NM, for fuel – into a Love’s truck stop. First time they’ve disappointed me. They declined The Bear’s card. Not really a surprise, it’s supposed to be cut off today (don’t ask – it’s related to the Home Depot breach. YES – months ago, and it turns off today. WTF?). Ok, so I try my card. Also declined, same message – “see attendant”. Hmmm. So she heads up to the office (from fuel bay #22!), and finds out, oh, no, cards, cash, it doesn’t matter. You waltz your happy ass up here, then you go fill up, then you come back and get your change or your card and receipt. FUCK THAT SHIT! Time to go across the street.
GREAT news across the street – for one, fuel is 21 cents cheaper per gallon! Woohoo! For another, attached is this place:
Which had this:
I have to drive to a truck stop outside Gallup, NM to find the BEST Indian food I’ve ever had! Go figure. That’s Indians with dots, not feathers. I don’t give my money to the ones with feathers if I can possibly help it. That’s who ran Love’s, so it’s good they jacked us around. Don’t be nice, don’t get my money.
The funny thing was the bathroom. I walk in and see this:
It’s hard to tell, but if a guy isn’t six feet or taller, he’s peeing in the toilet. The REALLY funny part was this, written on the right wall:
“Damn tall plumber” indeed!
Made it into town late afternoon, went to Best Buy to get more movies, then went out to eat. ANOTHER great find! Cervantes, which I expected to be a Spanish restaurant, but no, it’s a Mexican Food restaurant, and excellent food it is! What a great way to end the day!
Home and to bed, get me some beauty sleep!
Early rise for the travel day, and on the road before 9:00 – YES! Long day today, as will the next two travel days also be long ones, but we do get a day of rest in Flagstaff.
Got in mid-afternoon, and it seems we may have gained an hour, so what to do? Hit a bike shop! Looked for and found Absolute Cycles, and got the skinny on the local trails, both here and in Sedona, which is only about 30 miles away, or so. Tomorrow, we ride!
We asked about places to eat, and were pointed to Satchmo’s, a New Orleans type restaurant, and that sounded good, so off we went … except they’re closed on Sundays! Rats! Maybe tomorrow. Off to the next place, which happened to be Beaver Street Brewing Company Whistle Stop. Not a bad place, decent food, and beer on tap, so all was well! So, we’re done eating, ready to go home and get some well-earned rest, and what do we see? RAIN! Yes, in Flagstaff, AZ. When we’re here. Imagine that! And I have proof:
Yup, the curse is still there! It was a hard rain, but we’ll try riding anyway, tomorrow. Got a feeling things dry out pretty fast around here.
Travel day! And a short one, at that. Stopped in Tropic, just up the road from the KoA, to get some breakfast, then continued so we could get set up and go visit a bike shop, to find out where to ride.
Got in about mid-afternoon, went in to Hurricane proper, to Over the Edge Sports – yes, they’re affiliated with the shop in Fruits. Sadly they can’t do the WTF (Welcome To Fruita) stickers, so they have WTH (Welcome To Hurricane) instead. Well, as I told them, they COULD do WTF stickers, but then people would be like “WTF?”. Yeah. They didn’t laugh either … though they DID chuckle a bit.
They told us about a couple of trails, and tomorrow, we’ll go check them out. BUT, before that, we thought we’d shoot over to Zion National Park to check IT out. Wow. Here we are, after the middle of October, and it is CROWDED. AND, to get to the good parts, you HAVE to take a shuttle. Well, that’s not going to happen. I’ll bet the scenery is spectacular, here’s a shot I got getting there:
Then, we headed back toward town. Well, it just so happens that “on the way back to town” took us past the trail we want to ride tomorrow, so … DETOUR!
We found the road, and “A” parking spot, but no sign (literally) of the trailhead. Damn. Ok, so we kept going out that dirt road, because on the map it shows the trail intersects that road, so … no signs. Then, out of the blue, a sign for Quarry Trail Head! Which is not on the map. Damn! Ok, keep driving, we’ll se what we come up against – and then, a rider! We pulled up to her slowly and then stopped, and asked her about it … turns out the trail intersected about 50 feet beyond where we were stopped now! Too funny. She told us a bit about it, and we let her get on with her ride, while we headed back. On the way out, we saw a guy walking his bike toward the highway, well, we HAD to stop and offer assistance! He’d flatted, and just wanted a ride to his car – no problem! Got his bike on the roof rack, and headed back up the road we’d just taken, but then he told us where the REAL parking area and trail head were! Not far from the parking area we found, but you can’t see it from there. Knowledge is a powerful thing! Took him all the way up to his car, with him repeatedly offering to chip in for fuel. Just pay it forward. If you find someone else who needs help, just help them out. Here’s Jarret? I think that’s his name:
I’m horrible with names. I asked him to leave a comment, hopefully he does, and I’ll know for sure how he spells it.
And that was our travel day!
Moving day. Got a fairly early start, then about 60 or so miles out of town we stopped for brunch. Want to get in early so we can go visit Bryce Canyon National Park. We’re going to be here two full days, so we can really get a look at Bryce Canyon NP and Kodachrome Basin State Park. Heard good things about both.
Got to the KoA around 16:00, so that leaves plenty of time to go to Bryce – we ditch the trailer pronto, and head out!
First stop is usually to the Visitor Center, so we can get a map and some advice as to what to go see. “So, what’s good to photograph?” I ask. “Not much”. Hmmm. Not what I’ve heard, so I guess I’ll have to just see for myself.
Well, maybe he didn’t lie after all. Or maybe I’ve seen too many colored rocks recently, but this place just didn’t do it for me. I did get some shots, but none of them really grabbed me. Maybe in the morning it’ll be different, what with the direction of the light …
Anyway, here’s some of what I got. This is an overview shot at Bryce Point:
We’ll try it again in the morning, see if the light improves …
Ok, another travel day! Short day today, so life is good! Only about 120 miles, something like that. Nice breakfast at home, short drive through some beautiful country:
Ominous clouds, but no rain, just sprinkles, and they go away tonight. Pulled into the KoA and got set up. Beers and lunch in town in the afternoon, then kill some time before the farmers market so I can get some more cheesecake. This gal, Alyssa, makes THE BEST cheesecake I’ve ever had. Gluten Free, New York style, I bought all she had left, and will pig out on them in the coming days. YUM! So much for trying to lose weight …
Tomorrow, we ride! Off to Klondike!
Travel day! FINALLY! Not sure I remember how to dow the rig any more! Getting in here was exciting, and getting out is about the same. A wee bit tight, it is! Managed it with nary a scratch! Wiggle pin out, and on the Westbound highway it is! We are taking a more direct route this time, should be fun. A bit nervous about the truck, as we had a LOT of work done to it, but we’ll brave it anyhow. It’s been WAY too long since we’ve been traveling.
At least the drive was very scenic! I took a few shots up the canyon:
That was just a few miles West of the cabin. This one is almost at the Pass:
Already a lot of snow on the peaks. After some distance, and out of the canyon, I got this photo:
The aspens were pure gold and silver! Then later I got this:
A bit crooked – sorry! Long drive, but tomorrow, we ride! The tandem! Woohoo! Can’t wait!
Got into GJ around five, set up, then headed in to town to get some brews and food. Don’t recall the place, it was that far from spectacular. It was barely ok. Ugh. Well, go home and sleep.