Random Fun on the Ride

We rode from Las Vegas to Paso Robles. Leaving Vegas was met with a couple hours of horrendous wind gusts...which are tough in a car but really rough on a motorcycle. We were all pretty beat up and exhausted. But not too tired to enjoy the twisties on the way in to Paso Robles!

We stopped to enjoy the view, stretch our legs, get a drink of water, and then Dave turned over a Gravel sign and upset the home of a mouse family

Bryan and Shanna feeding the fish at the Paso Robles Inn

Can you see the huge Koi?

The ever present telephone....

Checking e-mail

Answering voice mail

Now to be fair, the whole group had to wait for me to finish my phone call. We used our phones many times on this trip.....to check out accommodations, restaurants, gas, maps, etc.....but do you ever really get away?

Paso Robles....wine tasting again

We just learned about the great wines in Paso Robles. We ended up there on Easter and now we're back. We stayed at the Paso Robles Inn again. This place is old, but clean and with beautiful grounds....and the location is the best. It's located on the lovely square that's filled with cute shops, fabulous dining, and wine tasting shops, etc.

We once again ended up at the Albeno Munari shop. Donna and Bret were good sports....Bret even tasted!

Rocky, same pourer as last month

Shanna is in her element

Bret found something he can embrace about wine tasting

Bryan loving the last day of the ride

Don't they look comfortable?

Then it was off to dinner, dessert, and our last evening of the ride was enjoyed by all

Vegas!

We had a dreadfully hot day. We began in Cedar City, UT at around 20 degrees and ended up at close to 100 degrees in Las Vegas, NV. We even added on an extra hour of this to take a look at Lake Mead....road was in perfect condition, Lake Mead was deserted, and we were miserably hot.

I'm not too wild about Las Vegas, but I end up going there often. Mostly for conferences. But this city has a very sad and sinful feel to it. With the horrible decline in the economy, things are even worse now.

We had to go to the local Harley dealer because Bryan had worn out the tread on his rear tire. This dealership is MASSIVE! It even has a motorcycle couture section. It is really cool how the service area has a wall of windows so you can watch them work on your bike.

Here's Bryan looking like a new dad seeing his baby in the nursery....well, that's not too far off from reality...he's watching them put the new tire on his bike

Is This Motorcycle Riding Weather?

The last time we came through this pass it was snowing and I don't remember much of the road. Mostly because the only thing I could see was the tail lights on Dave's bike...I was riding my own bike....and wondering if I had frost bite because I could not feel my feet.....figuring that I could lay the bike down and bail before I went over the edge. But enough about that fun event....that was then and this is now. See how beautiful it is? It was amazingly gorgeous....and cold!

When we see a sign like this, we know it's going to be a marvelous motorcycle ride!

Love to see this sign too....especially when the road isn't covered in black ice

We had a blast and were really glad we had on enough layers!

Marching to Zion

We're marching to Zion....or motorcycling to Zion!

Here's proof that Bret & Donna made it

Proof that Bryan & Shanna made it

And Dave!

Proof that Dave & Edie were there....together

My handsome husband in front of the Checkerboard

There were plenty of signs like this.....heavenly on a motorcycle

Bryan and Shanna having a good time

Awesome tunnel...over a mile long

We're all studying the map of the park

This is a map of the park, the twist and turn from the mile + long tunnel to the visitor center is the black line

My Love Affair

I LOVE Cracker Barrel...and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I LOVE that the food is comfort food, simple and inexpensive. I love to have a bit of everything and that's the way Cracker Barrel sets up their menus.

It could be that I'm having a good time, traveling about, whenever I get to eat at a Cracker Barrel. If they were near my home and I could go there often, I may not enjoy it as much. But then again....maybe I would!

Bryce Canyon National Park

We left Kanab, UT at 7:30 am when it was just 40 degrees. Now that's cold....especially with the wind chill factor of rolling along on a motorcycle. It didn't warm up much during the day...in fact the weather got worse! But I'll save that for later in this post......

Here's Dave at the entrance to the park

Bryan & Shanna being good sports and posing

Bret & Donna know the drill...

There are red rock formations EVERYWHERE and it never gets boring

See....still not boring.....

As you can see, or not see, by the dark faces of Bret & Donna, I still need to get familiar with the manual settings for the new camera

See....still not boring....

And then the heavens opened up! I have tried, but failed, to capture the ordeal that is putting on rain gear. The tiny little folded bundle of rain proof jacket and pants are generally pushed to the bottom of the bag...which bag is another question. All the while you are being pelted with rain on the side of the road. You then try, with cold hands, while the wind is whipping the rain gear around. You try to get your boot through the legs of the pants, while still wearing chaps, balancing on one leg because there are no chairs to sit on.

Off we went while it rained, hailed, and trucks drenched us...it really wasn't that bad....and it only lasted 15 minutes...then it was sunny. And we stopped at the Utah rest stop which I LOVE because it was so warmly heated!

We checked in to Best Western, showered, and went to dinner. The meal was fabulous, we're having really good luck with our meals....and our hotels. With the exception of the National Park, our rooms are under $100. We ride in to town, check our TripAdvisor App and then try to get 3 rooms. We've only been snubbed once, but we went down the road and found rooms. Wednesday we're in Vegas where the room is $29.11 including tax. Which is about what a tank of gas is running us..oh well.

We made it to the Grand Canyon were we reserved rooms at the Maswik Lodge. We were able to walk to the rim of the canyon. It's pretty amazing to see in person. Here's some of what we saw on the ride in.

The weather has been HOT so far, until we left the park this morning. We were layered up to keep warm.

Dave takes a lot of heat because he prefers to ride rather than stop....unless it's for gas or food. Shanna was a little concerned that she wouldn't be able to see the Canyon, so Dave stopped at each opportunity until she finally said she's had enough magnificence! The rest of us knew what he was doing...

As the day wore on, the temperature warmed up and we took off the layers. The wind did gust quite a bit today.

We're spending the night in Kanab, Utah where we each did a load of laundry and routed the trips for the next couple of days. Now we're off to dinner!

We're all safe and having a great time.

No Helmet Law in AZ

Wouldn't you know that the young ones just had to go without their helmets. The rest of us kept our full face helmets on. But they just went wild and crazy on us. Just around town.
Can you believe that all this stuff came off of just three bikes? And there were a few things that we kept locked up in the bags.


We arrived in Lake Havasu around noon, unloaded the bikes, and then went to look at the London Bridge.

Route 66

Highway 40 follows the old Route 66....there really isn't a Route 66 that you can follow for any length of time.....it comes and goes....there isn't much left....some people are trying to preserve bits and pieces of the great highway that so many people travelled for years. It's hot and pretty boring until you get to Arizona and there are some rock formations, etc.

This is in Amboy, CA....they have the Roy's Cafe and hotel that looks pretty good. They've also painted the symbol in the middle of the road along the pavement.
One of the bikes was using a lot of oil, even though they had all been checked out by the mechanics at the dealerships before we left.
An emergency call to Scotty, just to make certain we were doing everything right
Everyone checks their phones at the stops....all six of us will be lined up doing this.....electronic leashes