Nevada, Arizona and Utah

[gbell]

Hiya

Back last week from our little trip, Started in Vegas, had 3 days there mad place!!! Picked up the Road King From Eagle Rider...Why is it the girls inside the office are surly and so unhelpful and the guys outside are lovely and friendly??? Outside the office there were 7 Road Kings Lined up ready to go, our booking was for 9.30, 10.30 we are still waiting as our bike is being Cleaned!!! what was that all about? Finally got the bike and off we went, dicing with death on the wrong side of the road through Vegas traffic, headed out to Hoover Dam, stopped for a bit and then on to Kingman. Nice Hotel in Kingman, had the best burger ever in a place called JBs which i think is a chain? Then along Route 66 to Williams, loved this bit of road, with a huge train traveling alongside us all the way, stopped at the Hackberry General Store, great place full of memorabilia and coffee for 75c and a great dog called Mac. Carried on to Seligman, had lunch in the Roadkill Diner, you kill it - we grill it!!! Then the weather started to turn and the rain came down quite heavy, we sheltered in a gas station for a while and everyone kept saying where you headed??, we said Grand Canyon and they kept saying - oo dear. We decided to push on and then..........SNOW!!! snow in Arizona??? it was 100 deg the day before!!! Sheltered in a McDonalds, must say that everyone was so sympathetic, nice people round there, was soooo cold tho, we had a hotel booked at the grand canyon and decided to risk it and try to get there, the snow clouds were behind us the whole way. Made it to the hotel, and ran a really hot hot bath and was fighting husband over who was getting in first, I dont think i Have ever been so cold on a bike in my life and i live in England!!!!!!!!! We decided to get up to the Canyon that evening as time was short, however we got there and the whole place was covered with cloud and we could hardly see a thing or feel our fingers.

I have to say i burst into tears as we'd been saving for this trip for years and it was the one thing id been so looking forward to and we couldnt see it!!

The next day was still cold and cloudy but not as bad as the day before and we drove along the rim, stopped at a few points and the sun came out briefly, so i was slightly happier.

We were hoping to get to monument Valley and decided to get to Tuba City and make a decision, well what can i say about Tuba City? apart from nearly sparking an international incident and getting threatened with being shot after a teenager kicked a dog in the head right in front of me, we left........quickly!! Monument valley was not to be!

So we didnt realize it was holiday weekend and rooms were scarce, the concierge at Grand Canyon had told us to phone ahead and take what we could get, so i had booked a Rhodeway Inn at Paige, we got there, I paid for the room and then we saw it!!! no way was i staying there, it was awful, so we decided to ride around and see what else was going, ended up at Lake Powell, where the nice lady Ranger on the gate phoned ahead to the lodge and got us the last room, we drove down and wow, just beautiful, we sat on the sunloungers by the pool, drinking wine, watching the lake and the mountains and never moved for 3 hours!!!

Next day, again id phoned ahead and booked a best western at Kanab, we got there and it was ok nothing special, so phoned the Zion Lodge, and yay they had one cancellation!!!, so off we went through Zion, Amazing, the most beautiful place, of course it helped that the sun was out! Hotel was lovely, BUT, went to the desk to ask where the bar was, the guy says, sorry we dont have bars in Utah!!!! WHAT???? so off we trekked and found some beer in a gas station!! sat on the porch at the hotel and watched the sun go down, fantastic

Next day, damn rain again!!, pushed on back to Lake Mead, was a bit of a journey down the interstate, I was finding the open faced helmets really useless, how i wished id brought my lovely new helmet from Home, the wind in your face, which i thought would be great, was now becoming a nightmare of sunburn and red eyes!!!

Found Lake Mead, drove round, and on and on and on - its lovely but basically nothing there!! was back to the 100 degs, went on and on and on and over a hill and blimey, there was Las Vegas again, so I phoned ahead to the Bellagio as we had a booking for the next night and they gave us a room at a great rate of $159! so we headed back into the nightmare of Vegas and guided by the stratosphere managed to find our way back to Eagle Rider, by now the Harley was giving me a severe sore behind!!! I was glad to give it back!

[Sbyllek]

Quite the adventure!!!
Enjoyed your telling of it and your pics
Got any more???

[chuba]

Originally Posted by gbell

Then along Route 66 to Williams, loved this bit of road, with a huge train traveling alongside us all the way,...

That would be Santa Fe's transcontinental raceway.

They carry the majority of UPS ground traffic (intermodal transport) and a large amount of container traffic between the midwest and California, and on many days, the trains are lined up one after another separated by only a few miles at most between them.

[demenshea]

Sounds like you really didn't have the "dream" adventure that you had expected, especially after traveling such a distance.

This year the weather has been a bit of an enigma. Besides the cold there has been more precipitation than usual. I know the weather has certainly curtailed our riding this season and continues to do so. I have to wonder where the seasons have disappeared to?!

I have a friend who is a police officer in Tuba City. He would have been a good resource for your animal abusing teen. I hate seeing such disrespect which is one reason i tend to avoid Mexico too. I am quite sensitive to animal cruelty.

I hope that the trip was somewhat redeemed. I personally love the desert offerings.

Thanks for the pix.
cheers

[gbell]

bless - me too Demenshea, i dont know how i contained myself, well i do as husband was desperately dragging me off, saying, get on the bike, just get on the bike

I enjoyed the whole trip, bike trips are an adventure arnt they, they arnt the hols you pick from a brochure, so you get the good with the bad, and the good certainly made up for the bad!!!

Got any more?? lol you'll wished yoy hadnt asked !!!





Mac the hackberry store dawg, he has a hard life










you can stay here......

[saeed883]

Sharp looking bike. I like black and chrome

[fourhour]

No bars in Utah? ennis