Enterprise Utah stop- Heading to Cedar City with Erik
108 degrees out, and my air conditioner went out friday night. Erik called me to go ride for a few hours, so we headed north out of town on highway 18 up to enterprise, and over to cedar city. Had a bite to eat, then it started raining pretty hard. Who cares. Rain just makes you wet, its just made of water.
Rode up through cedar canyon a few miles and about 4 miles up the road turned into a dirt road, which sucks on a bike but it wasnt too bad. 14 miles of dirt road till we hit kolob reservoir, and then we blew home. Rode about about 179 miles
Kevins funeral was yesterday. It started around 10 and the funeral and eulogies were great. Erik Officiated, and I gotta say did a great job from start to finish. Lots of funny stories and it made me and Robyn realize how short life is. Kevin had a lot of friends.
Anyway, took a few pictures and robyn made a movie on the back of my bike. Im not sure she even realized she made the movie, even so its on the back of a bike so its kinda rough:
The after funeral party was good, shot some pool, drank some beer. met a few people. Good evening.
This week i sold around 1500 bucks worth of stuff on ebay, so I ordered my tour pak. SHould be here in a month. I also got 2 saddlebag bars and bar bags.
Erik and I are going riding again sunday. Cedar mountainish stuff. should be good.
My good friend Erik’s dad died saturday. I remember kevin as a guy who woke up at 4 in the morning, and when I’d ride by his house in the AM he had his garage open hanging out in his garage. I’d pull up, and hed say “tell me a story”. He was a character, and I’d have to say one of a kind. I did some excavating for his Dad, Buck flowers. Kevin will be missed.
Kevin Ray Flowers, 52, of St. George Utah passed on to the next realm Saturday, June 21st, 2008. It was the first day of summer and Kevin was up and out early, as usual.
Kevin was born on January 22nd 1956 in Van Nuys, California, to Elmer Ray “Buck” Flowers and Lola Platts Flowers.
Kevin is survived by his mother Lola (Buck), brother Craig (Linda), sister Lana (Frank Emerson), sister Lori (Ed Burgess), son Erik (Nicole) and grandson Patton, son Colt, their mother Glenda (Sterling Fox), his beloved partner Teri Jo Vernlund and her sons Tyler and Shane, and an endless list of friends and well-wishers too numerous to name.
Kevin is preceded in death by his father Buck (1998), constant canine companions Snoop, Buddy, and Buster.
If you knew Kevin, you knew what he liked. He didn’t have hobbies, he had lifestyles. Boating, biking, customizing, modifying, joking, laughing, and being around people were his favorite things. He spent the last decade of his life doing exactly what he wanted, whenever he wanted. Few people dedicate themselves to their passions as fully as Kevin did. He spent a great deal of his time and energy helping his friends and family accomplish and solve the various goals and problems they brought to him, looking to him for guidance and leadership. There was no one else like him. Impossible to adequately describe, but instantly recognizable.
Viewing will be held at the Spilsbury Mortuary on 110 South Bluff, Wednesday June 25th at 6pm to 8pm and Thursday June 26th at 9am to 10am. Funeral Services will be held at Spilsbury Mortuary at 10 AM, followed by the Last Motorcycle Ride with Kevin to the burial site at Tonaquint Cemetery. Casual dress is encouraged. Guests are encouraged and asked to bring their motorcycles and join the procession as we all take one Last Ride with Kevin to his final resting place.
Last night Erik, Joey and I rode the bikes to mesquite. I’m dead positive wherever Kevin Flowers is, he’s proud of his sons. Proof that the beat goes on:
Kevin flowers genuinely inspires me like noone has in a long time. He lived pretty simply, but lived exactly how he wanted like his obit says. Thats gotta be how life is supposed to be.
I enjoyed the ride last night. It was a tribute I felt to eriks Dad.
Well, my palmtop sold on ebay the first night for just under 1k. Thats enough to get a tour pak. I sold one of my Zunes to make sure, then went down and cashed in 320 bucks in change down at albertsons to shore it up even more. I should be good. Now I gotta find a tour pak.
Harley takes 6-8 weeks to get a tour pak out of milwaukee. I cant wait that long. Found a black cherry one in Calgary Canada, negotiating now with the guy to try and get it down here by this weekend. Hopefully I can pull it off.
Robyn is going up north thursday night. If i can get what I gotta get done at work, im gonna make a shot at hitting texas and back.
I havent ridden a long ride since my last post 2 weeks ago. Monday I had a wild fantasy that I would go across the texas panhandle and back to utah in 4 days, but I didnt do it. Im jonesing for a ride. Riding to work and back doesnt count, and to be honest day rides dont seem that great to me. for some reason, its only fun when you sleep in another town, wake up and ride. I dont know why.
So since im not riding, ive got a new goal. I need a tour pak:
Its detachable, and will allow me to take it on and off. I can throw my laptop in there, throw on a luggage rack on top so i can take a tent and a sleeping bag. The nicest thing is the backrest, the taller backrest. Should make it so the wife and kids enjoy the ride more.
Selling my palmtop on ebay to get one. I dont want to spend money to get it, and this is funner. in 5 days I should know.
The Pine Breeze inn from the Movie Easy Rider on Route 66
Friday June 6 2008
Asked Meg if she wanted to go for an overnighter to Caliente Nevada and be back by noon on saturday. She said yes, so we went to northern Arizona instead. Theres nothing to do in caliente, thats a ride to do by myself.
Friday around 3pm we loaded up, and headed out with one saddlebag of stuff. The other saddlebag had a tent and 2 sleeping bags. We were going hardcore: ride hard, sleep on the ground! oowrah!
The weather was nice and warm, but pretty windy. Gusting Bike-leaning windy. We went through overton and behind lake mead, and over to hoover dam to get to kingman. We stopped on the Arizona side and took it all in, and took a break to stretch our legs and I noticed a pillbox on top of the hill. I figured there must more on other hills, but didnt see any, and the area was blocked off so I couldnt get up there. The lady inside told me it was the last remaining from WW2. Back then, like today the hoover dam is a place of high national security. In one of my pictures you can see the new bridge theyre building across the colorado to protect the dam more. Im sure theyll convert to a tram system like they did at Zions.
We got into Kingman around 10 and my nav or google maps wouldnt work on my phone so had a helluva time finding the campground. Robyn as usual was the most reliable option, she helped us out. Damn verizon. My phone comes with a built in GPS, but verizon disables it so its dependent on their network now.
Anyway, after getting to the campground, and 2 more unorganized trips to get a flashlight to set it up, and another to get food, we finally crashed out and we sleeping on the ground like we’d planned. Im too old for this. I need a bigger bike where I can bring an air mattress. Even so, it was a cool experience. Havent slept in a tent for years, and the first time we’d slept in those tiny mummy bags was when robyn and I slept in them at the same campground in 1991, 17 years earlier.
We rode 250 Miles that Day.
Hackberry, Seligman, Grand Canyon Caverns and Kingman:Saturday, June 7 2008
Slept ok, but we both woke up early so we broke camp and headed to get breakfast at Denny’s. Today was a mellow day, we had about 170 miles to ride and all day to do it. After breakfast, we took our time, drove around Kingman a bit, took some pictures of Trains and Old route 66 Motels, then headed north on the mother road.
I dont really remember the hackberry general store when I first hit route 66, but wanted to see it now. It wasnt open for yet another hour, so we just looked around and then headed out again. The ride was nice, windy still, but it had that feeling that it was early morning on the first real day on vacation, and with my daughter with me, it made it even better.
The next stop was the Grand Canyon Caverns. Meg had been there before, but didnt remember it, so we took the tour again. It struck me how much Route 66 has made a comeback, even in the 20 years or so that I’ve been interested in it. The guide told us that before the bypass in 78, they did 500 people a day, then overnight, nothing. Now its doing well again, and the tours are going strong. They do around 150 people a day steadily, enough to keep it going well and keep jobs going in the area. Pretty cool.
Then we hit Seligman. Everyone knows the snow cap, and as we pulled up the place was packed. Still, the BEST hamburger ever made, period. Juan’s kids are running the place and have kept up the tradition, enough to make my 13 year old daughter laugh and have a good time. They even spotted me the 3 bucks I was short (I went and got them the money later), PLUS they had a terrible towell, signed by Big ben himself right inside the window. I couldnt be any more loyal now.
we went down crookton road, and crossed the freeway to see the Partridge creek bridge again. Took a breather, then headed east through williams, parks, and to the harley dealership in Bellemont. I finally was able to get internet on my phone, so looked up the overnight low in Flagstaff, and decided 40 degrees was a hair too cold in a tent for my daughter. So I called Robynski and she was able to book us a room. Apprantly the night before there were NO rooms in flag for under 200 bucks, but whatever convention or whatever was gone now, so she got a room with no problem. While at the dealership, Meg and I sat on a 2008 Ultra classic. Megan decided she loved the back seat. Dammit, I gotta get one. Granny glide or not, I want to tour and don’t want back seat comfort a problem. Im hoping its comfortable enough Robyn will want to go ALOT once the kids grow up.
after we left the dealership, we went a quarter mile down the road to the pine breeze inn. Whats that? In the opening scenes of Easy rider, toward the end of the opening credits Wyatt and Billy go to get a room and the guy shuts the door and turns on the no vacancy sign.
Well, its in Bellemont. Looks like this now:
Someone is trying to turn it into an RV park now, hopefully it flies, and he restores the building. It had an easy rider poster on the wall and some inside too, so the guy is a fan. Here’s another screenshot from the film, and if you really want to geek out, you can watch the whole intro. The pine breeze inn is the last sequence.
From there, we headed the 10 miles into Flagstaff. We parked at the hotel, and within seconds 2 drunk indians stumbled across the street, and one passed out within a foot of my bike. Kind of awkward, I pretended I didnt see him and got my daughter inside the motel as quick as I could. He was there 15 minutes later when I decided it would be best to move the bike. Nice motel, i thought.
After a full days riding, I thought I had meg wore out, but she doesnt go down without a fight, so we kicked back for an hour, then went and saw the new Indiana Jones Movie. After that, headed back and I was asleep within an hour.
Sacred Mountain Gas Station from Easy Rider: Sunday, June 8 2008
We woke up, had breakfast at the motel restaurant (aptly named “hogs”) and then hit the road. At the bottom of mountain outside flagstaff was another Easy Rider Icon I was wanting to see, so we stopped again. Here’s the picture from the movie:
And here it was, this Morning:
A guy who must live there popped his head over the wall and confirmed that this was the one from the movie (the pictures pretty much confirm it) and he also told me about another little stretch they rode that was in the movie through wupatki national monument, 5 miles away. We needed to head out, so I’ll go check it out another time. Im wondering if it was the scene where they slept in the ruins, I bet it was. Its been a national monument since before then, and the story goes the park ranger watched them like a hawk as they filmed. Now that I type this, that makes sense. I’m nearly sure thats the place.
We stopped at Cameron to get get some water, rest our butts a bit then flew on to Marble canyon, another hour away. We stopped for a minute to check out the old Bridge spanning the colorado river, built in 1927. It was a pretty big deal that bridge. The grand Canyon and the colorado river is still a major obstacle today, and building that bridge was huge. Before that, Lees ferry was the only way to cross the colorado for hundreds of miles.
After that, we went over the bridge to marble canyon and ate lunch, and fueled up again and headed for the home stretch. It was a little cold over the Kiabab, but nothing too big of a deal. From there, it was pipe springs where we made our last butt resting stop, then opened it up and made the last hour home.
I had a blast. I love it when my girl’s go riding with me. We don’t spend alot of one on one time together, and when we can do 2 or 3 days at a time traveling together and enjoying each others company it means the world to me. I couldnt ask for better kids. I hope they never get tired of going with Dad on motorcycle trips.
